I'm using Axosoft Ontime for bug tracking, and have configured several 'release' items under my project.
'Default' (ie. bug) list has a field named 'Release' that displays on forms as a dropbox of all available 'release' items. Fine. I use it as a flag for target release for each bug.
What I'd like to do is add several fields of that type, that would allow me to define, for each bug, a "bug found on this release" and "bug was actually fixed in this release" on top of the original "bug has been scheduled for this release" field.
The bad news is that this 'Release' field comes by default (ie. is not a custom field) (or so I guess) and thus is not accessible through my Tools > Manage > Custom fields.
Do anyone know how I could add other fields of the same type?
(I'm using OnTime 11.0.1, winforms version; but could start using web version if needed)
Thanks in advance...
Official OnTime support team answers a radical no (as of v 11.2). Sad but clear.
OnTime currently supports only 1 release field. If you would need to
store an additional release field you can add a custom text field to
enter in the release, or use a custom picklist field. You however
would need to update the pick list with any additional releases in
order to update the values when you add a new release.
Since using text fields as they suggest seems a very bad idea (users are free to input incorrect data, release names are not sorted), I will probably have to maintain a gigantic pick list.
Has anyone a better idea?
There seems to be a way, not the kind I would like, though, as it requires hacking the database itself. I haven't tested it so you really should use it with caution.
OnTime supports pick lists that are dependent on a database stored procedure. The trick would be to build a request on Release table and bind a pick list to it.
A (very basic) documentation can be found as podcast on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqg3GZlx6dc
Related
I have a request to add a new field to a work item and we are using TFS 2017. My organization has done this before in previous versions of TFS. However, I remember customizing any process template to add new fields causes headaches when upgrading to the next version of TFS.
My question is if this is still a concern? If so, is there a work-around for this issue?
Thanks!
Tim
Basically, you would have the same procedure if you want to upgrade a on-premises TFS with customizations.
So, before you customize, you should understand which customizations support an easy update path and which do not.
Recommended practices:
Identify the best options for customizing WITs that support your
tracking requirements. When you change objects that track work items,
you should identify how these changes will affect existing and future
team projects.
Put processes and all XML definition files under version control. Do
not deploy objects that you define but have not stored in a
repository.
Test your customized objects just as you would test your software.
Minimize the number of custom fields that you introduce. Minimize the
number of fields that you make reportable.
Please refer to the link below for more information:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/vsts/work/customize/on-premises-xml-process-model#before-you-customize
My team is just now starting to use TFS 2015 Update 1 on premise to manage their development process. I have set up the server and defined some custom states and transitions for work items to better map to our process. To start with, we will only be taking advantage of the Kanban board and are not attempting to use iterations for a variety of reasons I won't get into here.
My problem currently is using TFS to plan releases. Specifically, I don't see any way to group Features and User Stories into a specific release. All of my googling has turned up many articles involving Microsoft Release Management, so I installed and configured it, but it is absolutely overkill for what my team is trying to do right now. I'm not trying to automate deployments to different environments at the moment, I just need a way to group work items into a something that encapsulates the concept of a release in TFS. Is there no way to do this? The best I can come up with right now is to further modify the work item templates to either provide a simple "Release" field with a pick list, or define another type of work item that I can group the others into. This seems like a glaring oversight by MS from my perspective, so I'm hoping I'm just missing something.
Grouping work into releases can be done in a couple of ways, just remember that the concept of a "Release Plan" doesn't explicitly exist in TFS. Release management covers the "Release to Production", but doesn't cover any planning.
Ways to plan releases:
One way is to create a Release Iteration, this works when you're not working on multiple releases in parallel and truly finish one release before working on the next. The Release iteration used to be default, but has been removed from the product in favor of teams delivering sprints and teams doing continuous delivery.
Project Root
+ Release 1.2
+ Sprint 1
+ Sprint 2
Another option is to use Tags. You could tag work items with a tag that signifies it's targeted for a specific sprint.
Use a Marker workitem, on the backlog place one work item which clearly stands out ### END OF RELEASE 1 ### Any workitem below it is not part of that release. This technique fits a more agile way of working and more clearly shows that the contents of a release are a floating thing.
Create a custom Release Workitem, link your other workitems to this work item to target it for that release.
And your option to create a picklist on a *Custom workitem field** is another option.
Alternatively you could also use the Area Path in much the same way as Iteration Path. By using the Area Path you have the benefit of not having a sprint tied to one specific release.
It is not the best solution but could be the solution in some cases.
Answering solely based on your question around planning releases, then:
Create a custom work item template, called 'Deployment'.
When planning of a release begins, create a new 'Deployment', let's say, called 'MyProduct v1.1'.
In your planning meeting, create Features and User Stories appropriately, and create a relation to the 'MyProduct v1.1' Deployment, by opening the User Story and adding a Link (using the Deployment Work Item number) as 'Related'.
To monitor Deployments, create a custom Work Item query targeting the new 'Deployment' Work Item template. You can configure this to display on your dashboard.
Follow whatever release procedure you like based on the 'Deployment' and its' relations.
You should follow a naming convention when creating 'Deployments' for consistency.
p.s. I recommend using the extension 'Work Item Visualization' in this instance. It'll nicely map out the 'Deployment' related Work Items.
If you want to use TFS to actually build an and create a Release, then Release Manager is worth considering.
TFS 2015 Update 2.1 now includes a built-in version of Release Manager. It's much more user-friendly and simple to configure when compared to Release Manager standalone installations.
To group work items into a 'release', you can do the following:
Create a build definition for the repository you're working with - see Build Def creation docs
Create a Release definition - see Release Def creation docs
Once you have these definitions created, the working process would be:
Developers work against work items
Commits are made against the WI number (or tasks)
When it's time to create a release, start a build on the definition you created. In doing so, WIs will then be associated with a Build Number.
When the build succeeds, start a new Release from the definition you created.
You have have a set of work items associated with a release, see screenshot:
Note: You can enable CI builds and releases, although the above is based on manual triggers.
You can also directly call the Release API to locate WIs associated with Releases, however you'll need to obtain the actual Id of the release first.
You are currently limited however to viewing these relationships based on knowing the Release. In a real world scenario, it's more realistic to look at a Work Item to see when it was release. To do that, there's no built-in functionality at present, however my own-answered question will guide you - see here.
Additional to the methods explained by jessehouwing there exists also several 3rd party tools which can integrate with TFS/VSTS and provide advanced planning features. See VSTS Marketplace for an overview.
I'm using TFS 2013 Update 3 and Release Management 2013 with Update 3 (agent-based templates).
In the Release Management client, I'd find very useful the ability to add a comment for any action/component (or even a group of them) that is part of a deployment sequence. This is because often it's obvious what an action/component does (e.g. "Move File or Folder"), but it might be useful to know why that is done, also in the context of that particular deployment sequence.
I haven't found a way to achieve that, is it actually possible?
If not, do you have any alternative solution or do you know if a similar feature is available in newer
versions?
One thing you can try (but I am not sure if Agent-based Update 3 allows it) is to rename the action/component once dropped on the canvas. I know vNext templates allows it, and some earlier versions of Agent-based allowed it (but not the recent one... it seems to be broken).
Another less optimal option would be to add a parameter (which would be ignored during the actual deployment) - call it 'Notes' or similar - and just fill its value with the description of what this action/component does. It is less obvious and you may need to scroll to see it when you have many params, but it would be available. Also, this would only work with custom actions and components.
Last option would be to put your action/component (or group of) inside a 'Sequence'. You can rename those by clicking on the name. That would give some context on what that action(s) does.
We have recently transitioned from Gemini to TFS for application change control. There is one aspect of TFS I can't get my head around - the lack of a built-in concept of the application version that each work item will be addressed in.
In Gemini every feature request, enhancement, bug etc can be tagged with a version number. If the field was left blank, the item was "unscheduled", i.e. on the backlog. Each version could be flagged as either released or not. Reports could be then created listing the issues addressed in each released version, i.e. release notes, and the issues to be addressed in future versions, i.e. a roadmap. I was completely happy with this!
Now in TFS I can't find any built-in concept of version. It seems like there are 2 ways to represent version:
As a parent item in the iteration tree, e.g.
Version 1.0.0
Sprint 1
Sprint 2
etc
Version 1.1.0
Sprint 3
Sprint 4
etc
As a parent item in the work items tree, e.g.
Version 1.0.0
Requirement 1
Requirement 2
etc
Version 1.1.0
Requirement 3
Bug 4
etc
The latter approach looks better because it allows versions to be worked on simultaneously (e.g. a major release will be worked on at the same time as bug-fix release).
So what is the recommended approach to managing work by version?
Finally, with the version property not actually being present in the work item itself, is it possible to make reports on issues addressed in each version?
For now I am going to use iteration path to capture the version number. This doesn't lend itself so well to managing development on different versions concurrently, but we are trying to get away from that practise (i.e. be working on the next release while simultaneously working on multiple bug fixes to past releases) and adopt short release cycles, i.e. a more linear path, so maybe that is a good thing.
Earlier I though Area Path might be a good place to put Version, but its too valuable as a way to split up a huge application into parts to sacrifice for versioning.
1. Tags (TFS 2013+) are the easiest way to append metadata such as build#. (same as mentioned above.)
2. The CMMI Process Template > Requirement and Bug Work Item Types have an "Integrated In" field that links to TFS Builds for direct correlation from requirement to build# [to related code changes] [to related test cases [to related test results]]. Note you must select from retained TFS Build system builds (that have not been deleted). This hard reference drop-down limits this field significantly over time or if you use a different build system. (That and build versioning are entirely different discussions :-).) The Build CMMI template fields have been there since TFS2010.
3. Create a custom field in your User Story and Bug work items. BuildImplementedIn or similarly named field would do. Creating custom fields is not hard in TFS. You will need a Team Project Admin or possibly a TPC Admin to make the customization if you aren't already an admin.
p.s.: Sorry for the late reply. I posted this answer in case others still have the same or similar question.
You could use the area field.
We use that one for product name (we maintain multiple products) and then version goes into the description of the story, but you could use the area field for versions.
Another possibility is to use tags at the top of the Product Backlog Item.
Btw, I agree that TFS is lacking a few important fields (custom fields)
In TFS (2010 and up at least), we have the concept of iteration, which seems to be supposed to help assigning work (what do we do in release 1.0, what is planned for 1.1 and what is left in the backlog). I have to mention I've been looking at the Scrumm template for TFS2012.
Now, how do you classify bugs by product version?
For example, imagine we have the a product with v1.0 and v2.0 in the wild and v3.0 in developpment.
Now, we discover a bug in v1.0, and it turns out v2.0 and v3.0 also contains the bug.
Code-wise, we'll correct the bug in dev, then merge it to v1.1 and v2.1 so that our current users are not left in the cold with their version (because we cannot always mandate upgrading to the latest version).
When creating a bug in TFS, we have the option of indicating an iteration path. But we can only use one iteration, whereas we need to be able to declare the bug as existing in all three version, and mark it as corrected independently as the merges happen.
Is there any way to support that way of working in TFS, or am I looking at it wrong?
One way to accomplish this would be to modify the default Work Item Type for Bug in TFS:
In VS 2010, open the editor by choosing Tools > Process Editor >
Types > Open WIT From Server from the main menu
In the Select Work Item Type dialog, expand the Team Project
that you would like this template to apply to, select Bug and
click OK.
When the editor opens, you'll see a list of all available fields for
the Bug work item. You should notice a Found In field
available in the list. By providing the version number(s) in this
field, it should be pretty easy to write queries that can find bugs
by version.
To display this field, choose the Layout tab to bring up the
form editor. It's basically just a big tree view. Expand the group
for Group - Classification (or wherever you think this field is
most appropriate), right-click Column and choose New Control
In the attributes panel, choose Found In for the Field Name, and
also update the label.
Choose Preview Form to test your changes, then save and close
the editor
There are a number of ways around this, depending on how you choose to approach it. One is to not use the standard Areas field (Mike C suggests a good alternative). Another is to create work items to more accurately reflect the state of the work you're doing. What I mean is this:
If you're releasing a fix across three different versions of your software, I'd assume that you'd want to test it against all three versions to assume the fix is consistent across all of the codebases. A fix that worked in V1.0 may not work the same in V3.0 because the surrounding/affected code may be different.
At some point in that process you could therefore have three separate (but linked) representations of the bug: maybe three copies of the bug itself, or three test cases (one per version that the bug should be tested on) all linked to the original bug. Then, if the bug is fixed in V1.0 but requires more work to be fixed in V3.0, your work items accurately reflect this.