Use JRS reports inside PUB Templates

IBM ELM has two main options for reporting on data: Jazz Reporting System (JRS) and IBM Engineering Lifecycle Optimization Publishing (PUB). JRS is mainly for “Analysis” reports (tables, charts, crosstabs, dashboards…) while PUB is the best solution for “Document-style” reports (text, diagrams, tables…). To keep it (very) simple JRS is very good for sharing quick, very technical information while PUB is used when your need a more formal, readable, company feeling document. Probably you need this second option when the document is an important part of your deliverable. These two “needs” can partially overlap: an analysis report may be a complex and official document, while a deliverable document may also contain charts or deep technical details. In this article I will show how you can easily insert JRS reports inside a PUB template. Basic knowledge of both tools is required to replicate, but you can easily follow in any case and maybe you‘ll find out that it makes sense to start using them.

Or even better you already have nice dashboards that your team consult daily, but maybe they

could be useful also outside your office walls.

Would it be great that you automatically could create a document with this information structured in a predefined order? For example you could generate this kind of “gate document” at every release. Let’s see how we can achieve this.

Goal: Insert an existing JRS report in an existing PUB template (.dta) 

This tutorial is for a basic situation, for example: 
● The JRS report is working
● The JRS report is in table style
● Your template (.dta) is executed against the same server where the JRS report works
● Document Specification (.dsx) contains credential that access the JRS report

Creating PUB templates, launchers, JRS reports is beyond the scope of this tutorial.
In this paragraph I will only show the resources I‘m using in the snapshots.
Please use your resources and adapt to your environment, if you are an expert you can probably skip to the next paragraph.
To keep this tutorial as simple as possible we are going to extract data from a single DNG module.
Use a copy of your PUB template, in the following screenshot I’ll start from Module.dta, which is an example template for DNG provided in the PUB installation.
If you have PUB installed on your laptop you can find it in folder <RPE_HOME>\templates\DOORSNext

Make a copy! (I’ve renamed it as Module_DNG_with_JRS_Report.dta).
Create a working launcher (.dsx) against a DNG module. In particular we will need the main data source that contains the credentials (in this example is called modules and I will use this in the screenshots).

Make a copy! (I’ve renamed it as Module_DNG_with_JRS_Report.dta).
Create a working launcher (.dsx) against a DNG module. In particular we will need the main data source that contains the credentials (in this example is called modules and I will use this in the screenshots).

On the JRS side I will use a very simple report that lists system requirements and the attribute Status in “System Specification” modules.

Make a copy! (I’ve renamed it as Module_DNG_with_JRS_Report.dta).
Create a working launcher (.dsx) against a DNG module. In particular we will need the main data source that contains the credentials (in this example is called modules and I will use this in the screenshots).

Here the details: Artifact types: 
1.System Specification Artifact relationships:  → Uses (Required) → Conditions:  All match: • (System Specification) Id contains 561414 Columns: 
1.Id System Requirement
2.System Requirement
3.URL (System Requirement)
4.Verification Method (Sample Training (Requirements)) (System Requirement) For the graphic report I’ve duplicated the previous one and specifically set:
●Format Graph
●Graph Type Pie
●Show as pie segments Verification Method 

Run Your report on Report Builder
On the result page press Export -> “Export the report to IBM Engineering Lifecycle…” 

1. In the new page click download (2. download) Template (DTA) file
2. Copy the (3) Document Specification link (right click -> copy link)

1. In your Template (.dta) select a place where you want the JRS report to appear, for example create a new container in the bottom of the template

2. Template – Import template

3. Open Local or Remote

4. Browse the previous downloaded template

•Press ‘Next’ 
•Physical Embedding

In case you are using your template dialogs with Resolve Styles, Variable… conflicts could appear. Most of the time you can solve it by selecting “Use Existing Item For conflict As Allowed”

Press ‘Finish’

On the ‘Outline Pane’ a new Data Source Schema (named as the report) has appeared

1.Select the newly added Data Source Schema
2.In ‘Properties’ set ‘Configuration Required’ or ‘hidden’
3.(optional) put an underscore (_) in front of the name 

Above the new table (Report Details) create add (drag) a new Data Source Configuration element

1.Select The new Data Source Configuration Element
2.Select in Properties pane: Data
3.Target data source: the new data source Specification added before
4.Inherit Data Configuration: the main report data source that Provides credentials in .dsx

5.Select in Properties pane: Dynamic Configuration
6.Parameter ‘URI’: the previous copied report URI

Done!

Every time you generate the report JRS will recalculate the current data for you (there could be delays on last modifications).

Probably now you can work on formatting, filters..

Most of the steps are similar:
As before you need a working JRS report in graph style (I’ve duplicated the previous one) and a working .dta

From Report Builder run the report.

On the result page press “Export the report to IBM Engineering Lifecycle…”

Hint: If export Button doesn’t appear refresh page

In the new page copy the link (right click copy link) in point 2 under “Insert a report image into a IBM Engineering Lifecycle Optimization - Publishing document”
It is the last specific link on the page (ver 7.0.3)

Prepare the place for inserting the graph. You will need an image element (from the palette)
In this case I’ve put it just before the JRS report table (actually they represent the same information in two different formats)

• Prepare a ‘Container’ element (to isolate the element)

• A ‘Paragraph’ element (to have control on properties like alignment)

• Drag the image element from the palette into the paragraph

In this case you can directly set ‘Configure Data Source’ in the element (no schema needed)
1.Select the new Image element
2.Properties Pane:
3.Content: the previous copied report URI 

4.In Image properties: Specific
5.Inherit Data Configuration: select the main report data source that Provides credentials in .dsx

Done!

Probably now you would work on caption, size..

In this article we have seen how to integrate JRS reports (table or graphic) statically in your PUB template.
You will notice that if you need massive raw data from DNG or ETM etc. JRS is much faster than PUB (which creates a query for every requirement, test case etc…). On the other hand PUB is the best when you need a specific format/company feeling.

This is just the starting point, how to format these results in the document is up to you now. If you want you can expand what you have seen in one or two dimensions:
●Numbers of reports in the document
●Re-using the template on different project areas/components..

Keep in mind that in this example we have “hardcoded” a specific module (by his ID), if you want to really reuse your report it’s strongly recommended to parametrize the URIs inside the data source. In the past we were able to create a “gate/milestone report” with more than 40 reports that the final user could easily use on more than 80 projects. If you need a hand for achieving your specific needs we’ll be happy to help you!