11.2.3. Creating a Customized Comparison Report

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User's Guide | Chapter 11: Creating Reports | 11.2. Comparison Reports |

11.2.2. Creating a Quick Compare Report |  | 11.2.4. Editing a Comparison Report
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### 11.2.3. Creating a Customized Comparison Report

To create a quick compare report, see Creating a Quick Compare Report.

The Comparison Report feature enables you to create a customized comparison report using a simple wizard. The number of steps in the wizard will vary depending on the type of objects you select for comparison. For example, if you choose a combination of files and folders for comparison, you can compare them by their properties and choose to include objects contained within folders. This additional step enables you to filter child objects to include in the comparison by type or by name pattern. If instead, you choose to compare only folders, you have the option of comparing objects that have the same name within the folders.

You can also compare any two or more report files (and their properties) directly by selecting the report objects and initiating the compare. And, when you want to compare simulation details of supported CAE files, you can simply select the CAE files for comparison, instead of selecting `Simulation Details Report` objects that were saved separately.

By default, comparison reports show items as text, tables, and links that are the same between the compared objects. You can choose to “Show only differences” if you want to compare only those items that are different in the compared objects.

Important: Only numeric quantities can be compared in a Chart. If two or more reports are compared and any report contains numbers mixed with units (for example, 415 KB, 123 MB and so on), then that report's content cannot be compared using charts because it is treated as a “String” type.

Once a comparison report is finished being generated, a temporary report will display in HTML on a single page in the file list window. The report is titled Comparison Report and will contain sections based on the comparison options you selected. Depending on the type of report that is displayed, there may be additional actions that you can choose from that enable you to edit the report setup, clear the temporary report, save it as an EKM object, and change the comparison format.

Important: Section labels or headings in Comparison Reports cannot be used as keywords or in advanced search criteria to retrieve objects.

To create a customized comparison report:

1. In the file list window, select the objects that you want to compare, then select (More) > Report > Comparison Report. This opens the Create Comparison Report wizard. The objects you selected are pre-filled in the comparison list.

   Figure 11.4: Selecting Objects to Compare

2. Click Add to add additional files and/or folders to compare. Click Remove to remove an object from the list.

3. Choose the compare option. The available options in this step will depend on the objects you have selected:

   - Compare objects with the same name within folders is available only if all the selected objects for comparison are folders. This option enables you to recursively compare objects in the selected folders that have the same type and relative path. For example, if two folders are selected for comparison and both contain two files, `analysis1` and `analysis2`, then the Comparison Report will compare the file `analysis1` in one folder to the file `analysis1` in the second. Similarly it will compare file `analysis2` in one folder to the file `analysis2` in the second. The Comparison Report will also point out objects that are present in one folder but not in the other.

   - Compare any two or more objects enables two or more objects to be compared against each other and is the default option. For folders, this means that just the top-level folder objects are compared. If the selected objects contain any folders, then you can also select the Include objects within folders option to include children of the selected folders for comparison, This option is useful if you want to compare certain files that belong to different folders. If the selected objects are a mix of files and folders, then all comparison options are disabled and the Compare any two or more objects option is selected by default.

4. Click Next >.

   - If the objects are all folders and you chose to either compare objects with the same name within folders or compare any two or more objects and included objects within folders in the previous step, then go to Step 5 to filter folders objects by name or type. Otherwise to compare two or more objects, go to Step 7 to define properties. Note that chart-based comparisons are not supported when comparing objects with the same name within folders.

   - If the objects are combinations of files and folders, go to Step 7 to define properties.

   - If the objects are all reports or are parent CAE files listed in Simulation Details Reports that contain child simulation details reports, go to Step 6 to select the comparison types.

5. Filter objects to compare by type or name pattern.

   Figure 11.5: Create Comparison Report - Select Objects (Filter)

   1. To filter by type, select one or more types from the Filter by type list and click Filter>. The objects that match the name pattern in the expression will be filtered and display under the Object(s) to compare list.

   2. To filter by name pattern, enter a regular expression in the name pattern field, and the object name that matches the expression will be filtered when you click Filter>. The objects that match the selected types in the expression will be filtered and display under the Object(s) to compare list. In the example shown in Figure 11.5: Create Comparison Report - Select Objects (Filter), the name pattern *.xml filtered two objects named report.xml in different folders.

   3. Click Next> to define property comparison and then go to Step 7 for instructions.

6. Define the comparison types and click Next>. (Figure 11.6: Create Comparison Report - Define Comparison Type)

   If all of the objects you chose for comparison are report objects, then you can compare report contents in addition to properties.

   - If you select object properties, go to Step 7.

   - If you select report contents, go to Step 8

   - The wizard will guide you through both steps if you chose both options.

   Figure 11.6: Create Comparison Report - Define Comparison Type

7. Define properties based on tables and/or charts.

   Note: Charts are not available when comparing objects with the same name within folders.

   Figure 11.7: Create Comparison Report Wizard - Define Property Comparison

   1. Select Tables if you want to compare properties based on tables and choose one or more property categories to include in the report. Select Show only differences to show just those properties that have different values. (Properties with the same values will not be shown in the report). If you do not want to compare charts, then click OK to generate the report. Otherwise, check the Charts box and go to step b.

   2. Select Charts if you want to compare numeric properties using plots and charts. The dialog box will expand to show more options.

      Important: Only numeric quantities can be compared in a Chart. If two or more reports are compared and any report contains numbers mixed with units (for example, 415 KB, 123 MB and so on), then that report content cannot be compared using charts because it is treated as a “String” type.

      1. Click Add to add a new chart. The chart will be added to the Chart Names list below, with a default name. You can change the default name by editing the Name field under Chart definition and clicking the Update button.

      2. Select the type of chart you want to define from the Type drop-down list. There are three options: Bar Chart, Column Chart, and Line Chart. The default type is Bar Chart.

         For Bar charts, you supply the X-axis data. You can select a Table-Row-Column combination to define the property that is to be compared in the chart. Only numeric properties will be visible in the drop-down lists. The Y-axis data are automatically taken as the object names.

         For Column charts, you supply the Y-axis data. You can select a Table-Row-Column combination to define the property that is to be compared in the chart. Only numeric properties will be visible in the drop-down lists. The X-axis data are automatically taken as the object names.

         For Line charts, you supply both the X-axis and Y-axis data. The dialog box will expand to show both options. For X-axis data, you can choose either Object names to compare or a numeric property. For Y-axis data, you can input a numeric property only.

      3. Add more charts, as needed. Use the Remove button to remove charts.

   3. Click Next>.

8. Define the report content comparison (shown only if reports are selected). Choose to Show only differences or keep the default of comparing all contents. If you want to add a chart, go to Step 7b for details. Note that you can choose only numeric table data for chart-based comparisons of report files. Click Next>.

   Figure 11.8: Create Comparison Report - Define Report Content Comparison

9. Click OK to generate the comparison report. The report will be created and temporarily displayed in the file list window in HTML format. You will then need to save the report as an EKM object if you want to act on it in the future.

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