Tool Mentor:  Publishing a Process Using Rational Process Workbench

Purpose

This tool mentor describes how to publish processes that have been specified in a process model using Rational Process Workbench (RPW).

This tool mentor relates to the Rational Unified Process (RUP) information: Toolkit: Preparing for Publication.

Overview

Publishing your process Web site is the final step in making your customized process available for your software development organization. Publishing creates a complete process Web site, similar to the RUP Web site itself, but tailored according to your specifications.

A Process Content Library (PCL) can be translated into different languages and retain consistency with its process model. In other words, two or more translated versions of a PCL can exist for the same process model. RPW supports associating the process model to one of its PCL variants and generating its Web site in that language.

Tool Steps

Publish your process by following these steps:

1. Assess the closure of your process
2. Publish a Web site
3. Use custom-designed graphics in your Web site

1. Assess the closure of your process

The closure of a process must be complete and correct before it can be published. A process closure is deemed complete if all expected process elements are represented inside of the closure, and it's deemed correct if there is no conflict between any two process elements in the closure.

This criterion serves the purpose of preventing attempts to publish nonfunctional Web sites. It also supports early detection of ill-defined processes during process development.

RPW provides a function to determine whether a process is correct and complete, giving you instant feedback and guidance to locate violating process elements.

Refer to the topic titled Assessing the closure of your process in RPW online Help for detailed information.

2. Publish a Web site

Publishing a process Web site is the final step in creating a customized process for your organization. A published Web site is a fully functional RUP Web site.

RPW gives you options, such as whether you want to represent certain information in graphical or tabular format. This helps you work effectively during process development and allows you to tailor the end result.

Refer to the topic titled Publishing a Process Web site in RPW online Help for detailed information.

3. Use custom-designed graphics in your Web site

Some information in a process model is specified using graphical notation; for example, the activity diagrams that specify the collaborations of the Disciplines and workflow details. RPW exports these diagrams “as-modeled” (that is, the diagram you create in the Rational Rose modeling space is the diagram that will appear in the Web site), inserts them in their place in the published Web site, and makes them navigable.

In this way, RPW creates functional diagrams, albeit less appealing from an artistic perspective. Therefore, RPW provides a means for inserting your own graphics that will be used in lieu of those graphics it generates. It also provides a function that notifies you when an inserted graphical image is out of sync with the process model, so you can always maintain your graphics in synchronization with your process model.

Refer to the topic titled Using custom-designed graphics on your Web site in RPW online Help for detailed information. 

For More Information

For detailed information on this procedure, see Chapter 5, under the heading "Publishing a process" in the Developing Process Using Rational Process Workbench manual.

Copyright  © 1987 - 2001 Rational Software Corporation

Rational Unified Process