9.4 Selection Tree Difference Detection Tool

The selection tree difference detection tool, also called the diff tool in this document, allows two selection trees to be compared to one another, highlights the differences and controls the merging of the rating periods.

The rating periods to be compared are displayed beside each other in the window of the tool.

The names of the nodes and sub-nodes that contain differences are highlighted as colored text in the trees in the window. Selecting a node that contains a difference opens a tab in the window that contains a description of what differs between the two rating periods.

In the selection tree difference detection tool, the first tree is taken as a reference for comparision with the second tree. The types of difference that are detected by the tool are as follows:

Children differ: a sub-node, modifier or condition occurs in one selection tree, and not in the other. This is highlighted using green text for the node name of the parent node.
Child order differs: the order of sub-nodes, conditions and modifiers in a node of one selection tree differs from the other. This is highlighted using yellow text for the node name of the parent node.
Parameters: The parameters, such as the node name, differ between corresponding nodes in the selection trees. This is highlighted using blue text for the node name of the parent node.

The tool can be opened in several ways. They are:

From the Util tab in the Main menu, open the tool. Drag-and-drop the rating periods from the navigator to the tool window.
Select the Show Diff Tool icon from the RMA toolbar. Drag-and-drop the rating periods from the navigator to the tool window.
In the navigator, right-click on a rating period, and chose Compare to …. Drag and drop the second period into the tool window.
If another user has edited and changed the rating period while the current user has had it open, the current user is prompted to choose to overwrite the saved version, accept the saved version, or cancel the operation. The first two options open the tool.

The tool window is described in Figure 191 and Table 87.

Figure 191 The Selection Tree Difference Detection Tool

Table 87 Legend to the Diff Tool Figure
1	First Tree	The first tree selected. Also called the local tree, depending on how the tool is opened.
2	Second Tree	The second tree selected. Also called the remote tree, depending on how the tool is opened.
3	Difference description tabs	Describes the difference between the two selection trees open in the window. There is one tab visible for each difference existing in the currently selected node.
4	Difference navigator buttons	Scrolls through the differences detected between the two trees.
5	Legend	Opens the legend panel, described in Figure 192.
6	Merge	Opens the merge view to start the merge process. See Figure 193.

The legend panel helps the user to interpret the icons in the tool. It is described in Figure 192 and Table 88.

Figure 192 Legend Panel

Table 88 Legend to the Legend Panel
Children differs	A sub-node, modifier or condition occurs in one selection tree, and not in the other.
Child order differs	The order of sub-nodes, conditions and modifiers in a node of one selection tree differs from the other.
Settings differs	The parameters, such as the node name, differ between corresponding nodes in the selection trees.
Single difference	The nodes have only one difference between the trees.
Multiple difference	The nodes have more than one difference between the trees.
Ancestor of difference	One or more of the sub-nodes contain a difference.

The merge process controls which of the two selection tree configurations are saved, one difference at a time. By default, it is the behavior of the first/local tree that is chosen.

Choosing to Restart merge discards the resulting tree changes, and runs the analysis again.

The tool window during the merge process is described in Figure 193 and Table 89.

Figure 193 Merging with the Diff Tool

Table 89 Legend to the Merge Figure
1	Restart merge	Discard changes and restart the merge process.
2	Merge decision tab	Choose if the configuration for the first or second tree will be saved, for the difference in question.
3	Resulting tree	The tree that results from the merge process, ready to be saved.

When saving the resulting selection tree, there are several options available. The selection tree may be exported, similar to the method used in the Export Wizard, see Section 9.2.

The resulting selection tree may be saved to the current ERE instance, overwriting either the first or second selection tree or both. The overwritten periods may also be saved to a backup folder.