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Dynamic Preview View

The 'Dynamic Preview' view in the main work area helps you to instantly generate a document on a selected element, using one of a range of templates to immediately display the information you require in the most appropriate structure and format. The document can be printed, but is not stored electronically - it is dynamically generated for the current element whenever you select the view and when you change the template. You cannot edit the document contents in the view.

The 'Dynamic Preview' view is also the display screen for Reading List Artifacts. These Artifacts define a list of elements containing information that you should read consecutively. When you open the 'Dynamic Preview' view and select a Reading List Artifact, the view displays the text of the first element in the list. You can then select a 'Next' (and 'Previous') option to work through the Reading List of elements, displaying the text of each element in the defined sequence.

Access

Ribbon

Publish > Model Reports > Dynamic Preview

Using the Dynamic Preview View

Initially, when you open the 'Dynamic Preview' View, it displays the Notes text from the currently-selected element, using the default Dynamic Preview style sheet.

If you want to display information for a different aspect of the element:

  1. Click on the '[Reading] - <element name>' header
  2. Click on the 'Select Dynamic Style' option. The 'Dynamic Preview Selector' dialog displays.

  1. Click on the drop-down arrow in the 'Style' field and select one of the system-provided styles. These are designed to display information for specific aspects of relevant elements, such as Testing or Development.
  2. Click on the OK button. The document is refreshed to show the required information in an appropriate format.

If the system-provided style templates do not support your requirements, you can quickly create your own style templates. A style template consists of one or more command lines, each of which defines an element type (or all element types) and the document template to apply to the generated document. The document template can be:

  • A system-provided template, or
  • A system-provided fragment, or
  • A user-defined template, or
  • A user-defined fragment

Information on setting up a style template is provided in the Manage Dynamic Preview section.

Manage Dynamic Previews

Task

Description

See also

Create Document Templates

Document templates are held in the 'Resources' tab of the Browser window, in the folder Report Templates > Dynamic Previews.  Whilst you can select existing system or user templates and template fragments for your Dynamic Preview style template, you can also create new document templates or fragments specifically for Dynamic Previews. You could create these in the Templates or Fragments sub-folders of the Report Templates > Custom Templates folder, or you could create a separate sub-folder within the Dynamic Preview folder.

Whether you select existing templates or create new ones, you must enable the Elements section in each template or fragment you use.

You would start to create the new document templates by either:

  • Right-clicking on the Templates sub-folder (or other sub-folder) name in the Custom Templates folder and selecting the 'Create Template' option, or
  • Opening the 'Generate Documentation ' dialog, clicking on the 'Templates' tab, and then clicking on the New button

In either case, the 'New Document Template' dialog displays, on which you specify the template name, type, source and group before going on to define the template contents.

 All About Document Templates

Create Style Templates

Style templates are also held in the 'Resources' tab of the Browser window, in the Dynamic Preview folder.

You can create a new style template:

  • Via the 'Dynamic Preview Selector' dialog - click on the New button
  • Via the 'Resources' tab of the Browser window - right-click on the Dynamic Preview folder name and select the 'Create Dynamic Preview Style' option

A prompt displays to enter the style template name; type the name and click on the OK button. The 'Dynamic Style' dialog displays, in which you type the style definitions, in the format:

     <element name>:<stereotype>:<document template name>

If there is no stereotype, the format is:

     <element name>::<document template name>

The <element name> is an IF argument, to state that if the 'Dynamic Preview' view is opened for an element of the defined type, the specified document template (or fragment) is used to format its documentation. If you want to use a specific template for information from an element of unspecified type (that is, a defined default) you would type:

     Default::<document template name>

You could also apply the system default template for displaying information from an element of unspecified type, by just having the specified element statements with no 'Default' statement at the end.

In this example, one template is defined to display information when the selected element is a Use Case, another for information from elements used by Project Support, a third for information from elements used in Database Engineering, and a fourth (a defined default) for information from any other kind of element.

     UseCase::DD-UseCase

     Change::DD-Support

     Feature::DD-Support

     Issue::DD-Support

     Requirement::DD-Support

     Risk::DD-Support

     Task::DD-Support

     Class:Table:DD-DB Table

     Class:view:DD-DB SQL Element

     Class:dbsequence:DD-DB SQL Element

     Class:function:DD-DB SQL Element

     Class:procedure:DD-DB SQL Element

     Class:stored procedure:DD-DB SQL Element

     Class:trigger function:DD-DB SQL Element

     Class:functions:DD-DB SQL Element as Ops

     Class:sequences:DD-DB SQL Element as Ops

     Class:stored procedures:DD-DB SQL Element as Ops

     Class:procedures:DD-DB SQL Element as Ops

     Class:package:DD-DB SQL Element as Ops

     Artifact:sqlquery:DD-DB SQL Query

     Default::DD-Basic

Apply Style Templates

Having created a style template in the 'Resources' tab of the Browser window, you can immediately apply it to the information you display in the 'Dynamic Preview' view.

As explained in the section Using the Dynamic Preview View, you click on the [Reading] header and on the 'Select Dynamic Style' option, and then click on the drop-down arrow in the 'Style' field. Your new style template will be listed with the system templates and other user-defined templates.

Click on the style template to apply in the 'Dynamic Preview' view, and then on the OK button.

The selected style will be applied to all documents shown in the 'Dynamic Preview' view until you specifically change it again.

Increase or reduce magnification

By default, the 'Dynamic Preview' view displays text as if it were printed on an A4 sheet. This is 100% zoom. If you want to change the display magnification, click on the [Reading] header and select the 'Fixed Zoom' option. This provides a small set of magnification options - '75%', '100%', '125%', '150%' and '200%'. It also provides a 'Custom' option; if you select this, a small dialog displays in which you type the percentage magnification you prefer, between 10% and 500%.

When you click on the option, or the OK button on the small dialog, the selected magnification is applied to the display.

The zoom factor remains set after you close the 'Dynamic Preview' view, and is applied when you re-open the view until you specifically change the zoom.

Display or hide page outline

The 'Dynamic Preview' view defaults to displaying information within the framework of a page, but you can toggle to a full-screen display by clicking on the [Reading] header and selecting the 'Toggle Page Border' option.

Scroll through elements

In the 'Dynamic Preview' view, you can display the information from a set of elements in sequence, using the 'Next' and 'Previous' options from the [Reading] header context menu. If you have selected a:

  • Reading List Artifact element, the 'Next' and 'Previous' options display the information from the next or previous element in the reading list, wherever they might be in the model
  • Other type of element, the 'Next' and 'Previous' options display the information from the next or previous element in the parent element or Package, as listed in the Browser window; the options cannot scroll outside the containing object
 Using the Reading List Artifact

Edit Style Templates

You can edit a style template:

  • In the 'Resources' tab of the Browser window by right-clicking on the template name and selecting the 'Edit Dynamic style' option, or
  • In the 'Dynamic Preview' view by displaying the 'Dynamic Preiew Selector' dialog, selecting the style and clicking on the Edit button

In either case, the 'Dynamic Style' dialog displays, and you can delete or change the statements as necessary. Right-click on a line of text to display a context menu providing basic editing options.

Refresh the Display

To update the display with any changes made to the information within the selected element, click on the [Reading] header and select the 'Refresh' option.

The 'Dynamic Preview' view with the 'Refresh' option is a useful tool for developing a document. You review the element's information in the view, make any changes you think appropriate within the element, then select the 'Refresh' option to immediately update the 'Dynamic Preview' view to show the changes. You can therefore check how a document generated from the element would look, as you develop it.

Print the document

If you want to print a hard copy of the element's information, simply click on the [Reading] header and select the 'Print' option. The contents of the 'Dynamic Preview' view are sent to the system default printer

Learn more

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