Defect Tracking and Problem Reporting
By: Daniel J. Mosley
Mission/Objectives/Guidelines/Issues
This document is a defect tracking/problem reporting system plan which was completed for a major corporation by Daniel J. Mosley. It is not fully developed in that the action items are missing, but take it for what it is worth as a starting point for thinking about setting up a defect tracking/problem reporting system.
Mission Statement.
TO PROVIDE COMPANY-WIDE INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF DEFECT/PROBLEM TRACKING AND REPORTING.
Defect Tracking Objectives.
1. Provide the ability to track defects/problems
2. Provide a defect tracking database
3. Provide project-level data entry support
4. Provide defect tracking/problem reporting workflow management
5. Provide standardized and custom query/reporting capabilities
6. Provide integration to software Version Management system
7. Provide integration to Help Desk system
8. Provide management information (cost of quality) and operational information (support project level testing process)
9. Facilitate communication among testers/developers, the help desk, and management
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Defect Tracking Guidelines.
A DEFECT TRACKING/PROBLEM REPORTING SYSTEM SHOULD PROVIDE;
A mechanism for entering defects/problems which supports a team approach
A permanent database for defect tracking/problem reporting
A simple point and click interface for entering data and generating reports
A defect tracking workflow
An audit trail
Control linkages (e.g. defect -> code; defect -> requirement)
At a minimum, standardized (IEEE Std-829) defect/problem documentation
Inputs
Expected Results
Actual Results
Anomalies
Date
Time
Procedure Step
Environment
Attempts To Repeat
Testers
Observers
At a minimum standardized, non-IEEE, defect/problem documentation
Defect ID
Priority
Severity
Test Cycle
Test Procedure
Test Case
Occurrences
Test Requirement
Person Reporting
Defect Status
Defect Action
Defect Description
Defect Symptom
Found In Build
Software Module
Module Description
Related modules
Person Assigned
Date Assigned
Estimated Time to Fix
Resolution
Resolution Description
Fix Load Date
Fix Load Number
Repaired in Build
Date Closed
Contact Person
Attachments
Rework Cycles
Owner
Work Around
Person Investigating
Emergence/Scheduled
Programming Time
Process or Product
Customized defect/problem reporting data fields
ACD capability
Predefined queries/reports
Custom query/reporting
Free text searching
Cut and paste
On-screen report display
Printed reports
Support all Network types
Provide Record Locking
Provide data recovery
Support for dial-in access
An interface to the E-mail system
Manual notification
Automatic notification of team members
Password protection of team members
Limited access to functions based on user type
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Defect Tracking Options.
1. SQA Repository
2. MS Access
3. PVCS Tracker
4. SupportMagic
5. Other ?????????
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Defect Tracking/Problem Reporting Issues.
How do we manage defects and problems
How do we track defect trends in development projects
How do we manage and track workflow?
Communicate the changes that must be made to the developer(s) assigned
Communicate that the change is completed and what code was changed to QA
Control retest and rework cycles
How do we know when a problem has been resolved?
How do we know when the software is ready for release
What data is required to support defect tracking and problem reporting
Single database?
Multiple databases?
How do we integrate defect tracking/problem reporting data from multiple sources
Full article...
Other Resource
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