Comparing rule versions with the rule compare utility

Use the Compare Rules tool to compare two different rules or two versions of the same rule to find additions, changes, or deletions from one version to another.

  1. Click Configure > System > Refactor > Rules.
  2. Click Compare Rules.
  3. In the Instance #1 section, specify the first rule.
    1. Use the following filters to create a list of available rules.
      • Rule Name - Enter the rule name.
      • Rule Type - Click the displayed rule type and select a different value from the list. You cannot search more than one rule type at a time.
      • Applies To - Select the class to filter the rules list.
      • RuleSet - Select the ruleset that contains the rule.
      • Version - Select the ruleset version that contains the rule.
    2. Click Find.
    3. In the list of rules that displays, mark the Select field of the first rule you want to compare. If you cannot find a rule, adjust the search terms in the second panel and click Find to refresh the list of candidate rule instances.
  4. In the Instance #2 section, select the second rule to compare.
    1. Use the filters to create a list of available rules.
    2. Click Find
    3. Mark the Select field of the second rule you want to compare.
  5. Click Compare >> to generate the Differences Found report.
  6. In any column, click an entry in any row to display the Comparison of rules form, where you can see the differences in more detail. The first rule that you selected is in the left column, and the second rule is displayed on the right. The differences are color coded:
    • Yellow - The values have changed in the two selected instances.
    • Green - One or more property values in the second rule do not display in the first rule. The utility presumes that the first rule selected was the source instance, so changes highlighted in green are considered added.
    • Red - One or more properties with values in the first rule do not display in the second rule. The utility presumes that the first rule selected was the source instance, so these changes are considered deleted.
  7. Optional: Click Export to Excel, to save the comparison to an Excel spreadsheet.
  8. Review the changes:
    • If there are several changes, you can use the arrow buttons to move from one change to another.
    • To locate a specific text string, use the search field.