Tracking Releases

The Release Metrics view summarizes work items that directly impact your progress toward achieving your milestones. Use this information to help you plan possible future resource needs, identify trends, determine software quality, and help predict velocity.

View the big picture of your work items, categorized by iterations, and assess your progress by viewing such iteration statistics as the:

• Number of work items accepted
• Total number of work items scheduled
• Total amount of resources per iteration
• Amount of accepted units of all scheduled work items per iteration
• Percentage of accepted units of all scheduled work items (accepted divided by plan estimate) per iteration
• Remaining amount of work to be completed (represented as total of remaining to do units for all scheduled work items per iteration)
• Number of test cases that have passed test execution
• Total number of test cases that have been executed
• Number of existing defects in an open state
• Total number of defects logged
• Totals for individual iterations are displayed under the respective column headings on each iteration row

Using the Release Metrics view, you can:

• Select a release from the drop-down list. You can also scroll through all existing releases by using the directional arrows on each side of the release drop-down box. The state of the selected release is displayed adjacent to the release drop-down box.
• Click any iteration listed in the summary view to navigate to the Iteration Detail view.
• Sort iterations in ascending or descending order.
• Edit the selected release by clicking the Actions button, then the Edit Release option.
• View the velocity metrics of any indicated release by selecting this option from the Actions button. An Excel spreadsheet containing historical iteration metrics is provided to help you predict and track your velocity for all iterations contained within the select release.

Use the Release Defect Status view to assess all work items scheduled for the selected release and any related active defects and defect suites. Defects are considered active if they are in the open, or fixed state (non-closed). The Release Defects Status view makes it easy to assess and locate the total number of active defects based on priority and severity as you move toward completing releases.

When using a project hierarchy, this view reflects any view scoping settings that you have indicated in the project drop-down list box. All charts and columns display the cumulative totals for all projects that have the same release name and end date.

Select a release from the drop-down list, or scroll through all listed releases by clicking the previous and next arrows adjacent to the drop-down list. Expand the scheduled items to display all active defects associated to a work item in a hierarchical view.

This view provides a colored release indicator box with critical release information. Click anywhere on the mini burndown chart to display the full-sized Release Burndown chart.

Click the Actions button to access a series of submenu activities. The activities available vary based on the summary view accessed.

Column headers

Use the columns of the Release Status Defect Summary view to do the following:

• All: Expand or collapse all work items by clicking the + or - sign in the All column.
• Rank: Establishes the priority of the work item.
• ID: Quickly locate a specific work item by typing its number directly into the ID# text box. The following delimiters can refine your ID search: <= , >= , = , < , >.
• Status: The color-coded display gives a quick assessment of each work item assigned to the release. When you expand a work item you see all related tasks shown in a hierarchical display with the same color-coded state display of each task.
• Priority and Severity: If there are associated defects, these columns display the total number of high priority (P1: P2) or high severity (S1:S2) defects that are associated with the work item. When the work item entry is expanded, all active defects, regardless of priority or severity, are displayed underneath the work item. If there are no active defects associated with the work item, No Defects displays in the respective column.
• Filter your work items using attributes such as Iteration, Status, and Owner.
• Sort on the Rank, ID, Name, Iteration, State, Project, and Owner attributes of each work item displayed in the view.

Row actions

You can perform the following actions on each row of the Release Status Defect Summary view:

• Click the hyperlinked attributes of ID, Name, Schedule Note or iteration to go to the detail of the work items, or defect.
• View predecessor and successor relationships by hovering over the related inline icon.
• The icon indicates that drag-and-drop ranking is available for the associated defect. Select the defect and prioritize it by dragging it up or down relative to other work items on the page.
• Inline edit a work item, or a defect by double clicking within the highlighted row. If you have not enabled the Defect Module for your Subscription, you can still inline add a defect by clicking the icon from this view, but you cannot manage them from the Defects page.

Use the Release Task Status view to assess work items and their related tasks scheduled for the selected release. Select a release from the drop-down list, or scroll through all listed releases by clicking the previous and next arrows adjacent to the drop-down list.

If you are using a project hierarchy, this view reflects any view scoping settings that you have indicated in the project drop-down list box. All charts and columns display the cumulative totals for all projects that have the same release name and end date.

This view a colored release indicator box with critical release information. Click anywhere on the mini burndown chart to display the full-sized Release Burndown chart.

Click the Actions button to access a series of submenu activities that can be performed within the displayed summary view. The activities available vary based on the Summary view being accessed.

Column headers

Use the columns of the Release Status Task Summary view to do the following:

• All: Expand or collapse all work items scheduled into the displayed Release by clicking the + or - sign in the All column.
• Rank: Establishes the priority of the work item.
• ID: Quickly locate a specific work items by typing its number directly into the ID# text box. The following delimiters can refine your ID search: <= , >= , = , < , >.
• Plan Est: The automatic calculation or roll up of plan estimates for all for work items scheduled into the displayed release. Each work item in the view displays the individual plan estimate under this column header. Note the label icon on the column header. The first letter of your defined unit is displayed and the icon color matches those bars that measure plan estimate in the mini-burndown chart.
• Task Est: The automatic calculation or roll up of task estimates for all tasks in the selected release. Expand the view and each task in the view displays the individual task estimate under this column header. All tasks for the work items scheduled into the displayed release are totaled and displayed on the work item row. Note the label icon on the column header. The first letter of your defined unit is displayed and the icon color matches those bars that measure task estimate in the mini-burndown chart.
• To do: The automatic calculation or roll up of to do estimates for all tasks in the selected release. Expand the view and each task in the view displays the individual to do estimate under this column header. All to dos for all tasks of a work item scheduled into the displayed release are totaled and displayed on the work item row.
• Status: The color-coded display gives a quick assessment of each work item scheduled into the displayed release. When you expand a work item you see all related tasks shown in a hierarchical display with the same color coded state display of each task. Sorting on the Status field will return a display of the work items states in the following order: custom1, defined, in-progress, completed, accepted, custom2.
• Failed test cases : Easily identify the current testing effort and quality of each work item scheduled into the displayed release. Click the Failed Test Cases number for each work item, and the Release Test Case Status page displays with the work item expanded to display the associated test cases.
• Filter your work items using attributes such as Iteration, Status, and Owner. To get accurate available information for all work items in the release remember to clear all filters. All other filter settings are used as what-if scenarios.
• Sort on the Rank, ID, Name, iteration, Plan Est, Task Est, To do, State, Project, and Owner attributes of each work item displayed in the view.

Row actions

You can perform the following actions on each row of the Release Status Task Summary View:

• Click the hyperlinked attributes of ID, Name, Schedule Note, or Iteration to go to the detail of the related artifact.
• View predecessor and successor relationships by hovering over the related inline icon.
• Use the icon for drag-and-drop ranking is available for the associated work item. Select the work item by clicking anywhere on the line, and prioritize it by dragging it up or down relative to other work items on the page.
• Inline edit a work item or task by double clicking within the highlighted row.

Use the Release Test Case Status view to assess work items and their related test cases scheduled for the selected release. Select a release from the drop-down list, or scroll through all listed releases by clicking the previous and next arrows adjacent to the drop-down list.

When using a project hierarchy, this view reflects any view scoping settings that you have indicated in the project drop-down list box. All charts and columns display the cumulative totals for all Projects that have the same release name and end date.

This view provides a colored release indicator box with critical release information. Click anywhere on the mini burndown chart to display the full-sized Release Burndown chart.

Click the Actions button to access a series of submenu activities that can be performed within the displayed summary view. The activities available vary based on the Summary view being accessed.

Column headers

Use the columns of the Release Test Case Status Summary view to do the following:

• All: Expand or collapse all work items scheduled to the selected release by clicking the + or - sign in the All column. Expand the work item and view test cases and their related test case results in a hierarchical display with their individual result.
• ID: Quickly locate a specific work item by typing its number directly into the ID# text box. The following delimiters can refine your ID search: <= , >= , = , < , >.
• State: The color-coded display gives a quick assessment of each work item scheduled to the selected release.
• Last Verdict: The total number of test cases that have passed out of the total number of all test cases for the individual work item. In the expanded view you can see the last verdict for each test case, the last build of the application that was tested and when each test case was last run or executed.
• Active Defects : Assess the number of active defects (those defects that have not been closed) per work item scheduled to the selected release. Click the Active Defects value and you navigate to the Release Defect Status display with the work item expanded and all active defects shown in a hierarchical display.
• Filter your work items using attributes such as Iteration, Status and Owner.
• Sort the attributes of each work item displayed in the view such as Rank, ID, Name, Iteration, State, Project, and Owner.

Row actions

You can perform the following actions on each row of the Release Status Test Case Summary view:

• Click the hyperlinked attributes of ID, Name, Schedule Note, or Iteration to go to the detail of the related artifact.
• View predecessor and successor relationships by hovering over the related inline icon.
• Use the icon for drag-and-drop ranking. Select the test case and prioritize it by dragging it up or down relative to other work items on the page.
• Inline edit a work item or test case by double clicking within the highlighted row.
• The icons available will vary depending upon the modules your subscription has enabled. If you have not enabled the Test Case Module for your subscription, you can still inline add a test case by clicking the icon from this view, but you cannot manage them from the Test Cases page.