DOORS 9.6.1 goes 64 bit

IBM has released the 9.6.1 version of “classic” DOORS & Web Access. The Fix list has quite a lot of fixes implemented and this release has also some new functionality:

•  Support for Microsoft Word macros during document generation in RRDG.
•  Separate login configuration options in the database properties interface.
•  Increased auditing capabilities of login history
•  Support for Windows 8.1.

But maybe the greatest change is hidden in the installation instuctions:

• “The Rational DOORS 9.6.1 client and interoperation server now support 64-bit Windows. There is no support for 32 bit.”
• “The Rational DOORS Web Access 9.6.1 server now supports 64-bit Windows and Linux. There is no support for 32 bit.”

So, only 64 bit Windows client is included in the installation package.

In addition to the above, also a DOORS Next Generation version was released. The new 5.0.2 includes some new functionality, e.g. inserted document preview. The previous version of DNG (5.0.1) was only a fix release.

 

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DOORS 9.6: a review

The classic product line of DOORS has now jumped to new version number with 9.6 released (also DOORS Web Access was upgraded to 9.6). The release information and “What’s new” is available at IBM web page and also there is also an announcement on these releases giving more details.

In this post I will go through the some of new features and some other notes on this release.

Native 64-bit client for Rational DOORS rich client

When installing DOORS client on Windows, you can start the setup.exe either from win32 or from win64 directory. The new 64-bit client should allow more memory to be used by the client, going over the 2 GB limit of 32-bit Windows programs.

Note: before installing DOORS 9.6 you maybe have to update your license file to the 2014 version.

Configurable refresh rate for layout columns in modules

For each layout DXL column in view the column properties allow to set for automatic refresh or to disable automatic refresh. If automatic refresh is set, then the “Refresh Delta” setting probably sets the time period for when to refresh the column contents – maybe? The help files do not describe this functionality at all.

Change bars and link indicators are displayed in modules even if the main column is not displayed

You can now add a change bar column and link indicator column as separate columns without the main column.

For some reason you cannot change the column widths for the change bar and link indicator columns – so on the title bar there is not enough space to display a column title in full.

Finer control on the creation of link suspicion

Link suspicion can now be configured on a module-by-module basis, so that links from modules that you won’t want to be flagged as suspicious can be set to be non-suspicious from that module’s Module properties.

Return to last-opened modules with the previous size and position of windows

DOORS Options can be now set so that DOORS will ask to open those modules which were opened when DOORS client was closed.

By default this setting is on, so DOORS will ask for confirmation to open the last opened modules.

Filter the display of contents in the database explorer

DOORS Database Explorer (the main window) has now the possibility of filtering based on module names or description. Also there is a toolbar with buttons to select which items will be show: projects, folder, formal modules, link modules and so on.

Extended capabilities for ReqIF content migration

The ReqIf integration to other tools (e.g. DOORS Next Generation) has many new features. One addition is e.g. the ability to export defined modules to a compressed file so that all of the XML and OLE data is in one (ZIP) file.

Help files

The main help system in DOORS finally seems to be working. At least I did not succeed in crashing the help in 9.6, which is a welcome change from previous versions. Also the user interface has been changed.

The help contents leave something to desire as I did not find any “help” for some of the new features and settings in version 9.6.

Note: with DOORS 9.6. there is again no “old style” Windows CHM help available for DXL, as there was for some of the updates to DOORS 9.5. And the DXL Reference Manual PDF started from Help-menu is for version 9.5. So if you have in your current DOORS installation a working CHM DXL Help and you are happy with that, copy that to a safe location before updating to 9.6.

Summary

I think this is an excellent new release. After short session with 9.6 I am really pleased with the new settings on views and the working Help.

Uusia DOORS-versioita

IBM on kesäkuun alussa julkistanut uudet versiot DOORS-tuotteistaan:

–       DOORS 9.6

–       DOORS Next Generation 5.0

Tuotevalikoima on samalla uudistunut siten että ”Rational Requirements Composer”-tuotenimeä ei enää ole olemassa, vaan RRC tunnetaan nyt pelkästään nimellä DOORS Next Generation – tätä ennenhän nämä kaksi tuotetta olivat käytännössä samat, vain eri lisensseillä.

Rational DOORS 9.6

DOORSissa on nyt mahdollista valita asennuksen yhteydessä myös 64-bittinen Windows-clientohjelmisto. 64-bittisyys mahdollistaa ohjelmalle laajemman muistin käytön, eikä ohjelma ole enää rajoitettu Windowsin 32-bittisten ohjelmien 2 gigatavun rajaan.

Käyttöliittymässä on tapahtunut jonkin verran muutoksia, esim. linkkikolmiot ja muutospalkit voidaan esittää näkymässä vaikka modulin pääsarake ei ole näkymässä.

Tarkemmat 9.6 julkistustiedot http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24037173

Rational DOORS Next Generation 5.0

Uudessa DNG-versiossa on tehty hyvin paljon käyttöliittymämuutoksia, jotka julkistustietojen perusteella selkeyttävät ja helpottavat ohjelman käyttöä. Ehkä suurin muutos ominaisuuksissa on tuotteen kustomoinnin huomattava laajentaminen JavaScript-pohjaisilla widgeteillä.

DOORS Next Generation tietokanta on myös eriytetty muiden Jazz-sovellutusten tietokannasta, lupauksena on että tämä helpottaa kokonaisuuden ylläpitoa ja parantaa suorituskykyä.

DNG-käytön opetteluun on julkaistu web-pohjainen opas (joka tosin esittelee version 4.0.6 toimintaa) http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/rational-doors-next-generation-getting-started/tutorial/index.html

Tarkemmat 5.0 julkistustiedot https://jazz.net/downloads/rational-doors-next-generation/releases/5.0?p=news

Mihin menee DOORS Next Generation?

Asensin uusimman DOORS Next Generation –tuotteen (DNG versio 4.0.6) itselleni testaukseen. Olen hypännyt kehityksessä pari versiota ylitse, mutta yksi merkittävä muutos tässä on tapahtunut versiosta 4.0.5 eteenpäin: DNG ei enää sisällä tai mahdollista ns. rich clientia, eli ”vanhan” DOORSin näköistä käyttöliittymää. IBM: Rational DOORS Next Generation 4.0.5 does not include a rich client.

Versiosta 4.0.5 eteenpäin DOORS Next Generation on siis vain web-liittymällä varustettu ja on siis käytännössä sama kuin Rational Requirements Composer, vain lisensointi erottaa nämä kaksi tuotetta. DOORS 9.5-lisenssin haltijat voivat saada itselleen myös DNG-lisenssin samaan hintaan, mutta RRC-tuotteen lisensioineet eivät saa DOORS-lisenssejä.

Tämä rich clientin pois tiputtaminen tarkoittaa myös sitä että DXL-kustomointi ei tule olemaan osa DNG:n tulevaa kehitystä ja samalla sitä että olemassa olevien DOORS-ympäristöjen siirto DNG:hen tuleekin olemaan hankalampaa, koska käytössä olevat kustomoinnit eivät siirry.

DXL:n sijasta DNG:hen kehitetään JavaScript-pohjaista laajennusmekanismia kustomoinneille. Tämä toiminnallisuus julkistettiin koekäyttöön versiossa 4.05 ja on nyt versiossa 4.06 täysin tuettu. Nämä JavaScript-widgetit asentuvat DNG:ssä Dashboardeille. Widgetit ovat jaetussa verkkosijainnissa, joten sama versio on kaikkien käyttäjien saatavilla.

Alla olevassa kuvassa IBM:n esimerkkiwidgetit ”Status Summary” ja ”Module Explorer” ovat otettu käyttöön Mini Dashboardissa DOORS Next Generation v4.06 modulinäkymässä.

Lisätietoja DOORS Next Generationin JavaScript-kustomoinnista:

IBM Jazz : Client extension capability in version 4.0.6 (vaatii Jazz.net- rekisteröitymisen)

IBM Video YouTubessa: Adding widgets to the widget catalog of IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation (V4.0.6)

DOORS enlightenment webinars for 2014

IBM has released the calendar for the DOORS enlightenment webinars for the first half of 2014. These presentations take place at 12:00 ET (Eastern Time Zone in the USA), but typically they are recorded and viewable at the webinar home page.

Date           Subject
17.01.14     Proposed Attribute Method: A Flexible Method of Change Control for DOORS

07.02.14    Effectively optimizing the DOORS Database

21.02.14    Common Mistakes and Misconceptions in Using DOORS

07.03.14    Creating Traceability in DOORS and Beyond – The Various Methods

21.03.14    Using DOORS in secure, flexible Cloud environment

04.04.14    Managing Parallel Streams of Requirements in DOORS at GM

18.04.14    Managing Requirements for Highly Complex Products

02.05.14    DOORS 101: An Introduction to DOORS 9.5

16.05.14    Agile Requirements: Modeling Across Agile Iterations

06.06.14    DOORS and Rational Publishing Engine – The latest enhancements

20.06.14    Integrating Requirements and with IBM Rational DOORS and IBM

More information and registration at http://ibmfederal.us/DOORS-Enlightenment/

IBM Rational -tuotteiden webkoulutusaineisto verkossa

IBM on julkaissut sarjan web-koulutuksiaan ilmaiseksi sivulla http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27040220.

Saatavilla olevat koulutukset ovat lyhyitä perustoimintoja esitteleviä esityksiä, jotka sopivat hyvin uuden käyttäjän tutustumiseen esim. DOORSiin tai DOORS Web Access‘iin. Koulutusaineistot käyttävät esimerkeissään vanhempia versioita, mutta näiden perustoimintojen ja -käsitteiden osalta tämä ei ole merkittävää.

Näiden tuotekohtaisten koulutusten lisäksi kannattaa huomata sivulla olevat systeemisuunnittelun, SysML:n ja UML:n koulutukset: Systems, Modeling, Unified Process, and Design Management concepts.

RE’14 25.8.2014 – 29.8.2014 Karlskrona

Vuoden 2014 RE eli täydeltä nimeltään IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference pidetään suomalaisille sopivasti aika lähellä Karlskronassa.

Jos aihe kiinnostaa, niin kannattaa varata tuo elokuun viimeinen viikko Ruotsin matkalle. Lisäksi vinkkinä jos ei ole IEEE:n jäsen niin kannattaa tarkkailla konferenssihintoja kun ne ilmestyvät sivulle http://re14.org/ , aikaisemmin usein nimittäin IEEE:n jäsenyys + konferenssin jäsenhinta on ollut edullisempi kuin konferenssimaksu ilman IEEE-jäsenyyttä.

RE14

 

Configuring the DOORS client: command line switches and registry settings

Many DOORS client properties can be configured using command line switches and/or Windows registry settings, e.g. what database is to be used, what is the default opening mode for opening modules, specifying the user account to log into DOORS etc.

For a general overview on how to set these properties, see the IBM Help page Configuring the registry and using command-line switches for the Rational DOORS client and on what properties can be configure see: Command-line switches for the Rational DOORS client.

To set the command line switches on Windows client the Windows shortcut properties have to be modified. In the picture below the “Target” field shows already one switch, the “-data 36679@pmsoftqa4” which determines that a DOORS client started through this shortcut (icon) will use some other database than the default.

If I wanted always to open my modules in “Read Only” mode instead of the default Exclusive Edit I could add “-defopenmode READ_ONLY -defopenlinkmode READ_ONLY” to the end of the Target field. After adding that, my switches for this shortcut would read “-data 36679@pmsoftqa4 -defopenmode READ_ONLY -defopenlinkmode READ_ONLY” in total. Note that there is a separate switch for those modules opened directly from DOORS main window and for those opened through link browsing.

The command line switches listing in the Help page lists also short versions of the switches so that the long line above can be shortened to “-d 36679@pmsoftqa4 -o r –O r”. I usually prefer the long versions, because that way it is easier to see what the setting is.

The same settings can be also done by editing Windows registry: start up regedit.exe and browse to the path for the DOORS Config settings – this path will be different for different Windows version. For me on Windows 7 Professional 64-bit it is “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Telelogic\DOORS\9.5\Config”

To specify registry settings you have to create new registry values in the “Config” key, these should be of type “String Value”. After creation, rename the value to the wanted switch, e.g. “defopenmode”. After renaming you can give data to the value by double-clicking on the value name

In the picture below the registry settings are defined for opening modules

The command line switches in the shortcut will override the registry settings, so even though the registry defines READ_ONLY modes for opening modules, individual shortcuts might have READ_WRITE and the modules are opened in Exclusive Edit.

DOORS link attributes: Link Proposal System and scripts

What are link attributes?

Links in DOORS have attributes similar to objects or modules. DOORS creates the system link attributes “Created On / By”, “Modified On / By” etc. – in addition suspect link handling in DOORS is dependent on link attributes, namely “Suspicion Cleared Backwards / Forwards”. Similar to object attributes we can also create link attributes based on the requirements management process: we might e.g. want to store the priority of the link or the reason for linking the objects.

Link attributes and link attribute types are created in link modules, but most often edited in the source modules. It is possible to edit to link attributes in the source modules by using the Object Properties / Links dialog. Select a specific link and press the “Details” button to see or edit link attribute values for that link.

Because this editing action needs many clicks, link attributes are not quite often used. It is possible to edit link attributes also in link modules, but it is even more complicated than in source modules. To display link attribute values in a column is more easier than editing if you create traceability columns using the Analysis Wizard – step 3 allows to select which link attributes are displayed in columns.

Link Proposal System

As an example on how to use link attributes I implemented  a “Link Proposal System”. The main idea is that as users create links the status of those links are maintained by a link attribute.

E.g. we could have an enumerated link attribute Link Status with values of  “Proposed”, “Accepted” and “To be deleted” and set the “Proposed” value to be the default value. Every link created will then have a Link Status of “Proposed”. Thus even though the link exists it is not accepted in this process.

A person reviewing traceability can check the links in a review trace view and set those which are accepted to have “Accepted” Link Status. If a link is not accepted, then it is marked as “To be deleted” – and deleted either manually or with a DXL script.

Standard DOORS usage would use traceability views showing only the links which have been accepted, i.e. links with status of “Proposed” or “To be deleted” are not shown in these views. Of course all the links are visible in DOORS UI and users can browse those, but within this kind of process they are not links which should be used for traceability.

Support scripts

The make the modification of links attributes easier I also wrote a prototype DXL script for modifying single-value enumerated link attributes, such as might be for example used in the Link Proposal System.

The script dialog has two selection lists. The upper shows what outgoing or incoming links the currently selected object has and the lower shows what single-value enumerated link attributes have been created in the link module containing the link and the attribute.

The link selection list shows in addition to the link attribute name also the attribute value. The value can be changed by double-clicking on the selected link attribute name – as this script deals with enumerated attributes, it will cycle through the values for that attribute for each double-click.

The DXL script can be downloaded from http://www.pekkamakinen.fi/dxl/edit_link_attr.dxl

Google Docs: Importing and exporting DOORS requirements

One of the most used export formats in DOORS is the Spreadsheet format (or direct export to Microsoft Excel). This is also the only easily available file format which allows for offline editing as the corresponding Spreadsheet import (from Comma or Tabulator Separated Values files, CSV/TSV) can update existing DOORS data. These exports can also be imported to cloud-based Google Docs allowing for collaborating on DOORS requirements

If it is planned to re-import the modified data to DOORS it is useful to prepare an export view in DOORS. This export view mainly breaks up the main column to separate columns for Object Heading and Object Text so that individual attributes can be updated on re-import. The view should also include the Object Identifier column as this is needed during import.

After exporting from DOORS (File / Export / Microsoft / Excel (and then maybe save as CSV from Excel) or File / Export / Spreadsheet to CSV) the resulting CSV file can be imported to a Google Spreadsheet.

As see from the preview window, Google import for CSV file does not read the column names correctly from the first line of the CSV file. For this reason  it is more useful to do the import to Google Docs straight from an Excel file in XLS / XLSX format, as this file seems to be formatted correctly:

After import the file can be formatted in Google as needed: in the above example I have frozen the first row, set word wrap on for Object Text column and  displayed in bold the Object Heading column and column titles in first row.

As the Google Docs is a cloud based service this file can be now published to specific users. The shared file can also have user settings: how can read the file, who can comment, who can edit the data.

The commenting option in Google Docs can be useful within Google while discussing the requirements, but these comments cannot be exported or printed.

Modifications done in Google Docs are stored in the Revision history, allowing also to roll-back changes, if needed.

New requirements (new objects) can be added in Google by inserting new rows to the spreadsheet. No Object Identifier details are needed for these as DOORS will give the identifiers on import.

After modifications the file can be exported from Google to DOORS by selecting File / Download as / Comma Separated Values (DOORS can update data only from CSV / TSV files).

The generated CSV file can be imported to DOORS in the original module by selecting File / Import / Spreadsheet. The updated objects can be identified by DOORS by using the Object Identifier as unique key.

After import DOORS will display the result for the import: how many object updated and how many created. If there is a main column in the current view, the modified or created objects are shown as modified by a red change bar before saving the changes.

If your modifications or additions include characters outside of the normal ASCII symbol set (e.g. Finnish text) then it might be useful before importing check the import preview by pressing the Advanced button in the Spreadsheet import dialog and selecting correct “Encoding” for the characters – I used UTF-8 to import the ÄÖ-characters correctly.

For more information on Google Docs see Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Docs (also good to read the “Data safety and privacy” chapter here) or Google Drive help https://support.google.com/drive/?hl=en.