ClearDDTS 4.0 integrates the former PureDDTS 3.x and WebTracker 1.x products and presents the web as the primary interface for the ClearDDTS defect database. Also, many smaller enhancements have been made and bugs have been fixed. See the file "BUGFIXES" in the ddts home directory for a detailed list of resolved bugs.
This file contains the following sections:
Much has happened to Pure Software in the last year. We have merged with Atria and Rational Software Corporation and are now known as Rational Software Corporation. The product has been aligned with ClearCase in integration, sales, and support. As a result the product name has been changed to ClearDDTS to avoid confusion with the developer tools such as Purify. Some Rational documentation may refer to ClearDDTS as PureDDTS.
2. Compatibility and UpgradesThis release is fully backwards compatible with 3.3. In addition, it supports all the 3.1 commands and is fully interoperable with 3.x sites. This means your 4.0 server can be connected via adminbug conn to any 3.x server.
Customers running versions earlier than 3.1.0 should NOT use this release to upgrade directly. Instead, please contact Rational Technical Support at (408) 863-4000 for special instructions. You can determine which version of ClearDDTS you have by executing the command "whichddts".
3. Platforms SupportedClearDDTS release 4.0 formally supports the following platforms:
The original WebTracker interface has been improved and incorporated into the ClearDDTS product as the primary user interface. This interface, webddts, enhances the former dual product integration in several areas. Using the webddts gives access to point and click modification and full use of the robust GUI objects available in HTML.
Much user feedback was incorporated and implemented using the latest technology in frames and JavaScript. The toolbar/index/record layout gives a much more intuitive look and feel to the product as well as reducing the number of times the 'Back' button is needed. Context sensitive on-line help in a separate browser window adds to the standard interface for our PC/Windows users.
We have added support for query by form using the GUI objects present in the database submission forms. This allows the user to use choicelists and checkboxes when querying on constrained fields such as Enhancement and Severity. The simple query form was enhanced for usability and made more robust. For our power users, raw text queries can also be entered. All queries can be saved for later use and given a symbolic name by the users for quick reference. Finally, a way to query a specific defect record by its identifier has been added to the main tool bar.
The webddts interface reads its configuration from the class directories much the same way as the other interfaces "xddts" and "bugs". It was re-implemented to generate HTML directly from the master.tmpl file and also to perform database updates using the master.tmpl validation logic. The administrator is no longer required to duplicate changes for WebTracker. Refer to the ClearDDTS Administrator's Guide for limitations in HTML and the affect on the new web interface.
If a field's oneof file is dependent upon the value of another field, that picklist will automatically change in the web interface. For instance, if the picklist for the Software field is dependent on the value for the Project field, that choice list on the form will change whenever the Project choice list is modified. Note that this requires the use of JavaScript and that the current version of Internet Explorer does not support this correctly.
Much of the functionality of the X interface has been included in the web interface. Specifically, webddts now supports forwarding, cloning, and parent-child linking.
This section describes the changes to the user-customizable portions of ClearDDTS, specifically to the master.tmpl file, to support the webddts user interface. If you are upgrading from 3.x we recommend that you read this section.
In the previous TTY and X interfaces the layout of the form was controlled by cursor addressing in the prompt strings. This technology does not map well to the more GUI-oriented HTML forms. Instead, the layout is in the order of the master.tmpl file. This can be modified by grouping fields into related sections.
This grouping is configured through the use of the command "set" with the first argument "group-fields". There are examples of this usage in the master.tmpl file in the software class shipped with the product. Look in the NEWCLEARDDTS/class/software directory for this file. A more complete discussion is available in the ClearDDTS Administrator's Guide.
wtform reads the master.tmpl file with the OPERATION variable set to the appropriate action to generate the correct HTML form for input. This works well for the modify and state change operations. However, during query by form the user may want to query on fields which are only displayed in addition to normal input fields. For example, the Last-mod and Submitted-on fields are not editable but often used in queries. This requires the operations of p, m, and v to be used during form generation.
One side effect of this is that certain fields have labels which are very cryptic during view mode. For instance, the Headline field does not display a label during view but instead inserts double quotes around the field value. This causes the Query by Form to generate what seems to be an incorrect label for that field, making the form hard to understand.
Additionally, on default fields such as Submitted-on, there is no validation logic to determine the field type. There are other instances in which complex logic is used to generate field labels and types which cannot be correctly translated into static HTML pages.
To solve this issue and create a workable interface for both the web users and X/TTY users, we have added a new filter called "www". Used with the "if" command, you can effectively control the output of the HTML forms generator when complex logic is used. We have used this in several fields in our default master.tmpl file, specifically in the Headline, Submitted-on, Software, and Resolved-on fields. You can refer to the master.tmpl file in NEWCLEARDDTS/class/software as well as the ClearDDTS Administrator's Guide for exact syntax.
One specific issue that may affect your user community is the partial support of the "goto" command. If a goto command is conditionalized on any field (other than the STATE and OPERATION variables) it will not be executed. In version 3.3 of the software class this was used to implement negative verification with the "Verify-check" field. This was changed to use the conditional to protect the Verified-on field instead of using goto to "jump over" it.
A more complete description of the interaction of the HTML generation tools (wtform and wttmpl) and your master.tmpl files is available in the form of a white paper. To further your understanding of this issue, contact Rational to request the white paper.
If you have made extensive customizations to your WebTracker interface, it is possible to temporarily run the old version and the ClearDDTS webddts interface simultaneously. For instructions on how to set this up, contact Rational.
A problem exists with using the SQL single character wildcard '_' for searching the database. If your search string contains an underscore ( '_' ) character and a partial match is found prior to a complete match, the database server will incorrectly not match the record. You can use '%' to match zero or more characters, but this may return extra records.
ClearDDTS supports SQL statements like INSERT, DELETE, and UPDATE. This is how our database daemons update the online database. However since all data is also kept in flat files, all data changes must happen in both places. All of the PureDDTS programs do this by using the above statements and then updating the flat files automatically.
Please be advised that if you use the INSERT, DELETE, and UPDATE statements directly without also updating the flat files, all your changes will eventually be lost. As a general rule you should use our client programs (xddts, bugs, batchbug) for database updates and limit your use of the ddtssql program to the SELECT statement only.
The SoftBench integration is no longer supported. Programs that integrate with the SoftBench 5.0 version for HP are still shipped but their use is unsupported. Please use these files at your own risk.
The software, software.CP, and hardware class master template files have been optimized to work with the web interface, webddts. Other classes will be supported in the future. If you use an unsupported class with webddts you may not see all the fields you expect, or see unusual page layout.
Querying for a large number of defects (thousands at a time) can cause the HTTPd server to time out. In this case, the query reports that the "document contains no data". Try using search criteria to limit the scope of your search and try again.
If you create fields in the master.tmpl file that exist in the bugmail program, the value of those fields is deleted when bugmail sends out e-mail notifications. To avoid this, do not create fields such as "Subject", "From", or "To" in the master.tmpl file as these are commonly found as part of e-mail messages.
Quotation marks (") in enclosure titles cannot be interpreted corrected and result in loss of data in the enclosure. In general, avoid using special characters when naming enclosures. Use basic alphanumeric characters such as 0-9, A-Z, periods, commas, hyphens, and underscores.
This release does not support the use of $~ for the oneof argument for the web interface. This can be worked around by using the Oneof-path or by expanding the $~ in your master.tmpl file. For an example of the Oneof-path change, refer to the sample software master.tmpl file in the Begin field and the Forward state.
Certain standard frames and JavaScript code is not always handled correctly with Internet Explorer. Specifically, changing your user defaults may sometimes bring up a second tool bar temporarily. The next action you perform will correct the page layout.
Dependent picklists are implemented in JavaScript by changing the attributes of form objects. However, this functionality is not currently supported by the Internet Explorer 3.0 browser. Therefore, these fields are treated as plain text in this environment. The dependent validation is performed before database submission (after the user presses the Submit button on the form).
Contact your local Technical Support center.