The standard file formats for models (.msim) and libraries (.msimlib) are binary files that contain component definitions, simulation results, attachments, simulation settings, and model geometry in a single file. Having this information in a single file is convenient when you need to share your model or library with others. However, it has the following disadvantages when used with a revision control system:

The version controlled file formats for models and libraries, .base_msim and .base_msimlib, solve these issues by breaking up the binary files in a model or library into separate files and therefore give you more control over each component.

For more information, see Version Controlled MapleSim Model File Format, Creating a Version Controlled Model, Version Controlled Library File Format, and Creating a Version Controlled Library.

The Compare Models tool lets you compare the working (that is, In Memory) version of your model to the last version that was saved to disk. This lets you see what components, parameters, and settings you have changed before you save your model. For more information, see Comparing Models and Compare Models Tools: Details.

The selective save feature lets you choose what changes to save in your model or library. This is useful when you are updating a shared subsystem and need to make temporary changes to the rest of your model in order to verify your updates. When you are ready to save the updates to your shared subsystem you can select only the those changes and reject the temporary changes that you made to the rest of your model. For more information, see The Selective Save Feature and Saving a File.

The Diff Tool is a separate executable that compares model files (.msim and .base_msim), library files (.msimlib and .base_msimlib), and component files (.component). It can be configured with a third-party revision control systems to generate a report on the differences between two versions of a file. For more information, see The Diff Tool.