The differences between the Clone, Duplicate, and Copy functions in Agile Designer

Products

• CA Agile Requirements Designer

Issue/Introduction

In Agile Requirements Designer, there are 3 ways of copying a block. They each have different levels of inheritance associated with them.

• A Clone is a direct copy of a block that continuously updates based on what the master block (the block it was copied from) state is.
  You may not edit this block other than to break the ‘link’ to its' master block.

• A Duplicate is a copy of a block that optionally updates after every change from its master to reflect its master's current state.
  You do not have to accept changes from the master block, and you may edit the block on its own.

• A Copy copies an exact replica of the master block at the time of the copy.
  However, it retains no link to the master and will not update based on its master block's changes.
  You may edit this block like any other.
  If you are pasting the block it will append an [n] on the title to ensure the name is unique.

Environment

All support ARD releases.

Cause

N/A

Resolution

Clones:

• A 'Clone' is a direct copy of a block that continuously updates based on what the master block (the block it was copied from) state is.
• You may not edit this block other than to break the ‘link’ to its' master block.
• Clones are created by right clicking on a block and choosing 'Clone block’ from the list.
• You may break the link by editing the item and hitting the ‘Unclone block’ button.
• Clones will automatically update as their master block does.
  

 

Duplicates:

• A 'Duplicate' is a copy of a block which optionally updates after every change from its master to reflect its master's current state.
• You do not have to accept changes from the master block.
• You may edit the block on its own.
• Duplicates are created by right clicking on a block and choosing 'Duplicate block’ from the list.
• You can edit/change the duplicate whenever you like, but if you then change the same attribute on the master and choose to propagate the change to the duplicate, it will overwrite the duplicate (for that attribute).
• You may break the link by editing the item and hitting the ‘Reverse duplication’ button.

 

Copies:

• A copy from (copy-paste) takes all of the properties of its master, but retains no link afterwards.
• Any changes to the master block will not be inherited by the copied block.
• Pasted blocks will be automatically renamed to retain name uniqueness. For example, ARD will append an [n] on the title. You can edit this afterwards.
• You can copy-paste by right clicking on a block and choosing 'Copy' (Ctrl+C) and then right click again on the canvas and choosing 'Paste' (Ctrl+V). 
• You can copy/paste many blocks at once simply by drag selecting them, then copy/pasting.
  

 

When to use each:

Which function you want to use will depend entirely on how much inheritance you want from the master block.

• If you are certain you want two blocks to always be the same (ex. same decision in two places), you should use the 'Clone' function.
• If you want two blocks to be linked, but occasionally want to implement differences (ex. same decision with different options available), you should use the 'Duplicate' function. 
• If you want a copy of the block, with no linking, or just want to move a block between flows, then you should use the 'Copy' function.