Tool Mentor: Edit Process Views Using RUP Builder

Purpose

Process views are trees that provide a specific perspective onto a selected RUP process.  Process views that come with RUP are role-based, but they could be set up by project phase or iteration, or by artifacts, or job titles.  Your organization may have created template process configurations with very different views than those shipped with RUP.  This tool mentor provides guidance on how to edit the views in your process configuration.

Process views are a useful mechanism for a project manager to provide an uncluttered view of the process to a specific individual or sub-group within the project, reducing the confusion they may have about their specific role. You can even create views for specific people, if you find that this is useful for your project.

You'll note that it takes a few seconds to open the process views panel.  That's because all of the process views are being updated based on the process selections that are you have made.  The more process views you create, the longer this process will take.

This tool mentor assumes you have launched RUP Builder, described your configuration, made a series of process selections and saved your custom configuration appropriately for your project.  Do note that you have a choice at publication of not publishing any of the process views you have, so you don't have to delete them for them not to be visible in the final site.

This section provides links to additional information related to this tool mentor.

• Tailor the Process for the Project
• Develop Development Case

Overview

The following steps are performed in this tool mentor:

• Synchronize Process Views
• Edit an Existing View
• Create a New View
• Delete a View
• Save Your Process Configuration
• More Information

Synchronize Process Views

Process views are trees that provide an uncluttered, customized subset of the total process.  When process selections are made, the process views are synchronized with those additions and deletions. Newly selected elements, if they already have a location in the process view, are made visible again.  If newly selected elements have never appeared in the process view before, they appear at the bottom of the view for you to move around at will.

This means that if you have created a customized view with specific locations for elements, they will remain in those locations but be hidden from view if they are deselected, reappearing in the same place when selected again.  This means that you do not have to constantly rebuild process views every time you make process selections.

Synchronizing process views is done automatically every time you move to the 'Edit Views' panel of RUP Builder.  This synchronization process is what causes the short delay before the process views appear.  Process views are also automatically synchronized at process publication, allowing you to make new selections and publish quickly without editing your process views.  Results may not be pretty in this case.

Edit an Existing View

RUP comes with several pre-existing views.  Your organization may have created more in its organizational template configurations.  It is likely that the views that have been created will be useful to you.  It is recommended that you use the existing views as a starting point, probably with little change until you have project experience that indicates the need for new views or significant changes to existing ones.

To edit a view, click on the tab for the view, for example 'Getting Started'.  You can look at the properties for every node in the view, which shows you what that node is linked to and what icons are associated with that view.  You can change those things, or the display name if you have a need to.  It's not recommended that you do so for RUP elements as it is most valuable to maintain a common language across projects.

You can move nodes up and down in the tree with the right-click context menu choices.  Alternately, you can select one or more elements and drag them.  It is currently not possible to drag a node to a specific location in the list.  Dragged nodes will either drop into the node they are dropped on.  They can be dragged out and back to the level they were at.

You can insert new nodes containing pointers to any file available locally or over the internet by using the right-click context menu and the option 'Insert new'.  Alternately, you can choose the 'Add Node' button from the tool bar.  For these you can create any display name you wish, as well as the icons of your choice.  If you do not select any icons, a question mark (?) in a box will appear as the default icon.

Create a New View

To create a new view, select an existing view, then select the 'Save As' button from the tool bar.  A dialog box will appear asking you to provide a name for the view.  A new view duplicating the first will be created as a starting point for further editing.

This can be used, for example, to create a specific view for a team member.  If Joanna is your primary requirements analyst, and doesn't do any other types of analysis, it might be useful to create a view named 'Joanna' and remove analysis elements that don't apply to her job.

Remember, the more views you have created, the slower view synchronization will be.

Delete a View

To delete a view, select the tab for the view, then select the 'Delete' button from the tool bar. You will be prompted to continue.  The view will be deleted permanently if you continue.  Do note that you have a choice at publication of not publishing any of the process views you have, so you don't have to delete them for them not to be visible in the final site.

Save Your Process Configuration

After making a series of changes, its a good idea to save your selections to a custom configuration for your project if you have not already done so.  That way, the next time you update your process configuration, you can start from the same place you left off, and iterate your process and its views most effectively.

For More Information 

For additional information on configuring and deploying RUP in an organization, see the Process Engineering Process (PEP). The PEP is a RUP-like process that provides guidance in the area of process engineering. It is included with the Rational Process Workbench™, available for download from the Rational Developer Network^SM.

Rational Unified Process