Compare editor

You can view the differences between two files by comparing them. You can compare different files, and you can compare versions in the Workbench with versions in the repository or with the local edit history. In some cases you can compare three files (when a common ancestor exists).

After a comparison is carried out, the Compare editor opens in the editor area. In the compare editor, you can browse through all the differences and copy highlighted differences between the compared resources. You can save changes to resources that are made in the comparison editor.

Here is how the compare editor looks when you synchronize with a CVS repository. The compare editor is the bottom portion of the view (whose titlebar is Text Compare).

Toolbar

The toolbar of the Compare editor includes the following buttons:

Control Visibility of Ancestor Pane: There are two conditions under which a three-way compare will occur, both when using the Team version management support: when comparing a file that is in conflict, and when comparing a file being merged from a branch. In both cases, the system will determine a common ancestor in the repository to compare the conflict or merge against. This button determines the visibility of the third editor. By default, the ancestor pane is not visible.
Perform Three-way/Two-way Compare: The compare editor can be toggled between performing a three-way compare or a two-way compare which ignores the common ancestor.
Copy Whole Document from Left to Right: Copies the entire contents of the file in the left pane into the file in the right pane, making the contents of the two files identical.
Copy Whole Document from Right to Left: Does the opposite of the one just described.
Copy Current Change from Left to Right: Merges changes in two files by copying the highlighted change in the left pane into the highlighted fragment on the right. This will overwrite the highlighted fragment in the right pane.
Copy Current Change from Right to Left: Does the opposite of the one just described.
Select Next Difference: Highlights the next difference that is found between the compared resources.
Select Previous Difference: Highlights the previous difference that is found between the compared resources.

Synchronizing with a CVS repository
Three-way comparisons

Comparing resources
Synchronizing with the repository
Merging changes in the compare editor
Resolving conflicts
Setting preferences for comparing files
Comparing resources with repository versions