Tool Mentor: Establishing a Change Request Process Using Rational ClearQuest

Purpose

This tool mentor describes how to use Rational ClearQuest® to establish a change request process.

This section provides links to additional information related to this tool mentor.

• Establish Change Control Process

Overview

ClearQuest is a change-request management (CRM) system for the dynamic and interactive nature of software development. With ClearQuest, you can manage every type of change activity associated with software development, including enhancement requests, defect reports, and documentation modifications.

ClearQuest is not limited to tracking defects. ClearQuest Designer is the administrator's tool for customizing ClearQuest schemas to suit the specific needs of your company. The administrator defines the type of information that users submit, retrieve, and view in reports and charts. The administrator also determines which users can perform which actions on records.

Everyone on your development team benefits from using ClearQuest:

• Development engineers spend more time coding and less time identifying action items.
• Test engineers identify the origin, status, and resolution of every change request.
• Project leaders and managers gain quick insight into the status of their projects through detailed customizable reports.
• Remote team members are part of the team with ClearQuest Web.

Tool steps

There are four aspects to customizing ClearQuest to create a change request management process with ClearQuest Designer.

1. Create and modify schemas
2. Create and modify databases
3. Adding users and user groups
4. Create and modify hook code

1. Create and modify schemas

Includes the forms for users to submit and modify records

See ClearQuest Designer online Help > Contents and Index:

• Working with ClearQuest Schemas
• Customizing a Schema
• Working with Forms

2. Create and modify databases

See ClearQuest Designer online Help > Contents and Index:

• Managing Databases
• Working with ClearQuest schemas

3. Adding users and user groups, and setting and modify permissions for users and groups

Includes setting and modify permissions for users and groups

See ClearQuest Designer online Help > Contents and Index:

• Using Security in Rational ClearQuest
• Administering Users

4. Create and modify hook code

Adds additional functionality to ClearQuest and enables interaction with external applications to trigger actions outside of ClearQuest.

See ClearQuest Designer online Help > Contents and Index:

• Using Hooks to Customize Your Workflow
• Hook Examples

Rational Unified Process