Managing Requirement Reviews with TestTrack RM

By Amy Kearns, Seapine Software

Whether you need feedback from a software architect or final approval from a project stakeholder, TestTrack RM's flexible reviewing options help your team successfully manage requirement reviews.

Capturing requirement feedback is one of the most critical aspects of the requirements management process because it helps ensure that requirements are complete and that project team members agree on what will be delivered before implementation begins. Review participation from team members is essential to help eliminate costly rework and schedule delays during a project caused by incorrect, ambiguous, or missing requirements, unforeseen risks, or incorrect assumptions.

Understanding TestTrack RM's reviewing features can help you choose the optimal way for your team to request and capture review feedback. Before you formalize your review process, plan to spend time exploring and using TestTrack RM's reviewing features.

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Launching Microsoft Outlook with the Surround SCM API

Surround SCM 2010 includes an open API that enables you to programmatically access the Surround SCM Server. If you're looking for examples, API and plug-in samples are available in the Seapine Labs.

One particularly useful plug-in sample uses the Microsoft Outlook Interop interface to launch an email message with the local file attached. For example, your process dictates that changes to source code files must be reviewed before you check the files into Surround SCM.

You can automate the email process with the Outlook plug-in. When you right-click a file, it calls Outlook, creates a new mail item, and automatically attaches the local copy of the file.

An Apple Mail sample is also available for Mac users.

Tech Note: License Usage Logging and Reporting

You can log Surround SCM and TestTrack license usage if you use Seapine License Server 2010.1 or later. License usage data can help you analyze and understand how named and floating licenses are used. For example, you can determine who is using licenses, how long licenses are in use, and peak usage times. This information can help you determine the best way to assign licenses for optimal use, the best time for maintenance down time, and more.

To capture license usage data, you need to enable logging on the Seapine License Server. In the Seapine License Server Admin Utility, choose View > Server Options. Select the Log category and then select the ‘Log license usage’ option.

To view the logged data, use an external reporting tool that is compatible with the type of license server database you are using. For example, if you use a SQL Server database, you can use SQL Server Reporting Services to create a license usage report similar to the following example:

The License Usage Dashboard article in the Seapine Labs includes more information and additional samples.

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Visit www.seapine.com/kb to browse the knowledgebase.

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