Uniquely Identifying an Object

The comparison functionality in Storyboard will analyze two different model files and present the user with a list of differences between those Storyboard projects.  This is a useful functionality to have when you are trying to collaborate with multiple people on a project.  It can show you what your colleagues have changed and what you have changed, and allows you to bring those changes across as you need them.

In order to do this, you need to be able to uniquely identify an object that is a part of the Storyboard project. You need to be able to identify whether an object has been added or deleted, or whether it has changed.   Currently this is done through comparing unique properties with the model elements.  If those properties are different, then the elements are considered different.  This works well enough, but in an effort to improve on the reporting of differences between the two projects, new algorithms are being investigated.

One of the algorithms being investigated would compare the two objects and provide a rating of how similar they are.  This should provide  a more concise overview of what has been changed within the project, and result in a little less noise when it comes to what has been added or deleted.  The goal is to work towards this sort of improvement for our next major release of Storyboard, so give the collaboration tools a try and let us know what you think.  The forums would be a great place to post any comments on the current implementation of our team tools.