JRS with Relational Store data source for DOORS Next Primarty artifact with tables show truncated information with html tags

Question & Answer

Question

When generating reports using IBM Engineering Jazz Reporting Service (JRS) with the LQE Relational Store (SQL data source) for IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS Next(DOORS Next), you may observe that Primary Text fields containing rich content (for example, tables copied from Microsoft Word) appear truncated and display raw HTML tags when exported (for example, to Microsoft Excel). This technote explains the cause and provides guidance on supported alternatives.

You perform the following steps:

Logs into IBM DOORS Next.
Creates an artifact.
Copies a large table (for example, 20x20 with formatting and colors) from a Word document.
Pastes it into the artifact’s Primary Text field.
Saves the artifact.
Creates a Report Builder report using:
- Data source: LQE Relational Store
- Select the Requirement artifact with table and save the report
Run the report and export the report to Excel.

Expected Result

Full table content is preserved
No HTML tags visible
Proper formatting retained

Actual Result

Primary Text is truncated
Output contains raw HTML tags (for example, <table>, <tr>, <td>)
Formatting is broken
Excel shows incomplete/unrendered content

Additional Observation

The issue does not occur when using SPARQL-based reports.

Cause

1. Primary Text is Stored as Rich XHTML

In DOORS Next, the Primary Text field is stored as XHTML (rich text).
When content such as Word tables is pasted, it is converted into HTML markup including:

<table>, <tr>, <td>
Inline styles (colors, formatting)
Structural tags like <div>

2. LQE Relational Store Uses SQL Column Limits

When using the LQE Relational Store (SQL reporting):

Rich text is flattened into a string column
Backed by relational databases such as:
- IBM Db2
- Oracle Database
These databases impose a limit of approximately 4000 characters for standard VARCHAR fields

As a result:

Only the first ~4000 characters of Primary Text are stored in the reporting index
Remaining content is truncated

3. HTML Structure Becomes Invalid

Because truncation occurs mid-content:

HTML tags are cut off
Example:
```
<table><tr><td>Data...
```

This results in:

Broken markup
Incomplete rendering

4. Excel Export Does Not Render HTML

When exporting reports:

JRS outputs raw string values
Microsoft Excel does not interpret HTML tags

Therefore:

HTML is displayed literally
Tables are not rendered visually

Answer

Use IBM Engineering Lifecycle Optimization - Publishing for formatted output

Properly renders:
- Tables
- Rich text formatting
- Colors and styles
Best suited for document-style reporting

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