Reviewing a Change List

If you have Write or higher permission on all the documents included in a change list submitted by another user, then you can review it and determine whether to approve the changes, reject them, or return the change list to the user requesting her to revise it. When you connect to the repository a message in the Output window notifies you if you have change lists to review.

Note: If an administrator has connected the repository to an SMTP server (see Connecting to an SMTP Server for Notifications), you will receive an email when the user submits the change list, inviting you to review it.
  1. Open the Repository tab of the Browser and expand the Change Lists folder to view all the change lists awaiting your review, which are identified by their "submitted" icon:
    Change Lists - Submitted Icon
  2. Double-click a change list to view its properties (see Change List Properties), and read the Comment field to understand the reason for the changes.
  3. Click the Documents tab and review the documents that are included in the change list. The documents in the list display status icons to identify whether further changes have been checked into the mainline version by other users since the change list version was created:
    Change List Document Status No Locks Mainline Locked by You (Green Padlock) Mainline Locked by Other (Red Padlock)
    Change list creates new document (red cross)

    N/A N/A
    Changes in change list version (red checkmark)
    Changes in both change list and mainline versions (yellow exclamation point and red checkmark)
  4. [recommended] Right-click any models that are shown as having subsequent changes on the mainline and select Update from Mainline to merge these changes into the change list version (see Resolving Conflicts During Check In).
    Merging modifications from the mainline ensures that you are reviewing the change list changes in the most up-to-date context, and will also simplify the approval process.
  5. Perform the following actions on a document by right-clicking it or using the toolbar:
    • Check Out - Check the submitted version of the document out into your local workspace to review it in more detail (see Checking Documents Out of the Repository).
    • Compare - Compare the submitted version of the document in the change list with the mainline version in the repository (see Comparing Models).
    • Find in Open Change Lists - Open the List of Change Lists filtered to display only open change lists containing the document.
  6. Document your agreement with the changes proposed or explain why you will reject the changes or return them to the submitter for modification in the Comment field of the change list.
  7. When you have completed your review, if the property sheet of the change list is open, close it in preparation to approve, return, or reject the changes it contains.