Objectives

The new learning objectives of this exercise are to create a repository connection to a DOORS Next Generations (DNG) repository on the Syndeia Web Dashboard (SWD), view the repository including properties, relations and search, and create a reference connection. The specific features related to CM-enabled DNG are described in other training materials.

Preparation

This exercise assumes the student has

·         Syndeia Cloud 3.4 installed with a valid user account,

·         A valid user account to a DOORS Next Gen repository, and

·         A valid user account to a at least one other on-line repository, e.g. JIRA.

The user can use any DOORS-NG repository they have available.  Because the content of your DOORS repository will be different, the specific examples in the following exercise instructions are only a guide and example for your actions. It is generally advisable to carry out these exercises in a non-production repository, a “sandbox”, set up for training and practice purposes.

See Video 1.9 for an introduction to the Syndeia Web Dashboard.

Background – DOORS-NG

As envisioned by Intercax, the Digital Thread is composed of inter-model connections between models in different repositories, which Syndeia creates and manages, and intra-model connections between elements in the same repository, which the individual tool creates and manages. As of Syndeia release 3.4, the Syndeia Web Dashboard can extract and display some model information from the DNG repository. Figure 1 shows a tree view of this information, with labels identifying the DNG element types. The label color coding indicates how the DNG element type is mapped to the Syndeia Cloud element types: Repository (green), Container (red), and Artifact (blue).

This information is important in formulating and interpreting Syndeia graph queries. A more complete diagram of the DNG data model as it is understood by Syndeia is available through the web dashboard help menu on the left.

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Figure 1 Tree view of DOORS repository

Exercise

1. Log on to the Syndeia Cloud Web Dashboard (see Video 1.9) and click on the Repositories icon on the left border (Figure 2).
   
   

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   Figure 2 SWD Repositories page (initial) – Repositories icon outlined in red
   
   

2. If no repository connection to DOORS is available, select DOORS-NG in the left column, then click the + icon at the top of the column. Complete the form and click Create (Figure 3).
   
   

   Figure 3 Adding a DOORS repository connection
   
   

3. If a DOORS repository connection already appears under DOORS-NG, but you need to add your own access credential, select the DOORS repository and click the Gear icon at the top of the column. Complete username and password and click Update (Figure 4).
   
   

   Figure 4 Updating DOORS repository info
   
   

4. Your repository should load. Expand it to show DNG resources such as requirements, collections and modules, as in Figure 5. See Background section for discussion of DOORS artifact types.
   
   

   Figure 5 Viewing DOORS repository contents on Repositories page
   
   

5. On the right border, there are three icons, labeled Details, Relations and Search. Select a DOORS element in the Tree View column (Folder Three with Two Requirements in our example) and click on the Details icon. A Details list appears to the right as in Figure 6. Scroll down and review the attributes of the DOORS element that are available to Syndeia 3.4, including name, type and externalId, which is the unique identifier in the DOORS repository. Click the Details icon again to close the list.
   
   

   Figure 6  SWD Repositories page, Details list (Details icon highlighted in red)
   
   

6. Click the Search icon on the right.
   
   

   1. In the Search window, select Project Search or Artifact Search. If Project Search is selected, fill in the Contains string field and click Search.
      
      

   2. If Artifact Search is selected, select the DOORS Project to be searched from the Select Project pull-down menu.
      
      

      1. If the project is not CM-enabled, select the artifact type. Depending on the artifact type, fill in the identifier or text string and click Search.
         
         

      2. If the project is CM-enabled, select the component, the stream or baseline (optional), and the artifact type. Depending on the artifact type, fill in the identifier or text string and click Search.
         
         

      3. In our example, we entered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Project and Component, Resource for Artifact type and 2474 for Identifier. The result(s) of the search are shown on the right, as in Figure 7.
         
         

   3. Click the Search icon again to close the Search window.
      
      

      Figure 7  SWD Repositories page, Search feature (Search icon and search result highlighted in red)
      
      

7. Select a DOORS element in the Tree View column (2965 – Testable Requirements in a Collection in our example) and click on the Relations icon on the right.
   
   

   1. In the Relations window (Figure 8), you will see a list of Inter-model relations, from the selected DOORS collection to other non-DOORS model elements, and a list of Intra-model relations, from the selected DOORS element to other DOORS elements in the same DOORS repository. In this example, there is one Inter-model relation, to a JIRA issue, and three intra-model connections to DNG requirements inside the collection. Other types of intra-model connections can also be displayed, e.g. Satisfies, where present.
      
      

      Figure 8  SWD Repositories page, Relations lists (Relations and Add icons highlighted in red)
      
      

8. To create a reference connection between the selected DOORS item and an element in another repository, click on the + (Add) icon highlighted in Figure 8. A Create Reference Relationships window will appear as in Figure 9.
   
   

   1. At the top, either select an existing Syndeia project to save the connection within (DZSB11 in our example) or create a new project. See Video 1.5 on creating Syndeia projects for further discussion.
      
      

   2. Under Select target artifact, choose the other repository to which the new connection will be made. In our example this is Aras Innovator @ Intercax.
      
      

   3. If you have valid access to this repository, its contents will appear at the bottom of the window. Scroll down to the element that will be the target of the new connection and click the checkbox beside it. This is Aras part Part C (A.1) in our example.
      
      

   4. Each Syndeia connection has a directionality. The Select direction pull down menu higher up in the window allows the directionality to be set as desired before the connection is made.
      
      

   5. Click on the Create Reference Connection button at the bottom. The new connection should appear in the Inter-model list after the Reload icon is clicked.
      
      

   6. Click the Relations icon again to close the Relations window.
      
      Note: In Syndeia release 3.4, it is not possible to create Model Transform inter-model connections or intra-model connections through the SWD. Some of those use cases will be added in future releases.
      
      

      Figure 9  SWD Create Reference Relationship window
      
      

9. The Digital Thread Explorer or DTE (Figure 10 - Figure 12) provides interactive visualization of inter-model and intra-model connections in a graph format. To launch DTE, right-click an item in the Tree View and choose Graph View. In our example, this is a DNG collection, 2965 – Testable Requirements in a Collection. Initially, it appears as a single node in the Graph View, as in Figure 10.
   
   

   Figure 10  DTE, stage 1
   
   

10. Click on the node (it will show a black border when selected), right-click on it and choose Expand. If this element has any connections, they should appear as in Figure 11. In our example, the initial element had three intra-model connections to other DOORS items (light blue circles) and two inter-model connections, to a JIRA issue (dark blue) and an Aras part (dark blue).
    
    

    Figure 11  DTE, stage 2
    
    

11. If I right-click on one of the new nodes (Aras item Part C) and expand it, additional edges and nodes from within the Aras repository are displayed. Expanding the JIRA issue Hello-2269 (Figure 12), shows inter-model connections to an Artifactory file (green) and a SysML 2.0 element (purple). This process can continue until all connections are displayed.
    
    

    Figure 12  DTE, stage 3
    
    

12. DNG elements in either the Graph View or the Tree View offer direct access to that element in the DOORS repository. If I right-click on 2965 – Testable Requirements in a Collection in the diagram in Figure 12 and choose More Details, my browser will open to that element in DOORS (Figure 13, I may be required to log-in to DOORS first).
    
    

    Figure 13  DOORS NG browser interface launched from Syndeia Web Dashboard