Impact of using report builder with same data types in two different projects with different labels and same value in DNG
In IBM DOORS Next Generation (DNG), if the same attribute data type exists in two different projects but has different labels (names) while sharing the same underlying value, will this cause any issues when generating reports in Report Builder?
Labels will be different with same URI in multiple projects
Values will be different with same label and same URI in multiple projects
Can anyone provide the feedback
| Project1 | Project2 | Project3 | |||||||
| Attr Data Type Name | Value | Label | URI | Value | Label | URI | Value | Label | URI |
| MoP | 0 | Test1 | https://Test1 | 0 | Test1 | https://Test1 | 0 | Test1 | https://Test1 |
| 1 | Test2 | https://Test2 | 1 | Test2 | https://Test2 | 1 | Test2 | https://Test2 | |
| 2 | Test3 | https://Test3 | 2 | Test3 | https://Test3 | 2 | Test3 | https://Test3 | |
| 3 | Test4 | https://Test4 | 3 | Test5 | https://Test5 | ||||
| 4 | Test5 | https://Test5 |
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One answer
You should always make sure that attributes and data types that are meant to be the same have all their data aligned, otherwise you'll cause conflicts in the warehouses and weird things in reports.
What you have done above is almost perfect - each datatype value that is common between the projects has the same name, label, value and URI. Strict subsets and supersets will work fine - just make sure that all common values are fully aligned with each other.
The only change you need to make is in Project3 in the Test5 value - change its value to 4 so it aligns perfectly with the one in Project2. It's OK to have a skipped value in Project3
Comments
@Davyd Norris,
Thank you for your response.
I agree that modifying the value directly within the projects would resolve the issue without complications. However, my question is whether retaining the current setup which is mentioned above within the actual projects could lead to any potential issues when working with Report Builder or not.
As mentioned above, you need to make sure the values are consistent across the projects or you will end up with inconsistencies in the warehouses. In the case above it could result in something that's more complex, as you have data type values that are the same in the visible areas in Report Builder (name and URI), but different in the value.
This would lead to two potential possibilities:
- the value is not checked and the first project area that defines the data type wins, and you have incorrect/inconsistent data for the other
- the value is checked, and the projects get their data stored in separate columns. Report Builder may show a warning triangle on the attribute, or it may not but, either way, reports using this attribute value will show inconsistent results and will not be reusable across project areas