Exercise 17.1 - TM4J (Zephyr Scale) Integration on Web Dashboard
Objectives
The new learning objectives of this exercise are to use the Syndeia Web Dashboard (SWD) to create a repository connection to a JIRA repository that contains Zephyr Scale elements, view the repository contents including properties, relations and search, and create a reference connection.
Preparation
This exercise assumes the student has
· Syndeia Cloud 3.4 installed with a valid user account,
· A valid user account to a JIRA repository that contains Zephyr Scale elements, and
· A valid user account to a at least one other on-line repository, e.g. Jama.
The user can use any JIRA repository that contains Zephyr Scale elements they have available. Because the content of your JIRA repository will be different, the specific examples in the following exercise instructions are only a guide and example for your actions. It is generally advisable to carry out these exercises in a non-production repository, a “sandbox”, set up for training and practice purposes.
See Video 1.9 for an introduction to the Syndeia Web Dashboard.
Background – Zephyr Scale
As envisioned by Intercax, the Digital Thread is composed of inter-model connections between models in different repositories, which Syndeia creates and manages, and intra-model connections between elements in the same repository, which the individual tool creates and manages. As of Syndeia release 3.4, the Syndeia Web Dashboard can extract and display some model information from the Zephyr Scale repository. Figure 1 shows a tree view of this information, with labels identifying the Zephyr Scale element types. The label color coding indicates how the Zephyr Scale element type is mapped to the Syndeia Cloud element types: Repository (green), Container (red), and Artifact (blue).
In the case of the Syndeia Zephyr Scale integration, the Relations table (Step 7) and the Digital Thread Explorer (Step 9 onwards) can display some intra-model connection types between Artifacts, shown in Table 1, as well as inter-model connections. The intra-model connections are not permanently part of the Syndeia Cloud graph; they are extracted and displayed as needed.
This information is important in formulating and interpreting Syndeia graph queries. A more complete diagram of the Zephyr Scale data model as it is understood by Syndeia is available through the web dashboard help menu on the left.
Table 1 | Zephyr Scale Intra-Model Relation Types |
Relation Type | Artifact Types Connected |
testRuns | Test Plan → Test Cycle |
items | Test Cycle → Test Case |
issueLinks | Test Plan\Cycle\Case → JIRA Issue |
Figure 2 Tree view of JIRA repository with Zephyr Scale elements
Exercise
Log on to the Syndeia Cloud Web Dashboard (see Video 1.9) and click on the Repositories icon on the left border (Figure 3).
Figure 3 SWD Repositories page (initial) – Repositories icon outlined in red
If no repository connection to a JIRA repository with Zephyr Scale elements is available, select JIRA in the left column, then click the + icon at the top of the column. Complete the form and click Create (Figure 4).
Figure 4 Adding a JIRA repository connection
If a connection to a JIRA repository connection with Zephyr Scale elements already appears under JIRA, but you need to add your own access credential, select the JIRA repository and click the Gear icon at the top of the column. Complete username and password and click Update (Figure 5).
Figure 5 Updating JIRA repository info
Your repository should load. Expand it to show Test Cases, Plans and Cycles, as in Figure 6. See Background section for discussion of Zephyr Scale artifact types.
Figure 6 Viewing Zephyr Scale contents in a JIRA repository on Repositories page
On the right border, there are three icons, labeled Details, Relations and Search. Select a Zephyr Scale element in the Tree View column (
in our example) and click on the Details icon. A Detail list appears to the right as in Figure 7. Scroll down and review the attributes of the Zephyr Scale element that are available to Syndeia 3.4, including name, type and externalKey, which is the unique issue identifier in the JIRA repository. Click the Details icon again to close the list.
Figure 7 SWD Repositories page, Details list (Details icon highlighted in red)
Click the Search icon on the right.
In the Search window, select JIRA Simple or JIRA Advanced from the Select type pull-down menu.
If JIRA Simple is selected, select the JIRA Container (Project) to be searched from the first pull-down menu, the Artifact Type from the second pull-down menu and enter the artifact key. Click Search. In our example, we entered Syndeia Test Project for Project, Artifact Type = TestRun, and SYNDT-C103 for the key. The result(s) of the search are shown on the right, as in Figure 7.
If you select the JIRA Advanced option before searching, you may enter the artifact type and a query in JQL (JIRA Query Language) for the search. See JIRA documentation for a discussion of JQL.
Click the Search icon again to close the Search window.
Figure 8 SWD Repositories page, Search feature (Search icon and search result highlighted in red)
Select a Zephyr Scale element in the Tree View column (SYNDT-C103 – UAV Test Cycle in our example) and click on the Relations icon on the right.
In the Relations window (Figure 9), you will see a list of Inter-model relations, from the selected Zephyr Scale item to other non-Zephyr Scale models, and a list of Intra-model relations, from the selected Zephyr Scale element to other Zephyr Scale elements in the same JIRA repository. In this example, there is one Inter-model relation, to a Bitbucket branch, and one “items” intra-model relation to a ZS test case.
Figure 9 SWD Repositories page, Relations lists (Relations and Add icons highlighted in red)
To create a reference connection between the selected Zephyr Scale item and an element in another repository, click on the + (Add) icon highlighted in Figure 9. A Create Reference Relationships window will appear as in Figure 10.
At the top, either select an existing Syndeia project to save the connection within (DZSB11 in our example) or create a new project. See Video 1.5 on creating Syndeia projects for further discussion.
Under Select target artifact, choose the other repository to which the new connection will be made. In our example this is Aras Innovator @ Intercax.
If you have valid access to this repository, its contents will appear at the bottom of the window. Scroll down to the element that will be the target of the new connection and click the checkbox beside it. This is Aras part Communication and Navigation in our example.
Each Syndeia connection has a directionality. The Select direction pull down menu higher up in the window allows the directionality to be set as desired before the connection is made.
Click on the Create Reference Connection button at the bottom. The new connection should appear in the Inter-model list after the Reload icon is clicked.
Click the Relations icon again to close the Relations window.
Note: In Syndeia release 3.4, it is not possible to create Model Transform inter-model connections or intra-model connections through the SWD. Some of those use cases will be added in future releases.Figure 10 SWD Create Reference Relationship window
The Digital Thread Explorer or DTE (Figure 11 - Figure 13) provides interactive visualization of inter-model and intra-model connections in a graph format. To launch DTE, right-click an item in the Tree View and choose Graph View. In our example, this is a Zephyr Scale test cycle, SYNDT-C103. Initially, it appears as a single node in the Graph View, as in Figure 11.
Figure 11 DTE, stage 1
Click on the node (it will show a black border when selected), right-click on it and choose Expand. If this element has any connections, they should appear as in Figure 12. In our example, the initial element had one intra-model connections to a Zephyr Scale test case (blue circle) and two inter-model connections, to a Bitbucket branch (red brown) and an Aras part (orange).
Figure 12 DTE, stage 2
If I right-click on one of the new nodes (Aras part Communication and Navigation) and expand it, additional edges and nodes are displayed (Figure 13), including an inter-model connection to a TWC model (tan) and intra-model connections to other Aras parts. This process can continue until all connections are displayed.
Figure 13 DTE, stage 3
Zephyr Scale elements in either the Graph View or the Tree View offer direct access to that element in the JIRA repository. If I right-click on SYNDT-C103 in the diagram in Figure 13 and choose More Details, my browser will open to the same element in JIRA as in Figure 14 (I may be required to log-in to JIRA first).
Figure 14 Zephyr Scale browser interface launched from Syndeia Web Dashboard