For those with World Wide Web access, HTML versions of these documents are available via: http://www.iac.honeywell.com/Pub/Tech/CM/index.html
Not Official Statements Please use the summary below in the spirit with which it has been supplied: for information only. These statements are composites and *do not* represent official positions by any particular responder's company. Remember that these users may not be commenting on the current version of a product. It is recommended that you do your own research before making a tool decision for your company. Sharing Of Information This document, as a collection of information, is Copyright (c) 1994 by David W. Eaton. It may be freely redistributed in its entirety provided that this copyright notice is not removed. It may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without the written permission of the copyright holder. This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. The content is the sole responsibility of the author and contributors, and does not necessarily represent the position of their employers nor an official position or opinion of Honeywell, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Newsgroups line: comp.software.config-mgmt Configuration management, tools and procedures. CHARTER Comp.software.config-mgmt is intended to be a forum for discussions issues related to configuration management (CM), both the bureaucratic procedures and the tools used to implement CM strategies. CM is a corner-stone in software development, and has a very broad spectrum. For small shops developing non-critical products, perhaps all you need is RCS or SCCS and some makefiles. For large or safety-critical systems, a more sophisticated process and implementation may be required - possibly one integrated with change management and problem management. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** What's New this Month? ** 1. An HTML format version is available via: http://www.iac.honeywell.com/Pub/Tech/CM/index.html While there have been other topics discussed in this newsgroup, I tried to pull together some highlights here. All comments, content and format suggestions, and submissions for future versions are welcomed. This version is cross posted to comp.answers and news.answers and is archived at the usual public archive sites for *.answers FAQs. Please send your comments and suggestions for improvements to: -- dwe@eng.iac.honeywell.com (David W. Eaton) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[ Table of Contents ]-- [1.0] =============== GENERAL QUESTIONS =============== [1.1] I have heard about this group (comp.software.config-mgmt) from cross-postings in other groups, but it's not in my news offering. How can I get it? [1.2] What is Configuration Management (CM)? [1.3] How does Problem Management relate to Configuration Management? [1.4] What Configuration Management tools are available? [1.5] What Problem Tracking tools are available? [1.6] What inexpensive (Unix-like) CM tools are available for a DOS platform? (Well-established shareware or relatively inexpensive vendor tools.) [1.7] Where else can I look for configuration management information? [2.0] =============== BOOKS ABOUT CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT =============== [2.1] _Software Configuration Management_ [2.2] _Software Engineering_, chapter 29, Configuration Management [2.3] _Software Configuration Management_ [2.4] _Methods and Tools for Software Configuration Management_ [2.5] _Software Configuration Management_ [2.6] _Configuration Management Tools: a Detailed Evaluation_ [2.7] _Software Management Technology Reference Guide_ [2.8] _Implementing Configuration Management: Hardware, Software and Firmware_ [3.0] =============== PRODUCT SPECIFIC QUESTIONS =============== [3.1] May I post specific questions about ClearCase here? [3.2] Is there a tutorial someplace on RCS? [3.3] It seems SCCS doesn't have a $Log$ like RCS does. Am I correct? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[ Topics ]-- [1.0] =============== GENERAL QUESTIONS =============== ----------------------------------------------------------------- [1.1] I have heard about this group (comp.software.config-mgmt) from cross-postings in other groups, but it's not in my news offering. How can I get it? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Talk to your local system administrator. All sites do not automatically create new groups as they are initiated. Also, some readers do not automatically show you all new groups as they become available at your site. Perhaps you have access and do not realize it. -------------------------------------- [1.2] What is Configuration Management (CM)? -------------------------------------- There are a number of different interpretations. For purposes of this newsgroup, we are talking about tracking and control of software development and its activities. Even within that scope there are different schools of thought: o Traditional Configuration Management - checkin/checkout control of sources (and sometimes binaries) and the ability to perform builds (or compiles) of the entities. Other functions may be included as well. o Process Management - control of the software development activities. For example, it might check to ensure that a change request existed and had been approved for fixing and that the associated design, documentation, and review activities have been completed before allowing the code to be "checked in" again. While process management and control are necessary for a repeatable, optimized development process, a solid configuration management foundation for that process is essential. --------------------------------------------------------------- [1.3] How does Problem Management relate to Configuration Management? --------------------------------------------------------------- Many organizations choose to integrate their problem management and classic configuration management tools to gain better control of their development activities and to improve quality. Problem management may include call tracking, problem tracking, and change management. These are described more completely in part 3 of this FAQ. -------------------------------------------------- [1.4] What Configuration Management tools are available? -------------------------------------------------- Check the list of free, public domain, and commercial vendor CM tools in part 2 of this FAQ, CM Tools Summary. -------------------------------------------- [1.5] What Problem Management tools are available? -------------------------------------------- Check the list of free, public domain, and commercial vendor problem management tools in part 3 of this FAQ, PM Tools Summary. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.6] What inexpensive (Unix-like) CM tools are available for a DOS platform? (Well established shareware or relatively inexpensive vendor tools.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Check the list of free and commercial vendor CM tools in part 2 of this FAQ, PM Tools Summary. --------------------------------------------------------------- [1.7] Where else can I look for configuration management information? --------------------------------------------------------------- Topics related to software configuration management are discussed in other newsgroups as well. One such group is: comp.software-eng Software Engineering Issues Its FAQ will direct you to other possibile groups to check, as well. Some products have their own e-mail lists to assist users. Check with your vendor. See information elsewhere in this FAQ about: cciug@atria.com ClearCase International User Group mailing list The Software Engineering Institute provides on-line CM information via the World Wide Web at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/tech/cmHomePage.html. [2.0] =============== BOOKS ABOUT CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT =============== (Hal Render maintains a bibliography of books and articles on SCM, version control, and related subjects. To request a copy, you may contact him at: render@massive.uccs.edu ) [2.1] _Software Configuration Management_ by Wayne A. Babich; Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1986 (The 'bible' on configuration management? Good, easy reading, nice examples, lots of topics) [2.2] _Software Engineering_, chapter 29, Configuration Management by Ian Sommerville; (a nice introduction to the topic) [2.3] _Software Configuration Management_ by H. Ronald Berlack; John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, New York, USA, 1992, ISBN 0-471-53049-2 [2.4] _Methods and Tools for Software Configuration Management_ by David Whitgift; John Wiley & Sons Ltd., West Sussex, England, 1991 [2.5] _Software Configuration Management_ by Edward H. Bersoff, Vilas D. Henderson and Stanley G. Siegel; Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1980 (a classic, but reportedly out of print) [2.6] _Configuration Management Tools: a Detailed Evaluation_ by P. Ingram, C. Burrows and I. Wesley; Ovum Ltd., 1 Mortimer Street, London W1N 7RH, England (Tel: +44 71 255 2670, Fax: +44 71 255 1995) (Ovum writes evaluation reports and charges a great deal of money for them (US $1345). Their argument is that they do all the legwork for you of evaluating a range of offerings; all you have to do is pay them the money, read the results, and buy the system/tool that is best for you. All well and good - if you agree with their evaluation methods and accept that their results will hold in your environment.) [2.7] _Software Management Technology Reference Guide_ Contact Software Management News at 73670.2227@compuserve.com to obtain copy. It list most of the current CM tools. [2.8] _Implementing Configuration Management: Hardware, Software and Firmware_ by Fletcher J. Buckley; IEEE Press, 1992. (discusses how CM principles can be applied to all areas of computer engineering, and not just software engineering) [2.9] _Configuration Management for Software_ by Stephen B. Compton and Guy R. Conner;Van Nostrand Reinhold; ISBN 0-442-01746-4 (Well thought out and easy reading. Good discussion of standards such as ISO900 and DOD2167A along with work sheets for managing the change. Lacking an automation approach. There is little discussion given regarding the adaptation of a process change. The glossary is very helpful and there is a good bibliography.) [3.0] =============== PRODUCT SPECIFIC QUESTIONS =============== --------------------------------------------------- [3.1] May I post specific questions about ClearCase here? --------------------------------------------------- Yes, you may post them here and are quite likely to get an answer. However, if the question is particularly detailed, you may have more luck with the ClearCase International User Group mailing list. To join that list, send e-mail to 'atria-list-manager@atria.com'. In the body of the message plase the line: subscribe cciug [your-email-address] After your request has been approved and processed, you may e-mail to cciug@atria.com and it'll be read by Atria and all those customers who are on this mailing list. ------------------------------------- [3.2] Is there a tutorial someplace on RCS? ------------------------------------- Try executing 'man rcsintro'. It comes with rcs. Also try to get Walter Tichy's paper "RCS - A System for Version Control" which is in the gnu tree at prep.ai.mit.edu and is available on CD ROM from Walnut Creek. ---------------------------------------------------------------- [3.3] It seems SCCS doesn't have a $Log$ like RCS does. Am I correct ? ---------------------------------------------------------------- As far as I know there is NO keyword like $Log$ available on SCCS. They apparently implemented another way to log changes from files called 'delta table' (=some kind of database). Check out commands (on Sun4-os4) sccs prt [filename] ( = show log ) sccs cdc -r[version] [filename] ( = add command for logging) Also check out "sccs prs". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[ Contributors ]-- The answers in this FAQ are often composites from many responders and I felt it would not be practical to acknowledge each one here. In addition, many companies do not want their name associated with specific statements. If you disagree with this position, drop me a message and I'll consider a change. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of comp.software.config-mgmt FAQ 1 This document does not represent an official position or opinion of Honeywell, Inc. -- +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+ |Dave Eaton | e-mail: dwe@eng.iac.honeywell.com| |Honeywell, Inc. - IAC | FAX: (602)789-4064 | |16404 N Black Canyon Highway | voice: (602)863-5094 | |Phoenix, AZ 85023 | HED: AZ15/2E8 | +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+ From news.csusb.edu!csus.edu!csusac!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!nic-nac.CSU.net!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!uunet!eng.iac.honeywell.com!dwe Sun Aug 7 21:24:19 1994 Path: news.csusb.edu!csus.edu!csusac!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!nic-nac.CSU.net!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!uunet!eng.iac.honeywell.com!dwe From: dwe@eng.iac.honeywell.com (Dave Eaton) Newsgroups: comp.software.config-mgmt,comp.answers,news.answers Subject: comp.software.config-mgmt FAQ: Configuration Management Tools Summary Followup-To: comp.software.config-mgmt Date: 4 Aug 1994 18:16:56 GMT Organization: Honeywell IAC, Phoenix AZ Lines: 767 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Expires: 23 Aug 1994 17:00:00 GMT Message-ID: <31rbao$s6o@adm09.iac.honeywell.com> Reply-To: dwe@eng.iac.honeywell.com NNTP-Posting-Host: adm02.iac.honeywell.com Summary: Software Configuration Management Tools Summary. Part 2 of 3 related CM posts. Keywords: CM Tools FAQ X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL1] Xref: news.csusb.edu comp.answers:902 news.answers:2009 Archive-name: sw-config-mgmt/cm-tools Last-modified: 1994/08/04 Version: 1.3 Posting-Frequency: monthly -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Configuration Management Tools Summary -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This is the comp.software.config-mgmt "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) posting of a Configuration Management tools summary. This list was originally an abbreviated summary of an evaluation of Configuration Management tools performed by Honeywell, Inc. during 1993. The information contained in this summary is a consolidation of data obtained from vendor materials and from a variety of sources around the Internet, including the comp.software-eng and the comp.software.config-mgmt newsgroup and the HP Workstation User Group (InterWorks) CASE Special Interest Group. This version contains substantial updates to that original version. Sharing Of Information This document, as a collection of information, is Copyright (c) 1994 by David W. Eaton. It may be freely redistributed in its entirety provided that this copyright notice is not removed. It may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without the written permission of the copyright holder. This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. The content is the sole responsibility of the author and contributors, and does not necessarily represent the position of their employers nor an official position or opinion of Honeywell, Inc. Other Information
For those with World Wide Web access, HTML versions of these documents are available via: http://www.iac.honeywell.com/Pub/Tech/CM/index.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following tools have been mentioned in the newsgroups, but contact information (company name, address and phone or ftp location) as well as user comments are needed so they may be included in the report below: Andromede (ESLOG) Solomon Teamware System/STS (Neuma) (have address, still need a write-up) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** What's New this Month? ** 1. Merge Ahead product renamed Merge Right Reply-To: dwe@eng.iac.honeywell.com NNTP-Posting-Host: adm02.iac.honeywell.com Summary: Problem Management Tools Summary Part 3 of 3 related CM posts. Keywords: FAQ CM Problem Management X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL1] Xref: news.csusb.edu comp.answers:903 news.answers:2010 Archive-name: sw-config-mgmt/prob-mgt-tools Last-modified: 1994/08/04 Version: 1.3 Posting-Frequency: monthly -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Problem Management Tools Summary -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This is the comp.software.config-mgmt "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) posting of a Problem Management tools summary. This list was originally an abbreviated summary of an evaluation of Problem Management tools performed by Honeywell, Inc. during 1994. The information contained in this summary is a consolidation of data obtained from vendor materials and from a variety of sources around the Internet, including the comp.software-eng and the comp.software.config-mgmt newsgroup and the HP Workstation User Group (InterWorks) CASE Special Interest Group. This version contains substantial updates to that original version. Sharing Of Information This document, as a collection of information, is Copyright (c) 1994 by David W. Eaton. It may be freely redistributed in its entirety provided that this copyright notice is not removed. It may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without the written permission of the copyright holder. This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. The content is the sole responsibility of the author and contributors, and does not necessarily represent the position of their employers nor an official position or opinion of Honeywell, Inc. Other Information
For those with World Wide Web access, HTML versions of these documents are available via: http://www.iac.honeywell.com/Pub/Tech/CM/index.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following tool(s) have been mentioned in the newsgroups, but contact information (company name, address and phone or ftp location) as well as user comments are needed so they may be included in the report below: Andromede (ESLOG) Solomon Teamware System/STS (Neuma) (have address, still need a write-up) Remedy ARS Globetrotter GlobeTrack ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** What's New this Month? ** 1. Neuma address added (still need write-up) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents 1. Summary 2. Problem Management Overview 3. Commercial Vendor Contact List 4. Problem Management Tools Generally Available Free 5. Commercial Problem Management Tools 6. Other Tools Appendix A. References and Sources of Information 1. Summary Information Requested In January, 1994, I requested information concerning software which provided problem management solutions by posting to the following sources: o the Usenet newsgroups comp.software-eng, comp.os.ms-windows.apps, comp.databases.oracle, and comp.databases.sybase o the ClearCase International User Group mail list o the InterWorks (HP Workstation Users Group) CASE SIG mailing list o the Lotus Notes Users mailing list It has been updated as readers have supplied additional information. Responses In addition to some of the vendors themselves, responses include those received from the following companies: Alcatel-Alsthom, Bell Northern Research, Cisco, EVB Software Engineering, Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, ICL, Ingress, ISSC, Marathon Software, Mead Data, Mentor Graphics, Motorola, PI Systems Corp., National Instruments, Sequent, Sybase, Tekenekron Software Systems, Inc., Tektronix Laboratories, Tivoli, USDA Forest Service, Viewlog. Our gratitude has been extended to all who contributed. Not Official Statements Please use the summary below in the spirit with which it has been supplied: for information only. These statements are composites and *do not* represent official positions by any particular responder's company. Remember that these users may not be commenting on the current version of a product. It is recommended that you do your own research before making a tool decision for your company. Sharing Of Information Since this data represents knowledge which is publicly available, it may be shared freely as desired. The full report (including evaluation results and recommendations) is considered proprietary to Honeywell, Inc. and cannot be shared with other companies. Honeywell employees may obtain the complete report from the author (see signature line at bottom). This document does not represent an official position or opinion of Honeywell. 2. Problem Management Overview Tool Capabilities Tools marketed as problem management tools may fulfill different functions. While not a comprehensive list, some common of the common capabilities are: o Call Tracking: - targeted towards problems reported by customers often over telephone lines - input from variety of geographically disperse locations - assignment to responsible person - status monitoring and reporting o Problem Tracking - development process management and change management authorization - work (task) management (who, what, when, due date, status) - statistics and metrics gathering and reporting - historical records and facilitation of understanding - integration with configuration management and test tools Some organizations only need one of these functions, while others need both. Many organizations choose to integrate their problem management and configuration management tools to gain better control of their development activities and to improve quality. Tool Packaging Problem management tools may be purchased in any of at least three distinct packaging methods: o Stand-alone, no integration with other tools o Purchased separately, but integrated with one or more companion software engineering tools such as configuration management and test tools - may be from the same or from different vendors o Bundled with other software engineering tools, usually a configuration management tool from the same vendor Be certain you determine your needs and confirm that the tool you select fulfills your needs. General Advice Although the statements below do not relate to a particular tool, they may provide valuable ideas for those implementing problem management. o Keep it simple. If it gets in the way people won't use it. o Make it part of your customer support process. o Make it part of your e-mail system. o Make problem management a part of the regular information flow. o Make it part of your design documentation process. o Documentation the original designer supplies seldom meets maintenance needs. The change history augments the original documentation. o Get requirements from the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) reference model. If you determine the best tool for your needs is one hosted on UNIX systems, but you must have access to it from PCs as well, consider using X-Server software on the PCs. 3. Commercial Vendor Contact List Vendors Platform availability and products are continually changing, please check vendors for current information and trade publications for new entrants. This should not be considered a complete list of all available tools. As of this writing, these vendors could be contacted as shown in this table. Since vendors are continually changing platform availability and upgrading their products, it is suggested you consult with them directly for current information before making a tool selection. Commercial Products Product Vendor Address Platforms BugBase Archimedes Software, Inc. PC (Windows) 2159 Union Street San Francisco, CA 94123 tel.: 415-567-4010 FAX: 415-567-1318 CaseWare/PT CaseWare, Inc., DEC (Ultrix), 108 Pacifica, 2nd floor DG Aviion, Irvine, CA 92718-3332 HP-UX, IBM RS/6000, Sun tel.: 714-453-2200 FAX: 714-453-2276 CCC/Pro Softool Corp. HP-UX, IBM RS/6000 340 South Kellogg Ave. Sun (contact vendor Goleta, CA 93117 about others) tel.: 805-683-5777 ClearQuality Clarify Inc. HP-UX, IBM RS/6000 2702 Orchard Pkwy. SGI, Sun San Jose, CA 95134 Tel.: 408-428-2512 Query Client on FAX: 408-428-0633 Windows PC, Mac, UNIX running Motif Control First Repository Technology PC (DOS) tel.: 708-515-0780 800-776-2176 CustomerQ Quintus Corporation Server: HP, IBM, Sun (subsidiary of Intergraph)Client: PC (MS Windows, 301 East Evelyn Ave. Windows/NT) Sun, HP, Mountain View, CA 94041 IBM sales@quintus.com tel.: 415-254-2859 415-428-0211 Defect Control System The Software Edge, Inc. PC (Windows) (DCS) 5526 N. Academy Blvd. Suite 204 Colorado Springs, CO 80918 tel.: 719-598-3713 FAX: 719-598-3970 Distributed Defect QualTrak Corp. Apollo, HP 9000, Tracking System 3160 De La Cruz Blvd. IBM RS/6000, (DDTs) Suite 206 DECstation & VAX Santa Clara, CA 95054 running Ultrix, Tel.: 408-748-9500 Sun (SunOS & Solaris), FAX: 408-748-8468 PC (SCO Unix) KeepTrack! 3L Ltd. (was PC based, but Peel House it appears this Livingstone product may be EH54 6AG no longer Scotland available) Tel. +44 506 41 5959 Lotus Notes Lotus Development Corp. PC (DOS & OS/2), 55 Cambridge Parkway Macintosh, Sun (in Cambridge, MA 02142 Beta) (others planned) Product Configuration SQL Software, Ltd. Bull, DEC (VMS, Management System (PCMS) Latton Bush Centre Ultrix), HP-UX, ICL, Harlow, Essex, UK Sequent, Sun, tel.: 44-279-641-021 PC (Win/NT coming) or 8000 Towers Crescent Dr. Suite 1350 Vienna, VA USA 22182 tel.: 703-760-7895 Q&A Symantec Corporation PC (DOS, Windows) 10201 Torre Ave. Cupertino, CA 95014 tel.: 408-253-9600 QualTEAM and ProTEAM Scopus Technology, Inc. Server: DEC Ultrix, 1900 Powell Street HP-UX, IBM RS/6000, Suite 900 Sun, VMS, others Emeryville, CA 94608 tel.: 510-428-0500 Client only: PC fax: 510-428-1027 (Windows, NT coming) Macintosh, MIPS Razor Tower Concepts, Inc. Sun 103 Sylvan Way (others planned) New Hartford, NY 13413 tel.: 315-724-3540 razor-info@tower.com SMS Intasoft ? Tresco House 153, Sweetbriar Lane Exeter EX1 3DG England Tel. +44 392 217670 FAX. +44 392 437877 Solomon Teamware System Neuma Technology (STS) Corporation 130 Albert Street, Suite 1105 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 5G4 Tel: (613) 598-0241 FAX: (613) 563-1716 Vantive Quality Vantive Corp. HP-UX, IBM RS/6000 1890 N. Shoreline Blvd. Sun Mountain View, CA 94043 Tel.: 415-691-1500 Client on Windows PC (WinNT Planned) 4. Problem Management Tools Generally Available Free Free But Not Fully Supported There do not seem to be many public domain problem management tools available. A public domain tool is generally available at no charge if you transfer it from an archive site on the Internet using a tool such as FTP. In some cases the tool will need to be compiled at your site. Most come bundled with adequate documentation. Such tools generally are provided without support, so it may not be advisable to use them on some projects. For completeness, any tools recommended by others on the Internet have been listed here despite that potential drawback. GNU GNATS GNU GNATS (GNU Problem Report Management System) is a public domain product which helps track software problems or change-requests. Some of its features include: o problems submitted via e-mail o uses a file system based database o each problem identified by a unique key o querying possible o can maintain audit trail of all activities concerning a specific problem o a GUI interface (via tkgnats) Responders believed that linking GNATS and the ClearCase task examples (/usr/atria/examples/task) should not be too difficult, though no responders seem to have tried this. GNATS can be obtained from one of the GNU mirrors or from Cygnus Support. For example, GNATS may be found via anonymous FTP at: site filename prep.ai.mit.edu pub/gnu/gnats-3.2.tar.gz 5. Commercial Problem Management Tools Growing Number On Market It was not possible to provide comments concerning all the available tools during the course of this project. A brief summary of various offerings is provided below so that your site may decide if it would be appropriate to consider one of these tools. The comments are a composite made from vendor literature, and various contributing volunteers. (Some are from the Usenet newsgroup comp.software-eng and other e-mail communications and do not necessarily reflect the experiences of the author of this document.) Contact information such as address and phone number may be found in the Commercial Vendor Contact List, elsewhere in this document. Mentioned Most Often The Scopus tool set (QualTEAM and ProTEAM) were mentioned most often by those responding to the request for information, followed closely by the QualTrak tool (DDTs). (This represents those responding to the request for information and those commenting on this FAQ, it is not meant to indicate these products are the "winners" of a sanctioned evaluation of such tools.) BugBase BugBase is a PC-only tool which keeps track of problems and provides on-screen reports as text, pie charts or bar graphs. The database tracks the status, severity, urgency, and type of the defect, as well as providing for a brief description of the problem. Other fields allow additional information to be included. Sorts may be based on any field. CaseWare/PT The CaseWare/PT problem tracking tool from CaseWare, Inc. is excellent and is driven from the same configuration management database as their CaseWare/CM tool, providing a tightly integrated package. The system supports problem submission (either through a graphical user interface or electronic mail), on-line queries, problem reporting, and correlation of change requests to project components. Problems may be divided into separately assigned tasks which are tracked as part of problem resolution. Standard problem and task management process models and user screen formats may be used as is, or may be modified to fit customer-specified processes. CCC/Pro CCC/Pro provides problem management as a stand-alone tool or in conjunction with Softool's other software development tools. Electronic review and notification of status changes is part of the problem life cycle management provided. ClearQuality ClearQuality is part of Clarify Inc.'s Service Management System. While ClearSupport provides high volume call tracking, ClearQuality provides defect tracking. Information it keeps includes priority, severity, module and description. It allows related information to be attached by the user. In addition to Motif on UNIX platforms, ClearQuality's query tool may be run from PCs running MS Windows and from Macintosh machines. Control First The Control First product by Repository Technology (708-515-0780) provides problem tracking capability for the configuration management product PVCS. DCS The PC Windows-only tool DCS came highly recommended by the person who responded. It may be used in stand alone mode or may be networked. UNIX systems may access the database via lan manager and PC/NFS. The integration with PVCS provides a development platform for PC users. DDTs (QualTrak) QualTrak's DDTs received the second highest number of recommendations, behind Scopus. Some of the DDTs advocates had been using the tool for several years and claimed they could not imagine functioning without it. While it does not provide call tracking, it does a very good job of problem management and metrics gathering. The e-mail interface allows notification of new problems and changes of status. The tool's character-based terminal interface origins is still evident even in the newer X-Windows version, causing some users to find it harder to use than a full GUI tool. Despite that drawback, it had many strong supporters. The DDTs and ClearCase configuration management integration has been shipping for a while and seems to be very popular. A number of users report a high degree of satisfaction with this integration. One outstanding problem is a current ClearCase limitation. It only has the ability to attach one defect to each of the files/directories. The user reports that ClearCase version 2 is expected to fix this problem. DDTs is integrated with QualTrak's Xsimul-test, announced in March, 1994. DDTs provides a simple "query language" that allows extracting "all bugs submitted against product-x by person-y between date-1 and date-2 that have priority greater than z." While it does not support SQL, those with Bourne shell experience should have no trouble creating their own scripts to perform specialized queries. Advantages o very easy to use platform o very flexible tool o good integration with ClearCase o offers the most benefit for the dollar o references check out well o good support o ability to link problem reports in parent-child relationships o allows some rather complex searches o very nice metrics shipped and setup with the tool o engineer can get e-mail with change-request number o people at QualTrak have a good attitude, which helps Disadvantages o user interface is too character-based o only available on UNIX platforms today o uses UNIX Bourne script language for forming special queries Summarizing their installation, one person said, "ClearCase is truly a productivity tool for the engineer/programmer and DDTs is a productivity tool for the project manager." KeepTrack! Consensus of responders was that KeepTrack! was rather restrictive and that it is no longer available on the market. Lotus Notes Not surprisingly, a Lotus representative replied that they use Lotus Notes for Tech Support Calls. All customer incidents are tracked from phone call through world-wide escalation. (Although Lotus claimed to market the application and customization they use, there was no response to an e-mail request for more information.) Others using Lotus Notes admitted they had not tried a commercial system built specifically for problem management. Most used e-mail and/or automatic e-mail from Lotus Notes as part of their implementation. Depending upon how each site builds the database and forms, a Lotus Notes form may include version, client, module, priority, status, additional text, and more. Prioritization and review can be handled, though the descriptions of some implementations sounded awkward. The current version runs only on PCs with Windows 3.1 or OS/2 and on Macintosh. Although some sites have made the Windows 3.1 version run on Windows/NT, Lotus considers that an unsupported platform. A Windows/NT port is expected in August, 1994. The Sun Solaris version is due to ship 1Q94; other UNIX versions (HP 9000 HP-UX and IBM RS/6000 AIX) are expected to ship several months after the Sun is in final shipment. Advantages o tailored to local process and style o better than lots of Post-It notes and yelling o tool already in use for other communication reasons o good means for wide area distribution and replication Disadvantages o difficult to extract metrics reports o performance issues (see below) o lack of integration with rest of development system Although reliability and up-time seems adequate, performance and scalability tended to be a problem when using Lotus Notes as a problem tracking system. Even on 50 MHz 486 machines, several users reported situations such as: o 20 second searches with fewer than 2000 records o over 5 minutes with 65000 records and two users o search time doubling with each new user added PCMS The configuration management tool PCMS from SQL Ltd. includes an embedded software development process management capability which can be used for problem management. Based on an Oracle database engine, it is SQL compliant. Though enhanced for version 4.0, its GUI is still trailing other implementations. One user reports they found the PCMS user interface to be one of the least intuitive and least pleasant they ever used. Furthermore, the system as a whole was very bureaucratic and time-consuming, adding a lot of overhead to the development process that couldn't be justified by the rewards. Interactions with other tools is limited but being improved. Q&A One location provided extensive customization to the PC database product Q&A in order to perform problem tracking. While the forms could be made to suit the project needs and fairly complex queries were possible, the DOS interface and lack of integration with other development tools were cited as problems. The system had no means of notifying users of new problems or status changes via e-mail nor of providing parent-child relationships between reports. QualTEAM and ProTEAM (Scopus) More users recommended the Scopus products than any other. Most were very satisfied with the tool set, which includes call tracking (ProTEAM) and problem management (QualityTEAM). A GUI based builder provides easy modification of the user interface and allows site-specific forms and data fields. Integrations exist with several configuration management systems such as Atria Software's ClearCase. The products are also integrated with Mercury's XRunner test product. A rather unique Scopus feature provides synchronization of databases located at remote locations when needed. Several people responded with the names of other companies (not their own) who were using the Scopus products. While this provides an interesting data point, this should not be taken as an endorsement of this product by these companies: o Atria Software (producers of the configuration management tool ClearCase) uses Scopus to track its customer calls o Mentor Graphics in Wilsonville Oregon selected Scopus Several sites had used both the Scopus and the QualTrak tool; some had both installed at the same time. Of those with both, the Scopus user interface was preferred. A few had started with QualTrak's DDTs since it was a lower cost solution in low volume. When call tracking was required, some migrated to Scopus while others added Scopus to the existing environment. Reportedly, the founders of Scopus are former Sybase employees. Thus, Scopus is very tightly integrated with Sybase, although it may be run on an Oracle database if a site so chooses. Advantages o integrated call / bug tracking / application notes o ad-hoc query builder / keyword search o ease of use o flexibility o easy to add/modify the system screens and functions o ease of customization (no programming) o ease of distribution of new customizations o get more functionality by buying than building o works well in a WAN across MAC, PC, UNIX o performance o reliability, stability, robustness o Sybase database is performing well o system support is minimal o the license "floats" o support is first-rate Disadvantages o price (particularly in low volume) o Scopus is growing and customer support has not kept up the pace o current Sybase does not have a rich set of admin tools o vendor does not provide much printing capability o you will have to buy a report writer o weak state model o invocation time is too long Some extensions users have added on their own o some of QualTrak's new XDDTS query capabilities added to Scopus o software license management Some usage statistics reported o 250 concurrent users with satisfactory performance o 200 MB of report data o 8000 new problems per month o 20,000 data records on line The training classes (held at Emeryville) come highly recommended. Implementations could be done without it, but having the class will save a lot of time. It was also suggested that new sites put together a strong, well focused team to work with Scopus consultants during installation. Relying too heavily on a vendor consultant increases your risk when they leave. One former user said that generating reports was troublesome, with data conversion being the primary compliant. Another satisfied user reported, "overall the product is filling our needs nicely." Razor Razor from Tower Concepts, Inc. is an easily tailored configuration management system with an integrated problem tracking system. It offers control and coordination of file versioning and product build management, sitting on top of RCS, SCCS, or your choice of a different core. The current product is available only on Sun workstations with a graphical interface built on OpenLook. HP & SGI versions are due early in 1994 with others to follow. It's easily parsed ASCII database encourages users to generate their own scripts for report generation and process control. The heart of the Razor package is issue tracking. Issue form templates are defined and tailored by each work group to contain information that will meet their needs. These forms present themselves on screen as OpenLook windows, employing text fields, textedit windows, check boxes, choices etc, for such information as... o The estimated effort/cost involved o Whether the issue is approved for resolution o The systems to be affected by the proposed change o Which product release it relates to o Its priority and phase in schedule o None, all, others, or variations of the above Each new form is automatically numbered and entered into the Razor database. These forms can then be edited and routed to team members electronically, avoiding the clumsy paper and homegrown systems that have become the norm in many companies. Every change to the form is recorded and time stamped with the user's login name, providing complete accountability for changes. Approval and signature lists can be configured into the system to make the package as open or restrictive as each site deems necessary for their process. A company representative stressed that it is extremely easy to try out their product. Both documentation and a full copy of the product for evaluation are available by FTP. New releases and patches are handled in the same manner. Contact razor-info@tower.com for a detailed description. SMS The configuration management system, SMS, from Intasoft includes a Modification Request tracking system. No responders had personal experience with this tool. Based upon cursory review of the literature, one responder considered this tool restrictive and unimaginative. Vantive Quality Vantive Quality by Vantive Corporation is an integrated change management system with links to several configuration management systems. In addition to status tracking, it integrates with popular e-mail packages, providing automatic routing of problems. Vantive Quality is integrated with other Vantive tools to provide such features as Help Desk support. 6. Other Tools There are other such tools available today as well as new ones entering the market. Check the appropriate industry periodicals for additional listings. Appendix A. References and Sources of Information For additional information about the topic discussed here, consider the following sources of information in addition to various industry periodicals and new data from the vendors themselves. Usenet Newsgroup [1] The Usenet newsgroup comp.software-eng articles and associated Frequently asked Questions (FAQ) lists comments on software tools from newsgroup readers world-wide. The FAQ is archived at site rtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers/software-eng under the names part0 through part3. Windows NT Tools [2] Microsoft Win32 Products & Services Catalog. Published in 1993 by Microsoft Corporation as part number 098-5230. Copies may be requested from Microsoft Corporation; Systems Marketing; One Microsoft Way; Redmond, WA 98052 or e-mail: win32cat@microsoft.com Open Systems Tools [3] 1994 Open Systems Products Directory. Published in 1994 by UniForum for their members. ISBN: 0-936593-28-8. Uniforum; 2901 Tasman Dr., Suite 205; Santa Clara, CA 95054-1100. Various products mentioned in this message are the trademarks of their respective companies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- End Of This Document------------- (This message does not represent an official position of Honeywell, Inc.) -- +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+ |Dave Eaton | e-mail: dwe@eng.iac.honeywell.com| |Honeywell Inc. - IAC | FAX: (602)789-4064 | |16404 N Black Canyon Highway | voice: (602)863-5094