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Topic Title: Is it possible to access parts of a module without opening it?
Topic Summary: My dumb question for the day....
Created On: 27-Jun-2008 16:36
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 27-Jun-2008 16:36
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David Jakad

Posts: 94
Joined: 20-Jul-2007

Is there any way to access just parts of a module, say an individual object, without opening the entire module?

It seems like a dumb question, since after working with DXL for a while, I seem to take it for granted that you open a module, read some info and/or make some changes, and then close the module.

It's my understanding that when you "open" a module, what really happens is some sort of cache copy is created from the DOORS server on to the local computer client machine. However, as modules grow into very large documents and as clients access the DOORS server through not-so-fast remote connections, it has gotten me thinking... is there some way you could access just parts of a module, and as such, speed up performance a bit?

A second follow-up question would be, what is the difference (behind the scenes) from opening a module in read-only mode versus shareable edit? I would guess the DOORS served gets marked or flagged in some way (since no one can open a module in exclusive edit mode, if someone else has it in shareable edit).

I sometimes wonder why the module viewer is not designed to always open in read-only mode, then let the user make changes, then when a save is issued, that DOORS doesn't attempt to lock the necessary sections on an as-needed basis, save the changes, the immediately un-lock and un-share those sections.

In some other threads, some have hinted they've worked on their own DXL user interface to implement this. I am headed down the same path. I've been working on an alternate user interface to DOORS. Part of this interface is an alternate module viewer. And, I'm getting to the point where, when I want to open a module, I'd rather just load the objects into my own dialog box and skip the normal module window all together. So now I am curious if there is a way I can access the objects on the server more directly, rather than using the normal read/share/edit commands which open up a module window. I know I can open the modules in the background (hidden), but I assume the data structure is still there.
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 30-Jun-2008 13:20
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Eric Piallat

Posts: 13
Joined: 10-Dec-2007

Originally posted by: David Jakad
I sometimes wonder why the module viewer is not designed to always open in read-only mode, then let the user make changes, then when a save is issued, that DOORS doesn't attempt to lock the necessary sections on an as-needed basis, save the changes, the immediately un-lock and un-share those sections.


You can force the module viewer to open in read-only mode by default, with the command line flag: -defopenmode READ_ONLY -defopenlinkmode READ_ONLY


Alternatly, you can create two registry values in the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Telelogic\DOORS\8.2\Config" key:
defopenmode=READ_ONLY
defopenlinkmode=READ_ONLY

AFAK, there is no way to set default open mode from DOORS once started.




Concerning your main subject, sorry, I'm afraid there is no way to access a specific Object without opening the whole module.
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 30-Jun-2008 14:01
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ron lewis

Posts: 650
Joined: 20-Sep-2004

In DOORS 8.2 and above, you can access module properties without opening a module with perm ModuleProperties.
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 8-Jul-2008 18:35
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Louie Landale

Posts: 2070
Joined: 12-Sep-2002

There is no way to open part of a module, although v8.3 lets you read Module level attributes without actually opening the module. When you open, yes, you get a cached copy of the entire module with all its objects and attributes; and yes that can be slow for very large modules. Yes, it might be better if you could only download the part of the module you intend to use, but then if the module is being changed while you have it open then your copy of the module won't be consistent with itself if you download the 2nd part of the module when it was changed after you downloaded the 1st part. This would speed up initial open but would slow down, a little, access to other parts of the module, similar to the delay you experience with Layout columns that follow links.

Compared to opening in Read-Only mode, shareable edit mode (without locking any sections) prevents anybody else from opening in Exclusive edit. Compared to Exclusive Edit, Shareable edit does not allow you to modify module-level attributes including creating new ones.

Yes, read-only should be the default open mode which would force users to deliberately open in Exclusive or Shared mode, if that's what you want. Eric's response is correct but it only works for one client at a time and basically requires cooperation by each user. Yes, its annoying when someone mindlessly opens a module Exclusive and leaves it open all day.

Making changes in Read mode and letting DOORS update the objects when you 'save' has the problem of what to do if DOORS cannot lock the objects which may create a situation where some of your changes are saved and some are not. It also creates a problem when two folks are editing the same objects and neither knows the other is doing it; it would be easy for a change to get wiped out accidentally by the other person.

Opening a module invisibly is lots faster than opening Visibly and takes lots less memory; but yes the same notion of downloading the entire module applies.

I don't think Telelogic is going to change the Read/Edit/Share notion of opening modules nor allow selective refresh of some of the objects. I'm confident you cannot get around that with clever DXL.

- Louie
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