Creating a new Compare/Merge provider

Use the Compare/Merge Providers preferences to create an external, 3rd-party, Compare/Merge Provider.

Procedure

  1. To create a new, external Compare/Merge Provider, select the Window > Preferences > Team > IBM® ClearTeam® Explorer > Integration > Compare/Merge > Manage Providers option.
  2. On the Compare/Merge Providers preferences page, click New.
  3. Enter the specified information about the new Compare/Merge Provider in the Add Provider dialog box as follows:
    1. In the Provider Name field, specify a name to identify the external Compare/Merge Provider.
    2. In the Path field, enter the directory path to the external Compare/Merge Provider in this text box. You can click the Browse button to invoke the Select Provider Application dialog box which you can use to locate and specify the Compare/Merge Provider you want to use.
    3. Click Supports Compare Operations if the currently selected Compare/Merge Provider can show the differences between two files.
    4. If you have selected Supports Compare Operations, enter the arguments that you want the Compare/Merge Provider to use during the compare operation in the Arguments field. Use this field to specify the command line syntax required by the new Compare Provider. For example, the new Compare Provider could require a syntax of the following form: %contribs% -L %filename1% -L %filename2% where %contribs% represents the pathnames that will hold the contributor content so that kdiff3 can read the files and display the differences. In this example, the Compare Provider kdiff3 supports the -L option to display a user-friendly file name at the top of the window for each contributor. The macros %filename1% and %filename2% are substituted by the ClearTeam Explorer for version-extended pathnames. Click the option list to the right of the Insert Macro button to view a list of arguments that are provided for you. Click the Insert Macro button to add the currently selected argument in the Insert Macro option list to the compare Arguments field.
    5. Click Supports Merge Operations if the new provider application supports 2-way or 3-way file Merge operations.
    6. If you have selected Supports Merge Operations, enter the arguments that you want the Compare/Merge Provider to use during a merge operation in the Arguments field. Use this field to specify the command line syntax required by the new Merge Provider. For example, the currently selected Merge Provider could require syntax of the following form: -b %base% %contribs% -o %merge_out% -L %filename0% -L %filename1% -L %filename2% where %base% is the file pathname that holds the content of the base contributor, %filename0% is the user-friendly display name for the base contributor, and %contribs% represents the pathnames that will hold the rest of the contributors' content. Click the option list to the right of the Insert Macro button to view a list of arguments that are provided for you. Click the Insert Macro button to add the currently selected argument in the Insert Macro option list to the merge Arguments field. You can also click Merge Output File to add a %merge_out% argument to the merge Arguments field, where %merge_out% is the output file.
    7. Click Supports Preprocessing if the new Compare/Merge Provider application can preprocess a given input file before it can be presented to a compare or a merge operation.
    8. If you have selected Supports Preprocessing, enter the arguments that you want the Compare/Merge Provider to use during a preprocessing operation. Use this field to specify the command line syntax required by the currently selected Compare/Merge Provider to call a preprocessor. By default, the text box contains the following argument: %input% %output% Note that ClearTeam Explorer supplies one argument for one invocation of the Compare/Merge Provider tool.
    9. When you click OK, anew Compare/Merge Provider appears in the Providers list in the Compare/Merge Providers preferences page.