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In the second part of our webinar on Hidden Features in IBM DOORS Next, we dived even deeper into the DNG features such as:

• Generating Work Items & Test Cases
• Copy & Clone functionalities
• Using Templates
• Team Views
• Tagging
• Type System specifics

If you missed the first live session on the topic, just drop us an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will be happy to send you the recording.

This webinar is sponsored by TD Synnex Switzerland.

During the session, will explored powerful but often overlooked features of IBM DOORS NG that can make a big difference in how you manage requirements, including:

• Generating Work Items & Test Cases
• Copy & Clone functionalities
• Using Templates
• Team Views
• Tagging
• Type System specifics and much more

The webinar was generously sponsored by TD Synnex Switerland.

If you missed the live session, send us an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will be happy to send you the recording.

Contact us if you need assistance with the IBM ELM tools.

Due to the high interest in our previous webinar on Linking in IBM DNG, we are excited to announce a second session on July 23rd at 3:30 pm CET. Don't miss this opportunity!

During the session, we will continue our discussion on any topics related to links in IBM DOORS Next, such as:

• Types of Links in DNG
• Widgets
• Link Reporting
• Link terms and link sharing
• Hyperlinks 
• Link constraints and more

If you would like to master your link management skills and streamline your workflow in IBM DNG, but you missed the live session, contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will be happy to send you the recording.

In the world of IBM DOORS Next, links are more than just connections—they're the backbone of effective requirements management. 

These links enable traceability, ensuring every requirement is tracked throughout the lifecycle, from conception to delivery. By linking artifacts, teams can maintain alignment, validate compliance, and streamline their development process. 

Understanding and utilizing these links effectively can make a significant difference in project success, enhancing collaboration and improving overall project visibility. 

Register now for our webinar on July 9th at 3:30 pm CET where we will dive into topics like:

• Creating Effective Links
• Linking by LBFA (Link By Frame Attribute)
• Ensuring Link Validity
• Advanced Link Filtering Techniques
• Optimal Link Display Practices
• Dos and Don'ts of LinkingLinking by View 
• Utilizing Links in RELM (Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager)
• Comprehensive Link Reporting
• Overview of Existing Link Types

If you missed the live session, just reach out to us under This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will send you the recording.

At Softacus, we excel in providing migration services from IBM DOORS to IBM DOORS Next Generation, ensuring a smooth and seamless transition for our clients.

Whether you're contemplating migrating from DOORS Classic to DOORS Next or simply seeking to explore the benefits of the latter, our upcoming webinar is for you.

As operations expand and projects grow in complexity, previously implemented information system sooner or later will require migration to a new platform. Although you may have successfully been using IBM DOORS in your engineering projects for a long time, new projects may need requirements management capabilities that are supported by IBM DOORS Next only.

To respond to the demand for sophisticated and advanced requirements management capabilities in current and future projects, DOORS Next was designed with an entirely new leading-edge architecture. Its scalability, support for Global Configuration Management, variants management and reuse are a game changer in reducing cost and time to market.

Now, the foundation for a successful migration process with a low risk for unpleasant surprises requires thorough planning and a good understanding of your current requirements meta structure.

Softacus has developed migration toolkits that help ensure a smooths transition process.

Join Jan Jancar, Solution Director and CEO of Softacus, on 30.05.2024 when he will delve into IBM DOORS and IBM DOORS Next solutions, focusing on:

• Reasons for migration / motivations behind migration and when is the perfect time to migrate
• Navigating the migration process: challenges and opportunities
• Migration targets based on object types (requirements, norms, validation, work items)
• Specific handling: data cleanup; target model; unsupported DOORS data
• Project effort estimation
• Tips and tricks
• Softacus capabilities to make migration smoother and/or possible
• Licensing

Watch the session on-demand under this link

Join us for our upcoming webinar, featuring Adrian Pitonak and Jan Jancar from Softacus, as they delve into the topic of "IBM DNG Export/Import.

Event Details:

Date: 25th of March 2024

Time: 3:30 pm CET

Location: Zoom

Link for registration: https://zoom.us/j/93121909731?pwd=dXRWb3gxUXhMUFFJdnpLYlNHSTFLdz09

Agenda Highlights:

The primary objective of the presentation is to highlight the diverse array of methods and techniques utilized with our clientele concerning Excel export and import processes.

• How to create an excel export - different ways and options
• Excel RoundTrip - how to do it
• Excel exchange with suppliers and customers
• Export of data from Publishing Engine to Excel
• Export to Excel via JRS
• Tips and tricks for Excel exporting

This event is tailored for professionals and users of Doors Classic and DOORS Next Generation (DNG), whether you hold the title of or have a keen interest in Excel export and import processes.

We are excited to invite you to our upcoming webinar on the topic of "Commenting Options in IBM DOORS NG."

Date: January 29, 2024

Time: 3:30 - 4:30 pm CEST

Sing up now under this link

During the webinar, we will explore essential aspects of commenting in IBM DOORS NG, including:

• Effectively using comments
• Reviewing comments
• Collaborating with internal and external stakeholders
• Techniques for exchanging comments with end customers who do not have direct access

Our Solution Director, Jan Jancar, will introduce valuable techniques, such as:

• Reviewing comments efficiently
• Commenting on base and module artifacts
• Finding comments using both out-of-the-box and attribute-based techniques

This webinar is designed to enhance your understanding of the commenting functionalities within IBM DOORS NG, providing valuable insights that can optimize your workflow.

Save your spot by registering here. After registration, you will receive a confirmation email with the webinar access details.

Feel free to invite your colleagues who might find this topic relevant. 

We are looking forward to seeing you at the event!

We're thrilled to announce our upcoming webinar Requirements Reuse in DOORS Next Generation / ELM.

Introduction

The history is an important part of the requirements management tool and the purpose of this article is to explain functions and capabilities of DOORS Next for working with history of requirements.

Artifact revisions

On the very basic level history of requirements management items in DOORS Next is organized on artifacts level and is presented as revisions and audit history. This information is accessible for artifacts via ‘Open history’ action in the menu (Figure 1). 

Figure 1

The first tab you see when you open history is ‘Revisions’, it is splitted on ‘Today’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘Past week’, ‘Past month’ and ‘Earlier’ sections which include different versions of an artifact and baselines of project area or component. When you switch to the ‘Audit history’ tab you see only versions of a current artifact with explanation of actions performed on it and changes which were created with information on date and time and author of it.

Figure 2

Revisions can be restored to the current state. To revert the requirement to a previous state you need to use artifact menu and select ‘Restore’ action (Figure 3).

Figure 3

History in attributes

Another source of history of an artifact are system attributes, which preserve information on date and time of creation and modification of an artifact and a user who created and modified an artifact. These attributes are updated by the application on creation of an artifact (Created On for date and time of creation and Created By for username) and Modified On and Modified by for the latest modification. Additionally, if you use ReqIF import to add artifacts, attributes with the prefix ‘Foreign’ will show you related information from the source (Figure 4). Attributes with prefix ‘Foreign’ will display timestamps and usernames from the source of imported requirements.

Figure 4

Of course, a revision list and attributes of a single artifact is not enough to manage requirements history, so versions of artifacts are aggregated to baselines. The first kind of baselines is a DOORS Next baseline, in other words it can be explained as a snapshot  which includes certain revisions of artifacts. Baselines are created to preserve some agreed state of requirements, artifacts cannot be edited in a baseline (Figure 5). 

Figure 5

Module revisions

When we are talking about artifact revisions It is meaningful to mention that module revisions are specific - they are created when module structure is changed (a set and / or order of included artifacts) or attributes of a module as an artifact itself. So when you edit an artifact in module context without changing position of this artifact in module (Figure 6, marked with green color) - you do not create new revision of module automatically. Only insertion of new artifact, editing module attributes (Figure 6, marked with purple) or moving artifacts within a module will update attributes of a module with date & time and contributor name. To capture the complete state of a module you need to create a DOORS Next baseline.

Figure 6

History in streams and changesets

DOORS Next with configuration management capabilities has more options to manage history of requirements. First of all  - streams, which allow you to have parallel timelines for different variants of requirements.  All requirements in DOORS Next have their initial stream, which is the default timeline for requirements changes. DOORS Next has an option to create a parallel timeline using additional streams, which is mostly used to manage variants of requirements.In this case usually some existing version of requirements is used as an initial state for a new stream. And changes of artifacts in a new stream will not affect the initial stream - revisions of artifacts created in a new stream are visible only in this stream unless the user initiates synchronization (see Figure 7, the module is shown in two different streams - stream names and changed artifact are coloured with purple). During synchronization the user has options with merging approaches, and one of them is using changesets, which are explained below.

Figure 7

Changesets are another kind of data set in DOORS Next which can be observed in the audit history. There are two types of changesets - user created changeset (name of changeset in this case is specified by user) and internal changeset, which is a reference for changes in the audit history. Internal changesets can be found in the audit history and can be also used as an option to deliver changes across streams. Created by user changesets aggregate small changesets automatically created by DOORS Next, which can be found in audit history and in the merging menu when you deliver changes from one stream to another. Both types of changesets can be found on stream’s page, and if a stream is allowed to be edited only via changesets - it means, users are forced to create a changeset to edit requirements in a stream - a list of changesets of a stream gives you a good representation of history for a stream (Figure 8).

Figure 8

Baselines

Another functionality to manage history is Global Configuration baseline. When you enable DOORS Next project area for configuration management, links between requirements in different components are created via Global Configuration stream - you need to switch to Global Configuration context to create a link across DOORS Next components and also to see such links. As each component is baselined independently in DOORS Next, in order to preserve cross-component linkage state you need to create a Global Configuration baseline. When you perform this action, baselines are created on each component level automatically and included to a Global Configuration baseline. Switching to this baseline in the future will show you the exact state of linking at the moment of global baseline creation - proper links between proper revisions of artifacts (Figure 9). 

Figure 9

Compare configuration

DNG functionality of configuration comparison can be used between streams, baselines and changesets and provides overview of changes in history and/or across variants on several layers - type system (data model), folder structure, and the data itself (including module structure, artifacts text and attribute values, links) with an option to filter changes (Figure 10).

Figure 10

Tips and tricks

• As mentioned above, baselines are created on component level (or project area level if project area is not enabled for configuration management). When number of baselines grows, some maintenance of baselines is required - to shorten the list of baselines, some of them need to be archived
• To help users with navigation in list of baselines we provide special widget, which filters from the flat baseline list those baselines which were created in a certain module context
• Links operations to not modify artifacts, link changes can be found in configuration comparison results
• To support filtering history events in a module scope Softacus provides special widget, which allows to get list of artifacts modified in a module scope
• Using change sets to update streams with link from change sets to Engineering Workflow Management work items adds context for history with explanation of a reason for changes