Set and Remove Formatting
Introduction
In IBM DOORS Next, there is a predefined format of text format artifacts and the users are able to change the formatting of the text by several options on how to customize the artifacts to look as they expect. In many cases companies or users are using different formats than the default format in DOORS Next is, which can cause the issues after importing something from a text document or during exporting.
The exported document look, can be defined also in RPE Template, but in the cases the user wants to see the document in DOORS Next exactly as it should be exported or they would like to remove the formatting imported from an external source, Softacus has developed Set and Remove Formatting extension to help users to change, or remove the formatting in the artifacts.
Use Cases and Features
Based on the functionalities and use cases that this extension is helping you with, the current version of the extension contains:
Widget information section - section with version, short description and other information about the extension
Radio buttons for selection of all or selected functions – to not force the users to select all functions from selection every time they want to use all of them, there is a radio button „All“ which automatically uses all of the extension functions. The radio button „Selected“ is providing the users with a list of functions that they can select.
Dropdown selection – list of all functions that appear after the „Selected“ radio button is active and users can select specific functionalities.
Main button – button that starts the extension after it is clicked

In IBM DOORS Next, in text format artifacts, users do have the possibilities to set or change several formatting options. Sometimes, it can happen that users want to change the format of the text in order to mark something in the text or they changed the format in several artifacts and forget about it and it’s really hard in a big module that does have several thousand artifacts, to find and remove this wrong formatting manually. To simplify this, Softacus developed an extension that allows users to remove all formatting from artifacts (including headings, paragraphs ...). The extension has and is able to work in two modes – Advance and Default:
Default - was developed to set the default DOORS Next values to the artifacts content properties such as Font Size, Font Family, Text Color....
Advanced - in this mode, the users can adjust the formatting by themselves, by using specific artifact with the corresponding attributes that defines the formatting properties values
The extension provides the users with the following features:
Default color attributes - attributes defining colors (HEX values) default to "null (Standard)". If assigned "null", the extension changes color to DNG Default.
Font size - extension sets text font size in "content" based on "Artifact Font Size" value. Clicking "All" or "Selected" and "Artifact Font Size" triggers this.
Font family - extension sets font family for text in "content" based on "Artifact Font Family" value. Correct selection needed. Wrong value prompts error message.
Text color - extension sets text color based on "Artifact Text Color" value. Correct selection needed. Wrong HEX value prompts error message.
Text alignment - extension aligns text in "content" based on "Artifact Text Alignment" value. Correct selection needed. Four values available.
Background color - extension sets text background color based on "Artifact Text Marking" value. Correct selection needed.
Replace spaces - extension replaces protected spaces with regular ones based on "Replace Protected Space Signs" value. Boolean enumeration used.
Delete empty paragraphs - extension deletes empty paragraphs based on "Delete Empty Paragraphs" value. Correct selection needed.
Table font size - extension sets font size in table text based on "Table Font Size" value. Correct selection needed.
Table font family - extension sets font family in table text based on "Table Font Family" value. Correct selection needed. Wrong value prompts error.
Table text color - extension sets text color in tables based on "Table Text Color" value. Correct selection needed.
Table text alignment - extension aligns text in tables based on "Table Text Alignment" value. Correct selection needed.
Cell background color - extension sets cell color in tables based on "Table Cell Color" value. Correct selection needed.
Table text background color - extension sets text background color in tables based on "Table Text Marking" value. Correct selection needed.
Table border color - extension sets border color in tables based on "Table Border Color" value. Correct selection needed.
Table border size - extension sets border size in tables based on "Table Border Width" value. Correct selection needed.
Bullet list alignment - extension aligns bullet lists based on "Bullet List Alignment" value. Correct selection needed.
Correct bullet lists - extension sets available levels for bullet lists based on "Bullet List Levels" value. Correct selection needed.
Correct paragraph spaces - extension corrects paragraph spacing based on "Artefakt Paragraphenabstand" value and selection.
Autofit tables - extension resizes tables based on "Auto-fit Tables" value. Boolean "Tabelle Autofit" needed for selection.
Correct headings - extension removes formatting from headings with "Default Heading" boolean selection.
Format table headers - extension bold formats header cells with "Bold Table Header" boolean selection.
Working with artifacts - the extension handles selected artifacts in DOORS NG. Max 200 selections supported when using the pinned mini dashboard.
Selected view compatibility - the extension seamlessly integrates with the selected view in IBM DOORS Next.

Preconditions and Restrictions
In advanced mode if you want to run a widget in a module, your project must contain the following properties:
- Widget Format Setting artifact – artifact of artifact type „Widget Format Setting“ that has assigned all of the attributes from the table below:
Attribute Name | Attribute Data Type | Attribute Value |
Artifact Type | ------ | Widget Format Setting |
Artifact Format | ------ | Text |
Artifact Font Size | Integer | Selected by user |
Artifact Font Family | Font (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Artifact Text Color | Color (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Artifact Text Alignment | Alignment (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Artifact Text Marking | Color (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Replace Protected Space Signs | Boolean | True/False |
Delete Empty Paragraphs | Boolean | True/False |
Table Font Size | Integer | Selected by user |
Table Font Family | Font (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Table Text Color | Color (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Table Text Alignment | Alignment (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Table Cell Color | Color (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Table Text Marking | Color (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Table Border Color | Color (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Table Border Width | Integer | Selected by user |
Bullet List Alignment | Alignment (custom enumeration) | Selected by user |
Bullet List Levels | Integer | Selected by user |
Bold Table Header | Boolean | True/False |
Default Heading | Boolean | True/False |
This artifact(s) must be always located in the folder, where is the module (or several modules – the artifact is valid for all the modules in the folder) in which the users are changing the formatting of the artifacts. Your project can contain as many Widget Formatting Setting artifacts as you need for the modules in folders.
The values in the attributes are based on the data type of attribute. Please, see the list of data types and the values that can be used for Widget Formatting Setting artifact:
Integer – any positive whole number (not a fractional number)
Boolean – default boolean used in DOORS Next with values True/False
Font – custom enumeration attribute with predefined values, the values can be set by an administrator or the user who has permissions to do it. The values can contain the names of any existing font family (e.g., Arial, Poppins, Times New Roman…)
Color - custom enumeration attribute with predefined values, the values can be set by an administrator or the user who has permissions to do it. The values can contain hex code of desired color and the “explanation” in brackets, for example “#6495ED (Light Blue)”. For default DNG Values, please use the value “null (Standard)”.
Alignment – custom enumeration attribute with predefined values, the values can be set by an administrator or the user who has permissions to do it. The values must contain only 4 possible alignment options: Justify, Left, Right and Center.
Regarding restrictions, this extension is designed to work exclusively within the module. If the user does not meet these prerequisites, the widget displays an informative message.
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