Large spaces when generating documents

[whitmj]

I am trying to generate a document off of a template, and I keep getting these huge blank spaces between information.  Is there a way to generate these documents without this? I tried tightening up the template and making sure there wasn't much space there, but that didn't work.

[Eve]

You'll need to specify what version of EA you are using and what template.

[whitmj]

Haha yah that would probably be helpful. Sorry about that! I am using version 12 and the template I was using was the requirements report with details.

[skiwi]

I agree, EA 11 and now EA 12 are getting gradually worse.
In EA extra new lines are being added before and after bullets from notes, sometimes after paragraphs too, and in templates where expanded text in null the newlines from the template are left in rather than being omitted.

In general EA itself SHOULD NEVER EVER insert a new line.
New lines should only occur when specified:

• in the template (and then suppressed if they are on a line where expanded content is null)
• actually in a note (specifically DO NOT add new lines at the end of notes, e.g. of a list is the last thing in a note)

[Eve]

I agree, EA 11 and now EA 12 are getting gradually worse.

Who are you agreeing with? No-one even suggested that.

[skiwi]

Who are you agreeing with? No-one even suggested that.

With whitmj.
People generally don't post on the forums about issues like this unless something has changed for the worse.

[skiwi]

And as evidence of change (for the poorer) I offer

White space, new lines, in RTF templates

[Eve]

whitmj appears to be a new user. I think most people post on forums simply because they can't get things working the way they want. (In your case, your most frequent post is that something hasn't changed)

Do you realise that the post that you are using to support your argument of things getting worse is from 2010? Have you tried constructing a template in version 8 (which was in beta at the time) recently for comparison?

If you want to compare anything, try running v8 with the default templates and compare to v12 with the default templates. I would expect EA 12 documents to look much better (although they would also take longer to generate)

[Geert Bellekens]

A few years ago (when version 7.5 was brand new) I needed documents for a client and I evaluated the internal RTF generation.
Back then I came to the conclusion that RTF document generation was simply not flexible enough to fulfill my requirements, and I decided to build a custom document generator.
One year later I did the same for another client.

Now recently I again had a client with very specific document generation needs. The problem at this client is that they don't have their own development team, so building a custom solution was not really an option.

I then again evaluated the RTF document generation and, to my surprise, it can do everything I need.
With the virtual documents, script and SQL fragments I can make document exactly the way the client needs, without the need to use an additional add-in.

So my experience is the RTF document generation has improved a lot over the years. I'm even pushing my client to upgrade from v10 to v12 because of some improvements in the document generation (cover pages, not printing empty tables, direct .docx generation, improved table of contents)

And no, I don't have extra blank space in my documents.
I think there was only one instance where I had to add a hard newline into a template because otherwise it would mess up my styles.

Geert

[Charles England]

I'm using V12 and have found the RTF generator getting significantly better except for some annoying bugs - inserted whitespaces, inconsistent use of bullets spring to mind.
I raised a bug about the new lines about two versions ago and it was accepted  but it hasn't been fixed.

[Eve]

Geert and Charles,

Thank you for your positive feedback. It's always nice to hear that your work is appreciated.

whitmj, I'm sorry for not answering your post directly earlier. I have run the "Requirements Report - Details" report and I'm not getting any superfluous whitespace. If you haven't already, it's probably a good idea to email support.

I did notice you said that you tried removing space. Have you modified the template? There may be hidden bookmarks in the standard template. If you've customized it, especially by removing anything that could have actually caused a problem.

[skiwi]

I would expect EA 12 documents to look much better (although they would also take longer to generate)

I agree unquestionably that generated documents have improved greatly.

I see generated documents as the primary method of communicating aspects of the model to a wider audience.

Currently my view of v12 document generation is that I can mostly use the raw generated document for review, but have to fine tweak the layout for a final version.

Issues for me are

• the insertion of white space, e.g. repeated new line characters (I'd love an option to suppress these), by the document generator; I manage white space in a document using Styles and the template document (and I am very careful in the template document to minimise whitespace)
• diagrams at are zoomed > 100% because the width of the diagram is less than the page size defined in the diagram settings
  
• The EA document generator does seem to consistently and completely apply paragraph styles from the model template to the generated document (I suspect this may be because normal.rtf is still an rtf, not a docx)
• the document generator not suppressing empty lines when there is no (null) inserted content

[Eve]

• the document generator not suppressing empty lines when there is no (null) inserted content

It doesn't happen automagically, but you can do that from v11 by adding bookmarks around the item being inserted including the trailing newline.

[skiwi]

• the document generator not suppressing empty lines when there is no (null) inserted content

It doesn't happen automagically, but you can do that from v11 by adding bookmarks around the item being inserted including the trailing newline.

great tip, thanks