Resolve Conflicts when Merging Projects

Conflicts occur when a destination object's version differs from the source object's version. This difference usually means that the object has been modified in one or both of the projects. These conflicts are resolved by following a set of rules you define as you step through the Project Merge Wizard.

When you define the rules for Project Merge to use, you first set the default conflict resolution action for each category of objects (schema, application, and configuration). (For a list of objects included in each category, see Copy Objects.) Then you can specify conflict resolution rules at the object type level (attributes, facts, reports, consolidations, events, schedules, and so on). Object type rules override object category rules. Next you can specify rules for specific folders and their contents, which override the object type and object category rules. Finally you can specify rules for specific objects, which, in turn, override object type rules, object category rules, and folder rules.

For example, the Use Newer action replaces the destination object with the source object if the source object has been modified more recently than the destination object. If you specified the Use newer action for all metrics, but the Sales metric has been changed recently and is not yet ready for the production system, you can specify Use existing (use the object in the destination project) for that metric only and it will not be replaced.

Project Merge Conflict Resolution Rules

If the source object has a different version than the destination object, that is, the objects exist differently, you must determine what action should occur. The various actions that can be taken to resolve conflicts are explained in the table below.

Action	Effect
Use existing	No change is made to the destination object. The source object is not copied.
Replace	The destination object is replaced with the source object. Non-empty folders in the destination location will never have the same version ID and modification time as the source, because the folder is copied first and the objects are added to it, thus changing the version ID and modification times during the copy process.
Keep both	No change is made to the destination object. The source object is duplicated in the destination location.
Use newer	If the source object's modification time is more recent than the destination object's, the Replace action is used. Otherwise, the Use existing action is used.
Use older	If the source object's modification time is more recent than the destination object's, the Use existing action is used. Otherwise, the Replace action is used.