IBM SC34-4499-03 manual Working with component and release processes

Chapter 6. Working with component and release processes

The previous chapter described how to work with parts when the release does not follow a tracking process. This chapter describes how to work with parts when a tracking process is followed and how to use component processes for features and defects.

When tracking is part of the process, users must associate any changes to their parts with the defects or features active for the release. This association is made through a work area. The work area is the object that ties a defect or feature with a speci®c release. When checking out a part, the user must specify the work area with which the modi®cation is associated. For any release and defect or feature pair, there can be multiple work area objects.

Aside from their association with a defect or feature, the work areas for a full-tracking process environment are identical to those de®ned for working in a no-tracking process environment. Work areas maintain a separate view for the user working on the modi®cations associated with a defect or feature without affecting the release. This view can be integrated with the release at some point. A work area is implicitly created when a defect or feature is accepted if the managing component follows a design, size, and review process for defects and features and if a sizing record is created. The work area that TeamConnection creates is based on the sizing record and has the same name as the defect or feature. If sizing records were not created, you must explicitly create the work area.

As an example of how this all works, suppose that the robot project from the previous chapter is entering system test. The administrator decides to turn on a full-tracking process for the release, such as track_full. This process includes the track, approval, ®x, driver, and test subprocesses. The release follows concurrent development, and the component follows a design, size, and review process for both defects and features.

On a weekly basis the project leader, Carol, creates a driver. A driver monitors and implements the integration of part changes within a release. These part changes are included in a driver by adding the work areas referenced by the changed parts to the driver as driver members.

One of the testers for the robot project discovers that the autofocus mechanism in the robot's eye fails when the robot is placed in front of striped wallpaper. The tester must open a defect against the component optics, which is owned by Carol. Carol veri®es that the problem does exist, accepts the defect, and assigns it to Alex. This ®x will require the tasks noted in the following table:

For information about this task,

Changing the defect owner

Accepting the defect

Go to this

page.

79

80

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 77