When importing a project file, ETS checks for the existence of this project (based on the project's unique ID, i.e. PUID) in the Local Projects.
The following comparison cases are supported:
- Project available in the Local Projects vs. Project to be imported
- Project available in the Local Projects vs. The latest version of a Project in the Project Archive
If there is a project found, then ETS shows the 'Import Conflict' dialog and offers the following options:
-
- Import the project as a duplicate of the existing project (i.e. the project to be imported is eventually attributed a different PUID from the existing project), by means of the 'Import Copy' button.
- Compare the project to be imported against the one that is available in the Local Projects by means of the 'Compare Versions' button.
- Overwrite the project that is available in the Local Projects by means of the 'Overwrite Project' button.
- Cancel the import operation by means of the 'Cancel' button.
If there is no project found, then ETS imports the project directly.
Projects from older ETS versions do not have a PUID, but once imported they will be attributed one.
Comparison
There are two comparison levels; the basic comparison, which compares the project history entries between the projects under comparison (both manually, as well as automatically created entries) and the extended comparison, which compares the actual content of the projects.
Basic comparison
The basic comparison is triggered by means of the 'Compare Versions' button from the 'Import Conflict' dialog.
If the app 'Project Tracing' is activated, then it is possible to compare all the project tracing entries from both projects, otherwise only the latest ten are available for comparison.
To sort the entries depending on their creation date (oldest>newest) you can click the 'arrow' button.
There are three types of source indicators. The first one indicates that project tracing is present in both sources; the second one indicates that project tracing is present only in the left project, while the third indicates that project tracing is present only in the right project. Which project is which can be seen by looking at the top of the corresponding dialog.
| Indicator | The source side in which the project tracing is present |
|---|---|
 |
Left & Right |
 |
Left |
 |
Right |
Extended comparison
The extended comparison is triggered by means of the 'Compare Contents' button from the 'Compare versions' dialog.
This dialog gives detailed information on the differences between the projects under comparison and is divided into three areas.
- List of elements that have changed
- Details of the changes
- Search filters
List of elements that have changed
This list contains all the elements that have changed. The following list indicates what is compared:
|
Element
|
Technical data
|
Non-technical data
|
|---|---|---|
|
Area |
|
|
|
Line |
|
|
|
Segment |
|
|
|
Device |
|
|
|
Space |
|
|
|
Function |
|
|
|
Trade |
(none) |
|
|
Group Range |
|
|
|
Group Address |
|
|
Details of the changes
When an element is selected from the List of Elements, then the details are shown. The details area is split into two sub-areas. The left sub-area, i.e. 'Information contained in the project to be imported' and the right sub-area, i.e. 'Information contained in the Local project'.
The project comparison compares only linked group objects; changes to unlinked group objects are considered void as they do not have any technical consequences.
Search filters
There are two filter groups. One is for the change type (Added, Modified, Deleted) and the other filter group is for the element type (see previous table).
Project available in the Local Projects vs. Project to be imported
Project order
As the focus of the user is set on the project that he just selected for import, the to be imported project will be displayed left on the project compared against this (the local project) will be displayed right.
Indicator colors
Any difference (regardless if left in the imported project or right in the local project) will be indicated in red.
Project available in the Local Projects vs. The latest version of a Project in the Project Archive
Project order
As the focus of the user is set on the local project (the one with the colored decorator that the user just clicked on), the local project will be displayed on the left and the archived version of the project will be displayed right.
Indicator colors
When comparing a local project with an archived project (and only in that case) the indicators will mimic the colors of the project tile decorators. This means, that changes in the local project (left) are indicated in blue and changes to the archived version (right) are indicated in orange. Starting with the first conflicting change (where from now on we have changes on both sides), this one as well as all following changes are indicated in red.
As a result, this coloring along the timeline also represents the changes of the project tile decorator (archive state) along the time.