Exercise 17.1 - SysML TM4J Reference Connection

Owned by Ambarish Ganesh (Unlicensed)
Last updated: May 13, 2022 by Debesh Roy Chowdhury
4 min read

Objectives

The new learning objective of this exercise is to create reference connections between a SysML element and a TM4J (Test Management for JIRA) element.

Preparation

This exercise assumes the student has

  • Cameo System Modeler 18.0 - 19.0 (or MagicDraw with SysML plug-in) installed correctly on his or her machine with a valid license for use, and

  • Syndeia 3.3 installed as a plugin for Cameo/MagicDraw with a valid license for use

  • Syndeia JIRA interface, correctly installed with a valid license for user.

The user can. It is generally advisable to carry out these exercises in a non-production repository, a "sandbox", set up for training and practice purposes.
We will use the provided MagicDraw project Syndeia_JIRA_TM4J_Tutorial.mdzip (get it here - https://intercax.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SYN34/pages/2407364009). For this demonstration, you may use any JIRA repository you have available with the ability to create and edit TM4J elements of types Test Case, Test Cycle and Test Plan

Background – TM4J (Test Management for JIRA)

TM4J is a test management solution integrated into the JIRA user interface. The generic schema is shown in Figure 1.

  • A Test Case describes a specific test procedure.

  • A Test Cycle contains a set of Test Cases.

  • A Test Plan tracks the overall test program for a particular release or milestone. It contains one or more Test Cycles.

  • Any of these elements can be linked to a JIRA Issue.

    Figure 1 TM4J Schema

Exercise

  1. Open the SysML project Syndeia_JIRA_TM4J_ Tutorial.mdzip (get it here - https://intercax.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SYN34/pages/2407364009) (or your own), right-click the top-level package, and launch the Syndeia dashboard (Figure 2).

    Figure 2 Launching Syndeia dashboard

  2. If Syndeia connections are set to store in the SysML model, the dashboard will open immediately. If they are stored in Syndeia Cloud (see Exercise 1.1), choose or create a project for the exercise.

  3. To connect to JIRA, right-click the JIRA category under Repositories in the Repository Manager tab and select Add… (Figure 3), then enter a name, your own JIRA URL and credentials, and click OK (Figure 4).

    Figure 3 Adding a JIRA network connection

    Figure 4 Entering JIRA repository info

  4. Your repository should load and expand to show projects and issues, as in Figure 5.

    Figure 5 Viewing JIRA repository contents in Repository Manager tab

    1. To create a reference connection between a SysML element and a Tm4J Test Case, go to the Connection Manager tab on the Syndeia dashboard, as in Figure 6.

    2. Expand the SysML model in the left pane to show the Test Case 01 block.

    3. Select Reference under Connection Type in the middle pane.

    4. Expand the Issues folder in the right pane to show the Test Case to be connected, for example, SYNDT-T3.

    5. Drag and drop Test Case 01 from the left pane on top of an issue in the right pane to connect them.

      Figure 6  Syndeia Dashboard, Connection Manager tab

  5. To see the reference connections that have been created, go to the Connection Search tab on the Syndeia dashboard and click the Refresh button (see Figure 7).

    Figure 7  Syndeia Dashboard, Connection Summary tab

  6. The reference connections can be used in a number of ways by Syndeia. Close the Syndeia dashboard. To open a TM4J artifact directly from MagicDraw, right-click on Test Case 01 in the containment browser and select Syndeia → Open Connected Artifacts.. Check one of the options and that TM4J test case will be opened in the default web browser (see Figure 8). Note: your TM4J interface may appear different depending on your configuration settings.

    Figure 8  JIRA web interface

  7. The reference connection may also be used to detect changes across the connection. To demonstrate,

    1. Make a change in the Test Case in the JIRA web interface, e.g. set Priority to High, and save the change

    2. Reopen the Syndeia dashboard. Go to the Connection Browser, expand to find the connection to Test Case 01, right-click and select Compare Source & Target (Figure 9).

      Figure 9  Syndeia Connection Browser, comparison across new connection

    3. The Comparison Result tab (Figure 10) shows a newer version of the TM4J element is available. The reference connection can be updated by right-clicking on the red row and selecting either Sync Source to Target or Sync Target to Source.

      Figure 10  Syndeia Comparison Results tab showing a newer version of the TM4J element available