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Rational Method Composer 7.5.2

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Abstract

IBM Rational Method Composer 7.5.2 has been made generally available on the IBM Passport Advantage website.

Download Description

Table of Contents
Sections Description
This section provides an overview on what is new in this release whith a description of any new functionality or enhancements when applicable.
This section provides information related to the impact of this release to allow you to assess how your environment may be affected.
This section provides important information to review prior to the installation of this release.
This section provides the direct link to obtain the download package for installation in your environment.
This section provides the installation instructions necessary to apply this release into your environment.
This section contains a link to the known problems (open defects) identified at the time of this release.
Supporting Documentation
Document Description
Click the link to navigate to the system requirement report page. To run the report, select your Product, Version and Operating System. 
Note: Choose the parent version of your product to see the system requirements for fix pack releases.
The information center provides you with user assistance for the product. You can view, browse, and search online information related to the product. You can also visit IBM Product information page the to browse for additional information centers.
Click to review a complete list of the defects (APARs) resolved in this release including a list of resolved defects for the entire version family.

Prerequisites


No prerequisites required for this release

Installation Instructions

Notes:
You do not need to download the compressed files that contain the RMC 7.5.2 package. The IBM Installation Manager retrieves the package directly from the IBM update repository..

Before installing RMC 7.5.2 in 64-bit mode, see Partial-support for 64-bit mode.

    Update Rational Method Composer to version 7.5.2 using IBM Installation Manager (On-line update):
    1. Close Rational Method Composer.
    2. Start the IBM Installation Manager by selecting Start > All Programs > IBM Installation Manager > IBM Installation Manager.
    3. Click Update. The Installation Manager checks for updates. If a new version of Installation Manager is available, you must install it before you can continue the Rational Method Composer installation. Click Yes at prompt to update Installation Manager. If your Installation Manager is current, go to step 5.
    4. Click OK at the prompt to restart Installation Manager. Click Update.
    5. On the Update Packages page, select IBM Rational Method Composer 7.5 . Click Next.
    6. On the "Select the updates for fixes to install" page, verify the Version 7.5.2 check box is selected. Click Next.
    7. Accept the license agreement and click Next.
    8. On the "Select features you want to install" page, click Next.
    9. On the "Review summary information" page, click Update.
    10. When the update is completed and you are informed that packages were installed successfully, click Finish to close the Update Packages windows.
    11. Exit the IBM Installation Manager.
    12. Confirm the update was successful by using the Help menu in Rational Method Composer and selecting About IBM Rational Method Composer. You should see: Version: 7.5.2.

    If you download and install this release locally, follow these steps:

    1. From the Download Package section below, download rmc752.update.zip.
    2. Extract rmc752.update.zip to a folder, <TARGET_DIR>.
    3. Launch IBM Installation Manager.
    4. Select File > Preferences and click Add Repository.
    5. Enter the location <TARGET_DIR>\disk1 and select diskTag.inf in the Add Repository window and click OK.
    6. Click OK to close the Preferences window.
    7. Click Update on the main Installation Manager screen and update Rational Method Composer V7.5.2 by following step 5 of the on-line update procedure.

    Removing the fix pack
    If you updated a previously installed version to version 7.5.x, you can revert to the previous version by using the roll back feature of Installation Manager.

    The rollback feature uninstalls the updated resources and reinstalls the resources from the previous version. You can only roll back one version level at a time.

    To remove the update:

    1. Close Rational Method Composer.
    2. Start the IBM Installation Manager by selecting Start > All Programs > IBM Installation Manager.
    3. Click Roll Back to display the Roll Back Packages window.
    4. On the "Select a package group to find roll back packages for" page, select IBM Rational Method Composer 7.5, and then click Next.
    5. On the " Select the packages to roll back to" page, select a version that has been installed on your machine to roll back to, and then click Next.
    6. On the Review rollback information page, click Roll Back. A progress bar is displayed.
    7. When the update completes and you are informed that packages were rolled back successfully, click Finish to close the Update Packages windows.
    8. Exit IBM Installation Manager.


    Download Package

    Download options
    Access type Description
    Passport Advantage Passport Advantage and Passport Advantage Express clients are required to sign in to download the software package.
    IBM OEM software IBM Software Group OEM offerings are designed for partners who develop and sell business solutions with embedded or bundled IBM middleware software. Clients with Flexible Contract Type (FCT) license purchases and IBM Business Partners must sign in to download the software package.

    How critical is this fix?

    Impact Assessment
    Impact Description
    This release is a service release of Rational Method Composer 7.5.2. It contains new features as well as fixes for client reported and internally found defects.

    Problems Solved

    Click the Fix List link in the table of contents above to review a list of the problems solved in this release.

    Known Side Effects

    The following defects were not resolved in this release.

    APAR
    Description
    PM57489Activity: Create Project CM Environment missing content
    PM59073Actors Template has wrong non-human actor description Practices.
    PM59091Prepare for Phase Close-Out is deleted but still it is referenced in a task.
    PM60605Brief Description appears 2 times in Domain Governance
    PM61700 Creating UDT Definition is not defined within the documentation correctly.
    PM64251How to Adopt This Practice in Roadmaps not good name.

    Click a topic for information about known problems and limitations in Rational Method Composer 7.5.2, including possible workarounds if any exist:
    Validation warning occurs when updating from previous version RMC 7.5.2
    When you upgrade from previous RMC releases such as 7.5.1, 7.5.1.1 or 7.5.1.2 to the latest RMC 7.5.2 release, you might see a validation error at the end of the upgrade operation. The warning message states that IM cannot find some patches. You can ignore this warning which is issued because the RMC 7.5.2 release upgrades the Eclipse platform from version 3.5.2 to 3.6.2, and the missing patches only apply to the Eclipse 3.5.2 platform used in the earlier RMC version.

    You can work around this problem by uninstalling the existing RMC software and completing a fresh install of RMC version 7.5.2 instead of performing an upgrade. Using this approach eliminates any validation errors caused by the platform change from the Eclipse 3.5.2 to Eclipse 3.6.2.

    Launchpad has the old version number
    When users install RMC 7.5.2 from the full CD or DVD, the RMC version number is still 7.5.1 in the Launchpad installation program. However, the correct 7.5.2 version number is shown in the Installation Manager install wizard.
      Partial-support for 64-bit mode
      If RMC is integrated with Rational Team Concert 4.0 (shell-sharing), users can install RMC 7.5.2 in either 64-bit or 32-bit mode. However, there is a known issue with the stand-alone version of RMC 7.5.2 in 64-bit mode. If you select 64-bit mode when installing RMC 7.5.2 as a stand-alone client for the first time, the program group will not be created. To work around this problem, when installing an RMC 7.5.2 stand-alone client for the first time, select 32-bit mode.

      Republish previously published RUP websites
      After upgrading or installing RMC version 7.5.2, republish the previously published RUP websites. To do this, open the RUP library, select the method configuration of interest and select Configuration -> Publish.
      Refresh issue with Team Process perspective
      When a user switches the perspective from Team Process to Authoring and makes some authoring changes, then switches back to the Team Process perspective, the Team Process Navigator might not automatically refresh with the updated content. In this case, click the Refresh Team button in the Team Process Navigator view to refresh the content.

      Tables are not displayed in the process editors
      Tables defined in the custom relationship are not shown on the custom Relationship property page of a process element, and cannot be edited by the user in RMC 7.5.2.

      Smart tables not supported by process element types
      Tables are not supported by user-defined modifications of process element types.

      Team process plug-in references must be manually updated after base configuration changes
      When a user creates a team process based on a configuration under the team process perspective, a corresponding customize plug-in is automatically created in the library. The selected method plug-ins of the configuration become the referenced plug-ins of the customize plug-in. When a user adds or removes some selected method plug-ins for the configuration, the referenced plug-in list of the customize plug-in is not automatically updated. Users should manually make the changes using the authoring perspective, or avoid making selection changes for the configuration once it has been used to created any team process.

      Limitations of the Team process perspective
      The Team process perspective has the following limitations:
      • Cannot create user-defined type method elements or a sub-artifacts.
      • Cannot edit processes.

      Double byte characters in Process Builder definition files
      When inserting double byte characters into the Process Builder definition files, you must follow these steps:
      1. Change the definition file suffix from ".xmldef" to ".xml" before editing.
      2. Edit the file using an editor that supports XML.
      3. When finished editing, save and close the file.
      4. Change the file suffix back to ".xmldef" from ".xml".
      Users can work around these limitations by switching to the Authoring perspective to make changes directly under the corresponding customize plug-in.

      Use defined types and user modified types are not handled in some functional areas
      The user-defined and user-modified types are not supported in these areas:
        • BIRT report
        • CSV File report
        • Content package copy across different plug-ins
        • Plug-in creation based on an existing plug-in
      User defined type limitations
      User Defined Type feature has limited functionality in this release of Rational Method Composer . For example, if you create a new plug-in based on an existing one that contains UDTs, the UDT types might not be created correctly in the new plug-in. To request enhancements for this feature in future releases, please submit RFEs.

      Applet search might not work for RMC generated process templates
      In the new Team Process perspective, the new Jazz Process Template wizard allows users to specify the corresponding team process site on the first wizard page. Users can provide the team process site context root in three different deployment environments:
        1. A J2EE web application deployed on the same Jazz team server,
        2. A static HTML web site deployed on a separate HTTP web server,
        3. A J2EE web application deployed on a separate application server such as Tomcat or WebSphere.
      A known issue affects the second scenario where, a static HTML web site is deployed to a web server. When the user navigates to the team process website from within the RTC client for Eclipse, the search applet might not start. The preferred search method for J2EE web application formats or static HTML web sites is to use PHP based search.

      Site search based applet limitation in Internet Explorer 9
      For the site search based applet to work properly, ensure that Tools -> ActiceX Filtering is not checked in IE9. To overcome the various IE security restrictions, you can generate RMC web sites with PHP based serach. You can also add the generated websites into the Tools -> Compatibility View Settings list.

      RTC web client format issues with Jazz Work Items created using RMC
      If the user selects the option to copy method guidance into the description field of Work Items created using the Team Process perspective,the content format shows multiple blank lines in the RTC Web UI. As a work around, edit the description field in the RTC Web UI and save without making any changes. The text automatically reformats to display correctly. This problem does not occur in the RTC Eclipse client.

      Anomaly with synch required libraries and configuration-free processes
      Avoid using configuration free processes with synch-required libraries. Otherwise, locally customized descriptors can get lost when realized in publish/browsing formats.

      For details, see the following information:
      Warning: After you have converted a library to use auto-synchronization, you cannot reverse the change.

      Connecting to RMC using a remote desktop
      When using remote desktop to connect to a remote instance of RMC, if the display resolution is too low, the File -> Report dialog may appear truncated. The workaround is to increase the display resolution.

      Change History

      Here are some new and noteworthy features and enhancements added to Rational Method Composer version 7.5.2 since the version 7.5.1 Fix pack 2 release:

      Modify Existing Types with Custom Attributes and Relationships
      You can now add custom attributes and relationships to standard SPEM types for added flexibility in modeling. This new feature complements the user-defined types feature added in Rational Method Composer 7.5.1.2, enabling you to model RACI relationships, capture tool configuration data, and more. For details, see Technote #7025164 - Modifying an existing method type.

      Manage team process descriptions from the Team Process user interface perspective
      Add the new Team Processuser interface perspective that can be shell shared into the Rational Team Concert for Eclipse client to simplify viewing and tailoring the process description for the team. See Technote #7027352 - Creating a Team Process.

      Generate Jazz Process Templates
      Generate Jazz process templates and automatically deploy them to a Jazz Team Server along with the published method guidance. Review Generating Jazz process templates in the IBM Knowledge Center for more details.

      Update Jazz process specifications for an in-flight project
      Update Jazz process specifications in existing "in-flight" project areas to add new roles, work item types, and work item templates based on and linked to the method content from Rational Method Composer. See Technote #7027354 - Updating a Jazz Project Area using Rational Method Composer.

      Create Work Items in an existing Jazz Project Area
      Ability to create work items in an existing Jazz project area directly from a method element in Rational Method Composer. Each work item created in this manner includes a link to the relevant method guidance. See Technote #7027354 - Updating a Jazz Project Area using Rational Method Composer.

      Enhanced search capability
      Updated search capability that improves performance and supports the new Java Plugin architecture.

      Enhanced Method Library
      The IBM Practices Library that ships with Rational Method Composer has been enhanced and now contains over 50 proven practices and several pre-defined end-end lifecycle processes that can be leveraged to jump-start your project. In addition, several new method configurations are available for download from the IBM Rational Solution Process Assets document in the Support database. You can use these new practices and method configurations to support these IBM Rational Solutions:
      • Collaborative Lifecycle Management for IT agility@scale Solution
      • IBM Rational Solution for Systems and Software Engineering
      • Rational Aerospace Solution for DO-178B
      • Rational Automotive Solution for ISO-26262

      Information update
      Additional information about Rational Method Composer features is available in these technotes:

      Off
      [{"Product":{"code":"SS7DVG","label":"IBM Engineering Lifecycle Optimization - Method Composer"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Component":"Installation","Platform":[{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"},{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"}],"Version":"7.5.2","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB59","label":"Sustainability Software"}}]

      Product Synonym

      Rational Method Composer

      Problems (APARS) fixed
      PM64479;PM63951;PM61772;PM60605;PM57992;PM57489;PM57426;PM56090

      Document Information

      Modified date:
      20 July 2018

      UID

      swg24032821