Viewing Project Differences Using Change Packages

The Project > Views > View Project Change Package Differences command displays a list of the operations that occurred on a project between two checkpoints (project revisions), if those operations were tracked in change packages. The displayed information can be used to inform decisions on changes that need to be propagated to a development path, to understand the work that was done on a project, or as part of analyzing a problem that occurred in a recent project revision (for example, you can identify how a member was modified that caused a problem).

• This command only returns changes that were recorded in change packages. Operations that are not recorded in change packages, such as a restore project (or commands that used the bypass value for the change package ID), are not represented in the command output.

• Modifications to member attributes are not included in the command output.

• If subprojects were added using a change package, only that operation is included in the command output. The members that were added with the subproject are not included in the command output because they were not recorded in the change package. Similarly, reconfigured subprojects appear in the command output, but modifications to the members of the subproject do not appear in the command output.

• The project comparison must be for the same line of development (the project mainline or a single development path). However, the originating revision that was branched to create the development path can also be specified the starting revision; for example, revision 1.2 can be compared with 1.2.1.1.

• The command output only displays the resulting member revision for each change package entry, not the original member revision.

• When propagations cause an update to a revision number, the intervening revisions are not included in the command output because the operation that created them is not in the change package for that time frame.

• The command accepts two revisions, one revision or no revisions. If only one revision is specified, then the supplied revision is the start revision and the end revision is the current project configuration on the development path (or mainline) to which the revision belongs. If no revisions are specified, then the start revision is the most recent checkpoint revision on the specified project configuration, and the end revision is the currently specified project configuration.

• The command ignores build subprojects since they are static and do not change over time. However, in cases where the configuration of a subproject changes over time, the subproject and its contents may be visible in the Project Change Package Differences view. The command focuses only on the existing project structure at both the start and the end points specified for the command. Build subprojects or subprojects that did not exist at the start and end points are not visible in the view. Existing non-build subprojects at the start and end points are visible in the view. For example, an existing build subproject that is later converted to a variant subproject would appear in the view. A subproject created after the start period and later converted to a build subproject before the end date would not appear in the view.

Interface	Procedure
Display a list of operations that occurred on a project between two project revisions.	From the Project History View, select the checkpoints for the two project revisions you want to compare, then select Project > Views > View Project Change Package Differences.
Display a list of operations that occurred on a project since a specified project revision.	From the Project History View, select the checkpoint that corresponds to the project revision, then select Project > Views > View Project Change Package Differences.
Display a list of operations that occurred since the most recent project revision.	From the Project History View, ensure no checkpoints are selected, then select Project > Views > View Project Change Package Differences.