Mapping attributes to URIs for external applications

You can map attributes to Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI) to create a consistent OSLC representation for attributes across all modules that are available for integration with external applications, such as Rational® Engineering Lifecycle Management, Rational Insight, and applications that are integrated with IBM® Rational DOORS® by using OSLC.

About this task

Attributes that are used in multiple modules have unique identifiers in those modules, even if the attributes have the same name and type in each module. As a result, external applications might consider an attribute with multiple unique identifiers to be different attributes. For example, in Rational Insight, this prevents consistent reporting of attributes across modules.

Attribute mapping assigns a single URI to attributes that have the same name and type but that are in different modules. This mapping provides a consistent OSLC representation that enables external applications to recognize and report on equivalent attributes across modules.

Note: Links from Rational DOORS objects to external web URLs are not represented in Rational Insight reporting. Attribute DXL is not available for mapping or for Rational Insight reports.

Procedure

  1. In theIBM Rational DOORS client, click File > Mappings. The Attribute and Linking Mapping window opens.
  2. At the Attributes page, click Add.
  3. In the Database Explorer pane, expand projects and folders and select a module.
  4. In the Attributes pane, select an attribute and click OK.
  5. After you add attributes to the Mapped Attributes list, do one of the following actions:
    • Select an attribute and click Edit. Enter a URI in the Edit URI window and click OK.
    • Click Suggest to assign suggested URIs to the following entries:
      • Attributes that do not have a mapped URI
      • Selected attributes
      • All attributes
      To assign suggested URIs to attributes, you must first enter a default namespace on the General tab of the Attribute and Link Mapping window. You can edit suggested URIs after they are entered.
  6. Click OK or Apply to save the attribute mapping.

What to do next

After you create of edit URI mappings and you are ready to make the mappings available to the external applications, you must publish your updates on the General tab of the Attribute and Link Mapping window. This can require a full reload of data in external applications, such as Rational Insight, so you should aggregate and apply multiple mapping changes with careful use of the Publish button.

Important:

Changes to attribute mapping affect the OSLC representation of resources containing matching attributes. Consuming applications will view mapping changes as data modifications and might need to reload all relevant resources. The amount of time to reload changes is dependent on the number of resources affected, so care should be taken when publishing mappings.

If you add or modify a mapping for an attribute in a module that is already included in the working set, for example those modules that are consumed by IBM Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager, you must update the working set to ensure that all attributes are displayed in Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager. After publishing the mapping of an attribute, remove the module from the working set and apply the changes. Then, add the module back into the working set and apply the changes.


Feedback