Running the Compare Utility
To run the Compare utility:
-
Click a utility from the Tools toolbar or Tools, Compare menu:
You can run Compare Documents 
on parts in the SolidWorks® Enterprise PDM software.
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Compare Features 
. Identifies the differences in solid features, including appearance properties (colors, optics, and textures) between two versions of the same part (or two configurations of the same part). Features are compared by name and type. If features in the two parts have the same name and type, this tool pairs the features and compares their individual parameters.
Features are classified into three categories:
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Identical features. Same name and type with identical parameter values
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Modified features. Same name and type with different parameter values
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Unique features. Unique name and type
If FeatureWorks is installed on your machine and you open a part without parameterized features, the following occurs:
FeatureWorks displays a dialog box that asks if you want to proceed with feature recognition. You should click No.
If you click Yes, which starts feature recognition, do not click Run Comparison in the Compare Features Task Pane. Running the two simultaneously can have undesirable results.
Modified and unique faces are highlighted in different colors in the graphics area. Identical faces retain their original color.
Volume comparison results are shown in the new Volume Comparison of <Reference Document> and <Modified Document> window. Common volume, material removed, or material added are shown in different colors.
Compare Geometry works on both solid models and surface models. You can compare two surface models for face comparison only.
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Compare BOMs 
(Assemblies or drawings). Compares Bill of Material (BOM) tables from two SolidWorks assembly or drawing documents. You can compare BOM tables from two assemblies, two drawings, or an assembly and a drawing.
The results list missing columns and rows, extra columns and rows, and failed rows. Comparison of Excel-based BOMs is not supported. This utility finds all BOM tables in the documents. You then select the BOMs to compare in BOM 1 and BOM 2. You also select a column for Criteria for failed rows. Failed rows have identical data in both BOM tables for the selected column, but non-identical data in the other columns. See
Viewing Compare Results
for an example.
You must include the Part Number column in both BOMs to display missing or extra rows.
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Select a Reference document and a Modified document. You can select from the list of already opened documents, or Browse to a document.
To specify a configuration, click Browse and select a document. In the Open dialog box, select a configuration under Configurations, then click Open. When you compare two configurations of the same document, the file name is renamed to <
document_name
>_<
configuration_name
>.sld*
.
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Under Items to compare, select additional items to compare if necessary. The Compare utility can compare multiple items simultaneously.
If you are comparing geometry, select Align parts to compare geometrically similar bodies located in different positions, relative to the origin.
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Click
Options
at the top of the Task Pane to open the Compare Options dialog box. You can use this to change units, feature display colors, report options, and so on. You can also change these options after Compare runs.
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Click Run Comparison to begin the comparison.
-
Open the Compare 
Task Pane to view the
results
. If you compare multiple items, select the tabs to toggle between results 
. Click 
and 
at the top of the Task Pane to navigate between the results and parameters panes.