dotTEST ships with the rule map editor - a web interface for modifying ("mapping") already existing rules. The information about modifications will be stored locally on your machine - in the rulemap.xml file in the specified rule mapping directory (see Specifying the Custom Rule and Mapping Directory).

You can change the basic properties of existing static analysis rules, such as name, severity, category, and ID, to help you achieve your organization's development policies and goals. For example, you can create new rule categories specifically for your company, such as "Company Standards" or "Company Safety Rules," and remap the built-in and custom rules to these new categories. You can also change the rule severities to target specific constructs. When rule properties are modified, the rule is considered to be "mapped".

In this section:

Opening the Rule Map Editor

1. Click  Parasoft in the menu bar and choose Options.

2. Select Configurations.
3. Ensure the rule mapping directory is configured (see Specifying the Custom Rule and Mapping Directory). All the information about rule customizations is stored in the specified directory.

4. Click Edit Rule Map to open the rule map editor.

Editing Rule Properties

1. Click the Rule Customization tab and locate the rule you want to customize. You can filter rules by typing in the search field or by enabling the Clones, Modified, or Custom filters.
   

2. Click on the rule in the table to view the rule properties and documentation.

   
   
   You can perform the following actions in the Rule Properties panel:

   1. Click in the Rule ID field to edit rule ID.
   2. Click in the Rule field to edit the rule name.
   3. Choose a severity from the Severity drop-down menu to change the severity of the rule.
   4. Click the Manage Category link to open the Rule Categories editor (see Editing Rule Categories).
   5. Click Clone to create a duplicate of the rule. Cloned rules use the same internal logic as the original rule. Use this option to customize rule properties while preserving the properties of the original rule. Cloned rules automatically appear in all test configurations and can be activated for execution.

   6. When you change rule properties, the original values are also displayed. You can click Default to reset the rule properties to their original values (see Reverting Rules to Default Categories).
      
      

3. Click Save to save any changes you made to the rule.

Editing Rule Categories

Click the Manage Category link in the Rule Properties panel to open the editor.

You can perform the following actions:

• Assign rules to categories
• Create custom categories
• Rename categories
• Revert rules to default categories

Assigning Rules to Categories

1. Choose a rule from the table in the Rule Customization tab and click Manage Category in the Rule Properties panel.
   
2. Choose a category and click Assign.
   You can use the search field to search for the category you want to select or enable the Modified option to filter for custom categories (see Creating Custom Categories).
   
     
   
3. Click Save in the Rule Properties panel to preserve the change.
   

Creating Custom Categories

1. Choose a rule from the table in the Rule Customization tab and click Manage Category in the Rule Properties panel.
2. Click New Category.
3. Specify a Category ID and Category Name when prompted.
   
4. Click Save to add the new category to the list of available categories.

5. Click Assign. The selected rule will be assigned to the new category.

6. Click Save in the Rule Properties panel to preserve the change.
   
   

Removing Custom Categories

You can click the trash icon to delete the category.

You cannot delete categories if rules are currently assigned to it. Assign rules to their default categories before (see Reverting Rules to Default Categories) to un-assign rules from the category before deleting it.

Renaming Categories

Click in the Category field to change the category name. The category name will be saved after leaving the text field.

Changing the category name affects all the rules in this category.

Reverting Rules to Default Categories

You can revert rules to their default categories.

1. Choose the rule from the table in the Rule Customization tab.  You can filter rules by typing in the search field or by enabling the Cloned, Modified, or Custom filters.
2. Click Default in the Rule Properties panel.
   

Uploading Rule Map Files (rulemap.xml)

You can upload an already existing rule mapping file, for example, a file exported from the DTP Rule Map Editor (see the DTP documentation for details).

1. Click the Upload/Download tab.
2. Select File in the Rule mapping section.
   
   
   
3. Browse to the file you want to upload and click Upload.

Uploading Custom Rules

Refer to the Rule Wizard documentation for instructions on creating custom rules (contact your Parasoft representative for information). Rule Wizard outputs custom rules in a .rule file that can be uploaded and modified with the Rule Map Editor.

1. Click the Upload/Download tab.
2. In the Custom Rule section, click Select Files and browse fro the .rule file(s) you want to upload.
   
3. Click Upload to finish uploading the .rule(s).

4. Click the Rule Customization tab and locate the custom rule to verify that it has been uploaded. You can filter rules by typing in the search field or by enabling the Clones, Modified, or Custom filters.
   
   If you added rule documentation when creating the rule, it will also appear.
   
   

Some rules created in Rule Wizard are complex, so the .rule file may be accompanied by an ext subfolder that contains an extension for the rule. You can compress the .rule file and extension folder into a .zip file and, and then upload the .zip file. The file will be decompressed and stored in the configured location (see Specifying the Custom Rule and Mapping Directory).