Generate documentation

[marcelloh]

It would be nice, if you can generate a rtf-document of a single Use Case (or any other object).

[Martin Terreni]

in general I would agree, but you need to supply a clearer definition of your request.

[«Midnight»]

[edit]See Roy's post below.[/edit]

Perhaps there is a workaround while you wait.

This is the only correct part of my post.[Please note that I have not tried this.]

EA tends to delineate documents based on packages and package trees. You could probably create a temporary package, add a diagram, then drag an instance of the use case onto the diagram. Then you can generate a use case document for the temporary package. You should only get the single use case. Note that you'll probably have to include 'foreign' elements in the report or nothing will get picked up; the temporary package does not 'own' the use case. [The option has different names for the two different RTF documentation processes. I've answered the question of where to find the option elsewhere; search the forum if you cannot find it.]

David

[RoyC]

You can do this now.

Display the diagram or package as an element list. (Right-click on the diagram or package in the Project Browser and select the Show Element List option.)

Right-click on the required Use Case (or any other object, or several objects if you want a document for each of several items) and select the Documentation | RTF Report for each selected item menu option.

That will give you an RTF document for a single element.

[marcelloh]

Okay, but I see something like: Do this, and this, and so and so, as too much steps to do something simple.

If an element can be documented, then why not via the obvious way:
Right-click > documentation > etc.

[marcelloh]

I found something this morning (after I was really awake :-))
You can select a Use Case and press F8
This works, so the only thing is the right click menu that doesn't mention the document generation option.
Is this a bug or a hidden feature    ?

[«Midnight»]

Okay, but I see something like: Do this, and this, and so and so, as too much steps to do something simple.

If an element can be documented, then why not via the obvious way:
Right-click > documentation > etc.

I think that's what Roy is telling you...

[«Midnight»]

I found something this morning (after I was really awake :-))
You can select a Use Case and press F8
This works, so the only thing is the right click menu that doesn't mention the document generation option.
Is this a bug or a hidden feature    ?

F8 is the keyboard shortcut for documentation, so once again I think that's what Roy is telling you.

[RoyC]

Thanks David. However, I think Marcello is correct and there is an inconsistency in the way EA works here.

You can generate an RTF report on an element in ANY of the following ways:

• In the Project Browser or a diagram, click on the required element and press [F8]
  

• In a diagram, click on a specific element and select the Element | Rich Text Format (RTF) Report menu option
  

• In the Element List or Model Search, select one or more items, right-click and, from the context menu, select either the RTF Report | Generate report for each selected object option or the RTF Report | Generate one report for all selected option.

The first two options are quick but enable you to generate the report for a single element only. The third option enables you to select several separate elements and generate either one report for all of them or a separate report for each one. I highlighted that one in my initial response just to show Marcello that there was a versatile feature already available to him.

The inconsistency is that if you can press [F8] on an element in the Project Browser or a diagram, you should also be able to select an RTF Document option from the context menu. I'll put in a request to add that.

[marcelloh]

Yes , Exactly.
I found out that F8 was working, but in the right-menu, there was no documentation option (or greyed out.) An inconsistentcy.

Everywhere where F8 works, you should be able to see in the right menu the documentation option. :-)

[«Midnight»]

And that's my point!

I am trying to clarify that your original theme - that it "would be nice" to be able to do this - had been handled. What really needed to be done was to update the behavior and documentation of EA to make this both consistent and obvious.

Martin's original response was right on the button. It just seems to have taken a lot of work by everyone - your contribution definitely included Marcello - to get there.

David

[Silvio Di Pasquale]

I understood your request... It was the same of mine... I already created a prototype in VB (using MS-Excel as a GUI) that allow to generate documentatio for all EA element without out them in some packages... At present today I have not time to improve this "add-in"... I'd like to see in some next release of EA... Anyway I'm available to give my utility...

[marcelloh]

I've mailed Silvio, but in the meanwhile, I'm busy doing it with xsl.
Have some troubles, because of the strange nesting from requirements and their use cases, but dive into that later.