Merging DCRs/XML - any tips?

Hi,

I'm using the Interwoven merge tool when copying files between workareas.

It's almost useless when it comes to DCRs/XML - because the XML has no linefeeds, the merge tool can't be used to compare actual differences in values.

Does anyone know if Teamsite can be configured to use a different merge tool such as Winmerge?
Or if there's a way to insert line feeds/carriage returns in the XML?

Thanks,
Gavin

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Adam Stoller

Hi,

I'm using the Interwoven merge tool when copying files between workareas.

It's almost useless when it comes to DCRs/XML - because the XML has no linefeeds, the merge tool can't be used to compare actual differences in values.

Does anyone know if Teamsite can be configured to use a different merge tool such as Winmerge?
Or if there's a way to insert line feeds/carriage returns in the XML?

Thanks,
Gavin

To answer the 2nd question first - check your iw.cfg file and add (or fix) this line:

[teamsite_templating]
pretty_print_dcrs=true

Note - this will only add newlines to newly saved DCRs - pre-existing DCRs will still be [generally] wrapped in one (or several) long lines.

To answer the 1st question second :-) - you can basically use whatever you want to, but the only application that TeamSite will provide OOTB is the one you've seen. Personally, I like using Scooter Software's Beyond Compare completely outside the context of the TeamSite UI - I'm not sure I'd really trust winmerge to do the right thing...

Gaavin

Much appreciated - will give this a go and see if it helps!

Gaavin

Adding the line to iw.cfg worked perfectly - cheers!

Gaavin

Ah - I spoke too soon.

The prettyprint config change does show the DCRs in a nicely formatted/viewable way, ie each new tag starts on a new line, which really helps so that I can now see the changes.

However, the Teamsite merge tool doesn't then allow you to merge changes on a line-by-line basis - it still treats the 'differences' as the entire block of data.

Don't suppose there's another helpful config change out there that will let me merge on a line-by-line (tag by tag) basis?

Cheers,
Gavin

Adam Stoller

Ah - I spoke too soon.

The prettyprint config change does show the DCRs in a nicely formatted/viewable way, ie each new tag starts on a new line, which really helps so that I can now see the changes.

However, the Teamsite merge tool doesn't then allow you to merge changes on a line-by-line basis - it still treats the 'differences' as the entire block of data.

Don't suppose there's another helpful config change out there that will let me merge on a line-by-line (tag by tag) basis?

Cheers,
Gavin

The merge tool works on three (3) different versions of a file:

It's not necessarily that difficult to write something like this (that utilizes tools that already exist) - but it will take a bit of time and effort to do so.

Gaavin

Much appreciated - you're clearly a dab hand at this sort of thing!

Will see how things progress... unfortunately our workflow/process doesn't allow us to try things out quickly, but hopefully your suggestions will get us to where we want to be.

Thanks once again,
Gavin