Publication

SECollab lets you publish data models directly from client applications. The published data will subsequently be referred to as Design.

There are 2 publication modes:

• A connected mode: a direct connection is possible between the workstation hosting the client application and the SECollab server, the data is published directly on the server
• A disconnected mode: the client machine is disconnected from the SECollab network, an archive is exported locally and will have to be imported in a second step to the server to complete the publication

Engineering data can be published from a generic client SECollab Publisher connecting to the client application. The supported applications and file types are:

• IBM Rational DOORS
• IBM Rational Rhapsody
• Unicom System Architect
• MEGA
• Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect
• NoMagic MagicDraw
• PolarSys Capella
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• PDF

Launching the publication

Remark: To publish data, you must have the appropriate permission.

Here are the steps to launch a publication:

1. Start the authoring tool and ensure that the data to be published is available.
   In MEGA's case, close the application since the publisher starts MEGA on its own.
2. Depending on the authoring tool:
   • If the Publisher is not integrated into the tool:
     • Launch the SECollab Publisher executable.
     • In the SECollab Publisher wizard, select the authoring tool to use.
   • If the Publisher is integrated into the tool, depending on the tool, the publisher can be launch differently:
     • Capella: click on File > Export then select SECollab > Export Capella to SECollab.
     • MagicDraw: click on Tools > Publish to SECollab....
3. Depending on the tool, the wizard allows you to select the scope of publication.
   • IBM Rational DOORS: Selecting a Module, a Baseline and the Views
   • IBM Rational System Architect: Selecting diagrams
   • MEGA: Selecting libraries and diagrams
   • Enterprise Architect: Selecting diagrams
   • Capella: Selecting the project to publish
   • IBM Rational Rhapsody: Automatic connection to the open project
   • MagicDraw: Automatic connection to the open model
4. Once the item is selected, the rest of the wizard depends on the selected publication mode.

Online publication (connected mode)

In the case where the SECollab server is accessible from the client computer, it is recommended that you publish the data directly to the server.

Here are the steps to launch a connected publication:

1. In the publish wizard, enter the server address.
   • The address is of the type https://secollab.acme.com:8443/secollab
   • Consult your system administrator for the exact URL.
2. Enter your credentials in the opening window to authorize the connection (if you're not already authenticated).
3. Once connected, select the project and stream to publish the design in.
4. You can then choose for your publish to be imported as a new design in the folder of your choice, or to be imported as a new version of an existing design which you must select in the displayed tree.

Offline publication (disconnected mode)

If the server is not visible from the client station, e.g. due to security restrictions, you can publish the data in two steps: Export the data to a local archive and then import this archive into the SECollab web application.

Here are the steps to launch a disconnected publication:

1. In the publication wizard:
   1. Select an archive to be created in the client computer's file system instead of referencing the SECollab server
2. From a web browser:
   1. Go to a SECollab project.
   2. Select the SECollab design page for this project.
   3. Click on Import a Design and select the archive produced by SECollab Publisher.
   4. You can then choose to import the archive as a new design in the folder of your choice, or to import it as a new version of an existing design, which you must select in the displayed tree. In both cases, the design will be imported into the currently selected stream.

Follow-up of the publication

The publication process runs in the background on the server. Its execution time depends on the volume of data to be published.

The publication task is visible directly in the publisher wizard. Once the publication has started, a table displays a progress bar while the client is preparing the data to be published. Then, after the data is ready, another bar tracks the progress of the publishing activity on the server. Once the publication is complete, links to the design, to the publisher activity log, and to the server publish activity log are all available.
The publication task is also visible in the Activities page of the relevant SECollab project. From this page, it is possible to cancel an ongoing publishing activity. It is also possible to consult the publication log, especially if an error was detected during the publication. The publication log is an HTML page that you can export by saving the page, then send to anyone for review.

The new version of an existing design

When publishing a design, it is possible to decide to import a new version of an existing design. In such case, the existing version is replaced by the newly imported one. To browse significant differences between versions, follow up on Consulting a design.

If you want to cancel such an import while it is running, you may do so by deleting the related import activity. That will not delete the whole design but only the version currently imported.

When updating a design that already has some comments, all comments made on resources updated with significant changes will be considered "suspect comments". After some analysis, you can mark those comments as either valid or obsolete.

Additional Configuration

For the authoring tool DOORS, if it's configured with DOORS Web Access it's possible to force the use of URL with the format doors:// when publishing the Design. For that you need to edit the Publisher's configuration file SECollabPublisher.ini and update the line with the parameter -Ddoors.resourceURL to force false as value.