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More on Rational Summit/TM Concepts

This section describes the special concepts and terminology used by Rational Summit/TM. The information is presented without getting into the details of how these ideas are represented or implemented. For that level of detail, please see Using Rational Summit/TM .

Task
A task is the primary form of partitioning, allocating, scheduling, and monitoring work. As the fundamental object of Rational Summit/TM, it represents a unit of work being tracked. (Note that a Rational Summit/TM task is not related in any way to an Ada task.)
Task Id
A task id is just a simple name for a particular task. This name enables the task to be uniquely identified within its task domain.
Task List
A task list is simply a file containing a list of tasks identified by their full pathnames.
Current Task List
The current task list is a special list maintained by Rational Summit/TM. This list is used as the default value for many dialogs that call for a task argument.
To Do Task List
The "to do" task list is another special task list where users can remember the tasks that they are interested in. The "to do" task list defines the list of tasks displayed when the Alternatives icon of a task entry field is selected in the graphical user interface.
Task Query
A task query is a task-search specification written in the Summit/TM task query language. Task queries are used to find tasks meeting specified criteria.
Task Domain
A task domain is a place to store a collection of related tasks. Typically, a given task domain is used to manage the tasks associated with a particular project (or business unit).
Task Domain Path
The task domain path is a list of the task domains that a given user is interested in and can have zero or more entries. It is maintained in the environment variable APEX_TASK_DOMAIN_PATH.
Default Task Domain
The default task domain is the first domain on the task domain path. It is used as the default value in many dialogs that call for a task domain argument.
Task Domain Kind Path
A task domain kind path identifies the kinds of tasks that can be created within a particular task domain.
Task Kind
A task kind is a collection of information describing the attributes and dynamic behavior of a task, as well as dialogs which may be used to edit a task.
Task Field
A task field is an attribute or property of a task. A task kind actually defines a task field, giving its name and data type. A task references a field by name and associates with it a value of the corresponding type.
Task Field Type
Types of task fields. These can be simple task field types such as date, enum, fixed, float, int, path, state, string, task_path, text and version, or can contain a list of values of a particular simple type.
Pre-defined Task Fields
These task fieldse have a special relationship with Rational Summit/TM and should be included in every task kind field list definition. These fields affect the behavior of one or more Rational Summit/TM commands. Unless described otherwise, these fields are never modified once a task is created. In any case, they cannot be directly modified by the user.
Default Fields
Summit/TM provides commands that display selected fields for a set of tasks. Some commands allow the user to explicitly specify which fields are displayed. In the absence of such a specification, the default fields for the task kind are displayed. The default fields for a task kind may be specified in the user's ~/.Rational directory and in the task kind itself. The user's preferred default fields (defined in his ~/.Rational directory) take precedence over those in the task kind. When no specification exists for the default fields, the default fields are Id, State, Priority, Assigned and Summary.
Task Id Generation Policy
The task id generation policy defines how a name is chosen for a new task. There is a default policy that is used in the absence of a user-defined policy for the task kind. Task kind policy switches are described in detail in the Rational Summit/TM Customization Guide.
State Machine
A state machine is basically a description of the dynamic life cycle of a task identifying the phases a task passes through from its inception to its completion. Such a machine enables one to monitor the progress of a task and direct its flow through the process established to make the business activity more efficient and thereby more productive.
State
A state is a point in a task's life cycle, identifying via a state machine what a task has probably already been through and where it is likely headed and what must be done to get it there.
Role
A role is a name given to a collection of users who are responsible for particular activities in the life cycle of a task. Currently, roles can only be used to control which users are allowed to make certain state transitions in a task's state machine.
Action
An action is just a list of commands that are executed. These commands can be anything that can be done in a command shell.
Task Template
A task template is a handy way to define the initial values for a newly created task's fields.
Template Path
A template path is simply the list of task templates that a given task kind has established for the initialization of its newly created tasks. The first such template is the one that will be used in the default case.
Task Editor
A task editor is a dialog that is used to present detailed information about a task from the graphical user interface. It is not available through the command line interface. The task editor used to view a task determines which fields (and associated values) are displayed and what formats are used. .
Task Editor Policy
The task editor policy determines which task editor to use to view a task's current data.


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