Viewing and changing link validity status in ELM projects

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You can view and change link validity information in views and artifact grids that show links to artifacts. You can also include comments about why you chose a status. To see validity summary information, hover over artifact links in the grid view or add the Validity Summary column to artifact views.

Before you begin

Note: If you enabled configuration management in all your ELM applications, enable link validity in both IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS® Next (DOORS Next or RM) and IBM Engineering Test Management (ETM or QM) applications. Starting from 7.0.0 release suspicion profiles are no longer supported for DOORS Next projects that do not use configuration management. Enable link validity in the DOORS Next application. In ETM, use suspect traceability in test artifacts for projects that do not use configuration management and enable link validity for projects that use configuration management.

Ensure that you are familiar with the concepts and examples that are described in Link validity.
IBM Engineering Test Management (ETM or QM) and IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS Next (DOORS Next or RM) applications:
- A project area administrator must enable link validity in both ETM and DOORS Next applications.
  For ETM application only: If your project area does not use configuration management, then suspect link traceability applies to your project. For more information, see ETM application: Suspect links.
  
  For DOORS Next application only: The suspicion profiles are no longer supported for DOORS Next projects that do not use configuration management. You must enable link validity.
- A project administrator must enable showing link validity information for each component in the project areas whose links you want show and set link validity status for.
- You must have permission to set link validity status.
IBM Rhapsody® Model Manager (RMM or AM) application:
- A project area administrator must enable configuration management and enable link validity for the project areas whose links you want show and set link validity status for.
If your project uses global configurations, you must be a member of the appropriate project area in the Global Configuration Management (GCM) application.
For configuration management enabled projects only:
To view and change the link validity status of cross-project and cross-application links, you must work in a global configuration context, which resolves links among applications. Use Current Configuration menu on the banner to select or switch between configurations.

About this task

Where you see the link validity information depends on the application that you use:

Table 1. Where to see link validity information in IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) applications.
Application	Where to see link validity information
RMM	Link validity status: On the Properties page or artifact preview (web client).
ETM	Link validity status: In a test plan, in the Test Cases section. In a test case, in the Requirements Links section. In the rich hover preview for a link to a requirement (you cannot change the link validity status here). Validity summary: Add the Validity summary column to views and artifact grids that show the validity of links to artifacts. When viewing a test plan, click Requirement Collection Links in the left navigation. In the Requirement Collection Links section, from the View As list, select Validity. Use the Group By menu to group or ungroup the artifacts by their validity summary. Note: You can have the system mark all links as Valid when you approve a test case. Discuss this link validity preference with your application or project administrator.
DOORS Next	Link validity status: In a module; in the artifact editor, or the Selected Artifact > Artifact Links sidebar. In rich hover previews for requirements. In link columns in an artifact grid view. When you edit an artifact, in the Links sidebar section. In the Links Explorer. Validity Summary (): Add this column to views and artifact grids that show the validity of links to artifacts. On Artifacts and Collections pages, in the Views section, you can create a view that preserves your column selections so you do not have to configure the table each time. Note about change sets: The link status that you choose in a change set is applied when you deliver changes to the stream.
EWM SCM feature	Link validity status: On the Links tab of a file item (SCM web client).

Note: No validity status icon is shown on external links or on links to other applications that do not support link validity.

When you change the validity status of a link, if the artifacts on either end of the link are in different ELM applications, the status is updated automatically in both applications. For example, if you set the validity status between a test case and a requirement as invalid, this status is visible right away in both applications (you might have to refresh your browser). No additional steps, such as the reconcile operation in the ETM application, are needed to see the updated status.

If the validity summary for an artifact is affected by changing the link validity status, the validity summary is updated automatically.

When you set a link validity status in one configuration, the status is refreshed in any other configurations that contain the same two artifacts with that same content and link type between them.The status is refreshed when someone who is working in the other configuration starts an operation that refreshes the page (for example, Save).

When you export artifacts from these applications, link validity status is not included in the generated .pdf files or Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.

Reporting on link validity information, such as generating a report that includes only invalid artifact relationships, is limited in this release. For more information, see Reporting on link validity status in Report Builder.

To follow the steps, read the following sections:

Link validity status
Setting link validity status
Showing the validity summary (the aggregate link validity status for an artifact)

Link validity status

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Before you begin

Save your changes to an artifact before you change the validity status of an associated link.

About this task

The system automatically sets links to Suspect when artifact contents change. If you aren't sure whether the artifact contents meet the intended meaning of the link, you can leave the link status as Suspect and examine it again later. Otherwise, change the link status to Valid or Invalid.

Valid (green icons): The contents of the two artifacts satisfy the meaning of the link that connects them. Consider a “validates” link between a test case and a requirement: if the test case does indeed validate the requirement, then the relationship is valid.
Invalid (red icons): The contents of the two artifacts do not satisfy the intended meaning of the link that connects them. For example, you know that a test case no longer validates a requirement. Set the status to Invalid, and later, you (or another member of your team) might change the test case (the downstream artifact) to make the link valid.
Suspect (gray icons): The system sets links as suspect when they are new or unknown. A person needs to verify whether the contents of both artifacts satisfy the intended meaning of the link. Leave the link as Suspect if you cannot determine now, and later, do more analysis.

Note: If the system cannot access the linked artifact to get validity status, or if the validity service is not responding, the validity status is "Undetermined". Sometimes it happens if artifacts are deleted. To solve the problem, contact your application or project area administrator, or follow the instructions on the page.

Procedure

See the previous section for where link validity information is shown. From one of those locations (except a rich hover preview), click the validity status icon and change its status. You can also add a comment about why you selected the status.

For example, if you select Invalid, you might indicate what change is essential to make the relationship valid again.

Setting link validity status

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Before you begin

Save your changes to an artifact before you change the validity status of an associated link.

About this task

In some applications, to save time, you can change the link validity status of more than one link at a time. For example, you might set multiple links to valid after you adopt a baseline whose links you know are valid after an import operation.

Procedure

Complete one the following steps, depending on the application that you use.

Application	Steps
RMM	In the web client, open or preview an artifact. In the Links section, hover over the link validity status icon.
ETM	To set the status for all the requirement links for the selected test case: In the Test Plan > Test Cases view, ensure that the Validates Requirements column is shown. Select the checkbox in the first column for each artifact; then, in the table header, click Validity Summary . To set multiple links at the same time: In the Test Case > Requirement Links view, select the checkbox in the first column for each link status to change; then, in the table header, click Link Validity . Note: You can have the system mark all links as Valid when you approve a test case. Discuss this link validity preference with your application or project administrator.
DOORS Next	From an artifact grid view, you can change only the status of the link types that are shown in the grid. If you don't see the link whose validity status you want to change, add the corresponding column to the grid view. To set all the links for the selected artifact: Select the checkboxes for the artifacts; then, click the pencil . Click Other Actions > Set Validity Status for `x` Artifacts. Tip: From an artifact grid view, you can set the link validity status by selecting the checkbox for the artifact; then, click the pencil , then Other Actions > Set Validity Status. From a Links sidebar (to change multiple selected links): Press Ctrl+the links to change. Right-click one of the links.
EWM SCM feature	In the web client, open the stream that contains the file on one end of the link whose status you want to change. Open the file and click the File Links tab. Hover over the link validity status icon in the Validity column.

Select the status. You can also provide a comment about why you selected the status.

Results

The status and comment apply to each link in the Link Validity column for each artifact that you select. When you set a link validity status in one configuration, the status is refreshed in any other configurations that contain the same two artifacts with that same content and link type between them.The status is refreshed when someone who is working in the other configuration starts an operation that refreshes the page (for example, Save).

Showing the validity summary (the aggregate link validity status for an artifact)

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About this task

This information applies to the ETM and DOORS Next applications.

The validity summary is a rollup of the status of all the relevant links for an artifact. Hover over an artifact's validity summary to see whether you need to investigate specific relationships further and modify artifacts to achieve or restore the intended meaning of the link.

The validity summary lists the priority order of all its links as follows:

Invalid : At least one relevant artifact link is invalid, even if other links are suspect or valid.
Suspect : At least one relevant artifact link is suspect and must be verified, but no invalid or undetermined links exist.
Valid : All the associated artifact links that affect this artifact are valid.

Note: If you see a validity summary status of “Undetermined”, the system doesn't have enough information to determine the status of at least one link. If the problem persists, tell your project area administrator.

To resolve links, use an approach that is appropriate for your situation. You might want to first inspect all the suspect values to see how many invalid values are there. Or, because invalid links mean that someone verified that a relationship is not semantically consistent, you might want to examine such relationships first, and then address suspect items. Suspect relationships might still be consistent; it’s just that the system detected changes that you must verify.

For more details and examples, see Link validity.

Procedure

See the preceding list of views where you can see validity summary information. Not all applications provide validity summary information.
From the view, click the icon to add columns to the table, and select Validity Summary.
- ETM application: Click Add or Remove Columns . To change the order of the columns, drag column headings to a new position.
- DOORS Next application: Click Configure Page Settings > Configure Columns to Display. Use the controls to change the order of the columns in the table.
In the row for an artifact, hover over the icon in the Validity Summary column.
To examine a specific relationship, click its link in the hover preview.
Set the link validity status by completing the steps in the preceding sections.