Formatting Numbering in a RTF document

[SBrown]

I’m using EA 7.1.833 for managing software requirements.  I have a simple structure in my Project Browser that looks like the following:

Reports (package)
     - This section describes requirements for reports. (package note)
     Report Formats (package) –
          - This section describes the format to use for all reports. (package note)
          REQ001 (element)
               - The system shall… (element note)
          REQ002 (element)
               - The system shall… (element note)
          …
     Report Parameter Screen (package) –
          - This section describes the screen format to use for all reports. (package note)
          REQ010 (element)
               - The system shall… (element note)
          REQ011 (element)
               - The system shall… (element note)
          …

I want to create a RTF document that looks like the following:

1.0  Reports
       This section describes requirements for reports
       1.1  Report Formats
              This section describes the format to use for all reports.
              REQ001       The system shall…
              REQ002       The system shall…
              …
       1.2  Report Parameter Screen
              This section describes the screen format to use for all reports.
              REQ010        The system shall…
              REQ011        The system shall…
              REQ012        The system shall…
              …
              1.2.1  Report ...
                       This section ...
                       REQ020     The system shall...
                       REQ021     The system shall...
                       REQ022     The system shall...

I have followed the instructions in “Report Creation in UML Models” document under “User-Defined Section Numbering”.  The issue I’m having is formatting. I need the document generator to produce the above format.  I can only get it to produce the following format:

1.0  Reports
       This section describes requirements for reports
1.1  Report Formats
       This section describes the format to use for all reports.
       REQ001     The system shall…
       REQ002     The system shall…
       …
1.2  Report Parameter Screen
      This section describes the screen format to use for all reports.
      REQ010     The system shall…
      REQ011     The system shall…
      REQ012     The system shall…

1.2.1  Report ...
      This section ...
      REQ020     The system shall...
      REQ021     The system shall...
      REQ022     The system shall...


Anyone have any suggestions.  I can't find any examples that show how to get the document formatted the way I need it formatted.  I do not believe upgrading will resolve my problem.

[Hamish]

Hi,

Not a direct answer to the question at a previous company we switched to using eaDocX for document generation which allows you use Word's built-in template engine. Then you can define your numbering / alignment / everything as you would in a standard word document.

Not a free tool but worth its weight in gold for quality documentation - there's only so much time you can spend on RTF templates before going crazy!

// Edit - I've had a play around with some of my RTF templates for requirements and I dont think it is possible with the in-built RTF templating engine. From what I can see in your example, your wanting to get indentation for your nested packages correct?
So that 1.1  Report Formats is indented from 1.0  Reports

1.0  Reports ..
    1.1  Report Formats ..

    1.2  Report Parameter Screen ..
        
         1.2.1  Report ...

I may be wrong, but I've never been able to get EA to indent like this either.

//

Regards,
Hamish.

[SBrown]

Thank you for your response Hamish.

I submitted a similar question on eaDocx's forum.  I'm waiting on a reply.  I'm able to get the headers to indent but not the paragraphs (Notes) that follow the header to indent.

Your statement is correct "From what I can see in your example, your wanting to get indentation for your nested packages correct?".  I don't think I will be able to do what I want but it did not hurt to ask.

[Ian Mitchell]

OK - we've had another think about this, and the consensus amongst the eaDocX Elves is that the only way to do this is to:
(1) generate the document using eaDocX, so that ALL paragraphs have a defined Word paragraph style, then
(2) write a Word macro which parses down the document, probably using the Outline levels, remembering at which outline level you are at each point, then change the indent level on each paragraph/table/diagram to have an indent which is appropriate to the indent level, then move down/up to the next outline level.
Should be fairly straightforward, as it could be done in a single pass, and, once you've created it, should run against any document which has predictable paragraph styles.

[Hamish]

Ah yes I see the problem - the paragraph style would always be the same word style regardless of the heading style/level.

If your packages are anything like mine, the majority of my content is at the same level (i.e. use case detail primarily at level 3, level1 and level2 provide context and summary). I align paragraph styles for this 3rd level and quickly align level1 and 2 manually after generation using the ruler in Word.

Not a programmatical solution but a potential hack to get things delivered!

[skiwi]

You can change the heading styles to give the indentation you desire in normal.rtf and then update the styles in your document templates.