FUJABA Difference Tool Suite
The FUJABA Difference Tool Suite is part of the SIDIFF Project.
Abstract
Difference calculation and viewing with the Fujaba Difference Tool Suite
As UML diagrams become larger and more people are involved in the modelling process it is crucial to have specific tools for supporting the cooperative team work. The Fujaba Difference Tool Suite makes it possible to calculate differences between Fujaba Diagrams and present them to the developer.
The Input for the Difference Calculation are two Diagrams in the form of XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) documents. The detected differences are annotated in a unified XMI file and can be viewed using the Difference Viewer Plugin.
Viszualization of the differences
The output of the Difference Viewer Plugin is depicted in Figure 2. Differences are visualized by using different colors and symbols: The black parts of the diagrams are present in both versions. The red parts of the diagram are only in diagram version 1 and the green parts are only in diagram version 2. If you consider the version 1 as the older version, red represents deleted elements and green new elements. Elements of the diagram that exist in both versions but have different features (e.g. names, types...) are shown with a small yellow U for update. By clicking on the U you can see the value of the feature in the other version.
Figure: A Difference Class Diagram
Plugins of the Difference Tool Suite
The Difference Tool Suite is composed of several plugins:
- XMI Export Plugin. A plugin to convert Fujaba class diagrams into valid XMI Documents.
- Difference Calculation Plugin. Calculates the difference between two xmi documents and generates a unified XMI document with difference annotations.
- Difference Viewer Plugin. Reads a unified XMI document and displays the differences.
- Difference Integrator Plugin. Provides a more easy handling of the the plugins.
Download for Fujaba 4.3.x
To install the Fujaba Difference Tool Suite enter the following line in the Fujaba Preferences and follow the steps described here:
http://pi.informatik.uni-siegen.de/pi/fujaba/difftoolsuite/PluginList.xml
Note, that the plugins are only available for the 4.3.x versions of Fujaba!
Project homepage
The homepage of the SIDIFF project is located at http://pi.informatik.uni-siegen.de/sidiff/.