Aligned Elements Web Client User Manual
3.1.272.24402
3.1.272.24402
  • Introduction
  • Basic Concepts
  • Get Started
    • Activate your Aligned Elements Account
    • Log In
    • Open a Project
    • Change Project
    • Create a new Project
    • The Project Start Site
    • Your Assigned Items
    • Manage Your User
    • Log Out
    • Enter Design Control Items
      • Work with Chapters
      • Work with Table Attributes
      • Inserting Images in Attributes
      • Working with Traces
      • Add Issues
      • Add Attachments
      • Collaborate using Comments
      • Favourites
      • Find in... Actions
      • Inconsistencies and Positive Cues
  • Document Object Actions
    • Move and Rearrange Chapters and Document Objects
    • Update Multiple Items
    • Generate Design Control Items
    • Copy Design Control Items
    • Lock Document Objects
    • Generate Reports
    • Export Document Objects
    • Import Document Objects
    • Copy Document Objects between Projects
    • Import Files
  • Explorers and Views
    • Project Explorer
    • File Explorer
    • Trace Explorer
    • Test Run Explorer
    • Project History
    • Chapter View
    • List View
    • Search Result View
    • Export to Excel in Grids
  • Project Status
    • Display Inconsistencies
    • Display Consistency Coverage
    • Display Risk Summary
    • Display DHF Index
  • Queries
    • Run a Query
    • Design a Query
    • Query Filters
  • Charts
    • Display a Chart
    • Design a Chart
  • Trace Tables
    • Run a Trace Table
    • Design a Trace Table
  • Work with Documents
    • Adding Word Document to File Objects
    • The Word Add-in. Adding Design Control Items to Documents
    • Sign Documents with Electronic Signatures
    • Save Files to Disk
    • Released Document View
  • Design Reviews
    • Conduct a Design Review
  • Risk Analysis
    • Perform a FMEA Risk Assessment
    • Perform a Preliminary Hazard Analysis
    • Relative vs. Absolute Mitigations
    • Potential Hazard
    • Using the Risk Analysis to assess the Software Safety Classification
  • Manage Tests
    • Test Runs
      • Planning a Test Run
        • The Burndown Chart
      • Executing a Test Run
      • Completing a Test Run
      • Test Run Functions
      • Test Runs and Linked Projects
      • Caching of Test Runs and Test Run Explorer
    • Classic Tests
  • Work with Tags
    • Add Tags
    • Filter views on Tags
    • Edit Tags
    • Tags and Snapshots
  • Assistants
    • Run an Assistant
  • Snapshots
    • Create a Snapshot
    • Display a Snapshot
    • Compare Snapshots
  • Settings
    • Project Information
    • Manage Users
    • Manage User Groups
    • Project Settings
    • Project Hierarchy
      • Branch Projects
      • Merge Projects
    • Unlock Objects
  • Dashboards
    • Select a Dashboard
    • Create a Dashboard
    • Remove a Dashboard
  • AI Features
    • AI Features in Aligned Elements
  • Aligned Elements Automation Tool
    • The Automation Tool
  • Web Administrator Tools
    • Manage Projects
    • Rename, Copy or Remove Project
    • Manage Users
    • Manage Permissions
    • Register a new Administrator
    • Inspect User Logs
    • Manage Templates
    • Download Log Files
  • Manage Service Configuration
  • Configure a Type Name Change
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On this page
  • Working with Linked Projects
  • Accessing Linked Project Items
  • Copy Project
  1. Settings

Project Hierarchy

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Working with Linked Projects

Projects can be linked to each other in a hierarchical structure to allow the re-use of documentation common in multiple products.

The standard scenario is to create documentation for components (in Module Projects) and refer to the documentation in these components through traces from a Master Project (that represents a Product or System) to one or more Module Projects.

Accessing Linked Project Items

When a Master Project is opened, all linked projects are automatically loaded as well. The Project Explorer displays the Document Object books of the Master Project.

To display the Project Explorer of a linked project, use the Current Project Project selector dropdown in the Project Explorer.

To access the File Explorer of a linked project, select the corresponding project name under the File Explorer.

To link a Master Project to a Module Project, select Add/Remove button to select the project you want to link to.

Note! It is not possible to create circular linked-project structures.

The hierarchy of linked projects can be of arbitrary depth. The project linking hierarchy is displayed when clicking Project Hierarchy in the Navigation Bar.

Note! To access a Master Project and its Module Projects, you have to use credentials for the project in question. If the credentials in the sub-project are identical to those in the master project, you will be automatically logged in.

It is possible to create traces from the Master Project to your Linked projects (e.g.: You can trace a requirement in Product 1 to a specification in sub-module A.) and vice versa.

Note! Traces from master projects to sub-projects are not automatically updated to the latest state when a linked item is updated.

Consequently, you have to manually update traces (in the Trace Explorer, see below) to these document objects every time the document objects in the sub-project changes.

The Project Settings contains an option to configure the system to automatically update the traces between linked projects ().

A trace between linked projects that are not of the latest revision is called an Obsolete Trace. Updating a child item in a linked trace relationship, causes this state as the trace from parent to child are per default not automatically updated. The child item is depicted with the Obsolete Trace icon in the Trace Explorer.

The Trace Explorer provides the function Trace to the latest revisions. Linked projects are ignorant of the traces from the master project. Traces from the master project will not appear in linked projects when the linked project is opened separately. This also applies to traces from linked projects to their master project.

To unlink a project, select the Add/Remove button for the project to unlink and click Save to store the new state.

Note! Traces from a master project to any unlinked projects still exist but are not displayed after the project has been unlinked.

Copy Project

To copy a project, select a Copy Project in the Actions dropdown.

Note! When copying a project, the following applies:

  • Only the most current revisions of the document objects are copied. No previous revisions are copied.

  • The project history is NOT copied.

  • Document Object locks are NOT copied

  • Test Runs are not copied but the Test Cases and Executed Test Cases are copied including their internal traces.

  • Signatures are not copied.

Give the copied project a new name.

Note! The new name must not be the same as an existing project name (case-insensitive)!

Finally, click OK to initiate the copy operation. Wait for the confirmation message that indicates the success of the operation.

Since the source project will be temporarily unavailable for other users during the copying operation, make sure affected users are notified before the copy action is initiated so they can log off in due time!

All objects in the created copied project will be internally updated to reflect the new name, including objects in Word Documents.

Note! Copying in linked projects: If the project to be copied is a project in a linked project structure with items in other projects tracing to items in the project to be copied, these incoming traces from document objects in other projects will not be automatically copied and tracing to the resulting project. These traces need to be recreated manually!!

Note! Backlinks in External Issues: if the project contains document object that trace to items in external systems (such as Jira, GitHub, Azure DevOps etc.), these traces will be recreated in the project BUT if the external items contain fields for backlink information to Aligned Elements Document Objects, these backlinks in the external items are not updated to reflect that items in the resulting project now also point to these external items!

Project Settings