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Background documentation Metadata Comparison Tool  Locate the document in its SAP Library structure

The SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio provides design time support for the metadata comparison of two applications in the form of the metadata comparison tool. This metadata comparison can be executed for the project types Web Dynpro project, J2EE project, and Dictionary project.

Using this tool you can display the metadata development objects of two projects and, if necessary, the differences between these two projects. These projects can either manage two different applications or map the same application. It is irrelevant whether you use the metadata comparison tool with centrally managed projects – that is, programs stored in the Design Time Repository (DTR) – or local projects.

The tool displays the model entities of two projects in the form of a tree; the tree data is displayed in two parallel columns. The comparison represents a technical, generic view of the metadata on which the logical application entities are based. The analysis also differentiates explicitly between objects that are stored in their own file and those that are part of a different file.

Prerequisites

For the metadata comparison, the two projects must be stored in two different workspaces.

Projects must be available in SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio. That is, the projects were imported in the Eclipse view Navigator by choosing Import Project and opened using Open Project. Alternatively, the projects were newly created and are therefore open for further processing in the development environment. Centrally managed projects are automatically available in the Development Configurations perspective upon creation. Therefore, no import is necessary for this project type.

Navigator or Package Explorer view must be opened (Window Show View Basic).

Starting the Metadata Comparison Tool

To carry out a metadata comparison between two projects, proceed as follows:

       1.      Select the two projects to be compared and choose Compare Meta Data from the context menu.

       2.      Select the project that is to be the source project for the data comparison. This is necessary since the result of the comparison depends on the selected source or target project. The source project is then displayed on the left. Choose OK to start the analysis of the metamodel data.

Using the Tool

The main nodes show the different types of metadata objects. For the data analysis, you open these nodes – and any necessary subnodes – to display the model entities.

Depending on the complexity of the project, it may be helpful to turn a subnode into main node, since this would make the navigation easier. To do so, select a development object, and choose This graphic is explained in the accompanying text (quick info Set Current Node as New Root). You can do this for any object with the green ball icon. This setting is then valid for the source project and the target project. To reset the project node as the main node, choose the same icon (quick info Set Original Root as Root again).

To see the information on a specific development object, click once on the relevant line; both metadata object trees are then read. The attributes and values are displayed in a properties table in the lower part of the screen. This table contains columns for the individual attribute name and the relevant values in both projects.

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While the project nodes are closed, no differences are displayed. The delta search can start from the first or the second project, both are possible. For a quick and easy search and navigation between the individual delta stations within a project, use the yellow arrows in the upper right of the window. ChoosingThis graphic is explained in the accompanying text (quick info Select Next Change) displays the first or next difference in the project, while choosing This graphic is explained in the accompanying text (quick info Select Previous Change) displays the previous delta in each case. Manual search and navigation operations are thus not necessary.

The following lists the various icons for the different development objects:

Icon

Development object

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Object in tool scope

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Object outside of tool scope

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Floating reference

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Association

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Association outside of tool scope

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Association (no own file)

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Aggregation

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Aggregation outside of tool scope

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Aggregation (no own file)

 

You can also create and print a local evaluation XML file, which contains all the delta information.

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       1.      Choose Print Deltas and select the desired memory path on your local server.

       2.      The default name for the XML file is:

<myProject1>_CompareWith_<myProject2>.xml

If you open the file in your local windows explorer, you can see differences between the objects of the source project and the target project The differences are listed in order of appearance and numbered. The object details are displayed in the last element of the relevant delta.

       3.      To close the comparison tool, choose Cancel.

Possible Comparison Results

The following delta scenarios can arise; the information is displayed differently depending on the result:
No differences between the source project and the target project

If there is no delta between the two projects, the tree content and table content are identical for both projects. The attributes are displayed with their values for both projects.

One project contains an entity that is not in the other project

In this case, the column in the properties table for the project that does not contain the object remains empty. The value for an additional object is displayed in the relevant project column in the properties table.

There are differences between the two projects

The differences that may arise can be grouped into the following two categories:

a) Attribute changes

b) Elementary changes to the meta-objects with name changes.

Changed development objects are flagged with a red icon in the properties table. In the object tree, the differences are framed in red (if object selected) or in green (if object not selected).

More Information

The comparison operations for the different project types are based on different metadata object types. More information is available in the project-type-specific sections, such as Metadata Comparison for Web Dynpro Projects.

 

 

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