how to compare ION template file configuration

[Liangchen1982]

Hello SE support,

I did customization on the ION template, and don't remember all the change. Is there a way/tool to compare the two dcf or fwn file and list all the changes?

Thanks

Leo

[Charles_Murison · Accepted solution]

Hello @Liangchen1982 ,

There is no tool that can compare the templates and give a report on the differences. However it is still possible to compare the files if they are both .xml based (rather than binary based) using any text comparison tool. Exam Diff is a tool that I have used often for this task.

Regards,

Charles

[Natalie]

Hi Charles,

I am using a text comparison tool to compare two DCF files for changes but the module numbers, setup registers, and outputs are in decimal format and not easy to find which module they correspond to.  I know I can go into ION Setup in advanced mode and see the setup register and output addresses (in hex) but it seems like I'll have to open every single module to find the address number I'm looking for.  Is there some sort of table showing module addresses/registers in decimal or hex that I can reference to at least narrow down which module section I should be looking for?  Or is there a way to use PME to better compare two DCF files for differences or view all module register #s shown with their names?

[Charles_Murison]

Hello Natalie,

sadly no, there is no table, there are some hints inside the template file that could possibly help.
Each module manager has a handle. For example, sliding window demand modules is 128. Each module will have a parent handle, P=[handle] from this you can tell what the module type is. Each register will also have a parent handle, from this you can tell what module the register is for. 
Looking at below example, register handle 22656 has parent 1024, module 1024 has parent 128, 128 is sliding demand module. 
<t:ION t:SA="ManagerObj" t:H="128" t:P="2" t:N="SWinDemand Modules" t:CI="2000" ... t:MC="508" ...>
...
<t:ION t:SA="ModuleObj" t:H="1024" t:P="128" t:N="..." t:CI="508" t:L="..." ...>
...
<t:ION t:SA="RegisterObj" t:H="22656" t:P="1024" ...>

Regards,

Charles