Update information inserted through a template automatically

Mircea Marin

Hi,

I have the following scenario: we are using Confluence to write requirements and for that we created some templates. In these templates we have the information for each specific requirement entered in a table like this:

SRS Title	<name of the item>
Unique Identifier	(Base identifier)-S-#
Parent Identifier	<identifier of linked Parent: URS, PFRS, another SRS, Risk Mitigation>
Risk Mitigation ID	<Identifier of the applicable Risk Mitigation (only one or none)>
Applicable License	None
Description	[if <condition>] The system shall [enable the user to] <perform the action>.
Owner	<feature owner>
User Interface	[The feature shall be accessible via <UI control>.]
Applicable standards	[DICOM, IHE (refer to chapter)]
Quality aspects	[Usability, Performance]
Included in manual	No

For each new requirement the feature owner creates a new copy of the table and enters the information in it.

My question is if there is any way to automatically update this table's structure (not content) in the already created pages in case we have to change something in the template.

For example, in case we decide we would need an additional attribute, we would create a new row in this table in the template. We would then have to manually update all the places where the table is already filled in and this is a painstaking process.

Thanks!

Stephen Deutsch

Hi Mircea,

One option you would have is to use the Confluence Command Line Interface and do a search and replace on the XHTML format. You would use the Header right after where you want to insert the new row as a reference.  For example, if you wanted to put a new row in before "Owner" you would search for "<tr><th colspan="1">Owner</th>" and replace with "<tr><th colspan="1">New heading</th><td colspan="1"> </td></tr>" or something similar to that.  You can see the XHMTL code with the "Tools", "View Storage Format" or use the Confluence Source Editor.  You could do a test on a test page to make sure it works without messing up your pages, and then you would do it to all pages.