Working with the compare feature
Overview
Would you like to visualize changes in successive analyses of your application, directly in the view? I.e. whether objects/links have been added, deleted, modified or are unchanged since the last application analysis? If so, you can explore the CAST Imaging “Compare” feature:
How can I access this feature?
The Compare feature is available in the left panel:
Are there any requirements?
- the application needs to have been imported into CAST Imaging ≥ 3.3 whether via result import or via an analysis.
- the application needs to have been imported twice or more into CAST Imaging whether via result import or via an analysis so that a comparison can be generated for objects and links (this comparison is actioned automatically). If there is only one “import” then a message indicates that the feature is not available:
- the feature only functions when working at Object level, if this is not the case then the Compare interface in the left panel is not displayed.
- if you have already selected a previous analysis via the History feature, this will disable the Compare feature, since CAST Imaging is already displaying historical information.
How does it work?
By default, CAST Imaging always displays the most recent information about the objects and links in the view. If Compare is available, it is then possible to choose a previous analysis via the date selector to compare with the current state:
When a previous date is selected, the view will update to highlight the change between the two analyses (or no changes, if that is the case). In the following example, one object is recorded as having been modified, i.e. when comparing the state on the two chosen dates, the object was found to have changed (all other objects and links are unchanged):
Use the toggles to enable/disable the display of specific items in the view, for example, disabling the display of Unchanged objects will leave only objects that have been modified, added or deleted:
What status can objects and links have?
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Added | Objects/Links that are present in the latest analysis but not in the previous selected analysis. These are highlighted in green. |
| Deleted | Objects/Links that are deleted (i.e. not present) in the latest analysis but were present in the previous selected analysis are highlighted in red. In addition, their opacity is altered to make them appear faint, indicating that they are no longer present in the latest analysis. Note that a deleted object/link may also indicate that the item is not associated to the current view but is still part of the application. |
| Modified | Objects/Links that have been modified in the latest analysis but were also part of the previous analysis are highlighted in amber. Modified links are not highlighted. |
| Unchanged | Unchanged Objects/Links are not highlighted in any particular colour. |
Current limitations
Currently, the Compare feature is only available at Object level. It is not yet supported in the following views:
- Level views
- Start and End Points
- Simplified Call Graph (Transaction view)
- Communities view
- App-to-App Dependency view
- Saved Views
Additionally, saving views and navigating to the History feature while in Compare mode are not supported at this time.