v4.2.g.PreRelease of Executable MBSE Profile

Over last 6 months with more late adopters moving to try and pick-up MBSE and run with it, I've found myself moving more towards suggesting people exploit tool automation such as my SysMLHelper. The amount of code and ideas now accumulated in this open-source project is substantial and it fits almost all needs now (executable or function-block based).

If I've come up with ideas I've incorporated them into it. The latest SysMLHelper is 4.2.g.PreRelease and is available on Github. I also post info to my http://www.executablembse.com/ website, although I've found with all; my websites that I've not had time to add much beyond essentials as I've got hungry customers I've committed hours to.

Regarding my helpers, all I ask is that you comply and respect the license as it protects me against commercialisation of my ideas. I've avoided 3rd party libraries in all my Java. Also, there's a limit to my time, hence if you really want proper help then get me to consult for a bit and I can put my experience to use for you, either to recover projects that need help or to make sure you start off with some quick wins. Doing MBSE with Rhapsody isn't effortless, but it can be fun if you learn how to speed up the tool mechanics and get drawing diagrams quickly based on well proven paths.

Reflection on recent trainings

Done 3 hands-on Rhapsody tool trainings in the 1-3 months, all Rhapsody 4-days but some spread over non-consecutive days (which is one of the benefits of remote/virtual-image-based deliveries). One of the 4 days was C++ based including deep-dive into statecharts and configuration management topics (dates over 2 weeks). The other was mostly Systems/SysML-based (automotive), also dates over 2 weeks. They seemed to go well. More recently I've found myself doing more consulting and recovery jobs, e.g. people getting into trouble with Rhapsody Model Manager and understanding its true potential but also coaching people on advanced topics like making context patterns work with their models. 

IBM Engineering Rhapsody Tip #106 - Power features for filtering diagrams using views/viewpoints

This is my first video for a while and comes from some recent work trying to make it easier for users to exploit the power features of IBM Engineering Rhapsody for filtering diagrams to show elements within a view. Rhapsody includes lots of features to do this such as Queries and CustomViews but it's not always easy to set them up, hence I added some support to Rhapsody to make both the setting up of the necessary elements and then the usability of those elements much easier. After showing the resulting example, the video steps through the steps of creating it using my helper.

First delivery of my new Model-based Testing with Test Conductor training course

Last week I did my first delivery of a new Model-based Testing with IBM Rhapsody Test Conductor (1 day) course I developed to a group of 15 participants, my first new material for a while. Training was based on Rhapsody 9.0.1 iFix 003.

This was the feedback:

Final Class Summary

General: 4.6 out of 5
Material: 4.8 out of 5
Instructor: 4.9 out of 5

Overall Satisfaction: 9.3 out of 10 

The material is all based on hands-on labs and does assume some knowledge of Rhapsody. It can be considered as a 1-day add-on to existing 3-day Mastering Rhapsody trainings. Either done in the same training cycle or as a top-up that gives more exposure to executable modeling later on. 

Rhapsody 9.0.1 iFix 003 SR1 was released 29-Sep-2022

For those that don't know, the latest Interim Fix (iFix) 003 for Rhapsody 9.0.1 is actually a Service Release (SR). This means that it's a complete installer that you can install like a release and don't need to install anything afterwards to get additional fixes (at least at the moment). This makes it a good candidate for performing new installs with as there is just one installer to deal with.

To obtain iFixes for IBM products, you do not need to be a customer but may need to register for IBM id. They are available on IBM's Fix Central website: https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

Search for: IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody

If you have a previous 9.0.1 installing you need to uninstall and then re-install. Obviously, this needs to be done with an understanding of what customization's you've done to the rhapsody.ini, Share folder such as profiles and properties.

Really iFix 003 is a roll up of all the fixes done since 9.0.1 was originally released into a single installation package. It makes it a good candidate for new installs where you're rolling out Jazz 7.0.2.

Java Versions and Features link

Often, a Rhapsody team may choose to get a toolsmith on board to extract the best power with the least effort from what is probably the most configurable UML tool of them all. Although Rhapsody is natively and C++ application, plug-ins for Rhapsody make use a Java API. It's not always the case, however, that the toolsmith is a software engineer by trade and hence just a little foundation knowledge can go a long way. I found this article that helps explain a bit of foundation knolwedge wrt Java and JDKs. It's quite well written I thought and hence thought I'd share the link: Java Versions and Features (marcobehler.com)

v4.1.a.PreRelease version of SysMLHelper toolkit on Github

I published first version with business value profile (target for visio import) plus some important tables views for showing traceability in the requirements, use case and feature function packages in the Executable MBSE profile. 

See my Making Executable MBSE fun with IBM Rational Rhapsody website if you want to know what the latest enhancements were and where to download this set of open source profiles and process automation helper toolkit.