Considerations for merging sequence diagrams

You can merge differing versions of sequence diagrams that you have compared with IBM® Rational® Rhapsody® DiffMerge. This merging is possible for both two‑way comparisons and three‑way (base‑aware) comparisons.

The merge ability is a manual merge process. There is no automatic merging of differences when merging sequence diagrams.

Note: The operation mode of the sequence diagram (analysis or design) does not affect the merging of sequence diagrams.

When merging sequence diagrams, you can make merge decisions directly from the Rational Rhapsody DiffMerge browser (structural merging), or, alternatively, you can display the various versions of the diagram and make your merge decisions from within the diagrams (graphical merging).

Note: When merging sequence diagrams, you can use structural or graphical merging, or both. However, once you begin using graphical merging, you cannot return to structural merging unless you "reset" the diagram by including one of the versions of the diagram in its entirety. In addition, structural merging of diagram elements (for example, instance lines, messages, and so on) is only available for sequence diagrams.

When making merge decisions, whether in "structural" mode or "graphical" mode, the following principles apply:

Elements that realize Sequence diagram elements

Merge decisions regarding instance lines in a diagram do not affect the inclusion and exclusion, or both, of the class that realizes the instance line, if one is specified.

Merge decisions regarding messages in a diagram do not affect the inclusion and exclusion, or both, of the event that realizes the message, if one is specified.


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