IBM® Rational® Focal Point™ evaluates an expression and displays the value in the attribute or cell. All users can enter expressions, but non-administrators cannot use expressions to gain information that they do not have access to.
An expression always begins with an equal sign (=). One or more operands follow the equal sign. All operands are separated by calculation operators. The expression is calculated from left to right, according to a specific order for each operator in the expression. You can change the order of operations by using parentheses.
Each operand can be a text string, a number, or an attribute value. You enter a reference to a text string by enclosing the text with quotes ("), for example, "Text string". You enter a reference to a number by entering the number, for example, 5.5 (note that numbers must be entered with dots). You enter a reference to an attribute value in one of the following ways:
Reference | Example | Explanation |
'Attribute' | 'Title' | Reference to the value in the attribute in the same element |
'Element Title!Attribute' | 'Req 14!Title' | Reference to the value in the attribute of a specific element in the same module |
'Module!Element Title!Attribute' | 'Requirements!Req 14!Title' | Reference to the value in the attribute of a specific element in a specific module |
Reference | Example | Explanation |
'Attribute(cell)' | 'MatrixValues(A2)' | Reference to one cell in a Matrix attribute. A2 is in the first column and in the second row. |
'Attribute(cell:cell)' | 'MatrixValues(A2:B4)' | Reference to more than one cell in a Matrix attribute. A2:B4
refers to the cells A2, A3, A4, B2, B3 and B4. Note: This expression
cannot be used in a Time Grid attribute cell.
|
Reference | Example | Explanation |
'Attribute(sheet;cell)' | ''TimeGrid(Sh1;A2)' | Reference to a single cell in a sheet of a Time Grid attribute. Sh1 is the first sheet, and A2 is the cell in the first column and in the second row. |