Issue Page

This page displays information relating to an issue in the system.

Details

General

Each issue is a record of a small-scale goal that someone perceives needs to be accomplished. The Details tab shows basic information about the issue, including a brief summary and what the issue is about (the issue’s topic).

Depending on your permissions, it may be possible for you to update the information.

To make changes to an issue’s details:

Make the changes you desire. You must complete the topic, summary, type and severity fields to make changes to the issue’s details.
Click the Apply button.

To abandon changes before you have applied them:

Click the Reset button. The fields will be restored to their previous values.

Description of form fields

Issue summary	A short summary of the issue, which must not be left blank. For consistency: Keep the summary to a single sentence. Don’t place a full-stop at the end. Describe how things would be if the issue were to be resolved, rather than the current situation. For example, say ‘Product should not crash when started’ rather than ‘Product crashes when started’. Likewise, write ‘Latest financial report should be reviewed’ in preference to ‘Review latest financial report’.
Topic	Describes what the issue is about. For more information, see the relevant glossary entry.
Reported in/ Build	Displays the subtopic or version for the topic about which the issue has been reported. The adjacent Build entry field can hold any text and may be used to identify further the subtopic or version. For example, the build number of a software product might be entered here if the topic concerned a software product, or the printing of a book, if the topic represented one of a publishing company’s books. Whether or not this field is present depends on the configuration of the issue’s topic.
Fixed in/ Build	These fields are similar to the Reported in and associated Build fields, except that they are used to indicate the subtopic or version of a topic for which the issue was resolved. Whether or not this field is present depends on the configuration of the issue’s topic.
State	Defines how far the issue has progressed in the workflow defined to process it. Each state is either active (issues in the state are still outstanding) or inactive (issue in the state have been dealt with and no longer need to be considered).
Type	This identifies what sort of issue is being recorded. The available types can be configured by the system administrator. Examples of typical types include ‘Requirement’, ‘Risk’, ‘Defect Report’, ‘Enhancement Request’, ‘Helpdesk Ticket’, ‘Note for Future Review’, ‘Administrative Activity’, etc.
Severity	Indicates the importance of the issue to the person experiencing the problem (or making the request) that resulted in the issue being created. Note that this is for information only, and does not necessarily affect when a manager might schedule an issue to be resolved.
Detailed description (optional)	A full description of the issue. The administrator of the system can provide a template description for each different type. Template descriptions can serve as a useful reminder of the information your organization wishes to record for particular types of issue.

History

This section shows what has happened to the issue since it was created.

Depending on your permissions, it may be possible for you to add comments here. Any such comments will then form part of the issue’s history.

To change the level of detail shown in the history:

Choose Only Comments, Brief or Full in the Detail drop-down above the table. When Only Comments is selected, the history will show only comments added to the issue. When Brief is selected, only comments and significant events will be shown. When Full is selected, the history will show everything recorded about the issue in the system’s audit trail.

To add a comment to the history:

Click the Add Comment... button.

To change the sort order of the comments:

Click the column heading link. Each time you click the link, the order in which comments are sorted will be reversed.

Description of table columns

Time	The first line in each table row shows the date and time when a comment was added or an event occurred. It also shows the person responsible. The comment itself, or a brief description of an event, appears below.

For help working with tables, see Tutorial 1: The Basics of Working with Ketura.

Tasks

This table lists the tasks that are associated with the issue. It therefore acts rather like a ‘to do’ list for the issue. Each task can be assigned to a particular user. When combined with estimates as to how much work is planned or remaining for the task, this enables the system to estimate schedules for any project that might contain the issue in one of its milestones.

The order of the tasks in the table (from top to bottom) indicates the order in which the tasks are expected to be completed by the project manager responsible for the issue.

To make changes to one or more tasks:

Make the changes you desire.
Click the Apply button.

To add a new task:

Click the New... button.

To add tasks from a predefined task set:

Click the Add Task Set... button.

To change the ordering of tasks:

Select the task or tasks whose position in the list you wish to change.
Click the Move Up or Move Down buttons to move the selected task or tasks further up, or further down, the list.
Repeat, as necessary.

To mark one or more tasks as complete:

Select the tasks you wish to mark as complete.
Click the Mark As Complete... button.

When a task is marked as complete, its Work Remaining estimate will be set to zero and the task will be marked as being complete.

To perform an operation on several tasks at once:

Select the task or tasks upon which you wish to act.
Click the Act On... button.

To abandon changes before you have applied them:

Click the Reset button. The fields will be restored to their previous values.

To delete one or more tasks:

Select the tasks you wish to delete.
Click the Delete button.

When a task is deleted, any associated work journal entries are also deleted. Therefore, it is generally suggested that tasks be deleted only if no work done has been recorded for them. Because of this, it is generally preferable simply to mark a task as complete, rather than delete it.

Description of table columns

Task	The task’s id. This is a link to the task.
Summary	A brief summary of the task.
Assigned To	The id of the user to whom the task is assigned.
Planned Work	The planned work for the task. This is the project manager’s estimate of the total amount of work needed to complete the task.
Work Done	The sum total of the work done on this task. This value is derived from user’s work journals.
Expected Work Remaining	The estimate of the expected work remaining for the task, typically made by the person to whom the task is assigned.
Variance	The difference between the planned work and the expected total work (which is sum of work done + expected work remaining). The variance is shown in red if the amount of work is higher than the project manager expected, or green if it is lower or the same as expected. The value shows the difference in the task assignee’s and project manager’s estimates of work required to complete the task.
% Complete (Expected Work)	The ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the work done to the expected total work (which is sum of work done + expected work remaining). This column displays the task assignee’s estimate of the progress towards completing the task.
Selection	A checkbox that, when checked, selects the task. Selected tasks are highlighted with a blue background. You can select all the tasks in the current table page by clicking the checkbox in the column’s heading.

For help working with tables, see Tutorial 1: The Basics of Working with Ketura.

Schedule

This table shows scheduling information for the issue, if it is part of an active project. It is also possible to set the date by which it is desired that work on the issue starts or ends.

Note that setting a desired start or end date for the issue does not alter its actual scheduling – that is controlled by its priority within any milestones to which it belongs. However, the system will indicate (for example, by showing a warning on the Issues tab of a milestone page) if the desired dates are not likely to be achieved. A project manager can then take appropriate action to ensure that work on the issue will start or end within the desired timescale.

Depending on your permissions, you may be able to perform the actions listed below.

To the set the desired start or end date for the issue:

Click the appropriate ... button in the table.
Click the desired date in the calendar that appears.
Or, you can manually enter the date.

To change the priority of an issue in its milestone:

Enter the new priority in the field in the Priority column, the click the Apply button.
Or, click the milestone name in the table to go to the milestone page, and adjust the priority on the Issues tab.

To add the issue to a milestone:

Use the Reschedule issue section lower down this tab.
Or, use the Issue tab of the appropriate milestone’s page.

To remove the issue from a milestone:

Select the milestone in the table, then click the Remove button.

To abandon changes before you have applied them:

Click the Reset button. The fields will be restored to their previous values.

Description of table columns

Desired	The desired date by which work on the issue should start or end date. These dates are typically set by a project manager.
Actual or Expected	The dates by which work on the issue is expected to start or end, calculated by Ketura based on the expected work remaining for the issue’s tasks. If the work on the issue has already started or ended, actual dates will be shown instead.
Project	The active project for which the Actual or Expected column dates have been calculated.
Milestone	The milestone on the active project for which the Actual or Expected column dates have been calculated.
Priority	The priority of this issue within the indicated milestone.

Reschedule issue

It is often necessary to completely reschedule an issue, changing the issue’s milestone and state and, possibly, reassigning some of the issue’s tasks. For example, this would be done when a manager decides what to do with a newly created issue. This form makes such rescheduling quick and easy, bringing together the necessary functionality in one convenient place.

Depending on your permissions, you may be able to perform the actions below.

To move or add the issue to a milestone:

Check the checkbox in the top row of the form. Unless you also want to change the issue’s state or reassign tasks, uncheck the checkboxes at the beginning of the form’s second and third rows.
Choose whether you wish to move or add the issue using the Move/Add drop-down list box.
Select the destination milestone.
Enter the priority that the issue should have in the destination milestone.
Click the Apply button.

To change the issue’s state:

Check the checkbox in the second row of the form. Unless you also want to move/add the issue to a milestone or reassign tasks, uncheck the checkboxes at the beginning of the form’s first and third rows.
Select the state that you wish the issue to be in.
Click the Apply button.

To reassign some or all of the issue’s tasks:

Check the checkbox in the third row of the form. Unless you also want to move/add the issue to a milestone or change the issue’s state, uncheck the checkboxes at the beginning of the form’s first and second rows.
Select which tasks you wish to assign.
Chose the person to whom those tasks should be assigned.
Click the Apply button.

To perform the above actions in one operation:

Check the checkboxes at the start of the form rows relevant to the actions you wish to perform.
Select your desired options.
Click the Apply button.

Note that multiple actions are performed in the order shown in the form: first move/add to milestone, then state change, then assignment of tasks. This means that if a task set is added to the issue by virtue of the issue changing state, those newly added tasks will be affected by the task reassignment operation. This can be very useful if, for example, a manager is seeking to reschedule a newly added issue by adding it to a milestone, changing its state to something like ‘Pending Resolution’ (resulting in a set of tasks being added) and then assigning those newly added (and therefore incomplete tasks) to a particular person.

Description of form fields

Checkboxes	The form has three rows (move/add the issue to a milestone; change the issue’s state; reassign tasks), each of which starts with a selection checkbox. Each row’s action will be performed only if the checkbox at the start of the row is checked.
Move/Add	Selects whether the issue is to be moved or added to the indicated milestone. As an issue can belong to only one active milestone at a time, if `Add` is selected and a milestone (other than a milestone to which the issue already belongs) on an active project is selected, Ketura will prompt you to decide whether the issue should be removed from its existing milestone before adding it to the milestone indicated. If `Move` is selected, Ketura will simply move the issue from one milestone to another, without prompting you.
Milestone	Identifies the milestone to which the issue should be moved or added.
Priority	The priority that the issue should have within the milestone to which the issue is moved or added.
State	The state into which the issue is to be put. As it is sometimes useful to be able to put a number of issues into a particular state, the usual state transitions rules are not applied, therefore care should be taken when performing this operation.
Tasks to reassign	Selects the tasks which are to be reassigned. The `all incomplete tasks` option here is useful, as it provides a short-hand way of selecting those tasks that have work outstanding on them. Likewise, the `unassigned tasks` option makes it easy for you to assign any unassigned tasks (perhaps from a task set added automatically when the issue changes state) to an appropriate person.

Related issues

This table lists the issues that have been identified as being in some way related to this issue. Some reasons for adding an issue to this list might be:

It is a duplicate of this issue;
It has some bearing on this issue;
Anyone working on this issue should be aware of the other one for background information.

The list of related issues shown includes those issues which are transitively related to issues that have been explicitly added as being related. For example, if issue A is related to issue B, and issue B is related to issue C, issue A’s list of related issues will include both B and C.

To add an issue as being related to this one:

Click the Add... button.

To remove a related issue:

Select the issue in the table.

It is not possible to remove issues that are shown because of a transitive relationship directly (see above) with another related issue. Indirectly related issues will be removed from the list automatically should the indirect relationship be broken.
Click the Remove button.

Description of table columns

Issue	The id of the related issue. This is a link to that issue.
Summary	The short summary of the issue, followed, in square brackets, by the issue’s state, severity, type and topic (as a link if you have permission to view the issue topic).
Selection	A checkbox that, when checked, selects the related issue in the table. Selected issues are highlighted with a blue background. It is not possible to select issues that are only indirectly related to this one.

For help working with tables, see Tutorial 1: The Basics of Working with Ketura.

Related attachments

Documents, pictures and other files that have been attached to the issue are shown here.

Depending on your permissions, you may be able to perform the actions below.

To attach a new file to this issue:

Click the New... button.

To delete a file attachment:

Select the attachment.
Click the Delete button.

To change the sort order of the attachments:

Click one of the column heading links. Each time you click the same link, the order in which attachments are sorted will be reversed.

Description of table columns

Description	A brief description of the attachment, specifying when the attachment was added to the issue.
File Name	The name of the file that was attached. This is also a link to download or view the attachment.
Size In Bytes	The size, in bytes, of the attachment.
User Id	The id of the user who added the attachment to the issue. If you have permission to view the user’s information, this is a link to the relevant page.
Email	The email address of the user who added the attachment to the issue.
Selection	A checkbox that, when checked, selects the file attachment in the table. Selected attachments are highlighted with a blue background. You can select all the attachments in the current table page by clicking the checkbox in the column’s heading.

For help working with tables, see Tutorial 1: The Basics of Working with Ketura.

Related contacts

Contacts that are related in some way to this issue are shown here. For example, customers who have reported a particular issue might be added as contacts, so that they can be contacted easily once the issue has been resolved.

Depending on your permissions, you may be able to perform the actions below.

To add a contact:

Click the Add... button.

To send an email message to all the contacts interested in the issue:

Click the Email All button. Your email application will be started.

To remove a contact:

Select the contact in the table.
Click the Remove button.

To change the sort order of the contacts:

Click one of the column heading links. Each time you click the same link, the order in which contacts are sorted will be reversed.

Description of table columns

Last Name	The contact’s last name. This is a link to the contact’s information page.
First Name	The contact’s first name. This is a link to the contact’s information page.
Email	The contact’s email address. This is a link to create an email to the contact.
Job Title	The contact‘s job title.
Company	The company for whom the contact works.
Type	The type of the contact (typically something like ‘Employee’, ‘Customer’, etc).
Selection	A checkbox that, when checked, selects the contact in the table. Selected contacts are highlighted with a blue background. You can select all the contacts in the current table page by clicking the checkbox in the column’s heading.

For help working with tables, see Tutorial 1: The Basics of Working with Ketura.

Activity

Changes

The Changes table shows the sets of changes in one or more SCM systems that are associated with the issue in the chosen time period. A single change set might span several pages in the table.

About SCM systems and changes

Ketura is able to integrate with certain version control and software configuration management systems (SCMs) such as Perforce and Subversion. The SCM systems that Ketura monitors are configured on the SCM tab of the Administration areas > System Settings page within Ketura. Each configured system is periodically checked to associate changes (i.e. a Perforce changelist or a Subversion repository revision) with individual Ketura issues and milestones.

For further background information about Ketura’s integration with SCM systems, including how Ketura associates checked-in changes with issues and milestones, please see Integrating Ketura with Araxis Merge and SCM (Version Control) Systems.

Viewing changes in your web browser

If the SCM repository related to a particular change is available from a web server (e.g. Perforce P4Web or Subversion ViewVC) and this has been appropriately configured in Ketura, it might be possible to view a change or set of changes in your web browser.

To view a change or set of changes in your web browser:

Click the View link related to the change or set of changes you wish to view.

Viewing changes with Araxis Merge

If you have Araxis Merge installed on your Mac OS X or Windows computer, you can take advantage of its advanced file comparison capabilities to view the differences between revisions of a file before and after a change. A benefit of using Araxis Merge is that this avoids certain limitations that might apply to the SCM system’s web access to the repository. For example, P4Web does not highlight changes within lines when comparing files; neither can it show the differences between binary files. Araxis Merge, in contrast, offers syntax highlighting of certain file types, highlighting of changes within lines, and is even able to extract and compare the text content of several popular file formats, including Microsoft Word documents.

Ketura integrates with Merge to enable you to view a change or change set simply by clicking on the appropriate Araxis Merge in the Changes table. When you click on the link, your browser will download a small .keturacomparison file to your computer, telling Merge which files to fetch and compare from the SCM system. Merge can automatically read this file and open the appropriate comparison or comparisons. If necessary, Merge will also prompt you for your SCM log on details so that it can fetch the appropriate files from the SCM system. Note that you can safely delete any .keturacomparison files once Merge has opened them (newer versions of Merge might automatically move the files to the Trash or Recycle Bin).

Preparing your computer to use Araxis Merge to view changes from Ketura

Ensure that you have a recent version (2008.3563 or later) of Araxis Merge installed and working on computer. A fully functional 30-day evaluation of Araxis Merge can be downloaded from the Araxis website.
If you are using Safari under Mac OS X, complete the following steps:

Ensure that Safari is saving downloaded files to your Downloads folder. You can check this on the General page of the Safari Preferences dialog.
Make sure that the Watch Downloads folder for Ketura comparison files option on the Application Options > General page in the Araxis Merge Preferences dialog is checked.

To view a change or set of changes with Araxis Merge:

If you are using the Safari web browser on Mac OS X to access Ketura, start Araxis Merge. You don’t need to do this on Windows, or for other web browsers on Mac OS X.
Click the Araxis Merge link related to the change or set of changes that you wish to view.

Please note that an Araxis Merge link for an entire change set will only be available when there are 30 or fewer changes in the change set (links for individual changes are always present, however). The change set link is disabled if the set contains more than 30 changes. This to prevent a Microsoft Windows problem where Windows runs out of needed resources when Merge attempts to open a large number of file comparisons simultaneously.
If necessary, confirm to your web browser that you would like to open the file with Araxis Merge.
If Merge requests your SCM system account log in details, provide them. You should only need to do this once for each time Merge is run.
Once you have finished with a comparison, you may close it. If you anticipate opening further comparisons in Araxis Merge, leave Araxis Merge running so that it does not have to start (or prompt you for your SCM log on information) again.

Work journal entries for this issue

This table shows the entries in the selected time period from users’ work journals that relate to this issue’s tasks.

The cost information provided by Ketura is calculated on the current hourly cost of users. Consequently, any changes in a user’s hourly cost over the duration of an issue are not taken into account.

Description of table columns

User	The id user (followed in square brackets by the user’s last and first names) whose work journal entry this is. The user id is a link the management page for the user.
Task	The id and summary of the task for which this work journal entry is recording time worked. The task id will be a link to the appropriate task or issue.
Start Date	The date on which the work recorded by the work journal entry starts.
Start Time	The time on which the work recorded by the work journal entry starts. Times are displayed to the nearest minute, although Ketura records them in its database to the nearest second.
End Time	The time on which the work recorded by the work journal entry ends. This is typically on the same date as the start date, but might be on the following day if the entry’s duration means that the entry spans midnight. Times are displayed to the nearest minute, although Ketura records them in its database to the nearest second.
Duration	The duration of the work recorded by the work journal entry. This is the difference between the start and end times.
Cost	The cost of the user’s time recorded by the entry. This is calculated by multiplying the duration of the work recorded in the work journal entry by the relevant user’s hourly cost.

For help working with tables, see Tutorial 1: The Basics of Working with Ketura.

Work breakdown by user

This table summarizes the amount of work done on this issue’s tasks by each user, as recorded in users’ work journals in the selected time period.

Description of table columns

User	The id user (followed in square brackets by the user’s last and first names) whose work journal entry this is. The user id is a link the management page for the user.
Work done	The sum of all durations of the work journal entries for the user that relate to this issue’s tasks.
Cost	The cost of the amount of user’s time indicated in the Work Done column. This is calculated by multiplying the work done by the relevant user’s hourly cost.

For help working with tables, see Tutorial 1: The Basics of Working with Ketura.

Alerts

You can use this tab to have Ketura tell you (via the Alerts tab on your Home Page) when something of interest happens to this issue.

To indicate which alerts you would like to receive:

Check or uncheck the checkboxes next to the alerts in which you are interested.
Optionally, change the settings of any alerts which are configurable.
Click the Apply button.

To abandon any changes before you have applied them:

Click the Reset button.