Known issues with Interoperation between Rational Systems Developer and Rational Software Modeler 7.0.5 and other Rational products

Answer

Sharing Models

Teams that use a mix of Rational Software Architect plus RSM or RSD for editing their UML models might naturally be concerned about model version compatibility. However, steps were taken to ensure that models can be edited with combinations of these products provided that certain guidelines are followed.

Required: to use RSA in combination with RSM or RSD v7.0.5, RSA must be a fix level 7.0.0.5 or higher.

Recommended: when using RSA in combination with RSM or RSD, do not use the features in RSM and RSD v7.0.5 that support rich text in model documentation and diagram note fields. The rich text feature is controlled through Preferences and the default setting is "enabled", so the recommendation is to disable it by unchecking the option:

Window > Preferences > Modeling > Miscellaneous > Rich text > Display rich text on diagrams and documentation

as shown here:

Installation versus Update of RSM and RSD

While unrelated to the fact that RSM and RSD have been updated on a schedule independent of RSA, there are some implications of the fact that v7.0.5 of RSM and RSD are based upon Eclipse 3.3.

If you have an existing installation of RSM or RSD at version level 7.0.0.x, the IBM® Installation Manager can update the existing installation to version 7.0.5 including updating the underlying Eclipse version from 3.2 to 3.3. However, if the Installation Manager discovers that the existing RSM or RSD installation is using the same Eclipse 3.2 instance as other IBM or third-party products that are based on Eclipse 3.2 and cannot support Eclipse 3.3, installation into that existing instance will be blocked.

You will see an error message like the following:


Problem Occurred
Installing IBM® Rational® Systems Developer 7.0.5 is not allowed; it is not compatible with IBM Rational Data Architect 7.0.0.3.




In this case, you can still install RSM or RSD on that same desktop, but you must install it into its own new Eclipse (3.3.) instance and then run RSM or RSD "side by side" (as opposed to "shell-shared") with the other Eclipse 3.2-based products.

To perform the installation side-by-side, follow these steps:

1. If you see such error, click "OK".
2. Click on the "Back" button twice, until when the "Location" phase of the installation is highlighted.
3. Select the radio button: Create a new Package Group
4. Enter a new directory, that is not contained inside any of the previously used installation directories, for example:


C:\Program Files\IBM\SDP70_RSD


When products are installed "side by side" they cannot share the same workspaces.

Usage of RSM in Combination with IBM Rational Data Architect

Some customers use the two products, Rational Software Modeler and Rational Data Architect in combination to support both information and software modeling. RSM includes a UML to Logical Data Model (LDM) transformation, and Rational Data Architect (RDA) includes a Logical Data Model to UML transformation. The early versions of these transformations would always produce a completely new version of the output (in other words, would overwrite any previously generated model). This limitation, somewhat paradoxically, made it possible to use the transformations in configurations where RSM and RDA were independently installed. This meant that three primary modes of usage could be supported:

1. RSM and RDA are installed shell-shared on the desktop of a practitioner who performs both software and data modeling. The outputs of the transformations are immediately available within the shared workspace.
   
2. RSM and RDA are installed side-by-side on the desktop of a practitioner who performs both software and data modeling. Assuming each product uses its own workspace as well as its own Eclipse instance, the practitioner effectively passes the transformation outputs to himself (that is, moves them from one workspace to the other).
   
3. RSM is installed on a software architect's machine, and is used to support generation of Logical Data Models from UML object models. The resultant LDM is then passed (perhaps informally, or perhaps formally by means of a configuration management repository) to a data architect who consumes the LDM with the instance of RDA installed on his machine. Similarly, the data architect could generate a UML model from his LDM, and pass the UML model to the software architect.

Updated versions of the UML to LDM and LDM to UML transformations were delivered with version v7.0.0.4 of RSM and v7.0.0.3 of RDA respectively. The updated versions support "merging re-apply" behavior. For instance, when the UML to LDM transformation is applied a second time, instead of generating a completely new LDM it might merge its outputs into a previously generated LDM. This is a definite improvement, but it can only work when both the UML metamodel and the data modeling metamodel (SQL) are both available in the tooling environment at the same time. In other words, the new capability can only be exploited when RSM and RDA are installed together in a shell-sharing configuration.

Like RSA, RDA has not been delivered in a new version that supports Eclipse 3.3. This means that RDA cannot be installed in a shell-sharing configuration with version 7.0.5 of RSM. This means that customers who use both RSM and RDA have the following choices:

• Remain at version 7.0.0.4 of RSM, so that RSM and RDA can be used in shell-sharing configuration and the new merging re-apply behaviors of the transformations can be exploited.
  
• Move up to v7.0.5 of RSM, meaning RSM and RDA must reside either on separate machines or in a side-by-side single desktop configuration, and the merging re-apply behavior of the transformations cannot be exploited.

Extending RSM, RSD, or RSA with the IBM Rational Modeling Extension for Microsoft .NET

The IBM Rational Modeling Extension for Microsoft® .NET is being maintained in two parallel code streams to ensure compatibility with both v7.0.0.x of RSA (based on Eclipse 3.2), and v7.0.5.x of RSM and RSD (based on Eclipse 3.3). As you update your "base" product (RSA, RSM, or RSD) to newer fix levels you also can update your modeling extension fix level to match.