Working on a project that follows a development process
- Learning about projects
- Participating in projects
- Participating in a process-based project
- Tools for project members
- Creating a new project
A development process consists of a set of procedures and methods that guide you through product definition, design, and deployment. The most traditional process, known as the Waterfall model, has been around for decades and is probably the best-known example of a development process.
CollabNet provides process-based project templates that you can apply to a new project. In addition, an administrator at your site can create customized project templates. You can tell if your project is based on a template by looking at the home page and the left navigation pane. If the home page contains an icon-based toolbar that shows project stages, or if the left navigation pane contains links for project stages, the project uses a template.
The following is the default toolbar provided in the CollabNet Project template:
The following is the default left navigation pane for a project template:
The following sections describe how to participate in a project that uses a template.
Note: As a member of a project that uses a project template, you also have access to, and will use, project tools that are available to members of all types of projects. See Learning about projects for details.
Before you begin
Before working on a project that uses a project template, you should have at least introductory-level knowledge of the following:
- Software development processes
- the Project Tracker tool
- Subversion.
Similarly, if you are browsing the code base for a project (by clicking the Subversion link in the left navigation pane), the page navigation toolbar disappears.
Tip: As a rule of thumb, if you find yourself asking "where am I" in a project, click the Project Home link in the left navigation pane. The page navigation toolbar will appear, and you can click the link for the project subpage that you were browsing. After working with the Project Tracker and Subversion user interfaces for a while, the change of look-and-feel should not be a distraction.
How to use this Help
This Help assumes that your project owner has created a project using the CollabNet Baseline Project template. All examples in this document refer to subpages for project stages, documents, and so on that are a part of the CollabNet Baseline Project template. It is possible that your environment uses a custom template. As a result, this document can provide you with general guidelines for how to use the Stage subpages.
Your project owner should provide documentation on places where the CollabNet Baseline Project and your local process diverge.
Overview of participating in a project that uses a project template
When you join a CollabNet project, you typically rely on your knowledge of software development process to guide you through project participation. For example, if you are a software engineer you may check code in and out of Subversion, participate in project mailing lists, read check-ins performed by team members, and so on.
The purpose of a project template is to give everyone who participates in a project - from product managers through customer support representatives - specialized pages, queries, and documents to help them do their job and interact with team members. Most projects that use a project template display a graphical page navigation toolbar. The toolbar has icon buttons that link to pages that contain documents, queries, and other information that is relevant to a particular phase of a project. For example, a Definition icon in the toolbar links to a Definition subpage.
The page navigation toolbar also provides links to special-purpose pages for activities such as project management, communications, and generating reports.
The CollabNet Baseline Project supports the following stages and activities:
- Definition
A Definition subpage provides a list of queries for viewing the requirements for the project. From here you can view requirements and the tasks and documents that support the requirements. This subpage also displays Definition documentation. - Design
A Design subpage provides a list of queries that you can run to display completed requirements that are being converted into feature designs. It also displays Design documentation. - Code & Build
A Code & Build subpage provides a list of queries to display all features for which designs are complete and development has begun. It also displays code inspection documentation. - Testing
A Testing subpage provides a list of queries for all of the features that are available for testing or have been tested, and all of the defects found during testing. It also provides a link to a test plan documentation. - Deployment
A Deployment subpage provides links to the release images and release notes for the completed product, along with place-holders for documents such as the installation instructions, the release notes, and the user guide. It also provides a link to a a release management plan. - Support
A Support subpage provides links to artifacts regarding customer support issues, and allows you to convert customer cases into defects that can be fed back into the design process. It also provides a link to a support plan. - Project Management
A Project Management page displays links to project schedules and tasks based on information in the Dashboard tool, queries of all lifecycle artifacts, and links to other documents related to project management. - Communications
A Communications page displays a list of project members, and links to communication tools such as project Announcements, Mailing Lists, and the WebEx service. - Metrics and Reporting
A Metrics and Reporting page displays graphical reports of the different artifacts produced in a project. - Integrations
A Integrations page displays links to third-party applications (such as an automated build system) and output from these applications.
About tracking work items through the stages of the process
The CollabNet Project template enables you to trace the progress of an artifact through definition, design, coding, and testing. It also enables you to trace the progress of defects through detection, coding, and resolution.
Project Tracker provides the ability to track items through the stages of a process. The CollabNet Baseline Project template uses specialized Requirement and Defect artifact types. When you participate in a project that uses the CollabNet Baseline Project template, you set the Subpage in Lifecycle attribute in these artifacts to the stage where you want them to reside.
Process overview: Example of promoting an artifact through lifecycle stages:
- A project member clicks the Projects page, clicks the link to a project that uses the CollabNet Baseline Project template, and clicks the Definition icon.
- Definition:
The project member clicks the New requirement link, creates a new requirement named Requirement A, and sets the subpage in Lifecycle attribute for Requirement A to Definition.
Requirement A now appears when any project member clicks the Ready for definition link in the activity area of the Definition subpage.
After evaluating the requirement, a product manager clicks the Ready for definition link, clicks the link for Requirement A, and sets the value of Accepted into current subpage? for Requirement A to Yes.
Requirement A now appears when anyone clicks the Currently in definition link. - Transition to Design:
When all use cases are written for Requirement A, the product manager sets the Definition complete? attribute to Yes for Requirement A and sets the subpage in lifecycle attribute for Requirement A to Design.
Requirement A now appears when any project member clicks the Ready for design link in the activity area of the Design subpage. - Design:
A technical lead clicks the Design icon in the page navigation toolbar, clicks the Ready for design link, reviews Requirement A, and conducts other activities prescribed by the local development process. When Requirement A is approved, the technical lead sets the value of Requirement A's Accepted into current subpage? attribute to Yes.
Requirement A now appears in the results for the Currently in design query on the Design subpage. - Transition to Code and Build:
A design engineer, after creating design documents, sets the value of Design complete? for Requirement A to Yes, and sets the subpage in Lifecycle for Requirement A to Code & Build.
Requirement A now appears when any project member clicks the Ready for code & build link in the activity area of the Code & Build subpage. - Code and Build:
An implementation engineer clicks the Ready for Code & Build link in the activity area of the Code & Build subpage, and clicks the link for Requirement A.
After evaluating whether this requirement is ready to be coded, the implementation engineer sets the value of Requirement A's Accepted into current subpage? attribute to Yes. - Transition to Testing:
When Requirement A is fully implemented, the implementation engineer sets the value of Code & Build complete? to Yes, and sets the Subpage in lifecycle attribute to Testing. - Testing:
A testing engineer clicks the Testing subpage icon, clicks the Ready for testing query, clicks the link for Requirement A, and sets the value of Accepted into current subpage? for Requirement A to Yes.
The testing engineer may find bugs and raise defects against the requirement. When testing is complete, the test engineer sets the value of Test complete? for Requirement A to Yes, and sets the Status of Requirement A to Complete.
Note: Other attributes indicate the degree of "done-ness" of the artifact. For example, a Status attribute can be set to Complete when a requirement has been completely defined, designed, coded, and tested.
About project documentation
The subpage for each stage in the CollabNet Baseline Project template displays links to project documentation and documentation templates. For example, the subpage for Definition contains a template for a use case. A team member can download the template, create a use case based on the template, and add the completed use case to the Definition subpage.
Note: The project owner may be the person responsible for adding completed project documents to the subpage for the relevant stage.