[This page describes the contents and layout of the discipline configuration pages.  It also includes guidance on how to customize the template pages.  

It is worth including the definition of the configuration template used when producing the development case, as part of the development case itself (rather than just referencing the RUP template), as the template may change in later versions of the process.  

Note: the template for discipline configuration used here is a slightly expanded version of the one defined by the Rational Unified Process.]  

Topics

Background To top of page

This page describes the layout and contents of the Development Case Discipline Pages.  Each of these pages follows a standard layout and contains the same section heading and tables.  The following sections describe the contents of these sections and provide guidance on how they have been tailored.

[Note: The template Discipline Pages are supplied partially completed and can be copied and edited to produce your own development case (s).

The template pages can be navigated to from the supplied iteration cycle graph and the process configuration template's treebrowser.]

The Button Bar To top of page

The contents of each page is accessible from the button bar at the top of the page.  There is a button for each major section of the page.  The section names have been abbreviated to fit onto the buttons.  The table below describes the abbreviations used.

Button Title

Linked Section
Discipline Discipline
Artifacts Artifacts
Reports Reports
Reviews Additional Review Procedures 
Issues Other Issues
Configuration Configuring The Discipline

Discipline To top of page

The Discipline Section details any changes made to the structure of the discipline itself.  Each page contains a discipline overview diagram showing the workflow details to be undertaken by the developers.  The workflow details are linked to the underlying RUP workflow detail pages or to any additional, or specialized, workflow details supplied by the development case.

[By default the sample pages include a copy of the discipline overview diagram from the Rational Unified Process.  These diagrams are hyper linked to relevant workflow details in the Rational Unified Process itself.

The most common changes required by an organization are the tailoring of the overview diagram to reflect the way that the organization itself works.  

This includes:

  • suppressing work flow details by removing them from the overview diagram in the development case
  • adding new workflow details
  • specializing and overriding the Rational Unified Process supplied workflow details

The last two options often require the addition of activities to describe company specific ways of working.  The specialization of a workflow detail can also involve the suppression of inapplicable activities.  It is not recommended that the disciplines and activities in the RUP itself are edited but that overrides are specified in the development case.]

Artifacts To top of page

The Artifacts Section defines the artifact set to be used and qualifies how each artifact is used across the process lifecycle.

The table includes all the RUP artifacts to be used as well as any additional  "local artifacts" required to support the process configuration.

If an RUP artifact is not going to be used then it is moved to the "not used" table in the Notes on the Artifacts Section below.

[Note: In the template all RUP artifacts are included in the tables.  This is to provide a full set of editable entries when the template is instantiated.  The pre-filled tables contains example values based upon the use of Rational Suite to support medium size, average formality projects.  A major part of the configuration of the discipline is the completion of these tables.]  

The Artifacts table below shows the layout of the table's columns.  It is followed by a table describing the purpose of each of the columns.

Artifacts How to Use Review Details Tools used Templates/
Examples
Incep Elab Const Trans
               

 

Column Name Purpose Contents/Comments
'Artifacts' The name of the artifact.  A reference to the artifact in the RUP, or to a local artifact definition held as part of the development case.

Presented as a hyperlink to the relevant definition page. 
'How to use' Qualify how the artifact is used across the lifecycle.

One column per phase.

 Decide the classification for the artifact for each phase: 

These are defined by the Development Case: Artifact Classification.

See Development Case: Artifact Classification for more details on classifying the artifacts.

Presented as a hyperlink to the artifact classification definition.
'Review Details' Define the review level, and review procedures to be applied to the artifact.  Decide the appropriate review level: 

These are defined by the Development Case: Review Procedures section.

Also add a reference to the definition and detail of the relevant review procedures. The reference could point to either RUP, or to the general Review Procedure section in the development case (See  Development Case: Review Procedures).  More specific review procedures are defined in the discipline's Additional Review Procedures sub-section.

Presented as a hyperlink to the relevant review definitions.
'Tools Used / Templates / Examples' To define the tool (or tools) used to produce the artifact, to provide access to the templates to be used and to provide examples of artifacts that use the templates. References to details of the tools, templates used to develop and maintain the artifact.  This could include references to either the templates and examples in RUP, or to local templates and examples.  This column may also contain references to actual artifacts to provide additional help to the project members.

In this development case links are supplied to individual template and example pages that provide full details of tool and template usage.

[Note: In this template the Tools Used and the Templates/Examples columns (as defined by the RUP Template: Development Case) are combined into a single column which is used to reference the appropriate page within the process configurations Templates and Examples section.]

[Many process engineers find the qualification of how to use the artifacts for each phase to be excessive.  In many development cases the four separate qualifications are collapsed into a single qualifier for the entire lifecycle.]

Notes on the Artifacts To top of page

This sub-section has four main purposes:

  1. List all the artifacts that are not used in the process configuration (those qualified as 'Won't' use) and the motivation for the decision.  The table below is used as a starting point.
  2. To note what each project should think about when deciding how to further classify an artifact.  
  3. Capture any additional notes needed to clarify the contents of the Artifacts table.
  4. Provide references to the Configuration Management (CM) Plan that describes the configuration management strategy to be used when working on the artifacts.  The CM Plan provides answers to questions such as:
    • When do I release my artifact?
    • Where do I put my newly created, or modified, artifact?
    • Where do I find existing artifacts for the project?
Artifact How To Use Reason
     

Reports To top of page

The Reports Section defines the reports to be used to support the process configuration..

The table includes all the RUP reports to be used as well as any additional  "local reports" required to support the process configuration.

If an RUP report is not going to be used then it should be moved to the "not used" table in the Notes on the Reports Section below.

[Note: In the template all RUP reports are included in the tables.  This is to provide a full set of editable entries when the template is instantiated.  The pre-filled tables contains example values based upon the use of Rational Suite to support medium size, average formality projects.]  

The Reports table below shows the layout of the table's columns.  It is followed by a table describing the purpose of each of the columns.

Report How to Use Tools Used/ Templates/ Examples
     

 

Column Name Purpose Contents/Comments
'Reports' The name of the report.  A reference to the report in the RUP, or to a local report definition held as part of the development case.

Presented as a hyperlink to the relevant definition page. 
'How to use' To qualify how the report is used. Decide the classification for the report: 

These are defined by the Development Case: Artifact Classification.

Presented as a hyperlink to the artifact classification definition.

You should note any reports that are used as final documentation or as the input for reviews.
'Tools Used / Templates / Examples' To define the tool (or tools) used to produce the report, to provide access to the templates to be used and to provide examples of reports produced using the templates. References to tools, templates, and examples.  This could be references to either the templates and examples in RUP, or to local templates and examples.  This column may also contain references to actual reports to provide additional help to the project members.

In this development case links are supplied to individual template and example pages supplied as part of the  project-specific templates artifact.

[Note: In this template the Tools Used and the Templates/Examples columns (as defined by the RUP Template: Development Case) are combined into a single column which is used to reference the appropriate page within the process configurations Templates and Examples section.]

Notes On the Reports To top of page

This sub-section has four main purposes:

  1. List all the reports that are not used in the process configuration (those qualified as 'Won't' use) and the motivation for the decision.  The table below is used as a starting point.
  2. To note what each project should think about when deciding how to further classify a report.  
  3. Capture any additional notes needed to clarify the contents of the Reports table.
  4. Provide references to the Configuration Management Plan for reports that require archiving
Report How To Use Clarification
     

Additional Review Procedures To top of page

This section captures any additional review procedures that are required for the artifacts, or reports, used in the discipline.  These supplement the general review procedures described in the Development Case: Review Procedures Section.

Other Issues To top of page

This section captures any outstanding issues with the discipline's configuration.

Configuring The Discipline To top of page

This section contains pointers to helpful information for use when configuring, or understanding the configuration of, the discipline.  This is mainly in the form of hyperlinks to the relevant parts of the RUP.

[If the development case is an organizational development case then this section can be used to provide instructions for the production of project development cases based upon the organizational development case.] 

[If the development case is a project development case then this section can be removed once the development case is completed.]

 

Display Organization Process Web using frames
Copyright  © 1987 - 2001 Rational Software Corporation 

Wylie College Process Web Example
Version 2001.02