These release notes provide information critical to installing and using Rational Unified Process (RUP), including supporting platforms and known issues with this release.

Copyright © 1987 – 2001, Rational Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

Contents

Scope—Product Definition

Hardware/Software Information

Getting Started

Installation Information
Installation Issues

Compatible Issues

Browser Compatibility
Other Tools

New and Changed Features

Enhanced and New Features
File Differences

Guidelines and Restrictions on Using RUP

UNIX Platforms 
Netscape Browsers
Microsoft Browsers
General Errors

Contacting Technical Support

Scope—Product Definition  

This document provides information about the 2001A.04.00 release of RUP. For details of updates of the product from previous versions, please refer to the About page in the product.

You can find information about add-on products and upgrades at the Rational Unified Process Resource Center. Users of the RUP users should visit the Resource Center page from time to time to check on updates and product information.

Also included is information about:

• Training courses for the RUP
• Add-on products
• Product upgrades
• FAQ
• Support
• Examples

Hardware/Software Information  

Refer to the following information for system and software requirements. This section provides basic information on the platforms supported and the hardware and software requirements for running RUP. Refer to Compatibility Issues for more information.

This product has been tested on the following platforms:

• Windows98 (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator)
• Windows2000 (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator)
• Windows NT (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator)
• Unix platforms (Netscape Navigator)

RUP requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 with SP 1 or later, or Netscape Navigator 4.0 or later. Please make sure that these are installed. Earlier versions may not be able to display all pages in the RUP. To obtain the latest version of your browser, click on the appropriate link below:

Netscape Navigator: http://home.netscape.com/comprod/mirror/client_download.html

Getting Started  

Installation Information  

Follow the instructions provided by the installation CD. This release of the RUP offers three variants: standard; RUP with IBM content for e-business; and RUP with content for the Microsoft Web Solution Platform. To install the standard version of the RUP, users should use the "typical" install. To install either variant choose custom install and select only one of the two variants. Please note that only one of the two variants should be selected at one time or the resulting installed RUP will be corrupted. See installation guide for details.

Installation Issues  

Due to limitations of the Installer, some manual steps are required to uninstall the RUP variants. Please see installation guide for details.

Compatible Issues  

Browser Compatibility  

We strongly recommend using the RUP with the most currently available version of your web browser. RUP requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 with SP1 or later. Some older versions of browsers do not allow the full capabilities of the RUP to be exercised.

Other Tools  

The following tools and respectively versions are used in constructing the RUP:

New and Changed Features

Enhancements and New Features  

The following enhancements and new features appear in this release:

• New tool mentors for the following new products Rational Rose RealTime, and Rational QualityArchitect
• Terminology change: "Core Workflow" to "Discipline"
• New tool mentors: for existing and new Rational tools
• New White Papers for XP Techniques 
• New roadmap on Usability
• Improvement to navigation with the addition of Tree Path
• Improvement to look and feel by updating navigation buttons
• Corrections to reported defects

File Differences from Previous Release  

There have been addition and deletion of HTML and image files to the previous release of the RUP. A list of these files are provided in the table below. File differences for earlier release are available on the Unified Process Resource Center.

File Changes from Rational Unified Process 2001.03.00 to Rational Unified Process 2001A.04.00

Guidelines and Restrictions on Using RUP

1. UNIX platforms

When launching the RUP Netscape Navigator on UNIX, a warning dialog may appear:

Netscape: subprocess diagnostics (stdout/stederr)

Warning: Name: HorScrollBar Class: XmScrollBar The scrollbar page increment is less than 1

This occurs whenever the horizontal scrollbar must be displayed (i.e. it may not occur if your initial window is large enough that the left panel doesn't need a scrollbar)

You may disable dialogs for warning and error messages, and redirect messages to a file using the following command:

netscape -xrm '*useStderrDialog: False' –xrm '*useStdoutDialog: False' >&/tmp/log.$USER.ns

1. Long start-up times on Unix

It can take more than one minute to start the RUP online on Unix. Also the search engine can take up to one minute to start. This is due to the slow start-up of the Java virtual machine.

2. Netscape Browsers

‘Banners’ on page titles are not correctly displayed using some versions of Netscape Navigator and Communicator. The problem is purely cosmetic and does not affect use of the product. 

 

1. The Treebrowser Area Does Not Resize using Netscape Navigator

   If you resize the window, or the left frame, using Netscape Navigator, the treebrowser area is not resized.
   To resize the treebrowser area:

   • hold down the Shift key
   • position the cursor in the left frame, and finally
   • click the right-button on the mouse, and select "Reload Frame" in the menu.
     

2. Delay using "WhereAmI" navigation button

   You will experience a delay when the "WhereAmI" navigation button is pressed for the first time while browsing the RUP. 

3. Netscape Navigator 4.08 Display problems

   Netscape Navigator 4.08 has problems displaying certain components. E.g. the title banners. It is recommended to use Netscape browser of version 4.7 or later.

 

3. Microsoft Browsers

   1. Nothing Happens When Clicking on "Resource Center"

      If you click on the "Resource Center" in the treebrowser, using Internet Explorer 4.0, nothing happens.

      This is due to a problem in Internet Explorer. To solve this, you need to upgrade the Internet Explorer with the Service Pack 1 (SP1), from the Microsoft home page.

      To upgrade Internet Explorer 4.01, either press Help > Product Updates, in the Internet Explorer, or go to the Microsoft home page: http://www.microsoft.com.

   2. Hyperlinks to bookmarks using Internet Explorer

      Using Internet Explorer hyperlinks to bookmarks on a page does not always work as expected. The top of the target page is displayed instead of the position on the page, where the bookmark is. Using the index (which is opened in a separate window) you can click on the link one more time, when the page is displayed. This will display the correct position on the page. On other pages there is no other way to find the correct position than to do a search (Edit>Find) on the target page."

   3. Treebrowser Java applet

      The treebrowser java applet does not start with Internet Explorer 5.X. It only works if Microsoft Virtual Machine is installed. You get that installed if you do a full installation of Internet Explorer 5.X. 

   4. Browser Window too Small

      When using Windows 2000 or Windows 98, if the Internet Explorer browser window is too small to display the treebrowser, the RUP will not be displayed properly. You will need to increase the browser window size and refresh.

   5. Printing Error

      When the cursor is in the treebrowser frame, if one tries to print the content in the main frame by selecting File > Print. The product splash screen will be displayed in the main frame under you click on another node in the treebrowser. The output of the print job will be blank.

   6. Inability to "Refresh" or "Back"

      Users running IE 5.0 with Microsoft Virtual Machine 1.1 on Windows NT 4.0 will not be able to do a "Refresh" or "Back". Attempts to do so will cause the treebrowser and the splashscreen to hang and will get the following message in the Java Console: 

      java.lang.NullPointerException
      at ruptools/tree/MyTreeView.Ý
      at ruptools/tree/MyTreeView.Ð
      at ruptools/TreeBrowse.run
      at java/lang/Thread.run"

       

4. General Errors  

1. The Java Applets Do Not Run with version 3.x of Netscape and Microsoft browsers

   Using Internet Explorer 3.x and Netscape 3.x, you cannot run the Java applets, such as the treebrowser in the left frame. When you start the RUP, using IE 3.x, a new window will be displayed that

   a) Directs you to the Microsoft or Netscape home pages to download the latest version of the browser.

   b) Gives you the option to use the SiteMap to browse the Unified Process using version 3.x of the browser.

2. The Java Applets do not run with browsers which do not support Java applets (IE 2.x and Netscape 2.x)

   The RUP uses Java applets to provide search, index and navigation capabilities; use of browsers which do not support Java applets is not supported. See browser compatibility note above.

   Browsing the Unified Process using non-Java compliant browsers can be accomplished with a loss of functionality using the web page ./sitemap/sitemap.htm under the Unified process install directory.

3. Disk Space Usage

   29 MB (Windows NT). Run the DOS command chkdsk for information on your file system.

   Unix 30MB

4. Crude Formatting using Netscape Navigator 3.x and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x

   Navigator 3.x and IE 3.x do not support cascading style sheets (CSS), which are used by the RUP. This means that the formatting and layout is crude on Navigator 3.x and IE 3.x. We strongly recommend upgrading to a newer release of your browser.

5. Small fonts

   If you find the text font to be too small you can change the web-browsers default font. This will make the text on all pages to be displayed with a larger font.