When working with source code, web content or other digital assets it is often necessary to  examine the history of files, identifying what changes were made and by whom. The CodeMatrix application design makes this information readily available.

To examine the revision history of a file simply select it from the tree view. The information shown in the right part of the main window will change to show details of the file.

By default the list view will list the changes to the file, showing the revision numbers and as shown below.

The list of revisions may be tailored by amending the current filter options as described in the section customize a view. Using this mechanism the user may for example include deleted revisions or ancestor revisions from parent branches.

Any of the entries in the list may be selected, and the details related to the selection will then be shown in the detail pane. Several levels of detail may be selected by clicking the tabs at the top of the detail pane.

The summary tab shows the most basic details of the file revision. The detail tab shows more information, but is a little slower as the information must be retrieved from the server. The view tab shows the actual file contents where possible. The view tab will show contents of text files, and image files in any of the 80+ supported formats. If two revisions are selected in the list view then a side by side view of the revisions is shown, and in the case of text files the differences are highlighted as described in the section examining revision differences.

The following examples illustrate the principles of viewing CodeMatrix revisions..

Selecting a text file from the tree view
Showing the summary information for a file revision
Showing the contents of a text file revision
Showing the contents of an image file revision
Comparing the contents of two image file revisions
 

Selecting a text file from the tree view.

Simply click the entry in the tree view using the mouse.

Showing the summary information for a file revision.

Click the revision in the table view.
Click the summary tab if not already selected.

Showing the contents of a text file revision.

Click the view tab.

Showing the differences between two text file revisions.

Select two list entries, by holding the ctrl key on the keyboard whilst clicking with the mouse.
Click the view tab if not already selected.
To see more detail select the "zoom" option from the view menu.

Showing the contents of an image file revision.

Simply click the entry in the tree view using the mouse. An image file type is identified by the file suffix, e.g. bmp, jpg, ico, gif. Click the view tab if not already selected. The image is shown in the detail pane.
 

Comparing the contents of two image file revision.

Select two list entries, by holding the ctrl key on the keyboard whilst clicking with the mouse.
Click the view tab if not already selected. The images are shown side by side in the view pane.