Changing an item may impact related items. For example, changing a stakeholder requirement may necessitate changes to the system requirements linked to it, cascading the change to the product configuration items.
Item integrity shows items that are ‘suspect’
Items are classed as suspect when an item changes after a link was made:
As the ‘from’ item has been modified the ‘to’ item becomes suspect
Cradle provides three methods of showing items that are suspect which can be set/chosen in Preferences, these methods are:
Off
Suspect
Suspect due to my changes
Item integrity options in Preferences
If you enable Suspect or Suspect due to my changes in preferences, suspect items will be shown in red.
Confirming Integrity
Once you have reviewed the item suspect item there are two courses of action. One to change the item to comply with the changes ‘further up the hierarchy’, or just to confirm there are no changes needed. Integrity can be confirmed by a user-with read-write access, confirming integrity is recorded in the item’s change history.
Confirm item integrity
You also have the option to view suspect item in WebAccess you have to choose your method in options but items will be highlighted in red in queries if they are classed as suspect.
Enabling suspect integrity in WebAccess
Article Updated 04/02/2019 – Moved image and give example of when an item would become suspect
If, during an install, you receive the error ‘api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll is missing’ this is due to Microsoft® Windows updates not being applied. To fix this you need to:
Install Windows updates by:
Go to Start > Control Panel > Windows Updates
Check for updates
Install all available updates
After the updates are installed, restart your computer
After the restart repeat the steps above again until no more updates are available
Once ALL Windows updates have been installed, download the Visual V++ Re-distributable
For Windows 64-bit: Visual C++ Re-distributable for Visual Studio 2015 (64-bit)
For Windows 32-bit: Visual C++ Re-distributable for Visual Studio 2015 (32-bit)
Run the vcredist_x64.exe (64-bit) or vcredist_x86.exe (32-bit) and select Uninstall
Did you know you can Colour Code your Frames to match the Priority you have set in Categories?
To enable this colour code you will need to navigate to Project Setup, inside here go to Item Definitions – Categories. For my example I have used Req Priority, in my Category Values I have :
URGENT – Red
MEDIUM – Orange
LOWEST – Yellow
TBD – Blue
Single Value Category Setup
Ensure you have assigned this Category to a Frame in an Item Type. For my example I have put mine into Item Type – Requirements and the Frame is TEXT
As you can see in my example, whenever I change my Req Priority the text colour changes in “Detailed Description” Frame.
For further information regarding Frames click here
Did you know it was really a thing? Well, apparently it is. (Search for Race Your Mouse Round the Icons Day, or visit Days Of The Year). It’s celebrated on the 28th August.
Here in England, Northern Ireland and Wales it is a bank holiday, so this is something you can ;
try at home if it is raining (it is a English bank holiday after all)
you have to be in work in case someone contacts you, but nobody does because it is a bank holiday
do if you’re in work, with IT that is less than responsive, and you want something to amuse yourself while the application loads.
Screen Background
Try downloading this background and arranging your icons. (click the small image to open a full size version and then right click and save as background)
Screen icon race track
If you need to contact 3SL during the bank holiday, please use your local distributors, or send an email to support@threesl.com and we’ll pick it up on Tuesday 29th.
If you require only some users to be able to make a change to a category or categories, then you can use a skill to stop other users from accessing it but they will still be able to see the options set.
Setting the skill on a category
In Project Setup, select the Item Type the category is set for. With the Assign Categories dialog open, select the category you wish to restrict. There is a ‘Required skill:’ option which can be set differently for each category in each item type. This means that a category can be used Requirements and SYSTEM REQs but have different skills for each item type and so can be altered by different users.
Setting a skill for a category to restrict access
Once Project Setup is Saved and Closed any users that now login, that do not have the required, will be able to see the option set but not alter it.
Using the DEMO project as an example, I set the category skill for Req Priority to REQUIREMENT. The ADMIN user does not have the REQUIREMENT skill and so once set, is able to see the as option set but not able to alter it.
No access for this user
When logged in as REQMAN who does have the REQUIREMENT skill, they can see and alter the category option.
User has access
This restriction works throughout WorkBench including in queries, forms and Item Properties.
Hierarchies are seldom created in a single operation. It is more usual for you to create a hierarchy interactively, gradually developing the hierarchy item-by-item. It is also very likely that the hierarchy will need to be reorganised, to reorder items as it is being built, for example:
To add a new top-level item into the hierarchy and move existing items below it
Move individual items to a different position in the hierarchy
Move sub-trees in the hierarchy upwards, downwards, or to any other new position
We term this process of rearranging – “reordering”. Cradle fully supports reordering using drag and drop.
To enable this feature:
Items must be of the same type (system notes or requirements)
Auto-numbering must be selected for the item
Items must allow hierarchical numbering using Key
CREATE_XREF and DELETE_XREF privileges needed
Set the preference “Allow drag and drop in same tree”
A navigation that sorts by Key
Reorder items
Why we use hierarchies
Hierarchies are useful to show the users of a project a view of the Top level item and all its branches, and with Cradle it is easy to join many hierarchies into one, you can create a new top-level item and connect hierarchies to it.
For further information on reordering please head over to our online help.
Article Updated 04/02/2019 – Added why we use hierarchies
What is a silent install and how do I do it with Cradle?
Silent installs are installations which do not require user interaction.
To perform a silent installation you will need to create a “setup.iss” file, this is created when making your recording for the silent installation by opening the command prompt and running setup.exe -r. After completing the installation you will have the “setup.iss” file in your system drive e.g C:\Windows.
Record silent install
You can now perform a silent installation with your recorded settings!
On the machine you would like to do the silent installation, place your setup.iss file in the same directory as the setup.exe. For full installations or server only installs, you will also need your security code which you place within a text file such as “code.txt“. You must only enter the Security Code on the first line and add a carriage return. For client only installs the file can be blank.
Now you have your files ready, open the command prompt navigate to your setup.exe directory and enter the following setup.exe code.txt -s
Run silent install
You are now running your silent installation! Remember when you have finished you will need to restart the machine.
Please note this does not work with Toolsuite
If you would like more information on this please go to Cradle Documentation – Installation Guide – Windows and to Chapter 8. Or click here for Installation Types
“One of the most sincere forms of respect is listening to what another has to say”
Bryant H. McGill
Nobody likes to be told they are wrong. Nobody wants to be told they should have done something better. It’s human nature to think the best of ourselves. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just not the best attitude when attempting to find the best solution to a problem. Just what is the value of reviews?
Designed by Committee
The other extreme is where we believe everyone has an equal voice regardless of the situation. Really? We’re designing a new nuclear powered rocket to reach the outer solar system and we have to ask the cleaner whether he thinks the professor in Nuclear physics has chosen the correct error margin in her calculations? There are many ways to solve a problem, any problem. But there will always be a handful of solutions that fall into the top quartile. These are usually those proposed by people with domain knowledge. So whilst committee led projects are often doomed (unless the committee is small and carefully selected), listening to core colleagues can prove invaluable. That’s not to say that we’re not going to get a number of readers now quoting a bit of “blue sky”, “out of the box”, “tangential” thinking that gave an amazing breakthrough. However, let’s look at the average case.
Tick in the Box Review
So you’re convinced, well at least your boss is, that you need to have a review. You prepare all the work, bung it in a document and then email it to everyone in the team. Comments by Monday please. (Today’s Friday and who wants to review over the weekend). Monday inbox, great only one email. Peter thinks the font is a little large. Sorted. Pass that over to the manufacturing team.
1 month on… This unit is way too big. Who on earth made something like that? What could they be thinking? “Morning Brian… Oh what’s that? Not the slider arm? Surely not that size! Why’s it made in Aluminium, that will never interface with the brass elliptical follower…. Oh, Bri’ you’ll be holding up the project” If only the review had picked up the 10.0mm rather that 1.00mm typo. If only the reviewers had included someone on the power team……
Review and Respect
A carefully selected review team should be chosen. Not because they are your friends or underlings that will pass your review without comment, but because they have a valuable insight. They can help spot actual mistakes. They can trigger a rethink of potential problems, cost savings or synergies. They may not have the answers themselves, but listening to them can help. The value of reviews is down to respect. Of course there is little value in a tirade of semantics or formatting comments. However, if they misunderstand what is being said, and moving a comma or explicitly breaking a requirement into two makes it atomic and unambiguous, chances are your supply chain will benefit too.
Cradle Reviews
Left Shift
But reviews are expensive and waste time…
Yes, they can be a bit like an insurance policy. They may not pick up much or they may find a glaring error. If they find nothing then you have to ask whether the reviews are being done correctly. Make sure reviewers understand the need to be constructive towards the overall goal, and are not falling into the tickbox trap.
The further to the left we can move any issues the better. Why? As it is simpler and more cost effective to resolve issue in the early stages. Correctly understanding and ironing out issues in the requirements is much better than waiting until the design is complete. Thinking what can go wrong and designing round it is more cost effective than waiting until it has been made. A completed object with a commissioning problem can be a nightmare.
Now Go and Review
So put down your mop for the moment and tell us James, “Do you think 10% is a sufficient margin for extra fuel?”
Things may get dark outside for some today with the eclipse 2017. However, a real #MondayMotivation would be knowing you have the right tools for the job in the week ahead. Don’t be left in the dark, head over to 3SL and make sure you have your copy of Cradle. Be enlightened to the benefits of Requirements Management and Systems Engineering, whatever your task – Be in Control.
Eclipse 2017 Don’t be left in the Dark
For more information about Eclipse 2017on 21st August 2017, visit the NASA website site.
After spending the last 7 years in a wonderful office, 3SL Inc. seized the opportunity to be a part of an exciting and growing co-working movement at Huntsville West . It is one of the newest co-working spaces in Huntsville. (See https://www.us-3sl.com/contact.html for contact details)
3SL Inc. announce their move to Huntsville West, and we (3SL) wish them all the best in their new home. We trust all their staff and all our North American customers continued success.
3SL Inc – New Office
For all Cradle Distributors and Head Office details please see 3SL contacts page.
