Main column name changes with view change.

The "Main" column in a module was named with the project name, and several views created. Now the module has been copied for use in a new and similar application, and the name of the "Main" colum changed to apply to the new application. Whenever a view is used that used the original "Main" column name, the "Main" column name is changed to the name used in the original module. The name change affects all uses of the "Main" colum from that time forward, or until a view with the current "Main" colume name is selected. Many of the views are limited access, created by people no longer in the program, so cannot be removed from the list of views and run the risk of changing the "Main" column name in the module if they are ever used. Is there a way to fix this problem?
lahines - Wed Jun 01 06:40:33 EDT 2011

Re: Main column name changes with view change.
Tony_Goodman - Wed Jun 01 09:20:15 EDT 2011

Not sure what is going on, but to clarify:

The title of the Main column is set by default to the Description of the module.

You can change the title of any column by right clicking on the column header, selecting properties and then typing your new title.

If you save a view then the customised title is preserved in the view.
___________________________________________________________________Tony Goodman, Smart DXL Limited

Re: Main column name changes with view change.
lahines - Wed Jun 01 09:34:24 EDT 2011

The view changes the customized title. Seems to be specific to the "Main" column. This may be a DOORS issue.

Re: Main column name changes with view change.
llandale - Wed Jun 01 14:57:02 EDT 2011

Tony is right and that's a complete list of relevant facts; except that perhaps it needs to be reiterated that when you load a view you get the settings of that view when it was saved. If that view remembered its columns (which 99% of them do) and it had a main column, then when you load the view you will get whatever Main Column title it had when it was saved.

If you were showing the main column and loaded the view, characteristics of that column before the load have no effect on what you see after the load.

Perhaps these views were saved in v7 of DOORS. I really didn't pay much attention, but I have this nagging memory that v7 of DOORS let you default the name of a column by leaving it blank, and it would get its default value when it was loaded. For attribute columns that would not matter you'd always get the name of the attr; but for the Main column you would get the Description of the module at the time the view was loaded. IIRC v8 added the notion of defaulting the column Title when the column was created, and the Title was saved with the view. The main column title, then, would be that when the view was saved. If you changed the Module Description then the views would still load the old Description on the Main Title.

bla bla bla having said all that, then I would reasonably deduce that if you have a view with a defaulted main column saved in v7 of DOORS, then there is no Title saved in the view, so loading that view in v8 (and v9) would recognize an empty title and default it to the current Description; thus if you changed the Description the main column would be auto-updated in all such views (again, those saved in v7).

  • Louie

As for your now orphaned views: yes, saving a view provides RMCDA access ONLY to the saver of the view. After saving a new view, Folks really should then edit the properties of the view and provide Database and project admin groups RMCDA access. As it is, you need to login as the Administrator and remove views that provide RMCDA access to only one user, when that user no longer exists. Actually, if the user no longer exists then there will no no Access Records of the view providing RMCDA access.

Nice DB admins would advertise "Please edit your view properties" and gently remind the offenders. DB admins who value their own time, like Tony, would just write a script, run as Adminsitrator, and remove views that don't provide DB admins access. Eventually folks would take the hint. Evil DB admins who do not value their time, like myself, would insert a layout DXL into the view with a popup Infobox reminding folks to provide suitable access. Trust me, geting an info box every time an object is displayed will be either very annoying or very entertaining, depending on your perspective. Again, folks would eventually take the hint. Neutral DB admins would insert a very wide layout column simply displaying the reminder to provide suitable access; forcing the offenders to scroll to the right every time they want to see something.

Re: Main column name changes with view change.
SystemAdmin - Wed Jun 01 19:10:54 EDT 2011

llandale - Wed Jun 01 14:57:02 EDT 2011
Tony is right and that's a complete list of relevant facts; except that perhaps it needs to be reiterated that when you load a view you get the settings of that view when it was saved. If that view remembered its columns (which 99% of them do) and it had a main column, then when you load the view you will get whatever Main Column title it had when it was saved.

If you were showing the main column and loaded the view, characteristics of that column before the load have no effect on what you see after the load.

Perhaps these views were saved in v7 of DOORS. I really didn't pay much attention, but I have this nagging memory that v7 of DOORS let you default the name of a column by leaving it blank, and it would get its default value when it was loaded. For attribute columns that would not matter you'd always get the name of the attr; but for the Main column you would get the Description of the module at the time the view was loaded. IIRC v8 added the notion of defaulting the column Title when the column was created, and the Title was saved with the view. The main column title, then, would be that when the view was saved. If you changed the Module Description then the views would still load the old Description on the Main Title.

bla bla bla having said all that, then I would reasonably deduce that if you have a view with a defaulted main column saved in v7 of DOORS, then there is no Title saved in the view, so loading that view in v8 (and v9) would recognize an empty title and default it to the current Description; thus if you changed the Description the main column would be auto-updated in all such views (again, those saved in v7).

  • Louie

As for your now orphaned views: yes, saving a view provides RMCDA access ONLY to the saver of the view. After saving a new view, Folks really should then edit the properties of the view and provide Database and project admin groups RMCDA access. As it is, you need to login as the Administrator and remove views that provide RMCDA access to only one user, when that user no longer exists. Actually, if the user no longer exists then there will no no Access Records of the view providing RMCDA access.

Nice DB admins would advertise "Please edit your view properties" and gently remind the offenders. DB admins who value their own time, like Tony, would just write a script, run as Adminsitrator, and remove views that don't provide DB admins access. Eventually folks would take the hint. Evil DB admins who do not value their time, like myself, would insert a layout DXL into the view with a popup Infobox reminding folks to provide suitable access. Trust me, geting an info box every time an object is displayed will be either very annoying or very entertaining, depending on your perspective. Again, folks would eventually take the hint. Neutral DB admins would insert a very wide layout column simply displaying the reminder to provide suitable access; forcing the offenders to scroll to the right every time they want to see something.

You're a wicked man Louie! But I think you're onto something - the "Managing DOORS" guide now needs to be offered in a role based format, one for each of the following roles:

Nice DB admins
DB admins who value their own time
Evil DB admins who do not value their time
Neutral DB admins

One might have been left out though and one I encounter every now and again - Admins who say "whatever" a lot.

Paul Miller
Melbourne, Australia

Re: Main column name changes with view change.
mcnairk - Thu Jun 02 09:27:16 EDT 2011

SystemAdmin - Wed Jun 01 19:10:54 EDT 2011
You're a wicked man Louie! But I think you're onto something - the "Managing DOORS" guide now needs to be offered in a role based format, one for each of the following roles:

Nice DB admins
DB admins who value their own time
Evil DB admins who do not value their time
Neutral DB admins

One might have been left out though and one I encounter every now and again - Admins who say "whatever" a lot.

Paul Miller
Melbourne, Australia

You missed: DB admins who got "volunteered". Their guide would contain nothing...

Ken.

Re: Main column name changes with view change.
llandale - Thu Jun 02 15:26:15 EDT 2011

SystemAdmin - Wed Jun 01 19:10:54 EDT 2011
You're a wicked man Louie! But I think you're onto something - the "Managing DOORS" guide now needs to be offered in a role based format, one for each of the following roles:

Nice DB admins
DB admins who value their own time
Evil DB admins who do not value their time
Neutral DB admins

One might have been left out though and one I encounter every now and again - Admins who say "whatever" a lot.

Paul Miller
Melbourne, Australia

Are you sure you understood my meaning correctly? After all, I didn't use any exclamation points.

Its "Apathetic" admins who say "whatever" a lot.
Its "Ignorant" admins who say "Mmmmmm" a lot.
Its "Conscripted" admins who say "why me?" a lot.
Its "Holy Grail" admins who say "Ni!" a lot.

I went through all those phases.

  • Louie

As for my script ... I would tend to forget to check if such a wide layout column already existed in the view, which would result in many such wide layout columns in the view increasing over time, until we ran out of columns. Which is 32 columns BTW; ... I ran out.