Understand 2.0 - using only the right pane in the diff view

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I keep a general watch on what is changing so I know where features are schedule wise, what engineers are working on, and also so I can spot check for appropriate solutions to some of our thornier problems (no bubble sorts please!).   I usually do this by doing a compare of my current source tree against a snapshot of the last public build. I then organize it by staff.

Here is the typical two pane diff view:

2008-05-02 22.11

Trouble is, I’m traveling and my laptop has a small screen. Notice how the rightpane text is cut off?  Also, when I look at diffs I’m usually just looking at the right side. Fortunately, Understand 2.0 has a way to show just the right side, see all the text and make efficient use of my smaller screen. Just hit the 2008-05-02 22.13 button and you will see only the right side.

Now I can see the right side, all my source and still get a very good idea of the nature of the changes:

2008-05-02 22.15

If I want to get a hint of what was over on the left side I can either click on the arrow again, or hover over it and see the left side text in a hover text balloon.

Finally, by looking at the shape of the diff overlay I can tell what kind of change it was:

  • 2008-05-02 22.17   – big to a single line is a deletion

  • 2008-05-02 22.19 – small line to a bigger region is an insertion
  • 2008-05-02 22.20 – non single line to non-single line (region) is a change.

 

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This page contains a single entry by Ken Nelson published on May 2, 2008 10:21 PM.

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