Choose Documents To Compare

Now reading version 17.1. For the latest, read: Choose Documents To Compare for version 21

The Choose Documents To Compare dialog, shown in basic (left) and advanced (right) modes.

Summary

This dialog allows the user to choose which documents to compare when using the Comparator with any detected differences presented in the subsequent Differences between dialog. It is available in two modes - a basic mode, allowing you to quickly select the target PCB document to compare against the project's source document hierarchy, and an advanced mode, giving control over the documents compared (document-to-document, project-to-project, or document-to-project).

Access

The dialog is accessed by right-clicking in the Projects panel and choosing the Show Differences command from the context menu.

For use in basic mode, ensure the project of interest is currently focused in the panel.

Options/Controls

  • Documents list - this main region of the dialog lists the documents that can, and selectively are, to be compared. The appearance depends on the mode, as determined by the Advanced Mode option:
    • Basic Mode - a single list will present the PCB documents for the focused design project. Simply choose the specific PCB document to compare against the design hierarchy of that project.
    • Advanced Mode - two lists are presented, each displaying the currently open projects and their documents. Choose a document on the left, to compare with a document on the right. You can choose to compare a document with another document, a project with another project, or a document with a project (as per basic mode).
  • Advanced - use this option to toggle the dialog between its basic mode (disabled), and its advanced mode (enabled).
After choosing the documents and clicking OK, the Comparator will perform the comparison. The Comparator will adhere to the setup defined for it on the Comparator tab of the Project Options dialog and, if any differences are detected whose associated comparison types are not set to be ignored, those differences will appear in the Differences between dialog.
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Note

The features available depend on your Altium product access level. Compare features included in the various levels of Altium Designer Software Subscription and functionality delivered through applications provided by the Altium 365 platform.

If you don’t see a discussed feature in your software, contact Altium Sales to find out more.