Administering Projects and Lifecycles

Administering Projects and Lifecycles

This section contains the following topics:

How to Define a Lifecycle

Lifecycle Considerations

Create a Project

Copy Project

How to Organize Projects

Create a Working View

Create a State

Reorder States in a Project Lifecycle

Define a Process

Configure Baseline

Create a Snapshot View

Project Lifecycle Diagram

Reports

How to Define a Lifecycle

The order in which you perform the activities to define a lifecycle may vary, but the following basic steps are ordered to make it easy to follow and quick to set up a software development lifecycle:

1. Plan the lifecycle.
2. Create user groups and users.
3. Create a project.

   We recommend that you base your project on an existing one, or on a lifecycle template by copying it and then editing it.

4. Create working views.
5. Create the lifecycle states.
6. Define the lifecycle processes.

   The promote and demote processes depend on the existence of a target state; therefore, define all the states first, and then the processes.

7. Create a repository.
8. Load the repository.
9. Configure the baseline.
10. Set access permissions for the various project objects.
11. (Optional) Set up the mail utilities for notifications.
12. (Optional) Create custom form types.

Lifecycle Considerations

Analyzing your current software development and maintenance activities and mapping them into a lifecycle is a crucial first step to implementing CA Harvest SCM successfully. Consider the following questions and plan your lifecycle on paper before attempting to set it up in CA Harvest SCM.

• How many functional groups are involved in the lifecycle? Of these groups, which must have their activities isolated from one another and which can share a common working area?
• How many separate phases of development can you identify? At what point are approvals required and from whom? Who should be notified when a change is ready to move from one phase to another?
• What activities take place in each separate phase of development and who must do them?
• How is problem tracking be used with development? Do problems have their own lifecycle in a support project or are they created in a development project?

Create a Project

The Project Properties dialog lets you create a project.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Right-click Active Projects, Inactive Projects or Lifecycle Templates, and select New Project from the shortcut menu.

   The Project Properties dialog appears.

3. Define the properties of the project.

   Name

   Names the project.

   Active

   Specifies whether the project is active and usable. For a new project, this option is enabled by default. The new project shows in the Active Projects folder.

   Inactive

   Specifies whether the project is inactive. The new project shows in the Inactive Projects folder.

   Create User Group

   Creates a user group with the same name as the project and assigns “use”access for the project. If such a user group exists, project creation succeeds by assigning “Use”access to the existing user group and the output log shows a warning message that says that the group exists. This option is disabled for update or delete project operations.

4. Click Apply.

   Saves the project definition, but does not close the dialog.

5. Click the Access tab and set access for the project. Click OK.

   The project is created and appears in the Lifecycles tab.

Copy Project

The Copy Project dialog lets you copy a project and select a destination folder for it.

The following properties are copied when you copy a project:

• Access (if it is selected on the Copy Project dialog)
• Note
• Package group notes
• Package groups
• Process access
• Process notes
• State notes
• State processes
• State views
• States
• Working views

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Right-click the project or template you want to copy, and select Copy To from the shortcut menu.

   The Copy Project dialog appears.

3. Name the project, and select the destination folder from the Copy To drop‑down list.
4. (Optional) If you want access control duplicated, select the Duplicate Access Control check box. Click OK.

   The project is duplicated in the destination folder.

How to Organize Projects

The Lifecycles tab on the Administrator application includes the following folders that let you organize your projects:

• Active Projects—Contains all projects that are designated as active, but not as templates.
• Inactive Projects—Contains all projects that are not designated as active or as templates.
• Lifecycle Templates—Contains all projects that are designated as templates.

Project status determines the folder location of the project.

To organize projects, select the project that you want to move to a different folder and use its Properties to assign a different status.

The project is moved to the appropriate folder (Active, Inactive, or Lifecycle Templates) in the Lifecycles tab.

Change Project Status

The Lifecycles tab on the Administrator application contains three folders-Active Projects, Inactive Projects, and Lifecycle Templates. Project status determines the folder location of the project. The Project Properties dialog lets you change project status.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Right-click the project that you want to change, and select Properties from the shortcut menu.

   The Project Properties dialog appears.

3. In the Project Attribute field, select the attribute (status) that you want to enable. Click OK.

   The project status is changed and the project is moved to the appropriate folder (Active, Inactive, or Lifecycle Templates) in the Lifecycles tab.

Create a Working View

The Working View Properties dialog lets you name a working view.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Navigate to the Data Views folder for your project, right-click the Working Views folder, and select New Working View from the shortcut menu.

   The Working View Properties dialog appears.

3. Name the view, and Click OK.

   The working view is created and appears in the Lifecycles tab.

Create a State

The State Properties dialog lets you create and define a state. The dialog also lets you view modify state attributes.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Right-click the States folder, and select New State from the shortcut menu.

   The State Properties dialog appears.

3. Define the properties of the state.

   Name

   Names the state. Each state in a project must have a unique name.

   View

   Shows all the currently defined working views in the project. To associate the state with a particular view, select the view from this list.

   All Snapshot

   Accesses all snapshots in a project in a read-only mode. This option automatically disables the View drop-down list and all processes that are used to update items this state.

4. Click Apply.

   Saves the state definition, but does not close the dialog.

5. Click the Access tab and set access for the state. Click OK.

   The state is created and appears in the Lifecycles tab.

Reorder States in a Project Lifecycle

The Project Properties dialog lets you reorder states in a project lifecycle.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Right-click the project that has the states you want to reorder, and select Project Properties from the shortcut menu.

   The Project Properties dialog appears.

3. Click the State Order tab.

   The project states are listed the Change State Display Order field.

4. Select the state you want to reorder and use the arrow icons to move the state up or down in the project lifecycle.

   A numbered sequence column identifies the order of the states and the states' associated views are listed.

5. Click OK.

   The updated state order shows in the workspace and the list view.

Define a Process

The processes defined for a state determine what activities users can perform in that state. Each process type has its own associated Properties dialog. The Properties dialogs let you define processes and establish default values for them.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Navigate to the state in which you want to create the process, right-click the Processes folder, and select New, process name from the shortcut menu.

   The Properties dialog appears.

3. Define the properties of the process and click Apply.

   Saves the process definition, but does not close the dialog.

4. Click the Access tab and set access for the process. Click OK.

   The process is created and appears in the Processes folder.

More information:

How to Define a Lifecycle

Add a Process Note

You can enter comments or instructions to the process execution dialog that are helpful to users executing processes.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Navigate to the process for which you want to add a note, right-click the process, and select Properties from the shortcut menu.

   The Properties dialog appears.

3. Click the Note tab and enter any comments or instructions that would be helpful to users executing the process. Click OK.

   When a user executes the process, the user can view the note, but not change it without the proper access.

Configure Baseline

When you create a project, it automatically contains an empty baseline. The name baseline is a reserved name; no other view can have this name. An administrator must specify the repositories to include in the baseline. The repositories contain the physical data items that CA Harvest SCM controls. The Configure Baseline dialog lets you configure a baseline.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Navigate to the Data Views folder for your project, right-click Baseline, and select Configure Baseline from the shortcut menu.

   The Configure Baseline dialog appears.

3. Complete the dialog fields:

   View Type

   Lists the available repositories of that type after you select a view type from the drop-down list.

   • ALL—Selects all repositories or a limited set as the starting point for this new development.
   • Base—Accesses a new repository that has been loaded. CA Harvest SCM automatically creates this view to reflect the repository before changes are made to it.
   • Snapshot—Specifies a snapshot view. When a baseline is defined, you can select from among the global snapshot views available as the starting point for further development. These global snapshots typically represent significant points in an application's history, such as a release. After you select a snapshot view, the repositories that the snapshot includes are listed. Although these repositories have the same names as those included in the Base view, the items in that repository are the versions included in that snapshot view when it was created, and not in the original version of the repository.

   Available Repository/View List

   Lists repositories that are associated with your server and are available to add to the baseline.

   The first entry in the list is Base. Selecting Base returns a list of all available repositories in their original condition to the Available Repository/View List, where you can select them for inclusion in the baseline.

   If any repositories have been added to the baseline of the current project, their names are displayed in this list. Selecting repositories from the list and clicking Add shows your selection in the Selected Repository List.

   Important! You can add more repositories to the baseline at any time; however, after development has begun in a project and items have been changed, you cannot remove a repository from the baseline.

   Selected Repository List

   Displays your repository selections in a list. Remove is enabled when a repository or a directory in this list is selected. Select a repository or a directory, and click Remove to remove the selection from the baseline. If a repository has been changed in this project, it cannot be removed from the baseline.

   Read/Write or Read Only

   Works with the Selected Repository List and lets you change the access type of a repository. When you select a repository in the Selected Repository List, the access type of your selection enables this option. To change the access type of a repository, select the repository in the Selected Repository List, and click this button.

   Click OK.

   The baseline is configured and appears in the Lifecycles tab.

Delete a Baseline

You can delete a baseline if none of its items have been changed.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Navigate to the Data Views folder for your project, right-click the Baseline you want to delete, and select Delete from the shortcut menu.

   A confirmation dialog appears.

3. Click Yes.

   The baseline is deleted and no longer appears in the Lifecycles tab.

Create a Snapshot View

The Snapshot View Properties dialog lets you define a snapshot view. Consider the following rules when create a snapshot view:

• You cannot take a snapshot if the parent view has any reserved or merge-tagged versions. Reserved versions must be checked in and merged versions must be resolved before taking the snapshot.
• Branch versions are never included in a snapshot because they do not affect views.
• You can only modify the Visible to Other Projects option in the snapshot view properties. The From View and As of Date values are set at creation time.

Follow these steps:

1. Click the Lifecycles tab of the Administrator application.
2. Navigate to the Data Views folder for your project, right-click the Snapshot Views folder, and select New Snapshot View from the shortcut menu.

   The Snapshot View Properties dialog appears.

3. Name the view and define it:

   From View

   Specifies the view on which it is based—because a snapshot is a read-only image of a working view. The snapshot is based on versions of items in this working view. You select a parent view from the list of working views available on this drop-down list.

   Visible to Other Projects

   Makes the snapshot view visible to other projects. You can include these snapshots in the baseline of other projects. When you copy a snapshot to the repository, it is automatically visible to other projects. (Working views are part of a project and are only accessible from within it.)

   Latest Versions

   Includes the latest versions of the current working view in the snapshot view.

   As of Modified Version Date

   Specifies a date and time. You can use the drop-down lists or accept the current date and time defaults. The take snapshot process captures versions in the current working view that were modified before or on the specified date and time.

   Important! This behavior deviates from AllFusion Harvest Change Manager 4.x. The date and time are compared with the version modification time. This option does not refer to the date and time that versions were present in the working view. For a description of how to simulate AllFusion Harvest Change Manager 4.x behavior, see tech note TEC293284 at http://ca.com/support. AllFusion Harvest Change Manager 4 is no longer supported; however, we provide this information as a courtesy to our AllFusion Harvest Change Manager 4 clients. For information about CA policy for unsupported products, see http://ca.com/support or contact your Account Representative.

   Click OK.

   The snapshot view is created and appears in the Lifecycles tab.

Project Lifecycle Diagram

The Project Lifecycle diagram gives you a graphical view of a project lifecycle and lets administrators modify lifecycles. The diagram lets you easily determine the relationship of states and the impact of connections between them including promote, demote, and approval processes. The graphical layout diagram reflects any changes that administrators make to a project lifecycle.

The Project Lifecycle diagram works in the following ways:

• You can reorganize the layout by dragging a state box to a new position. When you drag a state box, all of its attached connections also move.
• You can view or modify state or process properties by double-clicking the respective box or line; modifications are reflected in the Administrator application.
• A shortcut menu provides you with options to Zoom, and Save as JPG.

You can access the Project Lifecycle Diagram from the Workbench or the Administrator application. On the CA Harvest SCM Web Interface, you can access the Project Lifecycle diagram from the Project Properties Lifecycle tab page. To display or update your lifecycle diagrams in the Web Interface, an administrator must perform setup steps.

Note: For information about setting up lifecycle diagrams in the Web Interface, see the Implementation Guide.

Project states are depicted as boxes with a colored bar across the top that indicates the View type. The name of the state and view are also shown on the box. If the state has an approve process, an approval icon shows in the lower right corner of the box.

CA Harvest SCM promote and demote processes are represented as connecting, directed lines. A double arrowhead indicates multiple promote processes, multiple demote processes, or whether both a promote process and a demote process exist between two states with the transition in the same direction (same from-state and same to-state). The double arrowhead exists in the latter case even if only a promote process or only a demote process shows. Both pre-linked and post-linked notify and user-defined processes are shown as icons on the transitions.

Reports

Using the Reports menu, you can generate SCM-level and project-level reports. Initially all project-level report options are disabled, you must click a project to activate the reports options. In addition, if you do not have access privileges the option is disabled. You can also access the project-level report options from project shortcut menu. All reports display in the output log unformatted.

The Administrator application reports incorporate project management information from CA Harvest SCM. These reports let you quickly determine a project's progress. The reports provide information about project access and process activities. You can locate problem areas quickly to identify and isolate small problems before they become critical.

The following table lists the Administrator application reports and provides a brief description of each report.