Teamstudio Delta is a great tool for finding the differences between different versions of the same database. It works with database design elements as well as data notes. As with any differencing tool, it has to have some way of matching elements in the two databases to be able to compare them. While that may sound obvious, it’s not always as straightforward as it may sound.
When Delta is comparing design elements from two databases, it identifies corresponding design elements based on the element’s name and type. To match, the design elements have to have identical names and be of the same type. When Delta compares data documents in a view, it matches data documents based on the document’s position in the view.
In Delta's main window, corresponding design elements or corresponding data documents display side-by-side in two panes. Design elements or documents in Database 1 display in the left pane and design elements or documents in Database 2 display in the right pane. The two panes are synchronized, so that as you scroll through design elements or documents in one pane, the content in the other pane scrolls with it, keeping corresponding items side-by-side. You can click the plus/minus signs to expand and collapse the content.
So far, so good. But what happens if the name of the design element has changed from one version of the database design to the other? You can use the Match feature in Delta to “manually” match up two design elements that wouldn’t otherwise be automatically matched. Of course, you can only match up design elements of the same type (form to form, shared field to shared field, etc.) You can match any design element from Database 1 to a design element of the same type in Database 2.
What about data documents? If a document's position in the view has changed between the two versions of the database you are comparing, Delta will not be able to automatically match them and list them side-by-side for comparison. Similarly, two documents may be versions of each other, but if column sorting causes them to appear in different positions in the view, Delta will assume they are unrelated. Using Delta's Match feature, you can force the two documents to correspond so you can see the differences between the two.
The two elements or documents you match remain matched until you exit Delta or you match them to something else. To match any two elements, just select one element from one pane, select the matching element from the other pane, right click on one of them and choose “Match”.
Once you’ve matched a pair of elements, Delta will redraw the view with the two elements aligned, to make it easier to compare them.
Sometimes, you may want to compare design elements that can’t be matched, because they are too dissimilar. For example, you may wish to compare a form to a subform. Or you might want to compare two different fields on the same form. To allow you to compare these types of dissimilar elements, you can use Delta’s Compare feature. You can also use Compare to see the differences between two different data documents without having to Match them.
Compare works in the same way as Match. Select one item from each pane, right click on one of them and then click on Compare. Matching sub-elements will be aligned and compared in the view as usual.
Bonus: You can use Delta to compare any two documents in the same database, without even leaving the Notes client. If you have Delta installed, with the database open in Notes, select two documents in the same view. (Both documents that you want to compare have to appear in the same view.) Then from the Actions menu in Notes, select “Delta of 2 Documents”. (That menu item will be grayed out until you have exactly two documents selected.) That will bring up the Delta window and allow you to compare the documents without having to switch into Domino Designer.
If you have any questions about using Delta to compare design elements or document in your Notes databases, or any other aspect of Notes and Domino application management, click below to start a conversation. We love to chat!