Using RAEC 1.0 and RPE 1.1.2 to generate documents in Excel format

Dan Ani Reporting Arena Team Leaderwww.reportingarena.com

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Introduction

The goal of this presentation is to show how easy is now with Rational Publishing Engine 1.1.2 and with Reporting Arena Excel Converter to generate documents from various IBM Rational tools in MS Excel format.

In this presentation I will use the RAEC 1.0 standalone version.

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Prerequisites

Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 Rational Publishing Engine 1.1.2 Reporting Arena Excel Converter Rational DOORS 9.3 Microsoft Word 2003/2007 (to visualize the output document)

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Checkpoint

1. Install standalone Reporting Arena Excel Converter.2. Open RPE Launcher component.3. Create a document specification.4. Configure document specification for Excel generation.5. Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output.6. Generate document.7. Get the results.8. Conclusions.

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Install standalone Reporting Arena Excel Converter 1/2

RAEC 1.0 can be deployed in 2 different ways:

Embedded in RPE (Eclipse Plugin) Standalone application

Installer for Windows Installer for Linux

In this case I’ll use the RAEC installer for windows to install the standalone version.

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Install standalone Reporting Arena Excel Converter 2/2

Use “RPE_HOME” folder as the installation directory for RAEC.

Copy the path for the raec.jar file. We need to launch the RAEC application from the command line later.

“RAEC_HOME”D:\software\IBM\Rational\Publishing Engine\1.1.2\raec\

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Checkpoint

1. Install standalone Reporting Arena Excel Converter.2. Open RPE Launcher component.3. Create a document specification.4. Configure document specification for Excel generation.5. Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output.6. Generate document.7. Get the results.8. Conclusions.

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Open the RPE 1.1.2 Launcher component

Use the launcher icon to start the RPE Launcher Application.

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Checkpoint

1. Install standalone Reporting Arena Excel Converter.2. Open RPE Launcher component.3. Create a document specification.4. Configure document specification for Excel generation.5. Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output.6. Generate document.7. Get the results.8. Conclusions.

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Create the document specification

Create a new document specification. Add an already customized RPE

template for Excel generation. Configure the DOORS data source.

More information about how to create a custom RPE template for Excel: http://reportingarena.com/products/excel-converter/use-cases/

Note: RAEC works with any Rational tool that provides support for Rational Publishing Engine. (Rational Requirements Composer, Rational Team Concert, Rational DOORS, etc…)

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Checkpoint

1. Install standalone Reporting Arena Excel Converter.2. Open RPE Launcher component.3. Create a document specification.4. Configure document specification for Excel generation.5. Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output.6. Generate document.7. Get the results.8. Conclusions.

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Configure document specification for Excel generation 1/3

In order to generate Excel documents with RAEC and RPE you need to have the XslFo output in your document specification.

The XslFo output file generated by Rational Publishing Engine will be used as a source for the Excel converter.

Configure the output path, and the XslFo file name.

Note: The same name will be used for the Excel file.

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Checkpoint

1. Install standalone Reporting Arena Excel Converter.2. Open RPE Launcher component.3. Create a document specification.4. Configure document specification for Excel generation.5. Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output.6. Generate document.7. Get the results.8. Conclusions.

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Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output 1/3

From RPE 1.1.2, it is possible to run commands that post process the results before and after the publishing process.

The command is introduced through a new property in the metadata: post-command.

You can use the output file path in the command using the $output variable that is maintained by Rational Publishing Engine.

The output formats are referenced in the command using the form: ${word}, ${html}, ${pdf}, ${xslfo}

Note: The pre-command and post-command are executed only once, regardless of the number of templates, data sources and outputs available.

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Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output 2/3

With the standalone installation for RAEC it is possible to generate Excel documents from the command line using this command:

Parameters:

-fo : the path for the XslFo input file

-xls : the path for the result Excel file

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Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output 3/3

Write the command to generate the Excel file.

Use the ${XslFo} variable for input. This variable will point to the XslFo file that will be generated by RPE.

Use the same variable for the path were Excel file will be generated. The converter automatically adds .xls extension at the end.

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Checkpoint

1. Install standalone Reporting Arena Excel Converter.2. Open RPE Launcher component.3. Create a document specification.4. Configure document specification for Excel generation.5. Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output.6. Generate document.7. Get the results.8. Conclusions.

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Generate the documentConfigure DOORS data source.

Start the document generation process.

When the execution is finished the post command is executed, and the MS Excel document is generated (see marked in red).

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Checkpoint

1. Install standalone Reporting Arena Excel Converter.2. Open RPE Launcher component.3. Create a document specification.4. Configure document specification for Excel generation.5. Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output.6. Generate document.7. Get the results.8. Conclusions.

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Get the results 1/4

The Excel file was generated in the same location were the XslFo file was generated.

The Excel file has the same name as the XslFo document, but with the Excel extension .xls

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Get the results 2/4 Open the Excel document

The document contains two sheets, one for each Master Page from the RPE template.

Sheet 1 is a table with all the requirements with associated ID and URL.

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Get the results 3/4

In the second sheet, there are cells that contain numbers. They are numbers indeed, and not simple strings, thus there is the possibility of making calculus within the sheet, by using those numbers.

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Get the results 4/4

The reporting Arena Excel Converter tool handles the formulas codes that are written in the RPE template, and displays the results.

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Checkpoint

1. Install standalone Reporting Arena Excel Converter.2. Open RPE Launcher component.3. Create a document specification.4. Configure document specification for Excel generation.5. Use the post processing command to generate the Excel output.6. Generate document.7. Get the results.8. Conclusions.

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Conclusions

RAEC 1.0 can be seen like a RPE Excel output driver. With RPE 1.1.2 it’s possible to use the REAC 1.0 standalone

version and to generate the Excel file using the post processing command.

Easy to use and configure Uses the XslFo file generated by RPE as input for Excel output. Handle Excel formulas. Doesn't require for Microsoft Excel to be installed. Supported Excel formats: XSL and XSLX

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