Tool Mentors > Rational RequisitePro Tool Mentors > Archiving Requirements Using Rational RequisitePro

Purpose

This tool mentor describes how to archive requirements using Rational RequisitePro archiving commands.

Related Rational Unified Process™ information: Activity: Establish Configuration Management (CM) Policies.

Overview

For backup purposes, it is a good idea to capture the requirements' state from time to time. RequisitePro allows you to take a snapshot of your requirements project and store it in Rational ClearCase® or simply as a RequisitePro archive, which makes a copy of the project into a directory.

You can use a variety of configuration management tools, such as Intersolv PVCS or Microsoft® Visual SourceSafe, to archive your RequisitePro projects. If your project uses a Microsoft Access database, first use the RequisitePro Archive command to create an archive file; then archive this file using your configuration management tool. Be sure to include all project documents in your archive. When archiving a project that uses cross-project traceability, be sure to archive the other projects at the same time so that you can recreate a complete set of projects when you restore the archive.

A RequisitePro project consists of a Rational requirements project and a set of documents containing requirements. Requirements can be created either directly in the Rational project or in a Microsoft® Word™ document. All documents containing requirements are referenced in the associated RequisitePro project maintaining these requirements. A RequisitePro project archive contains the Rational requirements project and all documents containing requirements.

Note: For information on baselining a Rational RequisitePro project, see the tool mentor Baselining a Rational RequisitePro Project.

Tool Steps

To archive a project using Rational RequisitePro, choose one of the following options:

  1. Archive a RequisitePro project as a RequisitePro archive
  2. Archive a RequisitePro project in ClearCase
  3. Archive a RequisitePro project using an enterprise database

1. Archive a RequisitePro project as a RequisitePro archive To top of page

When you archive a RequisitePro project as a RequisitePro archive, you are simply making a copy of all project files in a user-defined directory. You can use this option to archive a RequisitePro project to configuration management systems not directly supported by RequisitePro. When you do, you can use various configuration management systems to check the archived directory content in and out.

To archive a RequisitePro project as a RequisitePro archive, follow these steps:

  1. On the Tool Palette, click Project > Archive > RequisitePro Archive. The Archive Project dialog box appears.
  2. Select the directory where you want the backup copy stored. Click Browse to open the Browse for Folder dialog box. Navigate to a directory, select a folder, and click OK to return to the Archive Project dialog box.
  3. To add a new subdirectory to an existing directory path, click at the end of the Directory field and type a forward slash (/) and a new subdirectory name.
  4. If desired, enter a new revision number for the project.
  5. To apply the revision number to the requirement documents, select the Propagate to all documents check box.
    Note: If security is enabled, you must have project structure permission to propagate the revision number. You must also have the project opened exclusively.
  6. Optional step: type a name for the archived version in the Version Label text box and a description for it in the Change Description text box.
  7. Click OK.

To access this archive later, simply add the archived project to the RequisitePro project list:

  1. On the Tool Palette, click Select Project > Open. The Open Project and Documents dialog box appears.
  2. Click Add. Browse to and select the archived project in the specified archive directory.
  3. Click Open and OK. The archived project is now available in RequisitePro.

For More Information

Refer to the topic titled Archiving projects with the Rational RequisitePro Archive command (Index: archiving>using the Archive command) in the RequisitePro online Help.

2. Archive a RequisitePro project in ClearCase To top of page

To archive a Rational RequisitePro project in Rational ClearCase, follow these steps:

  1. On the Tool Palette, click Tools > Options.
  2. Type a view the ClearCase View field. Fill in the ClearCase View field with the target Versioned Object Base (VOB) location (drive, viewname, vobname, directory). The path must start from a drive letter. Use Universal Naming Convention names for a shared drive. This step defines the view to which the RequisitePro database and documents will be copied when the project is archived.
  3. Click OK to save your entry and close the Options dialog box.
  4. On the Tool Palette, select Project > Archive > Rational ClearCase. The Archive with ClearCase dialog box appears.
  5. Select the directory where you want the backup copy stored. Click Browse to open the Browse for Folder dialog box. Navigate to a directory, select a folder, and click OK. You return to the Archive Project dialog box.
  6. To add a new subdirectory to an existing directory path, click at the end of the Directory field and type a forward slash (/) and a new subdirectory name.
  7. The following steps are optional:
    • Type a new revision number for the project.
    • To apply the revision number to the requirement documents, select the Propagate to all documents check box. Note: If security is enabled, you must have project structure permission to propagate the revision number. You must also have the project opened exclusively.
    • Type a name for the archived version in the Version Label text box and a description for it in the Change Description text box.

For More Information

Refer to the topic titled Archiving projects with Rational ClearCase (Index: archiving>using ClearCase) in the RequisitePro online Help.

3. Archive a RequisitePro project using an enterprise database To top of page

For extensive guidelines on archiving RequisitePro projects that use an Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server database, refer to the topic titled Archiving an enterprise database project (Index: archiving>enterprise databases) in the RequisitePro online Help.

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