Sample Usage of Change Analyzer

This section describes a sample use of Change Analyzer that should help you get oriented in the tool. Assume that you want to evaluate the impact of changing the YEAR field in your application.

  1. In the Repository Browser, select the project you want to analyze and choose Analyze > Change Analyzer. The Change Analyzer window opens.
  2. Go to Tools > Analysis Options, select Use Cross Program Analysis and click OK
  3. Select a file from the list of programs and click (Step 1: Populate starting point list). A message informing you that any existing lists will be deleted pops up. Click OK.
  4. When the Search window opens, click on the tool bar to define a new criterion. In the New Criterion dialog, enter YEAR and click OK. The YEAR criterion is displayed in the list of recognized criteria in the Change Analyzer tab in the Search window.
  5. In the Change Analyzer tab, select the YEAR criterion and then enter the following search text for the criterion in the Name Like tab: *DATE*.
  6. Click Find All Constructs. You are informed about the number of constructs found.
  7. Click OK. The Starting point tab is now populated with the seed fields for the criterion.
  8. Click and then All Programs (all starting points). If a messages pops up informing you that cross-program is enabled and the analysis might take excessive amount of time, click OK. The Find Synonyms dialog opens.
  9. Specify the depth of synonym processing in the Depth combo box, then click OK. The Lists pane is now populated with tabs with synonyms for each of the seed fields found in the first step of the analysis.
    Note: Depth refers to both depth level of flow IN and OUT of the target field. The default value is 5. This means that Change Analyzer will search for synonyms of the selected field five levels up and five levels down from the current one. The maximum depth is 100.
  10. Select a seed field to navigate to its declaration in the Source pane. Examine the declaration to determine whether the field will be affected by the proposed change.
  11. Right-click a seed field in any of the Affected by lists and choose Trace in the right-click menu. Change Analyzer displays the synonyms for the selected field in the Impact Tracing pane.
  12. Examine the declaration for each synonym to determine whether the field will be affected by the proposed change.
  13. Optionally you can create a new list using Lists > Add List and move any of the seed fields there to better suit your needs. For information on how to do it, see Moving or Copying Fields between Lists below.
  14. Choose Tools > Reports. The Report Selection dialog opens. In the Report Type drop-down, select Report on the Whole List and click OK and then Yes if a message pops up asking you if you want to continue. Change Analyzer displays the report for the Affected list.
  15. You can now print or save the report.
Parent topic: Identifying Classes of Data Items with Change Analyzer