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Trac Changeset Module

Trac has a built-in functionality for visualizing “diffs”, or changes to files.

There are different kinds of change sets. Some correspond to revisions made in the repositories, others aggregate changes made in several revisions. Ultimately, any kind of difference can be shown.

The changeset view consists of two parts, the header and the diff views.

Changeset Header

The header shows an overview of the whole changeset. Here you will find information such as:

If more than one revision is involved in the set of changes being displayed, the Timestamp, Author and Message fields will not be shown.

A colored rectangle indicates how the file is affected by the changeset:

  Green: Added
  Red: Removed
  Yellow: Modified
  Blue: Copied
  Gray: Moved

The color legend is located below the header as a reminder.

Diff Views

Below the header is the main part of the changeset, the diff view. Each file is shown in a separate section, each of which contains only the regions of the file that are affected by the changeset. There are two different styles to display the diffs: inline or side-by-side. You can switch between the styles using the preferences form:

In addition, various advanced options are available in the preferences form for adjusting the display of the diffs:

The Different Ways to Get a Diff

Examining a Changeset

When viewing a repository check-in, such as when following a changeset link or a changeset event in the timeline, Trac will display the exact changes made by the check-in.

There will be also navigation links to the Previous Changeset to and Next Changeset.

Examining Differences Between Revisions

Often you want to look at changes made on a file or on a directory spanning multiple revisions. The easiest way to get there is from the TracRevisionLog, where you can select the old and the new revisions of the file or directory, and then click the View changes button.

Examining Differences Between Branches

One of the core features of version control systems is the possibility to work simultaneously on different Lines of Developments, commonly called “branches”. Trac enables you to examine the exact differences between such branches.

Using the View changes ... button in the TracBrowser allows you to enter From: and To: path/revision pairs. The resulting set of differences consist of the changes that should be applied to the From: content to get to the To: content.

For convenience, it is possible to invert the roles of the old and the new path/revision pairs by clicking the Reverse Diff link on the changeset page.

Checking the Last Change

Another way to examine changes is to use the Last Change link provided by the TracBrowser.

This link will take you to the last change that was made on that path. From there, you can use the Previous Change and Next Change links to traverse the change history of the file or directory.


See also: TracGuide, TracBrowser