diff --git a/src/caosdb/apiutils.py b/src/caosdb/apiutils.py
index f49b13e717f3464cae5cf0d14284c6e6a750f393..391edfed8231a09bd2014ac321e830bc1477919b 100644
--- a/src/caosdb/apiutils.py
+++ b/src/caosdb/apiutils.py
@@ -484,18 +484,18 @@ def getCommitIn(folder):
 COMPARED = ["name", "role", "datatype", "description", "importance"]
 
 
-def compare_entities(r1, r2):
+def compare_entities(old_entity, new_entity):
     description = ""
-    # if r1 is r2:
+    # if old_entity is new_entity:
     # return description
     for attr in COMPARED:
         try:
-            r1.__getattribute__(attr)
+            old_entity.__getattribute__(attr)
             r1_attr_exists = True
         except BaseException:
             r1_attr_exists = False
         try:
-            r2.__getattribute__(attr)
+            new_entity.__getattribute__(attr)
             r2_attr_exists = True
         except BaseException:
             r2_attr_exists = False
@@ -504,22 +504,22 @@ def compare_entities(r1, r2):
             continue
         if not r1_attr_exists and not r2_attr_exists:
             continue
-        if r1.__getattribute__(attr) != r2.__getattribute__(attr):
+        if old_entity.__getattribute__(attr) != new_entity.__getattribute__(attr):
             description += attr + " differs:\n"
-            description += str(r1.__getattribute__(attr)) + "\n"
-            description += str(r2.__getattribute__(attr)) + "\n"
+            description += str(old_entity.__getattribute__(attr)) + "\n"
+            description += str(new_entity.__getattribute__(attr)) + "\n"
 
     # properties
-    if (len(r1.properties) > 0) ^ (len(r2.properties) > 0):
+    if (len(old_entity.properties) > 0) ^ (len(new_entity.properties) > 0):
         description += "only one has properties\n"
     else:
-        for prop in r1.properties:
-            matching = [p for p in r2.properties if p.name == prop.name]
+        for prop in old_entity.properties:
+            matching = [p for p in new_entity.properties if p.name == prop.name]
             if len(matching) == 0:
-                description += "r2 is missing the property '" + prop.name + "'\n"
+                description += "new_entity is missing the property '" + prop.name + "'\n"
             elif len(matching) == 1:
-                if (r1.get_importance(prop.name) !=
-                        r2.get_importance(prop.name)):
+                if (old_entity.get_importance(prop.name) !=
+                        new_entity.get_importance(prop.name)):
                     description += "importance of '" + prop.name + "' differs\n"
                 if ((prop.datatype is not None and
                         matching[0].datatype is not None) and
@@ -527,28 +527,28 @@ def compare_entities(r1, r2):
                     description += "datatype of '" + prop.name + "' differs\n"
             else:
                 raise NotImplementedError()
-        for prop in r2.properties:
-            if len([0 for p in r1.properties if p.name == prop.name]) == 0:
-                description += "r1 is missing the property '" + prop.name + "'\n"
+        for prop in new_entity.properties:
+            if len([0 for p in old_entity.properties if p.name == prop.name]) == 0:
+                description += "old_entity is missing the property '" + prop.name + "'\n"
 
     # parents
-    if ((len(r1.parents) > 0) ^ (len(r2.parents) > 0)):
+    if ((len(old_entity.parents) > 0) ^ (len(new_entity.parents) > 0)):
         description += "only one has parents\n"
     else:
-        for par in r1.parents:
-            matching = [p for p in r2.parents if p.name == par.name]
+        for par in old_entity.parents:
+            matching = [p for p in new_entity.parents if p.name == par.name]
             if len(matching) == 0:
-                description += "r2 is missing the parent '" + par.name + "'\n"
+                description += "new_entity is missing the parent '" + par.name + "'\n"
             elif len(matching) == 1:
                 description += compare_entities(par, matching[0])
             else:
                 raise NotImplementedError()
-        for par in r2.parents:
-            if len([0 for p in r1.parents if p.name == par.name]) == 0:
-                description += "r1 is missing the parent '" + par.name + "'\n"
+        for par in new_entity.parents:
+            if len([0 for p in old_entity.parents if p.name == par.name]) == 0:
+                description += "old_entity is missing the parent '" + par.name + "'\n"
 
     if description != "":
         description = """#######################
 {}
-#######################\n""".format(r1.name) + description
+#######################\n""".format(old_entity.name) + description
     return description