From concept to creation
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Answers to the questions most asked of Cradle support.
Provided you have set access to the web server, if you can connect a browser you can certainly create an item in Cradle remotely.
This video shows how simple it is.
Many tasks can be performed through Cradle’s Web Access.
We are sometimes asked about storing project databases in NAS (network attached storage), is it possible, is it a good idea, and how to do it.
Network attached storage is a type of storage device that attaches directly to a network. It is typically a RAID array of disks with one or more interfaces and some management software. It provides network storage without a need to manage a server with attached storage.
Each Cradle project database is a directory of files and subdirectories. It can be stored anywhere. So, yes, you can store a Cradle database on a NAS device.
Since the NAS device is not a server in the normal sense, it will not be running any part of Cradle and, in particular, will therefore not be running the Cradle Database Server (CDS).
Therefore storing Cradle database(s) on a NAS device means that you are storing them remote form the CDS.
For the same reason, you can store a Cradle project database on a server that is separate from the computer that runs the CDS.
Therefore storing Cradle database(s) on a separate server means that you are storing them remote form the CDS.
If you don’t have a server in your network, then a NAS device is a cost-effective means to add centralised storage.
NAS devices are often used to collate data for backup. Storing Cradle databases on a NAS device eliminates the need to copy the databases onto the NAS device for backup.
Not storing Cradle databases on the machine that runs the CDS adds considerable latency between the CDS and the disk(s) that store the databases. Increasing latency worsens the performance of the CDS.
In general, we do not recommend storing project databases in NAS or indeed in any network-based resource.
If possible, only store your Cradle databases on the machine that runs the CDS and backup your databases regularly!
The Publish Subject Items option in the Hierarchy Table can allow a user to stop items being published. This is based on a link(s) existing or not. Users need to understand it affects not only the type it is on but can affect the Subject type as well.
When the option is set to ‘Always’, this means that the target items will be published in the document. It does not matter if there are linked items below or not.
When the option is set to ‘Only if link exists‘ then the item type will only get published if the item linked to the source has the correct link type and is not excluded because of a filter.
With ‘Only if link exists‘ set on the ISSUE item type and a filter:
– Requirement (Source Item)
– ISSUE (Target Item with filtering)
– RISK (Target Item)
With the hierarchy set as above, if a Requirement only had 1 ISSUE linked to it and this link was removed due to filtering. This means the source item will not be published as there are no linked items to be output. If the Requirement has 2 ISSUEs linked to it and only one is removed through filtering then the source item, the single linked ISSUE and any linked RISK items will be published .
With ‘Only if link exists‘ set on the ISSUE item type and no a filter:
– Requirement
– ISSUE
– RISK
With the hierarchy set as above, the Requirement will be published as well as both ISSUEs and any linked RISK items.
When the option is set to ‘Only if link does not exist‘ is set on a target item then the source item is only output if the target item is not linked.
With ‘Only if link does not exist‘ set on the RISK item type:
– Requirement
– RISK
Any Requirements that are not linked to a RISK or have the wrong link type will be published. Those Requirements that are linked will not be published.
When the option is set to ‘Only if all links exist‘ then the source item will be output if all linked items have the correct link type and are not removed through filtering.
With ‘Only if all links exist ‘ set on the ISSUE item type and a filter:
– Requirement
– ISSUE (with filtering)
– RISK
If the Requirement has a single ISSUE linked to it and the filtering removes this link then neither the Requirement nor the ISSUE will be published.
When a Requirement has two ISSUEs linked to it and the filtering removes one link then neither the Requirement nor the ISSUEs will be published.
With the filtering removed from the ISSUE item type then the Requirement, ISSUEs and RISK items will be published.
When the option is set to ‘Only if all links do not exist‘ then the source item will be output as long as non of the linked items have the correct link type or at are removed through filtering.
With ‘Only if all links do not exist ‘ set on the ISSUE item type and a filter:
– Requirement
– RISK
If a Requirement has a RISK linked in the right way then the source item will not be output. If a Requirement has either no linked RISK items or the link type is wrong then the source item will be output.
For help on Document Publisher click here
For blog posts on Document Publisher click here
Changing an item’s owner is really easy. Simply select the item you want to reassign to different owner and from the context menu (right click) select -> More -> Set Owner… The following dialog will then open:
There are obviously some restrictions, you can’t set the owner to PROJECT and bypass configuration management, you need the right privileges within your team. This is explained in the Cradle help
You can also Set Owner Including Related Items, by navigating to the same place as Set Owner and the option below that one is for Related Items.
If you would like further information regarding Owner of an Item click here.
To have captions for images without using RTF frames, add a new frame, name it the same as your image frame with the TITLE appended to it e.g. PICTURETITLE or PICTURE_TITLE. Leave this frame as a plain text frame.
Run or open and item with the image you wish to set a caption for. Then enter the caption for the image in this new text frame.
Open your template in Document Publisher and open the Option UI. Select the ‘Figures and Tables’ tab and enter the name of this frame in the box for ‘Title frame’.
If using a default Paragraph Group tag without Field tags then a user can add the PICTURE frame name to the ‘Frames to publish after TEXT and NOTES in the default layout’ under the ‘Item Frames’ tab.
This will then output the default layout including the frames from the ‘Frames to publish after TEXT and NOTES in the default layout’ option. The text in the PICTURETITLE frame is used for the caption for each image. The captions then for each image will then be entered into the List of Figures during publishing.
If the user wishes to use Field tags the option will work with these too. Add the field tag for the image in this case the PICTURE frame. As the template is published, the caption for the image is set from the PICTURETITLE frame. Again this will be picked up in the List of Figures when published.
Using the PICTURE frame Field tags will also work within a Table or an Inserted Table. It will output the caption with the image and add it to the List of Figures when published.
For more information on Document Publisher click here
Article updated 05/12/2018 – Changed to be an FAQ
In Cradle it is very simple to see multiple queries!
First of all run your selected Query and this will open in a pane as usual such as shown below:
Now in the Top Right of the Pane you will see a little Arrow pointing right, if you select this you will be able to “Split Top/Bottom” or Split Left/Right” Creating a new pane. In that pane right click and you will have the option to “New Query…” This can be done multiple times. Showing multiple queries in views, multiple items in forms or multiple diagrams As you can see by my example below I have 3 Queries open all with different views and styles.
For further information on Multiple Queries click here
If, during an install, you receive the error ‘api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll is missing’ this is due to Microsoft® Windows updates not being applied. To fix this you need to:
To enable this colour code you will need to navigate to Project Setup, inside here go to Item Definitions – Categories. For my example I have used Req Priority, in my Category Values I have :
Ensure you have assigned this Category to a Frame in an Item Type. For my example I have put mine into Item Type – Requirements and the Frame is TEXT
As you can see in my example, whenever I change my Req Priority the text colour changes in “Detailed Description” Frame.
For further information regarding Frames click here
Hierarchies are seldom created in a single operation. It is more usual for you to create a hierarchy interactively, gradually developing the hierarchy item-by-item. It is also very likely that the hierarchy will need to be reorganised, to reorder items as it is being built, for example:
We term this process of rearranging – “reordering”. Cradle fully supports reordering using drag and drop.
Hierarchies are useful to show the users of a project a view of the Top level item and all its branches, and with Cradle it is easy to join many hierarchies into one, you can create a new top-level item and connect hierarchies to it.
For further information on reordering please head over to our online help.
Quite often you may find that the server machine you install the CDS and CWS on may not have a graphic user interface, in this case you can manage your Cradle server via a command line
The c_config command allows you to update a Cradle Security Code
c_config -i code
c-config -i BWEr-DSWe...
The c_start command allows you to start, stop, restart or test the Cradle Database Server (CDS) and/or Cradle Web Server (CWS).
c_start {start | stop | restart | test} {cds | cws | all}c_start start cds
| Command | Result |
|---|---|
| c_start start | start cds + cws |
| c_start start cds | start cds only |
| c_start start cws | start cws only |
| c_start start all | start cds + cws |
| c_start stop | stop cds + cws |
| c_start stop cds | stop cds only |
| c_start stop cws | stop cws only |
| c_start stop all | stop cds + cws |
| c_start restart | restart cds + cws |
| c_start restart cds | restart cds only |
| c_start restart cws | restart cws only |
| c_start restart all | restart cds + cws |
| c_start test | give process numb of cds + cws |
| c_start test cds | only give process numb of cds |
| c_start test cws | only give process numb of cws |
| c_start test all | give process numb of cds + cws |
The c_prj command is used to create, delete, lock and unlock Cradle projects.
c_prj.exe [-create
-code <projcode>
-title <project title>
-path <project location>
[-pid <project PID>]
[-schema <schema name>]]
[-delete
-code <projcode>
-password <MANAGER password>
[-method {all | pdb | reg_only}]]
[-lock
-auth <user>,<password>,<projcode>
[-allow_user <user>]]
[-unlock
-auth <user>,<password>,<projcode>]c_prj.exe -create -code TEST -title "Test Project" -path /home/apps/temp/projects/test -pid TEST01 -schema empty
Will create a project with a project code of TEST, a title of Test Project in the /home/apps/temp/projects location with a PID of TEST01 using the empty schema.
c_prj.exe -delete -code TEST -password MANAGER PASSWORD -method all
Will delete the TEST project along with the registry entry, database files and directories.