AUTOSAR: "Add New..." menu for ARPackages

For AUTOSAR models, the "Add New..." menu for ARPackages has been restructured to make it easier to find specific items.

AUTOSAR: UI improvements for modeling

This release includes two UI enhancements that improve the user experience when working with AUTOSAR models:1) A new dialog has been added for creating and editing application data types. You can access this dialog by opening the popup menu for ARPackages and selecting AUTOSAR DataTypes. 2) When modeling with the AUTOSAR profile, some tags now have a list of strings (from the AUTOSAR standard) that you may want to use as the value of the tag. The strings provided depend upon the tag and the the specific AUTOSAR element to which the tag is being applied. For example, WIRED and WIRELESS are provided for the tag "category" for the element EthernetPhysicalChannel. You can use one of the provided values, or enter a different value.

AUTOSAR: migration of models to older versions of AUTOSAR

In release 8.3.1, for migration of AUTOSAR projects to an older version of AUTOSAR, additional target AUTOSAR versions have been added.

AUTOSAR: migration of projects to version 4.3.1 of AUTOSAR

It is now possible to migrate existing AUTOSAR projects to version 4.3.1 of AUTOSAR.

AUTOSAR: support for AUTOSAR 4.3.1

Rational Rhapsody now supports AUTOSAR 4.3.1 modeling.

Diagrams: RTF support and spellchecking for notes.

Notes in diagrams now support RTF, including hyperlinks. You can also spellcheck the text in notes.

Diagrams: bridges for line intersections

Beginning in this release, if the line_style property is set to "rectilinear_arrows" or "rounded_rectilinear_arrows", Rational Rhapsody displays bridges when lines intersect in a diagram. You can turn this feature off by setting the value of the property RectilinearBridgeDrawing to False. You can also toggle this behavior using the button provided in the Layout toolbar. When the feature is turned on, you can use the property RectilinearBridgeShape to customize the appearance of the bridges.

Diagrams: diagram views

It is now possible to create read-only copies of a diagram, and then apply custom views to the copy. This feature makes it simple to focus on specific elements of a diagram by filtering out various elements or by applying unique formatting to specific types of elements in the diagram. These copies are saved separately from the source diagram and can be placed anywhere in the model. The copy remains linked to the original diagram, so any changes made to the diagram will be reflected in all of the diagram views that are based on it.

Diagrams: double-click to enter Stamp mode

When adding elements to diagrams, you can now enter Stamp mode by double-clicking a tool on the Drawing toolbar. This applies also to the tools on the Hovering Drawing toolbar.

Diagrams: realization of lifelines in sequence diagrams

In the Features window for lifelines, you can now filter the items displayed in the Realization drop-down list to make it easier to find the element that you are looking for. There is also an option to select the element from a mini-browser tree.

Integration with Rational Team Concert: handling of controlled files

For models that use Rational Team Concert as the CM tool, modified controlled files are now considered part of a changeset, and all the RTC commands available in Rational Rhapsody (such as Check-in and Deliver) are available for controlled files as well.

Integration with Rational Team Concert: Lock option

The Lock option in the popup menu now changes read-only units to read-write.

Integration with Rational Team Concert: new pop-up menu options

For models that use Rational Team Concert as the CM tool, additional RTC actions are now available from the pop-up menu for model elements that are units or controlled files. The new options are: Save and Check-in, Check-in, Deliver, Check-in and Deliver, Lock, and Unlock. You can also associate changes with a specific RTC work item, or have them associated with the current RTC work item. Note that by default the Unlock option also makes the file in your workspace read-only. You can change this behavior by modifying the value of the property ConfigurationManagement::RationalTeamConcert::UnitLockIfReadWrite.

Integration with Rational Team Concert: rename files that have been converted to new XML format

If you decide not to upgrade a pre-8.3 model to the new XML format, but later make changes to individual units and then save the model, the modified units are saved in the new format. Beginning in release 8.3.1, it is possible to have Rational Team Concert automatically rename such modified files in the source control system so that you end up with a single file with the combined history for the old and new file (rather than retaining both the old file and new file, each with its own history).To have Rational Team Concert rename these modified units automatically, add KeepUnitFileOnSaveToNewFormatExtension=False to the General section of your rhapsody.ini file. (Note that files will be renamed in Rational Team Concert only if the value of the property ConfigurationManagement::General::CMTool is set to RationalTeamConcert.)

Modeling: default name for "new term" element

Prior to release 8.3.1, when you added an element based on a "new term", the default name of the element would be based on the name of the new term. This was true even in cases where the default name for the element type underlying the new term used a different default naming scheme. For example, when you add a new Link element, the default name is based on the two instances that the link connects. In release 8.3.1, a new property named Model::Stereotype::UseApplicableToName has been added. If you set the value of this property to True for a new term, the default name of new elements of this type is based on the naming scheme of the element type that serves as the basis for the new term (the element type that the new term is "ApplicableTo").

Modeling: option to display name of operation for Call Operation in activity diagram

For Call Operation elements on activity diagrams, the Display Options window now includes an option to display the description of the operation that is to be called. Similarly, for Call Behavior elements, the Display Options window now includes an option to display the description of the reference activity.

Modeling: Quick Navigation for states

Beginning in this release, you can add Quick Navigation to states as well. Use the Quick Navigation tab of the Display Options window to define the shortcuts to include, and then access the shortcuts by right-clicking the icon at the top of the state.

Rhapsody API: new method for rearranging ports

A method called rearrangePorts was added to IRPDiagram. This method parallels the Layout > Rearrange Ports menu option.

Rhapsody API: stabilization and compatibility between Rational Rhapsody releases

Significant changes were made to the underlying implementation of the Rhapsody API in order to eliminate problems that could occur when multiple versions of Rational Rhapsody are installed on a single computer. This applies both to the running of user-developed applications that use the API, and Rational Rhapsody integrations that make use of the API, for example, the integration with Eclipse.

Saving models: use format from previous version

When you use the Save As... option, the dialog that is displayed lets you select the format to use for saving the model: the format of the current Rational Rhapsody version, the format of the previous version, or the format from two versions earlier. Prior to this release, if you used the Save option, the model was always saved using the format of the current version.Beginning in 8.3.1, you can use the new property General::Model::SavePolicy to specify that one of the earlier formats should be used when you use the Save option. The value of this property also determines the default format that is shown when you use the Save As... option.

Support for MS Visual Studio 2017

Rational Rhapsody can now be used with Visual Studio 2017. This includes the integration with the Visual Studio user interface.

User Interface: enhanced dialog for setting display options

Additional element types now use the tab-based dialog for setting display options that was introduced in release 8.3.

User Interface: use of new combo box for filtering

Additional dialogs now use the combo box that dynamically filters list elements as you type, which was introduced in release 8.3.

User Interface: width of Most Recently Used list

It is now possible to control the width of the File menu so that you can see the full path of items in the Most Recently Used list. To customize the width, add the MaxDisplayLength variable to the General section of your rhapsody.ini file. The value of the variable should be the number of characters that you want to have displayed. If you set MaxDisplayLength to -1, there is no limit on the width of the menu.

Web-enabling a model (Webify): support in 64-bit version

In the 64-bit version of Rational Rhapsody, it is now possible to web-enable models (for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge).