This command applies to Detailed Comparisons only. (For Basic Comparisons no temporary files or report files are created. In this case only the Combined Result is available, which will be displayed automatically.)

The Open Results window is used for the following purposes:

1. After two files have been compared, this window informs the user about the number of files generated, and asks what to display.
2. This window can also be accessed directly from the menu to open additional drawings based on the current comparison.
3. Finally it can be used to open results from a previously run comparison, but only if those results are still available. If the files are no longer available or if you have changed the original files then you should use the New command to recompare the drawings.

The following options can be selected in the Open Results window: (If an option is not accessible then the temporary files for this option are missing or no differences were found.)

Directory

Here you can specify where the results of the comparison (the temporary files) are stored. If you have just run a Detailed Comparison then you don’t have to change this.
If you want to re-open the results of an earlier comparison then specify the directory where these results are stored. Check your preferences to see where temporary files are stored and when they are removed automatically.
Immediately underneath this field you can see if the directory contains CompareDWG files.

Old Drawing

Select this to open a copy of the Old Drawing with markup colours. If such a copy is already open, this command will not open a second copy but bring the first one to the front. Three colours are used to distinguish between deleted, changed and unchanged entities. The colours can be changed in the Preferences.
Use the Visibility command if you want to hide some entities. For example, you may want to hide all unchanged entities to get a clearer view of all changed entities.

New Drawing

Select this to open a copy of the New Drawing. Three colours are used to distinguish between added, changed and unchanged entities.

Combined Drawing

Select this to open a combination of the Old and the New Drawing. Five colours are used to distinguish between deleted, added, changed (old and new look) and unchanged entities.

Show Summary Report

This option will display the Summary Report which gives an overview of the differences. It is advisable to check this report after each comparison.
This report is also available from the CompareDWG menu.

Show Table Details Report

This option will display the Table Details Report. This report lists which layers, linetypes etc. have been added, changed and deleted.
This report is also available from the CompareDWG menu.

All drawings opened with the Open Results command will always zoom to the extents of the Combined Drawing. This makes it easier to compare the result drawings. (Please note: the zoom is based on the extents information stored in the original drawings. This information is not always correct, especially in R12 and R13 drawings. If the zoom factor is not what you expect, use the Zoom Extents command.)