Friday 16 April 2021

IBM Engineering Rhapsody Tip #97 - I can't get no Satisfactions (creating a browser view)

I'm keeping towards the magic 100! This IBM Rational/Engineering Rhapsody tips and tricks video shows the simple steps how to create a new browser filter that shows whether requirements have certain coverage in a model. I show that it works with both requirements in the model and remote requirements in IBM Engineering DOORS Next Jazz application. It's silent though hence if you fancy strutting your stuff then feel free.


The following is the transcript for those that need it:

The theme for this Rhapsody tips and tricks video is the Stones' "I can't get no Satisfaction". It's silent though, hence you have to sing it yourself. 

Rhapsody has a bunch of standard browser filters, e.g., filter browser to Requirements View. But look, there are some non-standard views listed here! E.g., which requirements are covered, and which requirements can't get no satisfaction?

If we add a Satisfaction to the model and save, then the requirements are removed to show they're now covered. Adding such views can speed up requirement tracing.

These custom views were added by one of my profiles. 

Let's have a go at creating the "no satisfaction" one from scratch ;-) First off, I'll do it in a profile, a special type of UML package for customizations. 

I'll create a Query element. Queries are like persisted model searches. We can define a search criteria, such as Element type = Requirement. If we double-click a Query then it runs a search in the model.

We can build a compound filter, e.g. Reference. Find elements that have exactly zero incoming relations of type Satisfaction. The compound filter is now looking for requirements that don't have satisfaction relations. Double-click enables us to test it.

What's more, the Model::Query::ShowInBrowserFilterList property is set. This means that our new Query - AintGotNoSatisfaction is listed as a browser.

Worth noting that these queries also work with remote requirements. These requirements are in IBM Engineering DOORS Next. With DOORS Next requirements, adding a standard dependency allows us to create an OSLC Satisfaction and the requirements has been removed from the filtered view of unsatisfied requirements, i.e., I can't get no satisfaction! ;-)

Interested in MBSE/UML or Rhapsody training/customizations? Email me.

Thursday 1 April 2021

IBM Engineering Rhapsody Tip #96 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Label Mode

This video is a bit of a Rational Rhapsody aficionado's topic. The joy's of Rhapsody's Label Mode. Most effective use of this has been when presenting quite a complicated diagram, like an executable state machine or sequence diagram, to lay audience. I'm sure there are some other great examples of usage out there also ("The Good"). I do highlight some of the dangers, however. When you write things not knowing that label mode is enabled, for example.  The video is silent though, so you'll have to hum Ennio Morricone's fantastic spaghetti western theme song, if you get bored with reading my captions.