Release notes for Rational Focal Point, Version 6.5.2

This document contains information about new features, system requirements, installation, and known issues for IBM® Rational® Focal Point™, Version 6.5.2. It also provides information about contacting IBM Software Support.

Contents

Description

Rational Focal Point is a comprehensive portfolio planning solution that market-driven teams can use to make collaborative, objective decisions in order to deliver market, customer, and business value. Teams can use Rational Focal Point to identify priorities, and then deliver products and projects with the highest business and customer value. Rational Focal Point reduces the chaos of managing information in emails, documents, and spreadsheets by providing a collaborative environment for centralizing requirements, products, and project data. You can ensure that the right balance is maintained between resources, budgets, time to market, and business value.

System requirements

For a list of hardware and software requirements, see System requirements in the Rational Focal Point information center.

Installing Rational Focal Point, Version 6.5.2

For installation instructions, see Installing and upgrading Rational Focal Point in the Rational Focal Point information center.

New features and enhancements

IBM Rational Focal Point, Version 6.5.2 includes the following new features and enhancements:
  • Enhancements to Investment Analysis:
    • Define the default variables and calculator tapes in the time grid setup.
    • Set the visibility level of calculator tapes.
    • Document your assumptions as comments.
    • Define units for streams.
    • Launch investment analysis directly without going to the time grid mode.
    • New output attributes: Payback period as a distribution, ROI to date, and ROI to go.
  • Integration with applications that support RESTful XML APIs:
    • Retrieve artifacts from an application by using the GET method.
    • Synchronize artifacts with an application by using the SYNCHRONIZE method.
    • Create artifacts in the application by using the POST method.
    • Update artifacts in the application by using the PUT method.
    • Delete artifacts in the application by using the DELETE method.
  • Integrate with Rational Focal Point using REST RDF APIs:Rational Focal Point can be integrated with applications that support the Resource Description Framework (RDF) format. Rational Focal Point makes available its resources in the RDF/XML, RDF/Turtle, and RDF/N3 formats.
  • Enhancements on Home page:
    • Access the windows that you create, and the windows that you inherit, through tabs provided on the home page.
    • Arrange, show, and hide the windows that you create, and inherit.
    • Use the home page setting to switch between the single tab layout, and multiple tabs layout.
    • Create, rename, rearrange, and delete the tabs that you create.
    • Add, edit, move, and delete the windows that you create.
  • Enhancements to Editable table:
    • Edit the values of an attribute for the selected elements.
    • Edit all the values of an attribute in a row.
    • Filter the elements, and compare the elements side-by-side simultaneously.
    • Use nested sorting in editable tables by sorting the tables concurrently based on one or more columns.
  • Enhancements to XY chart:
    • Edit the attributes for all the non-selected elements.
    • Display the XY chart bubbles with colors that are specified through a choice or an indicator attribute.
    • Resize the bubbles, and change the bubble style.
    • Display bubbles in one size.
    • Select multiple elements at a time.
    • Toggle the selection of elements graphically.
    • Copy the chart to clipboard without setting the login URL.
  • Indicator attribute: Use the indicator attribute to specify the display color, icon, text, or all of these, based on threshold value. It is a read-only attribute and is associated to an integer or float attribute. It can be used as icon and color attribute of a module.
  • Support to export contents to Microsoft Excel 2010: Export the contents of a view in a table structure to the Microsoft Excel 2010 format.
  • Limited search option: Search the elements in a large view faster by using the limited search option. With this option selected, the search is performed against the Prefix and Title attributes only. The preference for this option is saved while performing the search operation. You can also search using the asterisk (*).

Known problems and limitations

Known problems and limitations are documented in individual technotes in the Support Knowledge Base. As problems are discovered and resolved, the knowledge base is updated and maintained with new information. By searching the knowledge base, you can quickly find workarounds or solutions to problems.

The following links run customized queries of the live Support Knowledge Base:

The following are the known problems and limitations in the current release:
  • Investment analysis:
    • In Internet Explorer version 8, the graphs in the Stats tab overlap with the other sections in the window, when the window is scrolled up or down.

      Workaround: Before scrolling, collapse the section that has the graph.

    • In Internet Explorer version 8, it might be difficult to enter data graphically.

      Workaround: Use a different browser, or enter the data manually in the estimates tab, or by using calculator tapes.

  • Integrate with Rational Focal Point using REST RDF APIs:
    • The HTTP, PUT, POST, and DELETE methods are not supported for Workspace and Module resources.
    • The RDF/XML-ABBREV format is not supported.
    • Invalid URL values specified for URL attributes, Class URI, Property URI, and Value URI are ignored in RDF representation.
  • Home page enhancement:
    • Home page layout is not retained if you switch from one layout to another.
    • Windows cannot be moved directly from one tab to another.

      Workaround: Delete the window that should be moved from the source tab, and create that same window in the destination tab.

  • Indicator attribute:
    • Indicator attribute cannot be referenced with a formula.
    • Thresholds cannot be combined with version attributes and baselines.
    • View rules and filters can be defined on the reference attribute, and not on the indicator attribute.
    • Icon for the indicator attribute is not displayed in the report.

Contacting IBM Software Support

IBM Software Support provides you with technical assistance.

For contact information and guidelines or reference materials that you need when you require support, read the IBM Software Support Handbook.

For FAQs, lists of known problems and fixes, and other support information, visit the product support page for Rational Focal Point.

For product news, events, and other information, visit the product home page for Rational Focal Point.

Before you contact IBM Software Support, gather the background information that you need to describe your problem. When you describe a problem to an IBM software support specialist, be as specific as possible and include all relevant background information so that the specialist can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save time, know the answers to these questions:

Trademark acknowledgments

IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at http://www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.


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