User Help > Working With Documents > What Is a Document? > Understanding Document Structure
 
Understanding Document Structure
This section discusses components used in the Document view and throughout Integrity Lifecycle Manager specifically in reference to document and content items.
Similar to other items, relationships are the glue that ties document and content items together and allows for reuse and persistence of artifacts over time. To learn about the relationships inherent in the document model, see “Relationships in the Document Model”.
Integrity Lifecycle Manager Term
Architectural Term
Definition
Document (root)
Segment (root)
• Container for nodes that reference shared items or other documents.
• A root document is also considered a segment.
• Represented by the top-level node in the Outline panel of the Document view.
• May be related to the item backing the project via the Documents relationship. The subsegment refers to the node that references a segment root.
Document
Segment/Subsegment
Segments:
• are documents or subdocuments that contain content.
• can include or reference other segments.
Subsegments:
• are segments that are a part of another document. If they are independent of another document they are considered segments.
• are included or inserted into a document which creates a References/Referenced By relationship between nodes/segment respectively.
• can be nested within segments or other subsegments.
Content
Node
Content:
• is the term used in Integrity Lifecycle Manager for a node/shared item pair; the node references the shared item.
• can be meaningful, for example, a requirement, test case, segment or subsegment. It can also be non-meaningful; for example a heading or a comment. These criteria are defined by your system administrator on the Shared Category field.
Nodes:
• are references to individual content items (can also be subsegments containing their own nodes) that belong to a document and contain document-specific metadata.
Contents
n/a
All node/shared item pairs that are contained within a document.
Shared Item
n/a
Integrity Lifecycle Manager items that represent shared content in your document model. Transparent during the creation or modification of content.
Shared Items:
• are referenced by nodes.
• track modifications to content and reflect them in the node.
Section
n/a
A grouped hierarchy of nodes in a document, for example: section 1.4 and its children, 1.4.1, 1.4.2 or section 3.4.2 and its children 3.4.2.1, 3.4.2.2.
Reference mode
n/a
Setting available on a node within a document that controls how the system behaves when content is reused and modified. Options are: Author, Reuse, Share.
Category
n/a
Pick field exposed on a node or segment type which allows for the categorization of content items, for example: Heading, Comment, Requirement, Test Case.
You can select a segment or node type from the Category pick list value when you create or modify a segment or a node.
Available options are defined by your administrator on the Shared Category field.
Group document
n/a
A read-only document used for grouping content. You cannot create or edit meaningful content in a group document.
Reference Modes
All content within a document in Integrity Lifecycle Manager has specific permissions and access levels associated with it. Reference modes dictate how the system behaves when content is created and modified.
• Author
Author reference mode controls the evolution of content. Items with an author reference mode can be created or modified by anyone with the appropriate permissions within the project. Other references to the shared item will continue to refer to the old shared item.
• Reuse
Reuse reference mode allows you to view a fixed revision of the content. The shared item will branch if you attempt a significant edit. Significant edits are modifications you make to the significant fields on a node that are defined by your administrator. A branch is a copy of the original document. You can also branch content if you have the correct permissions. To learn about branching documents, see “Branching Documents”.
You can change a reference mode from share to reuse and from reuse to share.
• Share
Share reference mode allows you to view the current version of the content. You can watch the changes to content as content with author reference mode changes, but you cannot edit the content directly. The shared item is uneditable and you participate in any changes made by the node from which you are sharing.
If the share relationship is changed through branching, the reference mode changes to Reuse to reflect the new relationship. If the share relationship is removed, the reference mode also changes to reuse.
You can change a reference mode from share to reuse and from reuse to share. However, an Author reference mode cannot be changed.