Creating links to helper applications

Helpers are custom programs that you attach to IBM® Rational® Rhapsody® to extend its functionality.

Procedure

  1. Open a IBM Rational Rhapsody project and choose Tools > Customize to open the Helpers window.
  2. Click the New icon New icon to add a blank line for a new menu item in the Menu content box.
  3. In the blank field, type the name of the new menu item (for example, My New Command1).
    • To specify a submenu structure, use a backward slash ( \ ) to separate the submenu levels. For example, enter External\My New Command1, External\My New Command2, and External\My New Command3 to produce the following submenu structure:
      External menu options for IBM Rational Rhapsody Helpers


      You can further extend the submenu structure; for example, you can enter External\My New Command1\File1 and External\My New Command1\File2 to produce the following submenu structure:
      Submenu structure


    • To make a shortcut key, add an ampersand character before a letter in the name. For example, &My makes the letter M a menu shortcut. You can press Alt+M to open this particular helper application once it has been created. Be sure to not use a letter that is already used as a shortcut key on the Tools menu or the pop‑up menu for the associated model element.
  4. Specify the applicable helper parameters:
    • In the Command box, enter the command that the menu item must start, such as E:\mks\mksnt\cp.exe or click its Ellipsis button Ellipsis button to browse to the location of the application.
    • In the Arguments box, enter any arguments for the command.
    • In the Initial Directory box, enter an initial default directory for the program.
    • In the Applicable To list, specify which model elements to associate with the new command.

      If you do not specify a value for this field, the menu command for this helper application can be added to the Tools menu depending on what you do in Step 6.
    • In the Project Type list, select a project profile.
    • If leave this box blank, it uses as the default the profile of the current project you have opened.
    • In the Helper Trigger list, select the actions that triggers the new command.
  5. Specify the helper type:
    • Select the External program radio button if the new command is an external program, such as Microsoft Notepad.

      Select the Wait for completion check box if you want the external program to complete running before you can continue to work in Rational Rhapsody.
    • Select the Visual Basic for Applications macro radio button if the new command is a Visual Basic for Applications macro and is defined in the <Project>.Visual Basic for Applications file.
  6. Depending on what you decided for the Applicable To list:
    • If you did not specify an applicable element for the command, verify that the Show in Tools menu check box is selected. This means the new menu command for your link to a helper application displays on the Tools menu. If you clear this check box, there is no menu command for it on the Tools menu, though the link to the helper application still works once the trigger for this command is started.
    • If you specified an applicable element for the command, verify that the Show in pop-up menu check box is selected, indicating that the new command displays in the menu for the specified model element. If you clear this check box, there is no menu command for it on the pop‑up menu for the specified model element, though the link to the helper application still works once this command is started.
  7. Click OK to apply your changes and close the window. (You can click the Apply button if you want to save your changes but keep the window open to continue working with it.)

    Once you save and close the Helpers window, the link to the helper application you just created is immediately available if the current project is within the parameters that you set for the link. For example, if the Rational Rhapsody project you currently have open uses the FunctionalC profile and you created the My New Command helper application for this profile, then this link to the helper application is immediately available. However, if you specified the DoDAF profile (as selected in the Project Type list) for the My New Command link, it does nott function in your current project.

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