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What’s new in DOORS Next Generation 6.0.1

This release adds to a very significant major series for DOORS Next Generation. We have a continued with our focus on Configuration Management, Global Configurations and usability while introducing some exciting new functions for bulk data manipulation and stronger analytics.

If you are interested in reading a higher level view of how DOORS Next Generation contributes to our overall CLM solution please take a read of Daniel Mouls’ blog here:

https://jazz.net/blog/index.php/2015/12/16/making-reuse-easier-in-complex-development-with-v601/

 

For a more detailed view of the changes introduced with RDNG 6.0.1 please see our New and Noteworthy here:

 

https://jazz.net/downloads/rational-doors-next-generation/releases/6.0.1?p=news

 

Configuration Management and Global Configurations

Extending the concepts of 6.0, this release introduces a number of capabilities to continue with the theme of parallel working with different versions of requirements and lifecycle data. “Link Validity” adds to the concept of suspect links with three states, VALID, SUSPECT and INVALID, providing teams with an understanding on when information has changed between different versions of streams of requirements.   Validity works both within requirements data and also across the lifecycle boundary into other CLM tools such as RQM.

RDNG 6.0.1 removes many of the CM limitations mentioned in 6.0, most significantly with version aware reporting over metrics and far stronger support for merging of structural changes within modules.

Requirements Change Management

We are often asked what the main reason is to use requirements within a project. The answer is simple: we write requirements to understand the scope of something we expect to develop. Requirements change and unless you introduce control over those changes then the scope of your programs change. You could easily lose control over costs, time lines, quality or a combination of all these things. RDNG 6.0 introduces Requirements Change Management with the ability to adopt a work flow to delivering changes between configuration streams. It is now possible to enforce that changes must be associated to an approved Work Item (change request) before being delivered between streams. We now have a way of knowing that all requirements have been approved prior to development activities.

Bulk Data Manipulation

Providing a way to allow extended stakeholders access to review and update requirements is always a challenge, we can’t always ask everybody to use the same tool. RDNG already has support for ReqIF to exchange requirements over a supply chain and between different requirements tools but this is not enough. RDNG 6.0.1 introduces support for round tripping of requirements data with a spreadsheet to give another way of reviewing and updating requirements.

Requirements can be exported from RDNG into a spreadsheet, modified and imported back to update the existing information. Round tripping includes the ability to update attributes on existing requirements, create new requirements hierarchies, move requirements within a module and even the ability to delete requirements.

Should you wish to combine bulk manipulation of requirements with link information, a new facility called “link by attribute” is available to round trip link information into an attribute value so that it can be modified and then converted back into physical links. Attributes containing link information can be edited directly within RDNG or exported to a spreadsheet and modified there.

Requirements Analysis and pre-configured views

 

In order for stakeholders to hit the ground running, we have provided stronger ways to preconfigure the information users see as they initially look at requirements. The “view” concept in RDNG allows an organization to pre-define how stakeholders initially view requirements and so removes the need for extended stakeholders to learn how to configure the tool for themselves. Views select both the requirements attributes to display in a table form and also filter the requirements, showing only the pertinent information needed at a given time. RDNG builds on views to introduce two new concepts called “preferred views” and “role based views”. Both mechanisms are designed to share only those defined views relevant to a user and to allow users to select the correct initial view without taken an immediate decision for themselves.

As scale increases the ability to analyze your requirements becomes more important. RDNG 6.0.1 adds a number of additional properties to use within your filters. “Link preferences” have been provided to allow organizations to define and often enforce the data architecture they would like information to follow. For example you might wish to enforce that low level requirements “satisfy” high level needs rather than making use of other inappropriate linkages. Consistent link enforcements ensures that analysis can be done faster and be far more accurate.

Migration from DOORS 9.x

With the release of RDNG 6.0.1 and DOORS 9.6.1.4 IBM now offers incremental migration capabilities to transition your projects step by step from DOORS to DOORS Next Generation. Migration can be a simple act but with a little additional care the value of your DOORS data can be increased in the transition to DOORS Next Generation to make use of a shared type systems and other built in RDNG capabilities that DOORS simply does not have. RDNG 6.0.1 allows further data types to be taken from DOORS including migration of DOORS tables and stronger support for OLE data. Incremental project migration is supported with the ability to bring portions of DOORS projects over to RDNG while linking back to the remaining data in DOORS. As more and more users move from DOORS to RDNG then their data can follow them.

 

 

You can download V6.0.1 and try it yourself: get CLM 6.0.1 or the Internet of Things Continuous Engineering Solution 6.0.1. The IoT CE solution is a superset of CLM that includes Design Manager and a pointer to an evaluation version of Rhapsody.  You can learn more about it here.

Alternatively you can try V6.0.1 in our sandboxes here on jazz.net.  If you wish to try the new configuration management capabilities or use a sandbox with sample data, select the latest CLM milestone “with configuration management” when creating your sandbox.