Rational SoDA Release Notes
Version: 2001A.04.00
for Windows 95/98/NT/2000
This document details new product features, known defects, and known limitations for Rational SoDA for Word, version 2001A.04.00.
Hardware/Software
Information
Getting Started
Compatibility Issues
New and Changed Features
Documentation Changes
Defects Fixed in this Release
Known Defects and Limitations
Contacting Rational Technical Support
The following sections provide the information about supported platforms, hardware requirements, and software requirements.
|
Component Type |
Requirement |
|
CPU |
266 MHz or greater |
|
RAM |
64 MB Minimum |
|
Virtual Memory (swap space) |
Twice the installed RAM |
|
Hard Drive |
40 MB of free hard disk space before installation |
|
Component Type |
Requirement |
|
Operating System |
· Windows 95, Service Pack 2 or greater · Windows 98 · Windows 98 ME · Windows NT 4.0, Service pack 3 or greater · Windows 2000 |
|
Supporting Software |
Microsoft Word 97 or 2000 |
Rational SoDA for Word requires a valid license in order to launch. The license can be activated either during the installation process, or post-installation using the Rational License Key Administrator on the Start Menu.
The Rational SoDA for Word documentation set consists of this Release Note, a manual titled “Using Rational SoDA for Word”, and online help.
¨ Novell Software has a well-known problem that is incompatible with Microsoft Word (and hence, SoDA). The root cause of this problem is well documented in Microsoft’s Knowledge Base Article Q109739 as well as in Rational Requisite Pro Technical Note #2653.
¨ SoDA templates that used the Rose ParentDirectoryObject selector must be modified to use the ParentDirectoryPath selector instead. This particular selector will be upgraded automatically in a future release.
¨ SoDA
templates built prior to this release, that used Direct OPEN commands to
“TestCase”, or to “ConfiguredTestCase”, or to “TestCaseFolder” will need to be
modified, as the arguments for the OPEN commands have changed from requiring
“Name” to requiring “FullyQualifiedName”.
A FullyQualifiedName enables users to reach test cases at any level. For example, to reach a second level test
case named “level_2_test_case”, who’s parent node is “level_1”, you would use
the following syntax: “level_1::level_2_test_case”. Notice the two colons between tree
nodes. Locating a third level node
might look like the following:
“level_1_node_name::level_2_node_name::level_3_node_name”.
Prompt for Filter enables SoDA users to perform realtime filtering, during the SoDA generation process, for REPEAT and LIMIT commands.
This new flexibility means that you can generate a template multiple times, each time with a different set of filtering criteria, without having to explicitly open the REPEAT / LIMIT commands involved.
To define a Prompt for Filter, click the Advanced checkbox and then click the Prompt column (the right-most column). When Prompt for Filter is enabled, the field is populated with an asterisk (“*”), and the Right Operand field is disabled.
Each REPEAT command and each LIMIT command can get its own individual set of filter prompts.
When a template that contains prompt commands is generated, a dialog box displays requesting information for the Right Operand. A prompt will be displayed for each command defined to display the prompt.
ClearQuest desktop client users can now elect to run selected out-of-the-box SoDA reports directly from within ClearQuest. To do so, select Query>Generate SoDA Report from within the ClearQuest.
You can now define ClearQuest database sets and access the databases in SoDA templates using the following syntax:
<database
set>::<database name>
The <database set> is a database set name that you
assigned to a schema repository using the ClearQuest "installutil
adddbset" command. The database name is the name of any production or test
database in that schema repository.
The two names must be separated by a double colon
("::").
For example, if you define a database set called
"MySet" that contains a database called "MyDatabase", you
must reference that database using the name:
MySet::MyDatabase
If you are not accessing a database set, then you must use
the simple database name without any colons, e.g.
MyDatabase
Support for Microsoft Project 98/2000 projects has been added. Check the help file for detailed information on what specific features are supported.
The SoDA menu item used to upgrade templates created by previous releases has been removed, as the upgrade process is now automatically performed when such templates are opened by SoDA.
The following understanding must be added to the backslash (“\”) metacharacter:
“The backslash metacharacter MUST also be used when using plus-signs (+). For example, when looking for a particular style in a Word document, you may need to use the plus-sign (+) to identify style definitions. While the following would be incorrect: "ading 3 + Font: 10 pt, Indent: Hanging", the following would be correct: "ading 3 \+ Font: 10 pt, Indent: Hanging"”
If you wish to exclude empty rows from a table do NOT use LIMIT commands to perform the exclusion, but rather use filtering within the REPEAT command.
In general, you should not use LIMIT commands in tables. If you wish to include empty rows in a table as a visual indicator that data was filtered out of that position, you may use a LIMIT command. However, it is important where the LIMIT and ENDLIM are positioned. Paired LIMIT / ENDLIM commands must be located in the same cell. LIMIT / ENDLIM pairs that span cells are not supported – do not locate a LIMIT command in one cell and its paired ENDLIM in another cell.
DefectId: RATL00046432
Headline: Template now OPEN TestCaseFolderName properly
DefectId: RATL00047211
Headline: RoseRT: inherited states are now retrieved correctly
DefectId: RMBU00006628
Headline: Empty REPEAT commands no longer add a blank line to generated reports
DefectId: RMBU00007641
Headline: Documentation fields are now displayed correctly when a table follows
DefectId: RMBU00008066
Headline: ReqPro Project.Author.Name now retrieves the correct value
DefectId: RMBU00009677
Headline: Parenthesis may now be used in template file names
DefectId: RMBU00014617
Headline: SoDA now launches correctly after using Minimum Install on Windows 98
DefectId: RMBU00014820
Headline: ReqPro Users- Name and Full Name now return the same values
DefectId: RMBU00015428
Headline: State Activity Diagrams now correctly display object flows
DefectId: RMBU00016086
Headline: ReqPro adapter no longer complains when reading from a read-only source
DefectId: RMBU00016195
Headline: SoDA no longer forgets to close ReqPro document after generating report
DefectId: RMBU00016386
Headline: SoDA now correctly retrieves State/Structure info for all inherited capsules
DefectId: RMBU00016559
Headline: Graphics created in previous versions of SoDA can be used in this release without errors
DefectId: RMBU00016652
Headline: REPEAT with String Filtering Command now functions properly
DefectId: RMBU00016713
Headline: Rose dialog boxes no longer cause SoDA to hang
DefectId: RMBU00016811
Headline: ClearQuest adapter performance has been significantly improved
DefectId: RMBU00016972
Headline: Errors no longer occur when trying to display TaskPriority from MSProject
DefectId: RMBU00016984
Headline: Since ReqPro provides good sample projects, SoDA no longer provides its own sample ReqPro projects
DefectId: RMBU00017092
Headline: The $ metacharacter now works as documented for all adapters
DefectId: RMBU00017115
Headline: SeqNumber property is for internal use only and is no longer visible to the end user
DefectId: RMBU00017350
Headline: FileSys Records relationship now the correct records, even when the keys are not unique
DefectId: RMBU00017411
Headline: REPEAT no longer fails if test cases are not uniquely named. (See the FullyQualifiedName selector mentioned in the Compatibility Issues section above.
Defect ID: RMBU00011870
Headline: Cannot add SoDA
commands with Track Changes enabled
Description: With Track Changes being turn on, a “no element at cursor”
error message will pop up when trying to add an OPEN command.
Workaround: User needs to turn off Track Changes to use the OPEN
command.
Defect ID: RMBU00009140
Headline: Repeat on
AllCheckedOutFiles doesn't work with multiple check outs
Description: The user has two
views and each has a checked out version of the same element. When you identify
the Element for the Open command, you have to specify one view or the other.
During generation SoDA knows there are two versions checked out, so you get two
iterations. But SoDA only knows about the details for the version in the view
you specified. So you get two iterations of the same version (from that
view).
Workaround: None
Defect ID: RMBU00013891
Headline: SoDA reports
wrong time on CQ Defect.Submit_Date
Description: SoDA does not change times to reflect the current time zone.
Workaround: None
Defect ID: RMBU00014136
Headline: Login problem
when generating web page after generating report
Description: After generating reports, generate web page return withs
"authentication failed" error.
Workaround: Close Word when switching between Generate Report and
Generate Web Page
Defect ID: RMBU00015488
Headline: Hang while
generating report from Personal Query that contains non-alphanumeric characters
Workaround: Remove non-alphanumeric characters from query names
Defect ID: RMBU00007620
Headline: The Width and
Height fields for graphic DISPLAY commands does not accept international
numbering
Description: When modifying the
DISPLAY command for a graphic display, you can specify the Width and Height you
want for the graphic. These are real numbers. In English and Japanese real
numbers use a period as a decimal indicator (this is okay for SoDA). But German
and French use comma as a decimal indicator (this doesn't work). SoDA needs to
know which indicator is used for the current language, display the default
values and accept input values using the correct indicator.
Workaround: Use decimals when specifying real numbers.
Defect ID: RMBU00013275
Headline: SoDA does not
recognize that a file has been remove from the file system.
Workaround: Close Word, reopen, and generate the report again.
Defect ID: RMBU00006554
Headline: Cursor position
changes to be near a SoDA command
Description: The SoDA template
that is open in Word always scrolls to a different position when using Generate
Document, Generate Report, start Template View, Add Command, or Modify
Command.
Workaround: None
Defect ID: RMBU00006628
Headline: Empty REPEAT command
adds a blank line to generated report
Description: If a REPEAT command
in a template returns no results, a blank line (or carriage return) is added to
the generated report anyway. Blank lines should not be added to the generated
report unless the template contains them.
Workaround: Use Generate Document instead
Defect ID: RMBU00009717
Headline: Soda hangs on
List of Figures field code
Description: If a SoDA template contains a "List of Figures" or
"List of Tables" field code (such as TOC \c "Figure"), and
if the template version of this field code contains entries that do not appear
in the generated report, then SoDA hangs when the Generate Report command is
run.
Workaround: There are two potential workarounds: remove the field code
entirely or delete all but one normal character from the "data"
displayed by the field code in the template.
Defect ID: RMBU00012051
Headline: Gen Web page -
Table of contents displays SoDA placeholders instead of actual value
Description: When SoDA place holders (i.e. <Package.Name>) are used
as headlines and using table of contents in Word, gen rep and gen doc works
properly but generate web page fails to substitute the actual values in the
TOC.
Workaround: Run Generate Report, following by Save As Web Page
Defect ID: RMBU00014344
Headline: SoDA template
disengages after generating report
Description: If template attached to document is changed using Tools>Templates
and Add-Ins (but not saved), when SoDA completes report generation, the newly
selected soda.dot is attached to the report, but the parent SoDA template is no
longer connected to any soda.dot -- leaving the document with no SoDA menu.
Workaround: Save the template after attaching the new .dot file.
Defect ID: RMBU00014525
Headline: Rational
Administrator domain inot yet documented in SoDA help files
Workaround: None
Defect ID: RMBU00014526
Headline: Help URL access to
Technical Support website is invalid
Description: The SoDA help URL access to the Technical Support website is
invalid. The link,
http://www.rational.com/products/soda/support/index.jtmpl, can be found in the
third paragraph of the "Technical Support Information" in SoDA help
files.
Workaround: Enter the correct link in your Web browser
Defect ID: RMBU00012632
Headline: SoDA should be
uninstalled before a new installation to avoid possible conflicts
Workaround: None
Defect ID: RMBU00013247
Headline: SoDA does not
accept MS Project name with apostrophe in file name
Description: When choosing a MS Project file named with an apostrophe,
such as "Nobody's schedule", SoDA returns error and unable to open
the file.
Workaround: Remove the apostrophe from the file name.
Defect ID: RMBU00013248
Headline: MS Project
Task.Notes does not display all types of notes
Description: When a Task Notes field contain graphic or text not entered directly
into the MS Project Task Notes field, SoDA is unable to display the content.
Workaround: None
Defect ID: RMBU00013539
Headline: RDSI error when
trying to generate the soda document after making changes to the MS Project
source file
Workaround: Close Word, reopen, and generate the document again
Defect ID: RMBU00014135
Headline: MSProject
generation fails when Task dialog (in MSProj) or Project's File-Properties is
open
Description: When attempting to generate a SoDA report with MS Project 2000
Project Task open (double click a task such as Project Setup), SoDA returns the
following error message to the user:
***errorUnable
to evaluate REPEAT command MSProject_Project.Tasks: internalError: RDSI Server
Error In Get NaryRelationships
An unspecified
error has occurred.
Workaround: Close the Task dialog in Microsoft Project before
generating.
Defect ID: RMBU00016254
Headline: OPEN 2 MS
Project confuses on corresponding attributes even though no SoDA command in
between 2 OPEN commonds
Description: SoDA templates can only work with one Microsoft Project file.
Workaround: If possible, break the template into two templates.
DefectId: RATL00046463
Headline: Too many Table of Contents in UCS documents causes Word insufficient memory error
Description: Iterating over a large number of Word documents may result in an insufficient memory error
Workaround: In such a case, break the list of documents to be iterated over into smaller chunks and reprocess.
DefectId: RATL00048680
Headline: Novell Software causes access problems with SoDA
Description: If ReqPro launches the initial running instance of Word, then Tight Integration with SoDA does not work.
Workaround: Ensure that an instance of Word is running (not launched by ReqPro) before executing ReqPro’s Tight Integration with SoDA.
Defect ID: RMBU00006571
Headline: SoDA doesn't
work with second Word or Outlook w/Word running
Description: This applies to Word 97 only. SoDA does not run in a second
Word session or if Outlook (when it uses Word as the editor) is running. The
user has to close down the first Word session or close down Outlook before they
can run SoDA. This does not apply to Word 2000.
Workaround: Close Outlook before using SoDA.
Defect ID: RMBU00006976
Headline: Word takes a
long time to close down after using SoDA
Description: Closing Microsoft Word after generating a SoDA
report/document against a large data source, such as a ClearQuest defect
database, can take a long time (possibly several minutes).
Workaround: None
Defect ID: RMBU00011730
Headline: Measurement
units set to Pica cause SoDA to hang
Description: If Micorsoft Word Measurement Units are set to Picas under
the (Tools->Options, General Tab), the generation of template that retrieves
graphics, hangs at the 6th bar of progress indicator.
Workaround: Use Inches as the measurement units
Defect ID: RMBU00011884
Headline: The generated
repeats show up when saving a generated report as html (Word 2000 only)
Description: After generation of the report, save the report as html. In a web browser look at the html file, the
repeats are listed and underlined.
Workaround: Run the mRemoveHiddenText macro before saving the report as
html.
Defect ID: RMBU00013621
Headline: Screen shot is
not visible in retrieved External Doc
Description: Customer put a screen shot (Alt/Print Screen) in a Word file,
along with some text. Attached it to a class and used a calculate OPEN to
retrieve it as an External Doc. The text was displayed, but not the screen
shot.
Workaround: None
DefectId: RATL00048287
Headline: Tight Integration with ReqPro fails if the initial running instance of Word is launched by ReqPro.
Description: See the mentioned in the Compatibility Issues section above.
Workaround:
Defect ID: RMBU00010664
Headline: RequisitePro
tight integration fails when RequisitePro's Word is running
Description: Start RequisitePro, open a document from and select Generate
Soda Report. A window pops up with the
message:
Run-Time
error '70'
Permission
denied
Workaround: Start Word before starting RequisitePro
Defect ID: RMBU00012265
Headline: unable to open
two projects in one template
Description: Customer wants to open more than one RequisitePro project in
his SoDA template. This does not work, because the second OPEN does not
retrieve dynamic metadata.
Workaround:
None
Defect
ID: RMBU00013028
Headline: SoDA fails with RequisiteWeb
Description: SoDA (and Word, actually) does not work
on machines that are RequisiteWeb servers.
Workaround:
None
Defect
ID: RMBU00008837
Headline: No selector for Interaction Diagram
associated with Operations
Description: If you open an Operation Specification
in Rose, click the Semantics tab. At the bottom of the window, there is a box
to associate an Interaction Diagram with the Operation. Retrieving this
information is not available.
Workaround:
None
Defect
ID: RMBU00012327
Headline: If running, RoseRT will attempt to
open Rose model specified by SoDA OPEN Rose command
Workaround:
Close RoseRT before generating Rose documents
Defect
ID: RMBU00012799
Headline: Cannot extract the Swim Lane Name(s)
through the Activity
Description: In Rose, on the Activity Specification
for an Activity, there is a tab for Swimlanes. All other tabs have
corresponding repeats or displays (such as Actions, Transitions) except
Swimlanes.
Workaround:
None
Defect
ID: RMBU00014464
Headline: Package->FirstStateActivityModel->States
functions like AllStates
Description: When generating a REPEAT for
ActivitiyModel.States, some substates are included in the list of states.
Workaround:
If possible, use a subpackage instead of an activity
Defect
ID: RMBU00014499
Headline: very long arguments distort diagrams
Description: Classes that have attributes with arguments
that are very long cause the ClassDiagram to be squashed down to a very small
size. The arguments don't have to be displayed on the diagram and are usually
not, but if they exist, the diagram is squashed.
Workaround:
You can remove the argument and do Format->Autosize All in Rose, and the
diagram will look fine.
Defect
ID: RMBU00014870
Headline: unable to retrieve
"connection" info from deployment diagram
Description: Customer is unable to retrieve the name
and documentation for "connections" on a deployment diagram.
Workaround:
None
Defect
ID: RMBU00014989
Headline: graphic does not display over
watermark
Description: Word will not allow an image to be over
top of the watermark and it also creates an "empty band" in the
middle of the page and you can't put any text or pictures in that area.
Workaround:
None
Defect
ID: RMBU00015044
Headline: includes and extends relationships
have changed from associations to dependencies
Description: In UML version 1.3, the includes and extends
relationships have changed from associations to dependencies. If you create use
case diagrams with the correct dependancy relationship, nothing is shown in the
report generated by SoDA. SoDA cannot
get dependencies between use cases.
Workaround:
If possible, change the relationships from dependencies to associations
Defect
ID: RMBU00009484
Headline: Rose RealTime processes can become
orphaned
Description: Rose RealTime processes can become orphaned,
especially if Word crashes while using SoDA. At that point, if you open a Rose
RealTime model file, it will open with read-only permissions because Rose
RealTime thinks it is already open. This can also cause SoDA generations to
retrieve incorrect information and can generate unusual errors.
Workaround:
Before starting Rose RealTime, always use the Task Manager to find and
delete if there are any zombie "rosert" processes.
Defect
ID: RMBU00012256
Headline: Rose RealTime-unable to DISPLAY only
attributes listed in Compartment items
Description: SoDA cannot retrieve only the attributes
which can be selected from the Compartment View
Workaround:
None
Defect
ID: RMBU00012328
Headline: OPEN Rose opens RoseRT instead if
last launched Rose is RoseRT
Description: If the last launch "flavor" of
Rose is Rose RealTime, SoDA's OPEN Rose model command will attempt to open the
model in RoseRT, causing unpredictable behavior.
Workaround:
Close Word, Start Rose, close Rose, start Word
Defect
ID: RMBU00012361
Headline: RoseRT: deployment diagram is
reduced in size
Description: Retrieving the deployment diagram from
Rose RealTime. It does not print in the size you would expect. It is reduced to
a small size.
Workaround:
None
Defect
ID: RMBU00012524
Headline: RoseRT tight integration only works
when Emulate REI is enabled
Description: In Rose RealTime, from the menu,
Tools->Options..., General tab, At startup section, Emulate REI must be
checked for SoDA tight integration to work. With it unchecked, the Generate
SoDA Report menu item will not appear under the Report menu.
Workaround:
None
Defect
ID: RMBU00016641
Headline: Rose Templates are present when Rose
Domain is not installed
Description: All SoDA templates are installed when
SoDA is installed, even if the corresponding point products are not installed..
Workaround:
These templates are harmless. If
you try to generate a report, you will get an error.
Defect
ID: RMBU00007452
Headline: Element empty error in Template View
when add/delete causes positioning shift
Description: In Template View, when you add an item
such as an image to the middle of an existing template, many of the items
following the new image display the following error when you click on them:
SODA97
Element is
empty (Error: )
Workaround:
Close the Template View and reopen it
Defect
ID: RMBU00006622
Headline: SoDA Template scrolls during Visit
Source in Word 2000
Description: When Visit Source is selected in a
generated report or document that was generated with Word 2000, the template
scrolls down.
Workaround:
The scrolling can be ignored
Defect
ID: RMBU00006536
Headline: Not able to get child text out of
multiple documents through File System domain
Description: If you iterate through all documents in
a directory and retrieve all child text under all occurrences of a specific
heading text value, generate returns a blank report.
Workaround:
None
Defect
ID: RMBU00012030
Headline: Word Header and Footer are not
returned by FormattedText or Text
Description: FormattedText will not paste the header
and footer of the Word Document as formatted text.
Workaround:
Change the header and footer of the generated report.
At Rational Software Corporation, we welcome your comments on our products and services. If you have product suggestions or recommendations, please contact our Technical Support staff or your Rational Account Manager.
Rational Software Corporation offers telephone, fax, and e-mail support to customers with an active maintenance contract. If your maintenance contract has expired, please contact your Rational Account Manager. Potential customers using evaluation copies of SoDA for Word should contact their Rational Account Manager instead of Technical Support for assistance.
Before calling for assistance, please consult this online help file or the SoDA for Word User's Guide. For late-breaking updates, see the Release Notes. Technical notes for SoDA for Word are available on the Rational Software Web site at: http://www.rational.com/products/soda/support/index.jtmpl
If you still cannot find the information you need, contact Rational Customer Support:
|
Customer Area |
Telephone |
Fax |
|
|
North America |
800-433-5444 |
303-544-7333 |
|
|
Europe |
+31-(0)20-4546-200 |
+31-(0)20-4546-201 |
|
|
Asia Pacific |
+61-2-9419-0111 |
+61-2-9419-0123 |
When contacting Rational for support, please provide the following information:
1. Your SoDA for Word serial number and version number
2. The version number of Microsoft Word and related service packs
3. The version number of all related Rational domains: Rational Rose, RequisitePro, etc.
4. Your operating system and its version number, and related service packs
5. A description of your computer hardware:
1. The processor (CPU) speed
2. Amount of memory (RAM) installed
3. Amount of free space available on your hard drive
6. A description of the problem, the steps that led to the problem, any error messages displayed, and the soda.log file from the Logs directory
If you need help with a customized SoDA template that references specific objects within a Rose model or RequisitePro project, please provide a copy of the template and the model or project (or at least a sample subset of the model or project that includes the referenced objects). These are very useful in debugging problems.
Rational SoDA for Word Online Help ©1998-2001, Rational Software Corporation