Attribute Linker

What it is and why it exists

When requirements come from Excel, ReqIF or DOORS 9, the traceability rarely arrives as links. It arrives as text: a column such as "Parent ID", "Satisfies" or "Derived from" that holds one or more IDs or legacy keys. In the standard interface every one of those references has to be turned into a link by hand, artifact by artifact.

Attribute Linker reads that attribute, finds the artifact each reference names and creates the links in one run. Targets are found by their DOORS Next ID anywhere in the project, or by the value of an attribute (for example "Legacy ID") in a target module.

Problems it solves

• Traceability imported as text in an attribute instead of links.
• Hundreds or thousands of links to create by hand after a migration.
• References that point to nothing, or to more than one artifact, discovered only much later.
• No record of which links were created and which references could not be resolved.

Benefits

• Every reference accounted for: after the run each reference is listed as Linked, Already linked, Not found, Ambiguous or Self reference.
• Never guesses: a reference that matches several artifacts is left out and listed, with the candidates.
• Flexible matching: by DOORS Next ID, or by a legacy key kept in an attribute of a target module; lists separated by commas, semicolons, spaces or new lines.
• Safe defaults: links are created in the module context, as DOORS Next does inside a module; links on base artifacts only when you choose it.
• Runs that recover: existing links are skipped, progress and Stop, Continue after a stop on very large modules, failures with Retry, an Excel list of unresolved references and an Excel change report.

How to use

1. Add the widget to the ELM Mini Dashboard next to the module.
2. In Settings, click Change and enter the Reference attributes that hold the references, the separators, how the artifacts are found (Artifact ID, or Attribute in a module of a target module), the Link type and the Direction; then click Done.
3. Under Links, choose Whole module, or select artifacts and choose Selection.
4. Click Create links, read the confirmation and confirm. The widget finds the references and creates the missing links in one run.
5. Review the result block and the References list: the Not resolved filter shows each reference that could not be linked, with the reason. Export them to Excel if needed and download the change report with Log.

Good to know

• Ambiguous references and references to the artifact itself are never linked; they are listed and can be exported to Excel.
• If an attribute value changes during the run, that artifact is left alone and listed: run Create links again.
• An optional setting empties the attribute once all its references are linked; it is off by default.
• When you work in a global configuration, the target module and the artifacts found by ID can also be in another component of that same global configuration; the links then connect the components. In a single stream or baseline only the open component is used.
• Always work in a change set: discarding it is the only way to take created links back.