New Provider/Edit Provider

Use the VersionVault New Provider/Edit Provider dialog box to add or edit an external, 3rd-party Compare/Merge Provider tool.

The New Provider/Edit Provider preferences page allows you to specify external, 3rd-party Compare/Merge Provider tools and to set parameters for these tools.

Controls in the dialog box

The following controls are displayed in the New Provider/Edit Provider dialog box.

Column name Displays
Provider Name Specify a name to identify the external Compare/Merge Provider in this text box. For example, we could call the new provider kdiff3 .
Path Enter the directory path to the external Compare/Merge Provider in this text box. For example, assuming a Linux system, the path could be /usr/bin/kdiff3 .
Browse Click to invoke the Select Provider Application dialog box which you can use to locate and specify the Compare/Merge Provider you want to use.
Supports Compare Operations Click if the currently selected Compare/Merge Provider can show the differences between two files.
Arguments These are the arguments that you want the Compare/Merge Provider to use during the compare operation. 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 VersionVault Explorer for version-extended pathnames. Note that you can mouse over this field to view Tool Tips showing the tags for a compare operation. You can also provide arguments to this field by using the Insert Macro button.
Insert Macro 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.
Supports Merge Operations Select this option if the new provider application supports 2-way or 3-way file Merge operations.
Arguments These are the arguments that you want the Compare/Merge Provider to use during a merge operation. 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. Note that you can mouse over this field to view Tool Tips showing the tags for a merge operation. You can also provide arguments to this field by using the Insert Macro button.
Note: Some form of an output argument is required for a Merge Provider.
Insert Macro 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.
Merge Output File Click to add a %merge_out% argument to the merge Arguments field, where %merge_out% is the output file.
Supports Preprocessing Select this option 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. For example, a simple preprocessing script that converts all characters in a file to upper case or lower case is as follows: 
if exist %2 rm %2
c:\\utilities\\cygwin\\bin\\sed 
-b 'y/abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz/ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ/' %1 > %2
Arguments These are 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%
You can mouse over this field to view Tool Tips showing the tags for a merge operation.
Note: VersionVault Explorer supplies one argument for one invocation of the Compare/Merge Provider tool.
OK Applies any changes made and dismisses the window. A new Compare/Merge Provider appears in the Providers list in the Compare/Merge Providers preferences page.
Cancel Cancels the operation.