Comparing Models for Review

You can compare two versions of a model, navigate through the modifications found, add review information on them, save the result and edit it for further enhancement. You can also export the result as a html file.

The two versions of the model can be:

Two representations
Two products
Two 3D parts
A product and a 3D part.

Note: This release does not support annotations, nor changing the camera.

This task shows you how to:

Set the Comparison Parameters
Review the Comparison
Use the Context Menu
Check the Information from the Comparison
Create a HTML Report

Set the Comparison Parameters

You can define the parameters used to compute the comparison. The comparison parameters are stored in local options. When you start a new Compare & Review, the parameters of the previous comparison are proposed.

Open the models to compare:
1. Open the first model to compare (Reference).
2. From the Analysis section of the action bar, click Compare & Review.
3. Select or search and open the second model (New).
The Comparison parameters dialog box appears with the names of the models you have selected.
- When you have selected products or 3D parts, only the Quick method is available.
- When you have selected two representations, you can choose between the Quick or the Detailed method, that give access to more parameters.
- The proposed Distance is 0.01 mm.
For both methods, set the Distance, i.e. the distance under that two points are considered as identical.
When comparing two representations, select a comparison Method from the list.
- Quick: The comparison is fast, but:
  - Some differences may be missing, especially holes in surfacic models.
  - Some differences may be detected in one model only (either the reference or the new model).
  - Area borders are rough.
  - Mesh options are not relevant and are hidden.
  Note:
  When comparing two products or 3D parts, the comparison is made on the current visualization meshes in session, or in the stored mesh when the second product is searched in the database.
  
  Give a distance for the comparison greater than the Sag of these meshes, otherwise the comparison shows differences on the meshes themselves even if the underlying geometries are identical.
- Detailed: The comparison takes longer, but the quality of the result is higher.
If you have chosen the Detailed Method, select a Mesh mode from the list:
- Large, Medium, Precise are automatic modes.
- User Parameters lets you decide of the Sag (chordal error) and the Step (maximum length of the edges of the mesh) values.
  - A small value of Step creates a mesh with many triangles, and thus increases the quality of the comparison. But it is time-consuming.
  - Sag applies to models with curvatures. A small value of Sag in those models creates a mesh with many triangles and thus increases the quality of the comparison. But it is time-consuming.
Notes:
- The meshing starts with the Sag and Step values you have entered, but Compare & Review may use other values to optimize the meshing.
- When you choose an automatic meshing mode, Compare & Review computes the Sag and Step depending on the Distance. The values of the Sag and Step used are displayed but not editable.
- Some differences may be missing when they are smaller than the Step value, especially holes in surfacic models.
- Some differences may be detected in one model only (either the reference or the new model).
Click Preview and use the buttons that are displayed to check the differences found.
- Identical areas are displayed in blue.
- Removed (Reference) geometry is displayed in red.
- Added (New) geometry is displayed in green.
- Compare & Review computes the differences between the Ref model and the New model.
- In general, a difference is a modification made on an area from the Ref model and an area from the New model. In some cases, a modification contains only one area; this is the case for example when a hole has been created in the New model.
- Depending on the Distance value (especially when it is very small), small areas may appear at the border of large areas. They are gathered in separate groups.
Note:
The computation may fail when:
- The areas to compare are too different.
- The areas are disjoined, e.g. both sides of a hole have been moved.
- The mesh is not precise enough.
- The Distance value is too high.
If required, change the parameters used and preview the differences again.
Click the callout to see a particular difference.
The callout displays the maximum distance in this area.
Click Play to start an animation that gives you a quick overview of the all the differences.
Once you are satisfied, click OK in the Comparison parameters dialog box.
- A progress bar appears during a detailed comparison, not during a quick comparison. The comparison can be cancelled at any time.
- A Validation window opens. The tree contains the results of the comparison presented by features.
  - The Validation tree contains a Review and one single Geometrical Comparison.
  - The Geometrical Comparison is editable by double-click.
  - The review data (modifications, options) are stored in this review as applicative data. They are not displayed in the tree, only in the Compare for Review dialog box during edition.

Review the Comparison

You can review the modifications found by the comparison.

Double-click Geometrical Comparison in the tree.
The Compare for Review dialog box appears.
Select the modifications you want to display:
- Ref Only displays only the removed areas (in red).
- New Only displays only the added areas (in green).
- Both displays added and removed areas.
Use the Transparency slider to tune the transparency level for a better visual comprehension of the identical areas.
Filter the modifications to list:
- All lists all the modifications.
- Not Inspected lists only the modifications not yet inspected.
- Not Ignored lists all but ignored modifications i.e. the modifications with a status: OK, KO, Not Inspected.
- Ignored lists only the ignored modifications.
The modifications are listed this way: With the unit being that defined for the session.
- First, the identical areas:
  - The value of the Max Deviation is lower or equal to Distance.
  - The proposed Name of the identical areas is Identical.x. It is editable.
- Then the modified areas:
  - The value of the Max Deviation is always greater or equal to Distance.
  - The proposed Name of the modified areas is Modified.x. It is editable.
- The Status of the modifications can be: OK, KO, Not Inspected, Ignored. It is editable.
Note: The Comment is editable.

Use the Context Menu

You can use the context menu to review the modifications.

Select a modification line in the dialog box and right-click it.
The selected modification is highlighted in the work area.
Select the required menu item:
- Reframe On Default reframes on the modification you have selected.
  Note: If the Reframe On Default shows the wrong side of the modification, or is hidden by other geometry, select Invert Default Camera.
- Invert Default Camera views the modification from the other side.
- Change Status displays a context menu to let you change the status of the modification you have selected (OK, KO, Not Inspected, Ignored).
- Change All Status displays a context menu to let you change the status of all the modifications (OK, KO, Not Inspected, Ignored).
- Switch Color Display switches from the one-color display to a map color display.
  - Deviations higher than Distance are given in red, those lower than Distance are given in blue.
  - The Color Scale appears in the work area.
  - The value and location of the maximum deviation of the current modification are displayed in the work area.
- Edit Properties starts the Modification Properties dialog box.
In the Modification Properties dialog box:
1. Enter a new comment in the blank box under Properties or edit an existing one.
2. Edit the Name of the selected modification.
3. Change the Status of the selected modification.
4. Select or clear the Display Color Scale check box to change the display mode.
5. Click to reframe on the modification you have selected.
The Max Deviation value is given for information and is not editable.

Check the Information from the Comparison

You can retrieve the information computed by the comparison in the Information tab.

Select the Information tab.

Optional: Click a color patch to start the color editor and modify the information colors.

The number of geometries found for each category of modification is displayed, with its display color.
The Comparison Criteria displays the Distance value used.
The status of the modifications: Reported, Ignored, Not Inspected.

Create a HTML Report

You can create and export a html report from your review.

Before you begin:

The following browsers are supported:
- Under Windows: IE6, IE7 and Firefox 3.0,
- Under Unix: Firefox 3.0.
If a security message appears, select Allow Blocked Content, or its equivalent.

Set the following environment variables:
- CATReport={path of CATReport directory}
- CATTemp={ path of CATTemp directory}
- CATInstallPath={ path of intel_a directory}
Inspect all the groups of modifications found.
A group of modifications contains a set of areas in correspondence in both models.
Make all the elements you want to export to the report file visible.
Click HTML Report .
The HTML report is generated under CATReport. It contains:
- A main section with the general information generated by the system:
  - Title of the review
  - Names of the models compared
  - Date and author of the comparison
  - Date and author of the report generation
  - Comparison parameters.
- The global result
- The review details, with a camera for each modification group, that contains a view of the Ref model and one of the New models.
  Note: Transparency is not managed on those views.
Optional: Replace the default xslt file ( ..\resources\xmlReportResources\xslt\htmlOutput.xsl) by one you have designed to customize the format of the HTML report according to your needs.
The HTML report is created from an xml report file, a representation model, and a xslt file that is applied to the XML report.