Baseline Trace Matrix

This seems like a really stupid question, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to do it...

I want to perform a recursive trace analysis on the links in a baseline.

I have baselined all my modules in the project (unfortunately, I didn't create a baseline set.)

From one of the modules, I open the baseline. In that baseline, I have an object, for example, that has 2 in links. (I can RMB on the link indicator in the baseline and it shows me 2 in links.)

In the current version of the module, one of the links has been deleted.

I would like to perform a recursive trace analysis on the baselined version (the one with the 2 links). However, when I add the recursive trace analysis columns, I get only the current 1 inlink for the object.
ZenMonkey760 - Mon Jun 04 20:18:23 EDT 2012

Re: Baseline Trace Matrix
kbmurphy - Mon Jun 04 21:15:35 EDT 2012

If you didn't use a baseline set, I'm afraid you're going to have a hard time doing this. It's still possible, but pretty tough.

Re: Baseline Trace Matrix
SystemAdmin - Mon Jun 04 21:43:05 EDT 2012

In your situation where you have baselined modules individually, the link indicators in these individual Baseline versions are referred to as "Echoed" links (hollowed link icons) - meaning that they are echoes of what used to be there. These echoed links will also only ever trace to the current version of the module that contains the target\source object of the link.

So if one of your in links has been deleted from the source object, then the echo of that in link will continue to appear in the baseline version as expected, but the DXL code used to display the recursive trace information will not be able to get a link reference handle on the other end of the link because the link data that identifies the link module that was managing the link has been deleted. If you select the object with the deleted incoming link, press CTRL-E (obj properties), select the "Links" Tab, you will see that there is no data for the deleted incoming link.

What may seem a little bizarre is the fact that the echoed link indicator will still allow you to navigate to the original source object via the RH mouse click over the indicator - so why can't the recursive trace use this echoed data to do the same?

It's all down to the DXL code used by the Analysis Wizard. There is a for-do loop, for lr in all(o<-linkModName) do that relies on having a defined link module to help get a link reference handle to the source module so that it can be opened, and then display info about the source object. Because the link module data was deleted when the in-link was deleted, the DXL code doesn't see the echoed link. The echoed link indicator doesn't need to know or remember the Link Module, it just provides a navigable link direct to the source object.

It's more bizarre if this were an echoed outgoing link - even if the out going link has been deleted in the current version, the baseline version still retains the full outgoing link data unlike the target end.

is this a deficiency of design or an outright defect? Possibly. Irritating? Yes it is.

Paul Miller
Melbourne, Australia