A Method Configuration is a user-defined subset of the Method Library contained in Rational Method Composer (RMC).

Creating a configuration using RMC involves making the following decisions:

• Selecting relevant method packages from the RUP framework and any included plug-ins.
• Unselecting/eliminating any unnecessary method packages.
• Defining views into the configuration to support different stakeholders' perspectives on the configuration. These views will direct navigation of the published configuration.

RMC provides a set of predefined RUP configurations for specific project contexts. Prior to creating a new configuration, consider using one of the predefined configurations in RMC as a starting point. Select and copy the predefined configuration that is closest to the characteristics of your project, and tailor it further by selecting and deselecting method packages, as appropriate. The method elements presented in RMC each has a description where you can read about what it contains, as well as guidance on why you should include it in your configuration. Existing configurations can be found in the "Configurations" package of the method library.  For information on navigating the method library, see Tool Mentor: Navigating Method Content Using Rational Method Composer.

In addition to customizing the content to be included in a configuration, you can also define views into the content, which can be used to suppress unwanted method elements for given teams within the project. For example, views based on roles (developers, for example, don't necessarily want to see the same details as the project manager).

Method configurations are not only used for creating processes (see Developing Processes Using Rational Method Composer), but are also used for publication (i.e. a configuration defines which elements will be published in HTML and which are not). When a configuration is published, the resulting RUP web site only contains the selected elements and the views are presented as separate instances (or tabs) of the treebrowser.  For more information, see Tool Mentor: Publishing a Method Configuration Using Rational Method Composer.

For more information on creating a method configuration using RMC, see the "Create Your Own Method Configuration" cheat sheet.  All RMC cheat sheets can be accessed by selecting Help>Cheat Sheet.