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Difference between revisions of "OSEE/Users Guide/Features"

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===Additional Operations===
 
===Additional Operations===
  
* '''Searching''' - Can be performed by typing text in the Search text box. Matching text will be highlighted. Click on the [[Image:Clear.jpg]] icon to clear the search box and clear all the search results.
+
'''Searching''' - Can be performed by typing text in the Search text box. Matching text will be highlighted. Click on the [[Image:Clear.jpg]] icon to clear the search box and clear all the search results.
* '''Filtering''' - Can be performed by typing text in the Filter box. Click on the [[Image:Clear.jpg]] icon to clear the filter box and display all items.
+
 
 +
'''Filtering''' - Can be performed by typing text in the Filter box. Click on the [[Image:Clear.jpg]] icon to clear the filter box and display all items.
  
 
==Artifact Explorer View==
 
==Artifact Explorer View==

Revision as of 15:52, 16 December 2010

Contents

Component Overview

Application Framework

Key Capabilities

  • Dynamic and strongly typed artifact model (persistence layer)
  • Bidirectional traceability through typed relations model
  • Advanced version control including multi-level branching
  • Subject-based and object-based Access Control
  • User management and authentication
  • Dynamic searching API
  • Indexing and tagging services
  • Views and editors for the creation, manipulation, and navigation of artifacts, attributes, and relations
  • Remote event service for communication and synchronization of OSEE instances
  • Rules framework for text processing
  • Utilities for plug-in developers
  • Scheduling framework
  • API for the extension and use of this framework to build tightly integrated applications
  • Encryption Utility
  • Database Utilities
  • Jini Utilities
  • Scheduling Service
  • Datastore Adapter

Define (Requirements Management)

Define provides requirements and process management with tightly integrated change management using the Action Tracking System (ATS). OSEE provides publishing capabilities that enable the creation of documents from smaller internal documents to the complex documents needed to meet military requirements for contract deliverables such as the Software Requirements Specification (SRS), System Performance Specification (SPS), Prime Item Development Specification (PIDS), and all the required traceability between them.

Key Capabilities

  • Enterprise support for concurrent, distributed requirements development
  • Integrated process and workflow
  • Programmatic, bidirectional traceability
  • End user navigation and search capabilities
  • Capture accurate, meaningful review metrics
  • Tight integration with lifecycle tools
  • Automated change detection capabilities

Action Tracking System

ATS is a tightly integrated change tracking system that manages changes throughout a product's lifecycle. ATS provides integrated change management to all OSEE applications through user customizable workflows.

Key Capabilities

  • Built on same OSEE application framework as requirements, code, test development
  • Common Workflow Framework that provides for the creation of any number of simple to complex workflow state machine configurations that can work together during the engineering lifecycle
  • Workflows are configured through graphical diagrams that ATS uses at runtime
  • Configuration of ATS performed through OSEE?s common application framework enabling workflows to be created and modified without separate OSEE releases
  • Advanced project planning capabilities and release management
  • Duplication errors are minimized as items are automatically linked and data is shared
  • Menus, Views and Editors give access to ATS while working in any other aspect in OSEE
  • ATS is used to track changes and support issues for the development of OSEE itself
  • Bug Icon allows quick Action creation against any OSEE integrated tool

Open Test Environment

OTE is a powerful test solution within OSEE that integrates with existing Java, C, and C++ development environments to provide a seamless flow between developing, debugging, executing, and dispositioning of tests for complex hardware and software. The user is provided a common interface to the simulated and real-time environments for both functional and unit testing.

Key Capabilities

  • Supports the execution of multiple simultaneous batches within a single workspace
  • Built-in help system extended with test manger user guide
  • Message system supporting MIL-STD-1553 MUX, serial, wire, Ethernet, and Data Distribution Service (DDS)
  • Message GUIs provide monitoring, manipulation, and recording of messaging data
  • Utilizes OSEE application framework to provide traceability to software requirements
  • Automatic generation of tests and testing support classes, directly from requirements.
  • Leverages off Java Development Toolkit (JDT) and C/C++ Development Toolkit (CDT)
  • Provides remote execution of scripts against target hardware and operating system
  • Test results are logged in XML
  • Transforms test results via built-in or user supplied XSL Transformations
  • Built-in XSL Transformations produce interactive HTML result reports
  • A test environment service that provides both soft real-time and simulated capabilities, schedules the periodic execution of simulation components, and manages the I/O and testing resources.

BLAM

BLAM Lightweight Artifact Manipulation (BLAM) allows non-programmers to graphically construct workflows to automate repetitive tasks. A given workflow can be used for variety of similar tasks by using customizable controls to specify workflow parameters.

Key Capabilities

  • Integrated management of charge/cost accounting
  • Build planning and execution
  • Reporting services
  • Rules framework for requiring/alerting certain conditions
  • Scheduling services for automating reoccurring tasks

Program/Project Management

Program and project management tightly integrated with the Action Tracking System and other OSEE components to provide services necessary for estimation, planning, execution, and delivery of products managed within OSEE.

Discovery and Learning

Services provided for allowing advanced learning and discovery using OSEE's abundant and inherent lifecycle data and metrics.

Key Capabilities

  • Discovery of inefficiencies in lifecycle processes
  • Advanced data mining and data fusion
  • Advanced estimation
  • Advanced import/export of product capabilities between programs including applicable design, requirements, code, and test
  • Advanced data visualization
  • Prediction of future risks
  • Simulation of recommended process and lifecycle changes

Application Development

Provide capabilities needed for external software application development plug-ins, like JDT, to utilize the OSEE persistence layer and integrate with other OSEE-based applications.

Design and Modeling

Provide capabilities needed for external design and modeling plug-ins to utilize the OSEE persistence layer and integrate with other OSEE-based applications.

Views and Editors

Branch Manager View

The Branch Manager View, shown by default in the Define Perspective, shows all branches and transactions on each branch managed by OSEE in a hierarchical fashion. By default, OSEE is initialized with two branches. The System Root Branch (visible to OSEE Administrators only) and the Common Branch. The System Root Branch is the base branch for all other branches in the system. The Common branch is used to store system-wide artifacts such as configuration artifacts, users, and user preferences.

BranchManager.gif

Toolbar buttons

Icon Description
Refresh.gif Refreshes the branch hierarchy tree with the latest branch information.
Customize.gif Opens the table customization dialog. This allows users to add or hide columns.
Bug.gif Opens an action against the Branch Manager View.

Toolbar Drop-Down

To display, click on the inverted triangle located on the upper right-hand side of the Branch Manager view.

Command Description
Open Branch Graph Display a diagram showing the relations among branches.
Open OSEE Data Model Editor Opens a graphical editor of all the artifact, attribute, and relation types in the system.
Branch Presentation Switch presentation between flat or hierarchical views.
Show Archived Branches (Admins Only) Toggles archived branch visibility.
Show Merge Branches (Admins Only) Toggles merge branch visibility.
Show/Hide Transactions Toggles branch transaction visibility.
Show Favorites First Orders branches by showing favorite branches first.

Pop-up Menu

To display, perform a right-click on any branch.

Command Description
Explore Opens the Artifact Explorer View for the selected branch. This operation can also be performed by double-clicking on a branch.
Change Report Opens the Change Report View for the selected branch.
Merge Manager Opens the merge manager. This is used to resolve conflicts when committing a working branch back into its parent branch.
Branch Creates a child branch of the selected branch.
Update Branch Re-baselines a branch into its parent, leaving the selected branch in place. If there are conflicts, the merge manager will be opened to allow the user to resolve them.
Commit Into Commits changes made to a branch into another branch. Unlike "Update Branch," this feature does not assume that the destination branch is the parent. This feature can only be used by administrators.
Delete Branch Deletes the selected branch from the system by setting the branch state to deleted. The data from this branch will still be recoverable.
Purge Branch Purges the selected branch from the system by removing all data from the data store. This action cannot be undone.
Purge Transaction Purges the currently selected transaction from its branch. Removes all changes made on the selected transaction. (Not recoverable)
Open Associated Artifact Opens the artifact that was associated with the creation of the selected branch.
Set Associated Artifact Associates an artifact with the currently selected branch.
Archive Archives the branch so that it does not appear in a list of branches unless archived branches are specifically requested.
Access Control Opens the access control dialog.
Rename Allows users to change the branch name.
Mark as Favorite Sets/Unsets a branch as a favorite branch.
Copy Places branch information into the clipboard.
Open Osee Data Model Editor Opens a graphical editor of all the artifact, attribute, and relation types in the system.
Open Branch Graph Shows a graphical representation of branches using the currently selected branch as the base branch.

Additional Operations

Searching - Can be performed by typing text in the Search text box. Matching text will be highlighted. Click on the Clear.jpg icon to clear the search box and clear all the search results.

Filtering - Can be performed by typing text in the Filter box. Click on the Clear.jpg icon to clear the filter box and display all items.

Artifact Explorer View

The Artifact Explorer view, shown by default in the Define perspective, shows the artifact hierarchy of the selected branch. The artifact hierarchy is derived from the artifact's default hierarchy relation. By default, all branches have a default hierarchy root artifact which is the hierarchy tree's base element.

ArtifactExplorer.jpg

Toolbar buttons

Icon Description
CollapseAll.gif Collapses all tree nodes.
Up.gif Navigates to the parent container of the artifacts that are currently displayed at the top level in the view.
Artifact explorer.gif Opens a new instance of the Artifact Explorer view.
Branch change.gif Opens the Change Report View for the Artifact Explorer's selected branch. This report will show all changes made to the selected branch.
Artifact search.gif Opens the Quick Search View for the selected branch.
Bug.gif Opens an action against the Artifact Explorer view.

Pop-up Menu

To display, select one or more artifacts and perform a right-click.

Command Description
Open Opens the selected artifact using the default editor.
Open With Opens a sub-menu listing the available editor's for this artifact.
Reveal on Another Branch Open's a new instance of Artifact Explorer for a user selected branch. Expands tree elements to display the selected artifact to be revealed.
New Child Creates a new artifact and places it directly under the selected artifact.
Go Into Sets the selected artifact as the base of the artifact hierarchy tree hiding artifacts except child artifacts.
Mass Edit Opens the Artifact Mass Editor populated with the selected artifacts.
Sky Walker
Delete Artifact Deletes the selected artifacts.
Purge Artifact(s) Purges the selected artifacts from the data store.
Rename Artifact Allows a user to quickly change the artifact's name attribute.
Show Resource History Opens the Resource History view for the selected artifact. This will display all transactions for this artifact.
Import Opens Eclipse's import dialog.
Export Opens Eclipse's export dialog.
Lock Locks the artifact so the current user is the only one allowed to make changes to its attributes.
Copy Copies the artifact.
Paste Pastes the artifact.
Expand All Expands all tree nodes from the selected artifact down.
Select All Selects all open tree nodes.
Access Control Opens the access control dialog.

Operations

Operations that can be performed on an Artifact Explorer.

Command Description
Cross Branch Drag and Drop Artifacts can be referenced from other branches by dragging an artifact from one branch and dropping in onto another Artifact Explorer. The outcome will be one of two actions. If the artifact already existed on the branch it will be updated with the source artifacts state data. If the artifact did not exist on the destination branch it will be introduced to that branch. Meaning it will show up in the change report as an introduced artifact.
File Document Drag and Drop Artifacts can be created by dragging and dropping files directly onto the parent artifact. After the drop is performed, the Artifact Import Wizard should open. Select the import method and artifact type to convert file into. This should create a child artifact directly under the artifact where the file was dropped.

Dragging An Artifact From The Artifact Explorer

  • If an artifact is dragged from the explorer into a Word document a hyper link will be created with the artifact name in text and when selected it will open the artifact in the Artifact Editor.
  • If an artifact is dragged into a Text File the name of the artifact will be written inside the document.
  • If an artifact is dragged into a relation in the Relational View of the Artifact Editor a new relation will be created with the source artifact and the target artifact in the editor.
  • If an artifact is dragged within the Artifact Explorer the original Default Hierarchal Relation will be deleted and a new one be created whith the target artifact.

Dropping Onto The Artifact Explorer

  • If a file is dropped onto the Artifact Explorer a new artifact will be created with the contents of the source file and a new Default Hierarchal Relationship.

Artifact Editor

The Artifact editor provides specialized features for editing artifacts (this is the default editor for editing attributes and relations). The editor can be opened through Artifact Explorer, by double-clicking on any artifact or right-clicking on an artifact and selecting to Open With "Artifact Editor".


Associated with the editor is an Artifact-specific Outline view, which shows the structure of the active artifact. It is updated as the user edits the artifact.

ArtifactEditor.jpg

The Artifact Editor is divided into the following sections (some sections can be expanded and collapsed by clicking on the section's title bar).

Title Area

  1. Artifact Name - the artifact's name attribute
  2. Message Area - reports issues that need to be addressed by the user before saving is allowed. Click on the message to open a message summary window. From the message summary window, click on any message to jump to the item associated with the message.
  3. Toolbar Area
Icon Description
Refresh.gif Refreshes the artifact editor. Displaying the artifact's current data. NOTE: Changes made to the form will be lost unless data is saved before clicking on this button.
Bug.gif Opens an action against the Artifact Editor.
Open.gif Opens the artifact or if clicking on the down-arrow, displays the open with sub-menu.
Delete.gif Deletes the artifact and closes the editor.
Outline co.gif Displays the outline view.
DBiconBlue.GIF Opens the artifact's resource history.
Magnify.gif Displays the artifact in an Artifact Explorer view.
Branch.gif Open the Branch Manager View and highlights the artifact's branch.
Authenticated.gif Locks or unlocks the artifact for editing. Locking an artifact prevents other users from making changes to it.
CopyToClipboard.gif Copies a link to the latest version of the artifact to the clipboard.

Artifact Information Area

Displays the artifact's branch, artifact type, and human readable id.

Attributes Section

Displays attribute types to be edited. Attribute types can be added or deleted by clicking on the appropriate toolbar button located on the upper-right of the attributes section title bar. Note: The following operations follow min/max occurrence rules defined by the attribute's type.

Icon Description
Back.gif Opens an attribute type selection dialog; the selected attribute type instances will be reset to their default value.
GreenPlus.gif Opens a dialog displaying attribute types that can be added to the artifact.
Delete.gif Opens a dialog displaying attribute types that can be deleted from the artifact. Note: Data entered for the attribute type to be deleted will be lost as soon as the dialog's OK button is selected.

Relations Section

All relations that are defined as being valid for the artifact are shown. Relations can be added by dragging any set of artifacts into the appropriate relation group. Opening a relation group will show all the artifacts that are currently related. Double-clicking a related artifact will open it in its default editor (normally the Artifact Editor).

Pop-up Menu - To display, expand the Relations section, select one or more artifacts, and perform a right-click.

Command Description
Open Opens the selected relation using the default editor.
Edit Opens the Artifact for editing.
Mass Edit Opens the Artifact Mass Editor populated with the selected artifacts.
View Relation Table Report Opens an HTML report of the relation tree.
Order Relation... Select an order type for the relations in the group. Once the user makes a selection, the artifacts will be ordered appropriately. Options include:
  1. Lexicographical Ascending
  2. Lexicographical Descending
  3. User Ordered
  4. Unordered
Delete Relation Deletes the selected relations.
Expand All Expands all tree nodes containing relations to this artifact.
Select All Selects all tree nodes.
Delete Artifact Deletes the selected artifact and its relation to this artifact.

Drag N' Drop Operation

Artifacts can be related by dragging and dropping artifacts from Artifact Explorer onto a relation link group.

Relation links may be reordered within the same relation link group by selecting the link and dropping it into the desired location.

Details Section

Displays artifact meta-data.

Resource History View

The resource history view allows users to view the detailed changes to an aritfact.

Resourcehistoryview.jpg

In addition, the view also provides the user with the ability to select and compare artifacts.

Resourcehistoryviewmenu2.jpg

Mass Artifact Editor

The Mass Artifact Editor allows the easy view of multiple artifacts along with their attributes. This editor can be viewed by right clicking the Artifact Explorer, the Search Results page, or via ATS action. Single cells can be edited via Alt-Left-Mouse-Click. After editing any number of artifacts shown, the save button persists this data.

Masseditorview.jpg

See Xviewer for more information

Quick Search View

The Quick Search view allows users to perform searches for information that is contained inside artifacts in a selected branch. The view is opened by default in the Define Perspective. It can also be opened by clicking on the Artifact Explorer tool bar's Artifact search.jpg icon.

QuickSearchView.png

To find all artifacts that contain a particular set of keywords:

  1. Select Window > Show View > Other... > OSEE > Quick Search to open the view
  2. Type your search string in the Enter Search String combo box (or use the pull-down list to select a previously entered search expression).
    • Special characters such as (' ', !, ", #, $, %, (, ), *, +, ,, -, ., /, :, ;, <, >, ?, @, [, \, ], ^, {, |, }, ~, _) are assumed to be word separators.
    • When By Id option is selected, spaces and commas are treated as separators.
      For example:
      • Under normal operation (By Id is not selected), hello.world will be translated to hello and world. The search will match attributes with hello and world keywords.
      • When By Id is selected, (A+ABG7jFm+0BKaVZIxfqOQ,AFABG7jFm+0BKaVZIxfqOQ PX1FH) will be interpreted as two GUIDs and one HRID. The search will match artifacts containing A+ABG7jFm+0BKaVZIxfqOQ and AFABG7jFm+0BKaVZIxfqOQ as its GUID or PX1FH as its HRID.
  3. Select search options
  4. Click Search or press Enter from the combo box to execute the search
  5. The Search view displays the results of your search
  6. Right-click on any item in the Search view to open a context menu that allows you perform various operations on the artifacts such as copy search results to the clipboard or reveal a selected artifact in Artifact Explorer.
  7. To open one of the listed artifacts, double-click it or select Open from the context menu.

Quick Search Options

Attribute Type Filter

An option to search in a specific set of attribute types for artifacts on the selected branch. Type in the desired words to search for. Make sure the Attribute Type Filter option is selected under Options. By default, the filter is set to filter by attributes of type Name. If you wish to change the filter, select the button to the right of the configuration text area. When this is performed, a dialog displaying all the different tagged attribute types will be displayed. Check the items to include in the filter and select Ok. Press the Search button to execute the search.

Note: When Attribute Type Filter option is selected, By Id option is not allowed. Therefore, selecting Attribute Type Filter option disables the By Id option by setting its state to not selected.

By Id

An option to search for artifacts with a particular GUID or HRID on the default branch. Type in the desired GUID(s) or HRID(s) separated by commas or spaces. Make sure the By Id option is selected under Options, then press the Search button.

Note: When By Id option is selected, Attribute Type Filter option is not allowed. Therefore, selecting By Id option disables the Attribute Type Filter option by setting its state to not selected.

Include Deleted

An option to include artifacts that have been deleted as part of a quick search on the default branch. Type in the desired words. Make sure the Include Deleted option is selected under Options, then press the Search button.

Match Word Order

An option to match a phrase against artifacts during a quick search operation on the default branch. Type in the desired words. Make sure the Match Word Order option is selected under Options, then press the Search button.

All Match Locations

An option to return match location information for the quick search query. Match location information is found during the Match Word Order operation. Therefore, match location information will only be returned when the Match Word Order option is selected. When the All Match Locations option is not selected (default case), search results will only contain the first location where the quick search query matched the item. By selecting All Match Locations option, all locations where matches were found will be returned. NOTE: Selecting to return all match locations can potentially slow down search performance.

Case Sensitive

Type in the desired words. Make sure the Match Word Order option is selected under Options, select All Match Locations then press the Search button.

Sky Walker View

Change Report Editor

The change report view shows all changes made to a branch. A Change Report can be performed for a branch two ways. The first way is by right-clicking a branch from the Branch Manager then choosing the "Show Change Report" menu item. The second way is to select "Show Change Report" from the Aspect view of an ATS Action that is still in work; this will do a Change Report for the working branch of the Aspect.

The Change Report will display all of the artifacts on the branch that have had an attribute or relation link modified. It will also do conflict detection on these artifacts against the parent branch. Attributes and relation links with multiple changes will provide a summarized node that shows the final effect of the changes and can be expanded to view all of the minor changes that were made. If an attribute or relation link was modified on both branches then the summary will show a red conflict mark to signify that a commit will cause an override to occur.

Changereport.JPG

Toolbar buttons

Command Description
Refresh.gif Refreshes the data in the change report view with the latest information.
Customize.gif Opens the table customization dialog. This allows users add or hide columns.
Bug.gif Opens an action against the Change Report View.

Toolbar Drop-Down

To display, click on the inverted triangle located on the upper right-hand side of the Change Report View.

Command Description
Show Document Order Switch presentation to show artifacts ordered by their default hierarchy relation.

Pop-up Menu

To display, perform a right-click on any branch.

Command Description
Open Opens the selected artifact using the default editor.
Open With Opens a sub-menu listing the available editor's for this artifact.
Reveal in Artifact Explorer Displays an artifacts location in the Artifact Explorer.
Resource History Opens the Resource History view for the selected artifact. This will display all transactions for this artifact.
View Word Change Report Displays a Word document populated with the branch differences of the selected artifacts.
View Viewer Report Generates a report of the Change Report View content.
Copy Copies the artifact.
Revert Artifact Reverts an artifact.
Revert Attribute Reverts an attribute.
Delete Transaction Deletes a transaction.

Define Navigator

The Define Navigator, shown by default in the Define Perspective, provides a central location to launch frequently used define operations. To quickly find a define operation to execute, enter text into the filter box. This will filter out all navigation items that contains the entered text. Select the clear action (Clear.gif) to clear out the text and restore all navigation items. To execute the operation, double-click on any of the navigation item.

Merge Manager

The Merge Manager is used to resolve conflicts that arise when doing development on parallel branches. The Merge Manager makes conflicts that arise easily identifiable and then provides the means for resolving the conflicts, so that the working branch can be committed. A conflict exists if the value of an attribute/artifact has changed on both the Destination and Source Branches. For reference the Source Branch is the users working branch. It is the branch that the user has been making changes to and would like to then add back into the Destination Branch or Baseline Branch. Both branches are identified by name in the header of the Merge Manager.

Depending upon the conflict found, the user may have several choices for resolution. These include:

  • Accept the value on the Source Branch and overwrite the value on the Destination Branch
  • Accept the value on the Destination Branch and do not add any of the Source Branch changes, (These will still show up as merged on Change Reports)
  • Create a solution that is a combination of the two changes
  • Revert the changes on the Source Branch (This is the only available solution when the Artifact/Attribute was deleted on the Destination Branch, will show up as no change on the Change Report)
  • Do nothing (only possible for informational conflicts)

Committing of Branches is blocked until all conflicts are resolved.

File:Merge manager.gif

Icons

Icon Description
Chkbox disabled.gif Resolution has been started for the conflict
Accept.gif Conflict has been resolved and is ready to be committed, In the Merge column it means that the Source and Destination Branches have the same value even though they were both changed.
Chkbox enabled conflicted.gif After a conflict has been marked as resolved the value changed on the source or destination branch
Issue.gif A conflict that provides the user special information but does not need to be resolved
Red light.gif A conflict that can not be resolved except by reverting the Artifact or Attribute, because it was deleted on the Destination Branch
Blue d.gif Shows that the item defined by the column it is in has the Destination Branches value
Green s.gif Shows that the item defined by the column it is in has the Source Branches value
Yellow m.gif Shows that the item defined by the column it is in has a new value that is neither the Source Branch nor Destination Branch value.
Conflict.gif Shows that the conflict has not been given an initial value
User.gif Opens the Associated Artifact for the merge
Branch change source.gif Opens up the Change Report for the Source Branch
Branch change dest.gif Opens up the Change Report for the Destination Branch
Refresh.gif Refreshes the Merge Manger view to find new conflicts
Customize.gif Allows the user to customize the Merge Manager tables
Bug.gif Report a bug with the Merge Manager

GUI Overview

The GUI is organized to provide the user with an ability to quickly identify conflicts.

  • The Heading - The Heading contains text to help identify what is being merged. It identifies the Source Branch, and the Destination Branch. It also provides the user with information about how many conflicts there are and if they have been resolved. The Heading also contains easy launch icons for additional tools in connection with the Merge Manager.
  • The Conflict Resolution Column - This column provides the user information about the state of the conflict. A blank entry in the column means that the conflict is new and has not had any actions performed on it.
    • A Chkbox disabled.gif indicates that conflict is in the modified state. This means the user has begun merging the conflict but has not marked it as resolved. The user may transition it into the resolved state by left clicking on the Chkbox disabled.gif icon.
    • The Accept.gif icon indicates the user has marked the conflict as resolved. This means they have selected a value for it and have verified the value going in is what they want. No additional changes are allowed on a conflict once it is in the resolved state. It can be placed back into the modified state by left clicking on the Accept.gif icon.
    • The Chkbox enabled conflicted.gif means that a conflict was in the resolved state but a new change has occurred on either the Source or Destination Branch. It serves to notify the user that the conflict was not in the finalized state when they resolved the conflict. The user can return to resolved state by left clicking on the Chkbox enabled conflicted.gif icon.
    • The Red light.gif icon indicates that an Artifact or Attribute must be reverted on the Source Branch. This indicates that the Artifact/Attribute was deleted on the Destination Branch and can not have a change committed onto it. The user must abandon any change to that artifact attribute by using the revert command. Once the Artifact/Attribute has been reverted the Merge Manager will be refreshed and the conflict will be removed.
    • The Issue.gif icon indicates an informational conflict. The user does not have to take any action to resolve these conflicts. It just provides the information that the Source Branch deleted the Artifact/Attribute but the Destination Branch has been modified. The user is free to act as desired based on the provided information.
  • The Artifact Name Column - This column tells which artifact the conflict occurred on. If the name is different between the Source and Destination Branches, (this will show up as a conflict) it will at first showing use the Source Branch value and then use whatever the name is resolved to be after that has occurred.
  • The Artifact Type Column - Simply lists what type of Artifact is conflicted
  • The Conflicting Item Column - In the case of an attribute conflict it states what attribute type is conflicting. In the case of an artifact conflict it will always say "Artifact State"
  • The Source Value Column - When possible this column tells what value the Source Branch has for the conflict. It will always have a Green s.gif icon. If the conflicting item is Word Formatted Content the words "Stream data" will be shown. For artifact conflicts it will either show "Modified" or "Deleted". Left clicking on the Green s.gif icon will populate the Merge Branch with value found on the Source Branch.
  • The Destination Value Column - When possible this column tells what value the Destination Branch has for the conflict. It will always have a Blue d.gif icon. If the conflicting item is Word Formatted Content the words "Stream data" will be shown. For artifact conflicts it will either show "Modified" or "Deleted". Left clicking on the Blue d.gif icon will populate the Merge Branch with value found on the Destination Branch.
  • The Merge Value Column - The Merged Value column serves to show the user the value that has been selected for use when the Branch is committed. The Merge value is actually kept on a new "Merge Branch" and so any changes made to it will not affect the value seen on the Source or Destination Branches. When the Merge Value column is blank with no icon, the conflict is informational and no actions are provided.
    • When the Merge Value column contains a Conflict.gif icon the value has not been set. This is the icon that should be shown for all conflicts (Except informational conflicts, or same value conflicts) the first time the user brings up the merge manager.
    • The Green s.gif icon indicates that the Source Value was selected as the final value. The actual Source Value text will also be shown in this column if possible.
    • The Blue d.gif icon indicates that the Destination Value was selected as the final value. The Destination Value text will also be shown in this column if possible.
    • The Yellow m.gif icon will be shown when a new value has been selected for the final value. This indicates that the user has modified the final value so that it is no longer a copy of the Source or Destination, but some variation thereof.
    • A Accept.gif icon indicates that although both the Source Branch Value and Destination Branch Value have changed they were both changed to the same value and so there is not really a conflict. Left clicking on the icon in the Merge Value column will bring up the Merge Wizard or in the case of un-resolvable conflicts a dialog offering the ability to revert the conflicting item.

Pop-up Menu

To display, perform a right click on any row. This will provide a menu with options to resolve conflicts.

Item Description
Set Source as Default Branch This selection is a quick way to set the Source Branch as the default branch.
If the Source Branch is already set as the Default Branch, the menu item will be grayed out and there will be a check mark next to the option.
Set Destination as Default Branch This selection is a quick way to set the Destination Branch as the default branch.
If the Destination Branch is already set as the Default Branch, the menu item will be grayed out and there will be a check mark next to the option.
Edit Merge Artifact This option is only enabled for Word Formatted Content conflicts and will bring up the Merge Artifact in Word.

The Merge Artifact is a separate version of the artifact that will preserve the details of the Merge, and will be reviewable in the Merge Manager after an artifact is committed. IMPORTANT: If the user makes the changes to their Source Branch instead of on the Merge Artifact the Merge Manager will incorrectly represent the merge in future reviews.

Generate Three Way Merge Will generate a Three Way Merge for the Word Formatted Content.
Preview Source Artifact Show a preview in Word of the Artifact based on the version selected.
Preview Destination Artifact
Preview Merge Artifact
Show Source Branch Differences Generates differences based upon which option is selected. Allows the user to see how different versions of the artifact differ
Show Destination Branch Differences
Show Source/Destination Differences
Show Source/Merge Differences
Show Destination/Merge Differences
Reveal Artifact in Explorer This option is only available when either the Source or Destination Branch is set as the default branch. When such is the case this will reveal the artifact in the Artifact Explorer for the Branch that is the default branch.
Resource History This option is only available when either the Source or Destination Branch is set as the default branch. When such is the case this will reveal the resource history of the artifact on the Branch that is the default branch.

General Resolution of Conflicts

Type Description
Informational Conflicts Informational conflicts are identified by the Issue.gif icon in the conflict resolution column in the GUI. Informational conflicts require no action by the user, and no actions are provided in the GUI other than the ability to use the right click menu to examine the artifact using the tools provided there. An informational conflict is generated when the Source branch deletes an Artifact or an Attribute and that same Artifact or Attribute was modified on the Destination Branch. This is to allow the user the opportunity to review a change that was made on the Destination Branch that might make them want to take some action in regards to their deletion.
Un-resolvable Conflicts Un-resolvable Conflicts are identified by the Red light.gif icon in the conflict resolution column of the GUI. This conflicts require the user to revert the Artifact or Attribute that caused the conflict on the Source Branch. An Un-resolvable conflict is caused when the Destination Branch deletes an Artifact or Attribute while the Source Branch modifies that same Artifact, Attribute. The reason the user must revert their changes is that committing in their changes would essentially undo that deletion and bring that item back into existence. If the deletion should not have happened the user needs to talk with the committer of the deletion to resolve the issue.
Attribute Conflicts Attribute Conflicts occur when both the Destination and Source branch modify an attribute. This section will cover all attributes except Word Formatted Content Attributes.

The resolution of these Attribute values provide three options:

  1. Use the Source attribute value - Left click on the Green s.gif icon in the Source Value column. This will copy the Green s.gif icon and the value displayed in the Source Value column into the Merged Value Column. Available from the Merge Wizard (Left click on the icon in the Merge Value column) with the "Load Source Data" and "Load Destination Value" buttons.
  2. Use the destination attribute value - In order to use the Destination Value the user may left click on the Blue d.gif icon in the Destination Value column. This will copy the Blue d.gif icon and the value displayed in the Source Value column into the Merged Value Column. Available from the Merge Wizard (Left click on the icon in the Merge Value column) with the "Load Source Data" and "Load Destination Value" buttons.
  3. Use a modified value that is some combination of the source and destination values - In order to modify the value to some combination the user must bring up the Merge Wizard which has an embedded editor specific to the attribute that needs to be modified. Once the value is accurately entered in the editor the user may than select "Finish" This will place a Yellow m.gif icon in the Merged Value column along with the new value. The user then right clicks on the Chkbox disabled.gif in the Conflict Status Column so that the Accept.gif icon is displayed. The conflict is resolved and will allow the Source Branch to be committed.

Word Formatted Content Conflict Resolution

Resolution of conflicts is provided in two different ways. They can either copy and paste the changes into their Merge Artifact document or they can generate a Three Way Merge and accept the changes that show up in the generated document. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages and are best suited for different situations. They can also be combined where the situation warrants it, however the three way merge must always be done first if this is the case.

Manual Merging

Usage:

  • When one version of the artifact has many changes and the other version has very few changes
  • When both files have formatting changes
  • When three way merging generates a complex document
  • When both versions edit the same text in multiple places


Manual Merging is the process of combining the Source Branch changes and the destination branch changes manually by copying and pasting them into the Merge Artifact document. The Merge Artifact is a separate version of the artifact that will preserve the details of the Merge, and will be reviewable in the Merge Manager after an artifact is committed. IMPORTANT: If the user makes the changes to their Source Branch instead of on the Merge Artifact the Merge Manager will incorrectly represent the merge in future reviews.

The following procedure illustrates the functionality available to facilitate a manual merge.

The user will first either launch the Merge Wizard by left clicking on the icon in the Merge Value column of the GUI or they may select the functionality from the right click menu for the conflict in question. The first thing to do is to bring up a word document comparison of both the Source Branch Version and the Destination Branch Version. These documents will show all of the changes that have been made to these two artifacts since the Source Branch was created. To launch these difference's the user either select "Show Source Diff" and "Show Destination Diff" from the wizard or "Differences"->"Show Source Branch Differences" and "Differences"->"Show Destination Branch Differences" from the right click menu. These will bring up the two difference's in different Word instances with window labels to allow the user to differentiate the files. The intention of bringing up these difference's is twofold. Firstly, it allows the user to identify the file that has the most changes. Secondly, it will come in use later when the user copy's and paste's changes into the Merge document.

Upon identifying the branch that has the most changes the user should then set the Merge Artifact to contain that branches value. This is done by either selecting "Populate with Source Data" or "Populate with Destination Data" from the Merge Wizard or left clicking on the icon or the icon in the Source and Destination Value columns in the Merge Manager GUI. The user can then bring up the Merge Artifact for editing by clicking on "Edit Merge Artifact" in the Merge Wizard or in the right click menu. The Document that comes up contains the Merge Artifact and any changes made to it will be reflected when the Source Branch is committed. The user can than begin to copy the changes from the diff report that showed the fewest changes (opposite of the one chosen as the baseline). After all changes have been migrated into the Merge Artifact document the user than saves the document, which will preserve the Merge Artifact value. The user should be aware that any changes they do not wish to preserve from either the Source or Destination version of the Artifact need to be omitted on the Merge Artifact.

The user then right clicks on the in the Conflict Status Column so that the icon is displayed. The conflict is resolved and will allow the Source Branch to be committed.


Three Way Merge

Usage:

  • When both versions have many changes or both versions have few changes.
  • When only one file has formatting changes (Must be combined with Manual Merging in this case)
  • When three way merging generates an understandable document


Three Way Merging leverages Microsoft Words ability to merge documents. At the beginning of any Word Formatted Content merge it is recommended that user generate a Three Way Merge and check the complexity of the document. In most cases Three Way Merging is a quicker way to merge two documents, however in some cases the Three Way Merge will generate a document that is difficult to use and understand. This usually arises when the Source and Destination branches have edited the same text or if one of the branches has touched a large percentage of the file. As it runs fairly quickly it is always a good idea to run it at the beginning of a Merge to check if it is useful. Three Way Merging only allows the user to maintain format changes from one of the documents. If format changes are made on both documents the Three Way Merge will prompt the user as to which format changes they would like to maintain, the user will then need to copy the format changes from the other document into the Merge Artifact document manually.

A Three Way Merge is generated by selecting Generate Three Way Merge from either the Merge Wizard or the right click menu. IMPORTANT: Generating a Three Way Merge will discard any changes made to the Merge Artifact, therefore a prompt will make sure this is the intended operation. If a user had started a Three Way Merge previously but had not completed the Merge the user is also given the option of continuing the previous Merge in the prompt (Selecting Edit Merge Artifact will also have this effect). The following is an example of a Three Way Merge in Word.

File:Three way merge.jpg

The changes made by the Source Branch and Destination Branch are shown in different colors in the Word Document. In this particular case the changes made in Red were done by the Source Branch and the changes made in Blue were done on the Destination Branch. The color scheme is not consistent and the user needs to verify which color equates to which changes by hovering there mouse over one of the changes. A popup will be shown which will identify the author. The following Guide will explain how to resolve the changes in the document. IMPORTANT: All changes must be either accepted or rejected before the conflict can be marked as resolved. After the user has resolved all the changes it is a good idea to do generate a difference document between the Source Artifact and the Merge Artifact, and the Destination Artifact and the Merge Artifact by selecting "Show Source/Merge Diff" and "Show Destination/Merge Diff" from the merge Wizard or "Differences"->"Show Source/Merge Differences" and "Differences"->"Show Destination/Merge Differences" from the right click menu. These views will show the differences between the branch artifact and the merge artifact. For the Source/Merge difference this will show everything that is different between the source document and the Merge document. In the case where the user accepts all changes from the source and destination branches this diff will highlight all of the changes that occurred on the destination branch. In the Destination/Merge diff it will highlight all of the changes that happened on the source branch. It is always possible to use Manual Merging techniques in conjunction with Three Way Merging.

The user then right clicks on the in the Conflict Status Column so that the icon is displayed. The conflict is resolved and will allow the Source Branch to be committed.

Word formatted content merge wizard.jpg

Additional Features

The Merge Wizard contains a "Clear the Merge Artifact" that is not available from the right click menu and only available for Word Formatted Content. This will empty out the Merge artifact and allow the user to start with an empty document for editing. It will also place a Conflict.gificon in the merge value column for that conflict.

Should be removed ?

StoppedDialog.JPG

Upon selecting to commit a working branch, OSEE will prompt the user to perform a merge if conflicts are detected between the changes made on the working branch and any changes made to the parent branch since the working branch was created. The Merge Manager in OSEE will be used to reconcile these differences.

Attr.JPG


From the Merge Manager tab, select the Merged Value icon which will cause the Edit the attribute window to appear. Perform the following steps for each artifact listed on the Merge Manager tab.

3-way.JPG

  1. Determine which change would be the easiest to re-implement (typically the smaller and simpler of the two). This can be done by comparing all of the changes made to this UI.
    1. Show Source Diff displays the changes made on this working branch.
    2. Show Destination Diff displays the changes made on the parent branch.
    3. Show Source/Destination Diff displays the effect on the parent branch prior to any merge management. This view will show how the changes made on this working branch will be overwritten by the changes made on the parent branch.
  2. Select the more complicated of the two changes to populate the Merge Artifact: Populate with Source Data or Populate with Destination Data. The Merged Value column on the Merge Manager tab and the top-most icon in the Edit the attribute window will update to display "S" or "D" based upon this selection.
  3. Select Edit Merge Artifact to open the merge document for editing.
  4. Re-implement the changes from the simpler change report.
  5. If at any time the merge effort needs to be cleared or re-started, select Clear the Merge Artifact.
  6. The following selections may be used to review and confirm the changes made during the merge. Prior to updating the Merge Artifact, these selections will not provide accurate information.
    1. Show Source/Merge Diff displays the additional changes beyond those made on the working branch.
    2. Show Destination/Merge Diff displays the additional changes beyond those made on the parent branch.
  7. Select Finish
  8. Under the Conflict Resolution column on the Merge Manager tab, check the box so that the resolution status updates from "Modified" to "Resolved".

Once all artifact conflicts have been addressed, the Merge Manager tab will report "All Conflicts Are Resolved." At this point, the user can return to the Workflow tab and re-initiate committing the branch.

OSEE will display the Commit Branch window to confirm the conflicts resolved via the Merge Manager. Since all the conflicts have been resolved, the user can select Ok to finish committing the branch.

Complete2.JPG

Search

Advanced Artifact Search

Artifact search page.gif

What it is The search page in the Eclipse Search window for finding artifacts on the default branch. How to use it

The Artifact Search page works by building a list of filters which that describe the desired artifacts. Filter types are selected from the drop down at the top of the page. After completing the options for the filter, pressing the Add Filter button will add the filter to the list of filters. If the Not Equal option is checked, then it will be added with the image signifying that the complement of the filter will be used.

Filters can be removed from the list at anytime by selecting the next to the filter.

The radio buttons in the Artifacts that match frame are used to control whether artifacts are returned that match every filter listed or at least one filter listed.

Once all of the options have been filled out, the Search button can be pressed to start the search against the default branch. For convenience the default branch is stated at the top of the search page. If a large number of artifacts will be returned then a confirmation will be displayed with a count of the artifacts that are about to be loaded.

The Search button will not be enabled until there is at least one filter in the list.

Wizards

Artifact Import Wizard

Artifact import selection.jpg Artifact import wizard.jpg

Services

Event Service

OSEE is a client side application that runs off an Oracle database. As with many applications, OSEE caches some of the data it provides to the user. These caches need to be notified that there are updates available. These updates are triggered by an event service that "connects" all OSEE instances and notifies them that changes have been made to cached data.

When your application focus is on any OSEE View, you will notice a gear icon at the bottom of your workbench. When NOT connected to the event service, this icon will show a red slash. When this happens, you should shutdown, restart and accept all OSEE updates. If this does not solve the problem, contact an OSEE Team member for help in resolving the problem.

Attribute Tagging for Quick Search

When an artifact is saved, each attribute contained in the artifact is analyzed to produce a list of tags that are then associated with the artifact. Quick search is a form of keyword based searching which uses tags to perform contextual artifact searches.

For an attribute to be tagged by the system, it must meet the following criteria:

  • The attribute's type must specify an Attribute Tagger to be used by the tagging system.
  • The attribute must contain valid data.
  • The attribute revision must be saved in the database before sending to tagging system.

To produce tags, modified attributes are sent to the OSEE application server where the tagging system processes each attribute using an Attribute Tagger specified by the attribute's type. The Attribute Tagger knows how to interpret the attribute's data and how to extract words from the content. At this point, a word is defined as a sequential set of alphanumeric characters delimited by one or more spaces. As words are parsed, they are sent to the tagging system's word encoder where the following processing takes place:

  • The characters in the original word are converted to lower case.
  • The lowercase version of the word is encoded and stored in the tagging system.
  • The lowercase version of the word is split using (' ', !, ", #, $, %, (, ), *, +, ,, -, ., /, :, ;, <, >, ?, @, [, \, ], ^, {, |, }, ~, _) as delimiters.
  • Words given in inflected form (possessive, plural, etc) are converted into citation form.
  • Each word is encoded and stored in the tag system.

When encoding words into tags, the tag encoder uses an algorithm which transforms the word's characters into a bit-packed tag that will fit in a 64-bit integer. The tag will represent up to 12 characters (all that can fit into 64-bits). Longer words will be turned into consecutive tags.

Tag Encoding Examples

Original Keywords Encoding
appendices appendix -220858502
batteries battery 529513131
alternate alternate -1420231874
backup backup 24902827

Custom Widgets

XViewer - Advanced TreeViewer Widget

EclipseCon 2009 Presentation Slides

Download Zip of Code and Example

Download Instructions

The purpose of the XViewer is to give the application developer a more advanced and dynamic TreeViewer that has the filtering and sorting the capabilities of a spreadsheet while providing the users the ability to customize their table to suit their current needs and save/restore these customizations for future use by individual or group.

The XViewer has been incorporated into the Nebula project.

Xviewer main.png

Table Customizations

Xviewer customize.PNG

  • Provides Table Customization dialog to allow selection of visible columns, as well as the specification of their widths and names
  • Easily reorder columns through drag/drop or table customization
  • Provides mechanism to save and load table customizations so users can easily switch between customizations
  • Provides mechanism to mark table customizations as individual or global to provide sharing of customizations by users and teams (needs to be backed with shared file system or database)
  • Provides mechanism to mark table customization as default customization to display whenever this table is shown
  • Provides ability for multiple XViewer tables to be used within the same application, but provide their own columns and customizations

Sorting and Filtering

Xviewer sortfilter.png

Sorting

  • Sort individual columns (forward or reverse) using data-specific configured sorter for that columns data type
  • Perform unlimited multi-column sorting by holding Ctrl key down and selecting other columns. Re-selecting a column while Ctrl is held down will reverse the sort for that column

Filtering

  • Quick filter (bottom left) provides for filtering of all visible data by entered keywords
  • Alt-left click on column header (or right-click menu) allows for filtering by column. As many column filters can be added and work together.
  • Provides simple metrics (bottom status label) to show number of objects loaded, number shown and number selected.
  • Status label shows filters and sorters that are currently applied to viewer (bottom status label)

Other Capabilities

  • Provides ability to copy rows, columns or individual cells into buffer for pasting into other applications
  • Allows for multi-column editing of selected rows/columns
  • Provides html rendering of currently visible table data
  • Provides comma separated value export to csv file that can be opened in any spreadsheet application
  • All the normal capabilities of the existing SWT Tree/TreeViewer have been retained as XViewer is an extension to TreeViewer

Future

  • Submitted to Nebula as alternative to existing SWT TreeViewer (already part of eclipse.org/osee project)
  • Allow for advanced column filtering by complex expression and "canned list" of already entered items
  • Add regular expressions to all filtering capabilities
  • Provide easy ability to sum selected rows for selected column
  • Provide simple summing/counting of rows/column data
  • Provide formulas and functions for advanced summing/counting of data
  • Provide graphing and charting of data
  • Collaborate with other table/tree solutions to integrate functionality...

HTML Report and CSV Export

Xviewer reportexport.PNG

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