read-only on wrong pane in history diff

[Thomas Linder Puls]

In the diff tool options the left pane is marked as read-only.

This works fine for diff in the explorer and in the pending change list (repository version is left -- working folder version is right).

But when doing a diff in the the history of an old version and the working-folder version (which happens to be checked out). The working folder version is in the left (and read-only pane) and the historical version is in the right (and editable) pane.

It seems that the order here should also be repository version is left -- working folder version is right.

But you could also consider making "left-pane read-only" and "right-pane read-only" in to options, that you apply more cleverly. (When diffing two historical versions none of them are editable).

Alternatively, you could skip these options completely and use the read-only flags on the files to control it.

(The merge tool does not have such problems because the files always have same read/write status in the merge case).

[Beth]

Take a look at the forum thread "swap order of windows in 2-way diff and 3-way merge." Will what is described there take care of what you need?

[jeffhostetler]

But when doing a diff in the the history of an old version and the working-folder
version (which happens to be checked out). The working folder version is in the
left \(and read-only pane) and the historical version is in the right (and editable) pane.

It seems that the order here should also be repository version is left -- working folder
version is right.

I agree, this seems odd. History should be on the left and working should be on the
right.

Can you tell me the sequence of steps you used to do this? I just tried it on my
machine and the history came up on the left and the working version on the right.

(But the working version still came up read-only even when checked out.)

Also, what version of Vault/Fortress do you have?

jeff

[Thomas Linder Puls]

Now I can't reproduce the problem anymore. Now the working folder version is always on the right. If I figure out what circumstances that makes it happen I will report back.

I use version 4.1.2 (18185).

[jeffhostetler]

Is it possible that you were using the second radio button "The current version in the repository now."
in the Show Differences dialog when you got the working folder on the left and the historical version
on the right?

It did to me just now when I did a recursive Show Diff... on a folder.

jeff

[jeffhostetler]

Is it possible that you were using the second radio button "The current version in the repository now."
in the Show Differences dialog when you got the working folder on the left and the historical version
on the right?

It did to me just now when I did a recursive Show Diff... on a folder.

This has been logged as item:13857.

jeff

[Virgil Smith]

Testing from Fortress 1.1.4 (18402), I sometimes get the working folder version on the left and sometimes on the right. It *seems* like the determination is based on the apparent version of the working folder copy as compared to the repository version. If the working copy has a status of "old" it shows up on the left; if the working copy has a status of "edited" it shows up on the right.

Either way the working copy is not editable inside the diff tool (even though it is NOT flagged readonly on disk). This last item really aggravates our users.

Also, the whole edit from left to right assumption is flawed anyway. For instance it means that the tool can't support "cross merging" or "reconciling" two branches (i.e. importing changes made to branch A into branch B at the same time as importing changes made to branch B into branch A). This comes up fairly often and it is really confusing/time consuming to have to import in one direction, close everything, then import in the other direction.

[jeffhostetler]

The bug (item:13857) in Fortress that incorrectly puts the working version on the left
is scheduled to be fixed in the next release.

In the mean time, let me offer a suggestion that may (or may not) be helpful.
This is a hack that may annoy more than help, but it's free to try....

In the Fortress Options dialog, on the Diff/Merge page, add "/shex" to the diff
program arguments. This will cause DiffMerge to always raise the Open File/Folder
Interlude dialog and give you a chance to swap the pathnames. As I said, this will
be helpful in the cases where you need it and annoying in the cases where you don't.
But, it is something that you can do for the time being until the bug gets fixed in
Fortress.

As for simultaneously editing both panels, yes, that is our biggest complaint.
There was a good reason to limit it at the time (or so we thought), but I want
to fix this.

In the mean time, here's something you might try. Again, it is a bit of a hack,
but it might be helpful. When you want to compare the 2 branches and push
changes both ways between them, open file-a and file-b in one window. Then
use the File|Open Diff... command to open file-b and file-a in another window
(in the same DiffMerge instance). Make a change in one window and save it to disk
and the changes will then appear in the other window automatically. (Because we
do the editing into a hidden temp file, you need to do a File|Save to get
the changes to appear in the other window.) Again, this may or may not be
helpful, but the price is right....

Hopefully, I'll get the time to fix this problem and allow both sides to be
edited, but I can't make any promises at this time.

Hope this helps,
jeff