Understanding the synchronization feature
The synchronization feature compares the contents of two product or library versions and then shows all the objects that have changed. The results of the comparison are provided in the DRM Synchronization view.
You can use the Synchronize feature to do the following:
- Add maps, topics, and images from the source version to the target version
- Merge the entire content and structure of objects from the source version to the target version
- Selectively merge changes in maps and topics in the source version to the target version
- Revert to their source version objects that were modified in the target version but not in the source version
To help synchronize versions, use the DRM Synchronization view and a compare editor.
DRM Synchronization view
The synchronization feature works by comparing a source version with a target version in the DRM Synchronization view. It identifies the differences in the source version that can be applied to the target version.
For example, consider Version 4.1.1, which contains 3 objects: a map, User Guide, and 2 topics. The User Guide is cloned in Version 4.1.2 and two new topics are added to Version 4.1.2, as shown below:
When version 4.1.1 (source) is synchronized with version 4.1.2 (target), IXIASOFT CCMS Desktop does not report any differences between the versions. This is because there are no changes in 4.1.1 that could be merged or added to 4.1.2.
When version 4.1.2 (source) is synchronized with version 4.1.1 (target), CCMS Desktop reports the following results in the DRM Synchronization view:
- New topic 1 and New topic 2 were added to Version 4.1.2, as
shown by the plus sign icon (
).
- The content of the User Guide map was modified, as shown by
the star icon (
).
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Note: Objects that are removed from a DRM version are not
shown as deleted when you synchronize that version with another. For
example, if New topic 2 had been removed from version 4.1.1, it would
not show as a deleted topic when you synchronize 4.1.1 with 4.1.2. To
identify the topics that were deleted between versions, you need to
compare the maps to see the topics that were removed from the
map.
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Conflicts
Some changes, such as the ones above, are simple changes that can be easily merged automatically by the Synchronization feature. However, some changes are not as obvious.
In these cases, the object appears in the Conflict folder, and the user must review the changes and manually accept or reject them.
When Version 4.1.1 is synchronized with Version 4.1.2, this topic is determined to be in conflict because the Synchronization tool cannot determine which title to use. Should the change made to the 4.1.1 title be applied to version 4.1.2, or should the 4.1.2 title remain as is?
In this case, the user must open the topic in the compare editor to review the changes and determine what to do. For example, opening Topic 1 in the compare editor would appear as follows:
The user has the option to keep the title of the 4.1.2 version or to merge the title from 4.1.1.