One of the core strengths of TestTrack is its configurable workflow. It allows TestTrack to support your process, regardless of complexity. The workflow consists of two main components:
States: These are the steps an item goes through. Also known as the item’s status.
Events: These usually represent user actions and are used to move an item from one state to another, assign an item, and more. Events are tied to the user that performed it and the date. Other data can be captured as well.
For a more in-depth look at how the workflow is configured, check out the workflow tutorial I posted.
As projects grow in scope, both testing complexity and demands on the testing team increase. Homegrown methods for managing those tests start letting you down. Even as you spend more time managing individual tests, it becomes clear that you’ve lost track of the larger picture—what the results of your testing mean for the quality of your software and the efficiency of your testing program.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for our Seapine ALM 2011.1 What’s New webinar. The recording is now available on YouTube if you missed the webinar or want to watch it again. Q&A from the session follows.
TestTrack includes several options to handle client connections. These options allow an administrator to configure how long TestTrack will keep connections active and when to close them.
These options are in the TestTrack Server Admin Utility. Under Server Options, go to Client Settings:
Client Timeout Settings
The availability of these options depends on the version of TestTrack you are using.
Surround SCM provides the ability to shelve changes that are not ready for check in to the server. This allows users to save work to the Surround SCM server without making it part of the file’s history.
We’ve been hard at work the past few months adding new features to Surround SCM. Shelving is the new feature that I’m particularly excited about. As a developer and a user of Surround SCM, I think this is one of the most exciting features we’ve added in the last few years. In fact, I’ve been using shelves daily since we installed Surround SCM 2011.1 on our in-house server.
A shelf is a container on the Surround SCM Server that is used to store files from a local working directory. Files do not need to be version controlled by Surround SCM to be put on a shelf, they just need to reside in a working directory. You can have as many shelves as you want. Each shelf has a single owner who can modify the contents and, optionally, a group of shared users who can view the contents. The shelf owner can hand it to another user by changing its owner. You can also shelve and unshelve any number of files as often as you need to without having to create a new shelf each time.
In talking to a potential client the other day, it occurred to me how misunderstood the role of the product owner (also known as the product manager or customer) often is. The conversation centered around their admission that a previous attempt to adopt Agile methods had been a failure. To my delight, they were not content to cling to the often misaligned and unsubstantiated view that “Agile doesn’t work here”!
As we talked, several red flags were raised that they were not aware of themselves, namely “we had too much scope creep” and “requirements weren’t detailed enough.” While I raised awareness of these red flags, the one that struck me the most was the comment that “our product owner wears about nine different hats.” As we approach the 10 year anniversary of the signing of the Agile Manifesto, why have we not learned that the role of the customer, often played by the product owner or product manager, is central to the success of Agile projects? It reminds me that we still have a long way to go and a lot of educating to do.
While a good Agile product owner has many traits, I like to think the best and most successful are like a great bond, and have a AAA rating. For product owners, the triple A rating means Available, Attentive, and Amiable. I have defined each word below and encourage you to remind your team—especially the person in the product owner role—and those in your organization of their importance.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for our 5 Ways to Boost Enterprise Agility webinar. The recording is now available on YouTube if you missed the webinar or want to watch it again. Q&A from the session follows.
A look at a common question of start-up medical device and other regulated companies that want traceability, but don’t know when to start.
I’m often asked, “When is the best time to get my development artifacts in order?” The short answer is there isn’t a best time. But, the better question is, “How can you afford to wait?”
In the life sciences sector, companies must prove that good processes were used in the development of a product. If you know you don’t have good processes, or you have a lot of manual processes, it’s likely you need to get your development artifacts in order now.
The Seapine ALM 2011.1 release is right around the corner! This release includes many new features and customer requests, such as even more Agile support and enhancements to help you better meet internal and industry standards and regulations. You’ll want to tune in to this webinar to find out what’s new and see demos of TestTrack, Surround SCM, and QA Wizard Pro.
Join us as Jeff Amfahr, Director of Product Management, demos new features in Seapine ALM 2011.1 including:
Shelving in-progress changes, additional reports, and enhanced triggers in Surround SCM
Workflow history diagrams, extensive TestTrack TCM enhancements, improved task board and traceability reports in TestTrack
Adobe Flash support, new Keyword View, status tool enhancements, and additional reporting options in QA Wizard Pro
Attend this one-hour webinar to see Seapine ALM 2011.1 in action!
