Compare Projects
Compares the open project with another project file and shows what was added, removed or changed.
Compare projects
Opens the Compare projects window. The other project is read aside and never opened. It is the baseline: what the open project has more is "added", what it lacks is "removed".
Where to find it
Tools tab → Data group → Compare projects (Compare projects).
Before you start
You need a saved project file (*.crosscut or *.crosscutt) to compare with.
How to
- Click Compare projects.
- In Other project type or paste a path, or click Browse… and pick a file. After Browse the comparison starts at once; otherwise click Compare or press Enter in the path field.
- Set Tolerance and Another colour is a change if needed. A change recompares at once.
- Read the summary: Added: N, removed: N, changed: N; unchanged: N.
- Narrow the list with the layer list on the left, the All / Added / Removed / Changed buttons and the kind-of-object drop-down.
- Pick rows in the table, or none to use every listed row, and use Select differences, Show differences or Create layer of differences.
The window remembers the tolerance, the colour option and the last file.
Parameters
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Other project | The project file to compare with |
| Tolerance | How far two points may lie apart (in metres) and still be the same place. Objects with another identity are matched by their geometry within it. Default 0.001; not negative |
| Another colour is a change | An object with its own colour in one project and another colour in the other counts as changed. On by default |
The tables
The layer list shows Layer, Added, Removed, Changed; the first row is all layers together. The difference table shows:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Difference | Added, removed or changed |
| Layer | The layer of the object |
| Object | The kind of object |
| What differs | The reason, for example "Only in the open project", "Only in the other project", "Another kind of object", "Moved by …", "Shape or size changed", "Layer: A → B" or "Colour changed" |
| Position, m | Where the object is |
Actions
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Select differences | Selects, in the open project, the added and changed objects among the picked rows (or all listed rows) |
| Show differences / Hide differences | Draws the listed differences over the model: removed in red, added in green, changed in amber, dashed where the other project has the object |
| Create layer of differences | Copies the removed and changed objects of the other project onto a new layer of the open project, as one undo step. The layer is named "Differences from" plus the file name |
| Close | Closes the window and removes the drawing |
If something goes wrong
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Pick the other project to compare with. | Choose a file |
| Press Compare to read the file. | Click Compare |
| The file 'X' does not exist. | Check the path |
| Enter a distance in metres, not negative. | Correct Tolerance |
| The project changed since the comparison - compare again. | Click Compare again |
| Nothing differs under these filters. | Change the filters |