This section covers new enhancements in the DevSuite Admin Client.

This section covers new enhancements in the DevSuite Admin Client.

This section covers new features in DevTrack Web (the Tracking Tab).

In addition to the read-only Wiki view link, editable links to spec items can now be generated for users to perform editing actions in either the multiple tab view or the one-page simple view. Right click on a spec item and select “Email Link” to generate the encrypted URL to the specific spec item.

Similar links can also be added to DevSpec email notifications. Add “Web link to editable spec info” field to the email body when defining email format templates in the Admin Client.

In addition to the read-only Wiki view link, editable links to spec items can now be generated for users to perform editing actions in either the multiple tab view or the one-page simple view. Right click on a spec item and select “Email Link” to generate the encrypted URL to the specific spec item.

Similar links can also be added to DevSpec email notifications. Add “Web link to editable spec info” field to the email body when defining email format templates in the Admin Client.

• Local performance speeds for geographically distributed teams
• Each site can have its own local database and document servers for the best possible access speeds
• Infinitely scalable architecture that supports an unlimited number of team members
• Built in functions that provide minimum maintenance complexity

When DevTest is joined with DevSuite as a component, administrators can access DevTest projects and settings from within the DevSuite Admin Client. This provides administrators with a significantly more direct and convenient way to access all DevSuite modules. 

• Local performance speeds for geographically distributed teams
• Each site can have its own local database and document servers for the best possible access speeds
• Infinitely scalable architecture that supports an unlimited number of team members
• Built in functions that provide minimum maintenance complexity

DevTrack Web GUI has been revamped for better user experience. It now has a faster, cleaner and more aesthetic look with a flat layout. The Web GUI has also been improved to more efficiently utilize free UI space, whether it is in tabs or pop-up windows.

Select field sorting is now configurable at the project level in the Admin Client. Administrators can use this feature to control whether dropdowns and definable select fields in a project are sorted alphabetically or based on a pre-defined order. These options apply to both the field controls and the search window. 

With automatic sorting, for example, when a user adds a new value to a definable select field via the web interface, the new value will be placed in the list and sorted alphabetically. This simplifies the work for administrators since they need not trouble themselves with constantly resetting field option orders.

In the search window, active choices are listed alphabetically followed by the sorted inactive choices (which are marked in dark blue).

As of DevSuite 9.0, top-level sub-project folders, called Development Spaces, have been added. Using Development Spaces teams can manage multiple projects/products with different methodologies in a single project base. This base allows teams to share project-level settings such as GUI customizations, workflow states and access controls while simultaneously providing each team with their own dedicated space where linked requirements, release backlogs and test cases can be easily accessed and managed.

Each Development Space has its own definable child folder tree. A Development Space can be broken down further using the following methods:

·        Multiple sub-release folders (dependent on whether or not the “multiple sub-releases” option is enabled).

·        Linked Requirement Space (Link a space from DevSpec)

·        Release backlog folders (available when the “release backlog” option is enabled).

·        A release folder for an agile Development Space can have the following child folders:

o       Team folders

o       Sprint folders 

·        A release folder for a non-agile Development Space can have the following child folders:

o       Team folders (optional)

o       Milestone folders 

·        A release folder for a Defect Tracking Space can have the following child folders, however, they are both optional:

o       Team folders: if multiple teams are working within one space, you may consider adding folders to improve organization of work assignments and team access privileges.

o       Milestone folders

In addition to the old defect backlog that is shared across all spaces, each space now has its own dedicated release backlog for handling product or version-specific items. This is designed to simplify backlog management.   

The Space Filter has also been introduced with the new Development Space concept. The Space Filter is used to restrict what Development Spaces are shown in the sub-project folder tree. This enables team members to easily focus on the Development Spaces pertaining to them. It should be noted that when doing a search at the root level, only Development Spaces appearing in the sub-project folder tree will be processed against the search query.  

The sub-project field is nowalwaysmandatory on submission as well as throughout the entire lifecycle. With the introduction of Development Spaces there is no reason an issue should not reside in a sub-project. 

In addition to the existing Task and Report Views a new Sprint Planning View has been introduced in DevSuite 9.0 to provide Product Owners with an easy way to handle the planning of development tasks. In the Sprint Planning View, the detail frame is switched to display three tabs: Linked Requirements, Release Backlog and Product/Defect Backlog. Each of these tabs are possible placeholders for unassigned or pending items. Product Owners can easily populate the sprint work by dragging-and-dropping from one of these tabs to a sprint folder. 

Sprint view can be turned on in DevSuite Admin Client >DevTrack project >Main View GUI Design >General Settings page:

When DevTest is joined with DevSuite as a component, administrators can access DevTest projects and settings from within the DevSuite Admin Client. This provides administrators with a significantly more direct and convenient way to access all DevSuite modules. 

The DevSpec MS Word add-in allows requirements created in Word to populate DevSpec items. A word document can be sync’d into DevSpec as an Epic Document with Child Specifications. Child Specifications can also be manually created or auto-populated.

The DevSpec Word add-in supports auto-population of Child Specifications:

·        For documents using multi-level lists, Child Specifications can be auto-populated by matching a level to an item, a title, or a description. Optionally, styles can be used to further refine the match conditions.

·        For documents using keywords, Child Specifications can be auto-populated by matching the starting and the ending keywords.

After Child Specifications are created they can be checked in to DevSpec. Once checked in, Child Specifications will be listed under the parent Epic Document in DevSpec.

Changes to the Specifications can be made in the local copy of the Word document or within DevSpec. If there is a conflict between the local MS Word copy and the server copy while checking-in a document, the conflicts can be viewed in the conflict management window. This window provides options to smart merge the server changes to the local document before check-in. If a smart merge is performed the server changes will be merged into the local document. The user may then manually modify the content and perform the check-in operation again.

DevSpec now provides an easy way for users to edit items using MS Word. DevSpec items can now be easily exported to Word using the multi-select functionality filtered by sub-project or search query. Exported items will be formatted with tags and have their DevSpec IDs attached. User may then take advantage of the powerful editing capabilities of MS Word to update the exported items and sync them back to into DevSpec when work has been completed.

We now support Document Templates for rapid population of attachments. In the sub-project tree panel, a new section called “Document Templates” has been added. Templates for Spec Attachments as well as Epic Documents can be saved for use later.

Using pre-defined templates a user can attach a document to a DevSpec item based on a saved template. Further modifications can then be made before the document is submitted. This is especially useful in organizations where documents are standardized for processes like internally or externally generated feature requests.

A Requirement Space is a top-level sub-project folder with definable child folders, team members, access controls, and release settings. Requirement Spaces contain all the requirements and specifications related to a milestone, version or release of a particular product or group of products.

A Requirement Space can be linked to one or more Development Spaces to provide team members with a space to streamline the workflow through design and implementation. To link a Requirement Space to a Development space, right mouse click on a Requirement Space and select “Edit Folder”. Then select the Linked Spaces tab and use the [Select…] button to choose a Development Space to link to.   

Once linked, items in the Requirement Space, and their associated tasks, may only be assigned to the linked Development Space.

A Space Filter is also available to compliment the new Requirement Spaces. The Space Filter allows users to decide which Requirement Spaces to show in the sub-project folder tree and enables team members to easily focus on the Spaces pertaining to projects they are involved in. Note: when doing a search at the sub-project root level, only Spaces appearing in the tree panel will be processed against the search query.  

DevSpec now supports a “Test Cases” page as a tab in the spec property. To display this tab, move the “Test Cases” page to the Working Pages section under Spec GUI SettingsàFunction pagesàEditing Pages. 

With the Test Cases tab, DevSpec users can easily view the status of DevTest test templates that are linked to or created from the spec. This tab provides more visibility than the existing All Links tab.

Users can even create a new test template using [New…], link to an existing test template using [Select…] and edit the existing linked test template using [Edit…].

Event notification is now supported in DevSpec. Notification emails can be generated based on the creation of an event, the closure of an event, the status change or the owner change of an event.

When exporting specs to txt or XML file, users are now able to select a pre-defined query or do an ad-hoc query on the fly to filter the items they wish to export. This improvement provides flexibility to users, preventing them from having to export all the items within a folder.

A user-level setting has been introduced to control whether or not to bypass the Home Dashboard upon Login. This enables users to land directly in the template view, planning view or the task view after login. 

A user-level setting has been introduced to control whether or not to bypass the Home Dashboard upon Login. This enables users to land directly in the template view, planning view or the task view after login.