Merge Projects

You can merge projects with Astah Professional. There are two levels of merge:

1. Easy Merge
2. Detail Merge

Easy Merge

[Easy Merge] is relatively simple. When there are conflicts between two projects, Astah imports the contents of one project into the other.

1. Open a .asta file.
2. Go to [File] – [Merge Project…].
3. Select another .asta file to merge.
4. Choose which file to prioritize, and click [OK]. When there are conflicts, the models in the file you select overwrite those in the other file.
   

Detail Merge

With [Detail Merge], you can choose which project to prioritize for each model or element when there are differences between two project files.

1. Go to [File] – [Merge Project…].
2. Select a file to merge.
3. Click the [Detail] button to open the [Flexible Merge] window.
   

Flexible Merge Window

Left pane: Model tree

The models of the working project are displayed in a tree in the left pane, with a mark on each model that differs from the importing project.

Icon	Description
	This indicates that these diagrams/models exist only in the working project.
	This indicates that these diagram/models exist only in the compared project.
	This indicates that these diagrams/models exist in both projects.

Filter in the tree

Since version 8.3, you can filter the tree. Check [Show only differences on the tree] to show only the models that have differences. To also hide models whose only changes are in presentation, such as color changes or small position changes, check [Hide presentation attributes differences] below it. This option becomes available when [Show only differences on the tree] is checked.

Filter in the Difference List

The [Difference List] on the right shows the differences of the model selected in the tree. Two options control what is listed:

• [Show differences recursively]: also lists the differences in the elements contained in the selected model.
• [Hide presentation attributes differences]: removes differences that are only in presentation, such as color changes or small position changes, so the list shows only the elements that were actually modified.

Show Diagram Difference

You can compare two diagrams visually by clicking the [Show Diagram Difference] button.

A new window opens, showing the two diagrams side by side with the changed models marked. You can filter the marks by type of change, such as “Added”, “Deleted” and “Modified”.

Filtering Option

Check the “Hide differences in appearance” option to filter out models whose only changes are in presentation, such as color changes or small position changes.

Merge Method

You can choose a [Merge Method] for each model selected in the tree. If you select multiple models with different Merge Method options, all the options are displayed.

(1) Ignore importing models (not recommended)

If this option is selected, importing models are not included in the merged project.

(2) Replace with importing models

The models are replaced with those in the importing project. If the importing project is empty, all models will be deleted.

(3) Merge – Prefer the working project

Using this option, elements that exist only in either the working project or the importing project are merged. For other elements, the working project is prioritized.

(4) Merge – Prefer the importing project

Using this option, elements that exist only in either the working project or the importing project are merged. For other elements, the importing project is prioritized.

(5) Free selection for each element

Using this option, elements are merged according to the checkboxes in the [Keep Elements in the Working] column of the Difference List.

Restrictions

1. Merging the contents of the following diagrams is not supported: Sequence Diagrams, Communication Diagrams, Statemachine Diagrams, Activity Diagrams, Flowcharts, Data Flow Diagrams, CRUDs and Mindmaps. For these, you select either the working diagram or the importing diagram, and it overwrites the other.
2. Sequence Diagrams, Communication Diagrams, Statemachine Diagrams, Activity Diagrams, Flowcharts, Data Flow Diagrams, CRUDs and Mindmaps are always displayed in the Flexible Merge window even if there are no changes.