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Handler Diff Power Tool

The Handler Diff tool lets you compare two directories of handlers. The output is an XML file that lists the differences between the two sets of handlers. Optionally, you can specify an XSL file that will customize the display of the resulting diff XML file into a more readable form.

To use the tool to compare two directories of handlers:

Close all open handlers in Interaction Designer.
From the Utilities menu, point to Power Tools, and then choose Handler Diff.

The Handler Diff dialog box appears.
Under "Old" Handler List, click the Browse button and then specify the folder that contains the set of the original handlers you want to use.

After you select the folder, the Handler Diff tool populates the Old list with the .ihd files found in that folder.
Under "New" Handler List, click the Browse button and then specify the folder that contains the set of the original handlers you want to compare with the Old Handler List.
Uncheck any handlers that you do not want to process.

Each list also has a button at the bottom of the list (Check only handlers that are checked in "New" list and Check only handlers that are checked in "Old" list) that will automatically check only those handlers that exist in the other list.
On the Diffs to Perform tab in the lower portion of the dialog box, clear the check box for any diffs you do not want to perform. This tab lists all the handler attributes that you can compare.

When you click on a diff, a description of that diff appears in the Diff description portion of the dialog. There is a Check All Diffs button that you can click to select all diffs at once.
To change the location of the output diff XML file, click the Output Location tab, and then click Pick output XML file and specify where you want to have the diff output XML file written.
To customize the output with an XSL file, click the Output Formatting tab, select the Add XSL stylesheet to customize handler diff XML output checkbox, and then select the appropriate .XSL file from the list.

GeneralHandlerDiffOverview.xsl is a sample, non-localized file installed in \IC\Server\HandlerDiff\XSLFiles that gives an example of how you can use an XSL file to customize the output. If you decide to use an XSL file to customize the output, note that the location of the stylesheet is written directly into the diff results XML file with a "<?xml-stylesheet" processing instruction at the top. If you give the output XML file to another user with a stylesheet specified, it may not display the same way on their machine unless the XSL file exists in the location specified in the XML file.
Click Run Handler Diff to start the comparison.

When the diff operation completes, the diff tool will launch Internet Explorer to display the resulting XML file. If you specified an XSL sheet to use to customize the output, when Internet Explorer opens the file, you might see the error "To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this file from showing active content that could acces your computer. Click here for options..." If this message appears, click the message and then click Allow Blocked Content to display the information.
Click on a handler name in the left column to display the diff results for that handler in the right column.