Objectives
The new learning objectives of this exercise are to create a repository connection to a Teamwork Cloud (TWC) repository on the Syndeia Rhapsody Plugin, view the repository including search, and create a reference connection.
Preparation
This exercise assumes the student has
Rhapsody 8.2 or higher installed correctly on his or her machine with a valid license for use, and
Syndeia 3.4 installed as a plugin for Rhapsody with a valid license for use
Syndeia TWC interface, correctly installed with a valid license for user
Syndeia Cloud 3.4 installed with a valid user account, and
A valid user account to a Teamwork Cloud repository
The user can use any TWC repository they have available. Because the content of your TWC 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.
Background – Teamwork Cloud
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 Teamwork Cloud repository. Figure 1 shows a view of this information in the Syndeia dashboard Repository Manager with labels identifying the Teamwork Cloud element types. Note the different icons. The label color coding indicates how the Teamwork Cloud 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 Teamwork Cloud data model as it is understood by Syndeia is available through the Syndeia help menu.
Exercise
Launch the Syndeia Dashboard (see Video 1.1) and open the Repository Manager tab (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Syndeia Dashboard, Repository Manager tabIf no repository connection to Teamwork Cloud is available, right-click on Teamwork Cloud in the left column and select Add... Complete the form and click OK (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Adding a Teamwork Cloud repository connectionIf a Teamwork Cloud repository connection already appears under Teamwork Cloud, but you need to add your own access credential, right-click on the repository in the left column and select Update…. Complete username and password and click Update (Figure 4).
Figure 4 Updating Teamwork Cloud repository infoIn the left column, select a Teamwork Cloud repository connection (Teamwork Cloud @ Intercax). Your repository should appear at the top of the right side. Expand it to show Projects, Branches, Models, Revisions, etc., as in Figure 5. See Background section for discussion of Teamwork Cloud artifact types. It may be necessary to right-click the repository and select Refresh before it can be expanded.
Figure 5 Viewing Teamwork Cloud repository contents on Repository Manager tabOn the right border, click the button labeled Search Repository. In the Search Repository window under New Search, define the search criteria, for example:
Under Select Workspace, refresh the list and select a workspace, e.g. Sandbox.
Select the type of artifact to be searched for: Project, Branch, Revision or Element. In Figure 6 we chose Element.
Select Name contains or ID. If Name…, enter a text string to search for, e.g Test, and click Search. The search results are shown at the bottom of the window in Figure 6
Click outside the Search window to close it.
Figure 6 Syndeia dashboard, Repository Manager tab, Search feature (search result highlighted in red)
To create a reference connection between a Teamwork Cloud item and an element in another repository, go to the Connection Manager tab, select and expand the Teamwork Cloud repository in one column and the second repository in the other. In our example in Figure 7, we have opened a SysML model loaded in the Rhapsody application on the left and a Cameo/MagicDraw SysML model resident in Teamwork Cloud on the right.
Select Reference as the Connection Type in the center column.
Create a reference connection by dragging an element in one column on top of an element in the other. Confirm that you want to create a reference connection. In our example, we dragged the UAS block in Rhapsody onto a FireUAV package in the Teamwork Cloud model.
Note: In Syndeia release 3.4, it is not possible to create Model Transform inter-model connections to Teamwork Cloud. Some use cases of this type may be added in future releases.
Figure 7 Syndeia dashboard, Connection Manager tab, creating reference connection
The reference link can be used to detect changes in a Teamwork Cloud versioned element from the Syndeia dashboard.
Load the TWC model into Cameo and edit the Teamwork Cloud element linked to in the previous step. Change some characteristic of the model element and commit a new version to Teamwork Cloud.
In the Repository Manager or Connection Manager page on the Syndeia dashboard, right-click and refresh the Teamwork Cloud repository so that Syndeia Cloud reads the latest version.
In the Connection Search tab of the Syndeia dashboard, click Get All to ensure that all connections are showing. Right-click the reference connection just created and select Compare Source and Target, as in Figure 8.
Figure 8 Syndeia dashboard, Connection Search tab, comparing across reference connection
The result of the compare operation is displayed as red (Figure 9) in a difference table. The Comment field states
“Source artifact of this connection is non-versioned. There is nothing to compare. Target artifact of this connection is FireUAV (version 202009…) but a newer version FireUAV (version 202105…) is available.”
Figure 9 Syndeia dashboard, Comparison Result tabThe reference connection can be updated to point to the latest version of the Teamwork Cloud page by right-clicking on the connection in the Connection Search tab (Figure 8), the Comparison Result tab (Figure 9) or the Connection Browser tab (Figure 10) and selecting either Sync Source -> Target or Sync Target -> Source. The result is the same for reference connections.
Figure 10 Syndeia dashboard, Connection Browser tab, syncing across reference connectionIn a similar way, we can create a reference connection between a Teamwork Cloud element and an element in a non-SysML repository. In Figure 11, we have opened a SysML model resident in Teamwork Cloud on the left and a Jama requirements repository.
Select Reference as the Connection Type in the center column.
Create a reference connection by dragging an element in one column on top of an element in the other. Confirm that you want to create a reference connection. In our example, we dragged the Marpol_73_78 requirement in the TWC model onto Cruise Ship Requirements in the Jama repository.
Figure 11 Syndeia dashboard, Connection Manager tab, creating reference connection
In the same ways as shown earlier, the reference link can be used to detect changes across the connection in either the Teamwork Cloud versioned element or the non-SysML versioned element and the connection may be updated to the latest versions of the connected elements.