Software QA FYI - SQAFYI

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...


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Defect Tracking and Problem Reporting