Tool Mentor: Adding External Links to RUP

Purpose

This tool mentor describes how you add an external link to a page in the Rational Unified Process. This is useful when you develop web pages outside the Rational Unified Process.

Overview

Find the page's file path
Tips: Finding file paths made easy
Enter the hyperlink
Use the hyperlink

1. Find the page's file path

Find the file path to the page you want to link to.

Open the Rational Unified Process, and display the page in question in the main frame.
Using Internet Explorer: Position the cursor over the page, and right-click with the mouse. Select Properties. Copy-paste the file path.
Using Netscape Navigator: Position the cursor over the frame, and right-click with the mouse. Select View Frame Info. Copy-paste the file path.

2. Tips: Finding file paths made easy

The following hyperlink, "display file path", does not point to any page; it is a small utility that will help you find out the file path to any page in the RUP. Test it to find out the file path to this page, by clicking on it now. To be able to use it on any page in the Rational Unified Process, add it to the 'favorites' using Internet Explorer, or to the 'bookmarks' using Netscape, in one of the following ways:

Place the cursor above the hyperlink and press 'Ctrl'. Drag and drop the hyperlink into the 'favorites' ('bookmarks').
Place the cursor above the hyperlink and press 'Ctrl'. Drag and drop the hyperlink to the web browser's tool bar.
Place the cursor above the hyperlink and right-click. Select 'Copy shortcut'. Now you can paste this into the appropriate place in the Favorites

Using the utility:

Start the Rational Unified Process.
Browse to the page you are interested in.
Select the shortcut among the favorites. The file path is now displayed in a small window. Copy-paste the file path from this window.

3. Enter the hyperlink

Enter the hyperlink in a page. Notice the following:

Use relative file paths, if possible.
Decide whether the hyperlink should open the page in a new browser window or not.
Tips: Set the hyperlink's target frame property to 'ory_doc'. Clicking on the hyperlink will then display the page in the main frame of the Rational Unified Process. (Assuming that the Rational Unified Process is being displayed in a separate browser window.)

4. Use the hyperlink

Clicking on a hyperlink to a page in the Rational Unified Process, will display the page in a web-browser window. If the user wants to display the Rational Unified Process with frames, click on the button labeled "Rational Unified Process" in the right border.