Viewing Differences Between Two Courses

Sometimes it is useful to see how one course differs from another. For example, sometimes judges design courses for two different classes, such that the course for one class can easily be converted into the course for the other class. It is useful to emphasize to the course builders for the second course just the changes that need to be made to convert the first course into the second. As a second example, if a course reviewer makes a couple changes to a course, the judge who designed the course may want to see exactly what changes were made.

To show the changes needed to convert a "before" course into an "after" course:

1. Open both courses in Course Designer.
2. With the "after" course as the top course, use the "View / Differences..." menu item to display the "Differences Between Courses" dialog box.
3. Under "Emphasize how this course differs from:", click the radio button for selecting a course, and select the "before" course.
4. Click the OK button to close the dialog box.

The above will affect how the "after" course appears. Shapes which are unchanged from the "before" course will be drawn lighter than normal. Shapes in the "before" course that do not correspond exactly to a shape in the "after" course will be drawn either with the selected color, or with hatch marks over them. Shapes in the "after" course" that do not correspond exactly to a shape in the "before" course will be drawn normally. Obstacle coordinates, if shown, will only be shown for shapes in the "after" course" that do not correspond exactly to a shape in the "before" course.

To revert to showing the "after" course normally again, use the "View / Differences" menu item again, but this time select "None".

A "snapshot" is used of the "before" course in displaying the changes. If you make changes to the "before" course, those changes will not automatically be reflected in the display of an "after" course. To properly reflect such changes to the "before" course, Use the "View / Differences..." menu item again, to get a fresh "snapshot" of the "before" course.

If you move or rotate a shape in the "after" course, it can be difficult to move or rotate the shape back, so that it exactly matches the shape in the "before" course again. To do that, delete the shape from the "after" course, and copy and paste the shape from the "before" course to the "after" course.

See also: Using the Clipboard