Specification Structure Reordering Rules

In the specification structure, the Cut, Copy, and Paste actions have specific rules regarding the placement of chapters, requirements, and comments.

A chapter can be composed of other chapters, requirements, and comments. When an object is pasted into a chapter, that object is inserted as the last child entry in the target chapter.

Requirements and comments are individual objects. They do not represent a collection of any other objects. When an object is pasted into a requirement or comment, that object is pasted either above or below (at the same level), but never at the child level, of the requirement or comment.

This page discusses:

Validating the Parent Object's State for Cut and Copy Actions
Validating the Target Container for Paste Actions

Validating the Parent Object's State for Cut and Copy Actions

For the Cut and Copy actions, it is necessary to validate whether the action can be performed on the object's parent container. The cut or copied object can be frozen (in the Released state or locked by another user), but as long as the object's parent container (specification or chapter) is not frozen, then the child object can be cut or copied for pasting in a different location in the specification structure.

When a container is frozen, it means that it currently disallows either a "FromDisconnect" action or is locked by someone other than the current user. When a container is not frozen, it means that it allows a "FromDisconnect" action and is either locked for use by the current user or is not locked.


User Action	Object's Parent is a Specification or Chapter		Object is a Specification
User Action	Parent is Released or locked by Another User	Parent is Not Released or locked by Another User	Any Lifecycle or Lock Status
Cut	Action not allowed.	Action allowed.	Action not allowed.
Copy	Action allowed.	Action allowed.	Action not allowed.

Validating the Target Container for Paste Actions

For the paste actions, Paste as Child, Paste Above, and Paste Below, validating whether the object can be pasted into the new location in the specification structure is a two step process: identifying the target container into which the object will be pasted and then determining whether the target container is frozen against any changes.

When you want to paste an object into the specification structure, you must select the target container. Only specifications and chapters are valid containers. In some cases, the target container is the same as the cut or copied object. In other cases, it is the parent of the cut or copied object or the parent's sibling. Whether the cut or copied object can be pasted into the target container and where depends on what type of object the container is.

The following table shows whether an object is a valid target for a paste action, and if so the results of the paste action.


Action	Intended Target's Object Type
Action	Specification	Chapter	Requirement or Comment
Paste As Child	Pasted as child of the specification.	Pasted as child of the chapter.	Invalid action resulting in an error message.
Paste Above and Paste Below	Invalid action resulting in an error message.	Pasted as child of the chapter's parent.	Pasted as child of the requirement's or comment's parent.

Consider the following sample specification structure:

If you cut or copy Requirement 1 from the Specification structure, then try to paste it into various target containers, the following table shows the results of the paste action.


Action	Intended Target	Actual Paste Results
Paste as Child	Specification	Pasted as child of Specification and as sibling of Chapters 1 and 2.
Paste Above	Specification	Invalid action resulting in an error message.
Paste Below	Specification	Invalid action resulting in an error message.
Paste as Child	Chapter 2	Pasted as child of Chapter 2 and as sibling of Requirements 3 and 4.
Paste Above	Chapter 2	Pasted as child of Specification and as sibling of Chapters 1 and 2.
Paste Below	Chapter 2	Pasted as child of Chapter 2 and as sibling of Requirements 3 and 4.
Paste as Child	Comment	Invalid action resulting in an error message.
Paste Above	Comment	Pasted as child of Chapter 1, above Comment.
Paste Below	Comment	Pasted as child of Chapter 1, below Comment.

The target container's state also determines the validity of the paste action. If the target container is frozen, meaning it is in the Released state or it is locked by another user, the cut or copied objects cannot be pasted into it.

The following table shows the results of paste actions into target containers in both states.


User Action	In Released state or locked by another user	Not in Released state and not locked by another user
Paste Above	Invalid action because the target container's structure is frozen.	Pasted above the selected object in the target container.
Paste Below	Invalid action because the target container's structure is frozen.	Pasted below the selected object in the target container.
Paste as child	Invalid action because the target container's structure is frozen.	Pasted as last child in the target container.

The paste actions may also be blocked if the new connection between the objects is invalidated by the schema definition. Paste actions are valid when the schema identifies a relationship match in the editRelationship list. When the cut and paste actions are used to reposition objects of equal level under the same parent, this change in the stacking order is defined as resequencing. If the moved object is a valid resequence, that object is highlighted in orange in the specification structure. If the object is pasted twice, the first paste action is a move (resequence) and is highlighted in orange in the specification structure. The second paste action is an add (not a resequence) and is highlighted in green in the specification structure.