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DCO 6.2 and 6.3 - Using the Application Document Wizard

Updated on June 10, 2020

Summary

Use the Application Document wizard to create professional-looking, formatted documents that capture information about the application. In the wizard, you can choose which content about the application you want the system to include in the output document. Additionally, you can customize the default system selections, and save your choices as custom templates to reuse within your organization.

Note: This article describes the Application Document wizard in Version 6.2. For information about using the wizard in Version 6.1, see DCO 6.1 — Using the Application Document Wizard and its related articles.

 

Suggested Approach

Overview

After you complete the wizard steps, the system generates an output document, based on your selections. The result is a Microsoft Word document. The following image shows an example of some of the pages in the output document.

Example pages from an output document

In the Application Document wizard, you can:

  • Customize the output document's contents by reordering the sequence of chapters and sections, or optionally omitting specific ones.
  • Incorporate additional content into the output document, such as images, text content, and other kinds of attachments.
  • Build new custom templates for documents that can be used for training, end-of-phase reviews, etc.
  • Override system-captured images with your own screen captures.

A Document Preview section shows you what the output document's table of contents will look like (based on the current selections) before generating the document. This preview gives you an opportunity to review the table of contents, and see what selections you would like to modify before generating the document.

The Document Now button allows you to quickly generate a document based on the current selections. The Document Now button is especially handy for those times when there have been many changes to the application and you want to quickly generate a document of the current state of things to review.

Initial step of the Application Document wizard

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Generating an application document

To start the Application Document wizard, select Pega button> Application > Tools > Document.

After the wizard starts, the system displays the first step of the wizard (the Select step). From the Select step, there are two options for generating a document:

  • Follow the displayed steps to make the selections you want the system to use when it generates the output document until you reach the Create Document step, and then click the Generate Document button on that step.
  • Click Document Now to immediately generate an output document (based on the current default selections in the wizard).

When the system starts generating the output document, it launches Microsoft Word on your local system in a separate window, and then loads the rule information, images, and other text information (according to the current wizard settings) into that window. When the content has finished loading into Microsoft Word, you can review and edit it, and save a local copy.

To exit the Application Document wizard after generating an output document, click Close.

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Customizing the sequence of chapters and sections within chapters

Use the Orderstep of the wizard to change the sequence of the chapters, and sections within chapters, for the generated document. You can reorder the chapters (a chapter is a Heading-1 in the generated document), and within a given chapter, you can reorder the sections (a section is a Heading-2) in that chapter.

Note: You cannot move a section (Heading-2) from one chapter to a different chapter. You cannot promote a section to a chapter, or vice versa. All of the chapters for Work Types, Supporting Types, and Other Flows must be grouped together. While you can reorder one work type chapter to come before another, you cannot move one of those types of chapters to a location away from the rest.

To change the sequence of chapters:

On the Orderstep:

  1. Click and hold the icon for the chapter you want to move. The cursor changes to a four-headed arrow ( Drag cursor ).
  2. Drag the chapter icon to the new location and release.

As you drag the chapter icon, an image ( Location) and orange line appear when your cursor is at an available location to insert the chapter.

For example, by default, the Activities chapter is located before the Properties chapter. In the following illustrations, the Activities chapter is moved to follow the Properties chapter.

1. Hold the icon for the Activities chapter: Hold icon for Activities chapter 
2. Drag the chapter icon to the new location until the Location and the orange line under Properties appear: Drag icon to new location 
3. Release the chapter icon to put Activities in the new spot: Release icon in new location 
To change the sequence of sections within a chapter:

Expand the chapter to see the Heading-2 sections within it. For example, the following image shows the standard sections within the standard Application Overview chapter.

Expanded Application Overview chapter

Use the same steps to reorder sections within a chapter as for reordering chapters: select and hold the icon, drag the icon to the new location, then release.

You can further customize the document chapters and sections by omitting some from inclusion in the output document. To omit a chapter or section from the output document, in its row, clear the checkbox in the Include In Doc column.

Include in Doc column

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Incorporating additional content

Use the Add Chapter button button on the Orderstep of the wizard to incorporate additional content such as images, text content, and other kinds of attachments into the generated document.

Once content is added to the system, it is available for use for subsequent runs of the wizard, and you can use the chapter reordering steps and Include In Doc features with it.

Note: Custom content cannot be added as a section in a chapter. It can be added only at the chapter level.

To add custom content:
  1. Decide where in the sequence to add the custom content.

    Note: You cannot insert custom chapters between the following kinds of standard chapters: Work Type chapters, Supporting Type chapters, the Other Flows chapter, or the Other Classes chapter.

  2. Select the existing chapter that is just above the point in the sequence where you want to add the custom content, and click Add Chapter button.

    The system creates a new row and displays the Custom chapter icon icon in that row, which indicates this is a custom-content chapter.

  3. In the new row, click the edit icon ( Rule opener icon). In the Custom Chapter Details window which opens:
    1. Enter a chapter title in the Name field.
    2. To use the contents from a file on your local system, such as a Word document file or image file), select Image/File Attachment in the Type field. Browse to the file, and upload it to the system.

Custom Chapter Details window - File attachment

  1. Click Save. The system displays the custom chapter on the Order step of the wizard.

Custom chapter added on Order step of the wizard

If the content is in a rule already in the system (such as a Word Template rule or a Binary File rule), you can use it by selecting the rule type, and then using the autocomplete in the Rule field to select the rule.

Note: When specifying a rule for the custom chapter contents, the rule must have an Applies To class of PegaAccel-Task-DocumentApp. If rule check-out is enabled for the rule's RuleSet, the rule must be checked in before adding it using the Custom Chapter Details window.

Custom Chapter Details window - Using a rule

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Overriding system-captured images with your own images

In the Capture step of the wizard, the system captures screenshots of the harnesses, flow actions, and correspondence used in the application, and incorporates those images into the output document. Select a skin and click Capture All. The system captures the screenshots, stores them, and displays the image list in the Screenshot Catalog.

Screenshot Catalog on the Capture step

You can optionally override a system-captured image with an image created outside of the system (for example, to provide an image with labels to call attention to certain features so that you can get input from stakeholders).

For example, in the Checkout flow action, the business analyst wants to call attention to the color used to display the purchase order's total, to get input from the stakeholders. This is the custom image with a call-out added:

Custom Checkout image

To override a system-captured image in the Screenshot Catalog:
  1. Click the Add link in the row for the image you want to override.

Add link in the Screenshot Catalog display

  1. In the Screen Capture Override window, browse to the image file you want to use and click Upload File.

Screen Capture Override window

After uploading the image, the system refreshes the Screenshot Catalog display. The overridden image displays View in the Override column. You can click View to see the image (stored in a rule) that will be used in the output document.

View link in Screenshot Catalog display

If you want to revert back to using the system-captured image, click View to open the rule form for the uploaded image, and then delete the rule by clicking Delete rule. Close the rule form, and click the Screenshot Catalog's Refresh button to refresh the display.

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Saving settings as reusable templates

As you use the wizard to generate output documents on a regular basis, you will find that certain combinations of settings provide the right level of details for you and your colleagues, and you want to save those combinations as templates to reuse again and again.

To save a combination of settings as a reusable template:
  1. Go through the wizard steps and select the settings you want on each step.
  2. Click Save. The Save Document Wizard window opens.
  3. Enter a name for the saved template (such as Training: OurApplication), and click OK.

Save Document Wizard window

  1. Exit the wizard by clicking Cancel.

To use the saved combination of settings the next time the wizard is started, select Use Saved Settings on the Selectstep of the wizard:

Use Saved Settings radio button

When you select the Use Saved Settings radio button, the wizard displays the saved combinations by name, and you can click the one that you want to use as a basis for the generated document.

List of saved combinations

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Steps of the Application Document wizard

The wizard is dynamic — the system refreshes the available steps and fields based on selections that you make. For example, on the Select step, when you select the Use Case Documenttemplate, the wizard refreshes to display only those steps and fields appropriate for that template.

On any step of the wizard, click the Help icon (Contextual help in the wizard) to display help about that step, including choices for fields and controls used in that step.

Use the steps of the wizard to specify the following items for the generated document:

Select
The wizard uses the selections in this step to determine which application data, and in what detail, to include in the generated document. You can also choose previously saved settings and a template on which to base the generated document.

Selecting a template: The selected template determines the basic structure of the generated document and the available wizard steps and fields in which you select the items to include in the document.

To document only the use cases in the application, select the Use Case Document template.

Order
In this wizard step, you can refine and customize the document sections for the generated document. You can:
  • Change the sequence of the chapters, and sections within chapters, for the generated document.
  • Specify to include or omit certain chapters or sections from the generated document.
  • Add custom content for inclusion in the document, and incorporate the content into the chapter sequence.
Define
In this wizard step, you can specify:
  • A work item ID to use as a source of data for the wizard to use when it captures screenshots of the application's processes
  • Criteria for entity relationship diagrams (ERDs) for work types and other classes.
Capture
Use this wizard step to work with screenshots of the harnesses, flow actions, and correspondence used in the application. Among other things, you can:
  • Capture screenshots, with a selected display style (skin).
  • View previously captured screenshots
  • Add your own custom images to override system-captured screenshots.
Create Document
This is the final wizard step. From this step, click Generated Document to generate the output document. The wizard starts Microsoft Word and gathers and includes data from the system, loading the document into Word with diagrams and screenshots.
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  • Previous topic DCO 6.2 and 6.3 - Using the Application Accelerator
  • Next topic DCO 6.2 and 6.3 - Working with Application Use Cases and Requirements

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