CoolSoft, LLC

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Bug Tracking User Guide

Introduction:

Bug Tracking is a web-based tool for software developers. It is the same tool we use here at CoolSoft, LLC in developing our products, and we’ve found it to be an indispensable tool. While Bug Tracking was designed mainly for tracking bugs in the development process, it has evolved into a complete solution for managing all your development projects. Bug Tracking comes with a recommended set of parameters, and you can easily customize it to your company’s specific needs. Projects and issues (bugs) can be created and assigned to team members, and the status of issues tracked between team members. Each time the status of an issue changes, the owner of the issue receives an email with the details. Issues can be sorted by project, category, status, assigned to and priority. Users can be created and assigned to specific projects, so users see only the projects they are assigned to. Bug tracking is also useful in the beta testing process. There is a special section for beta testers when they can sign up, report issues and these are communicated by email to the project manager.

Bug Tracking is distributed by CoolSoft, LLC under license from the developer, Le Groupe Montreal Soft, Inc. Copying or modifying the code without written permission from the developer is strictly prohibited. See the restrictions and License Agreement on the BugTracking main page. CoolSoft, LLC and Le Group MontrealSoft, Inc. are not responsible for and damages or losses incurred from the use of Bug Tracking.

Introduction

System Requirements

System Requirements

Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 or Windows XP

IIS 4/5

ASPMAIL (Available from www.serverobjects.com)

Getting Started

When you purchase a license for Bug Tracking, you will receive a confirmation email with an order number and download link. Enter your order number and email address to access and download your copy of Email Blaster. This is a self-extracting, password protected zip file. Within 24 hours, you will receive another email with the password to unlock the zip file.

BEFORE YOU START, PLEASE NOTE SEVERAL IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT BUG TRACKING

Your license for Bug Tracking lets you edit the “config.asp” file and customize some of the text that is displayed on some of the beta tester pages. You should make and keep a backup copy of the Bug Tracking files before you edit any of these pages.
The Users table lets you assign user names and passwords, and the User Access table lets you assign projects to each user. However, this is a convenience feature, NOT a security feature, and all users have equal access to the project, including the User and User Access table. Bug Tracking is designed for use in an environment where users who have access to the project can be trusted.
To provide additional security, the system administrator or project manager can password protect access to the URL for Bug Tracking. If so, we recommend that the user names and passwords be different from the user names and passwords in the Bug Tracking User table. Doing this will provide an additional layer of security in the event a user leaves or is dismissed from your organization.

NOTE: If you would like additional security or customization of Bug Tracking, our developers will be glad to help. Just send an email to support@coolsoftllc.com with a general description of your needs and your contact information. A member of our development team will contact you within a few business days with a proposal and estimate.

Installing Bug Tracking

The Bug Tracking files must be unzipped to a folder on your server that can be accessed from a URL.

Setting Up Third Party Software

Get and install your copy of ASPMAIL from www.serverobjects.com.

Configuring Bug Tracking

There are two items you need to configure in order to use Bug Tracking:

1. The permissions for the \projects and \beta folders that unzip into the Bug Tracking folder must be set to read/write for the anonymous Internet user.

2. Using Notepad or another HTML editor, open the “config.asp” file in the Bug Tracking folder. The following is what you will see after the copyright text.

==================================================================

'ENTER MAIL SERVER BETWEEN QUOTES IN THE FOLLOWING LINE. EXAMPLE: mailserver = "mail.mydomain.com"

mailserver = ""

==================================================================

After “mailserver =” enter your email server information between the quotes "" and save the file. This is the information your server needs to send emails. Be careful not to make any other changes. After saving the config.asp file, you are ready to start using Bug Tracking.

Using Bug Tracking

We recommend using Internet Explorer, although you should be able to use any web browser. From your browser, enter and navigate to the URL where Bug Tracking is installed.

This is what the Bug Tracking login page looks like. The default user name and password are:

User Name: admin

Password: admin

These should be changed when you start to set up Bug Tracking. This is explained in detail in the section under “Maintenance Pages” below.

Please log in

LICENSE AGREEMENT (scroll down)

IMPORTANT NOTES:

The Bug Tracking End User License Agreement is contained on the login page. The first time you use Bug Tracking, you should read this License Agreement. Part of this License Agreement indicates that you may not change any of the terms of the License Agreement, and you may not modify or distribute the code without express written permission from the developer.

Whenever you use Bug Tracking, you are indicating that you agree with the terms and conditions of the Bug Tracking license. If you have not read the License Agreement or you do not agree with its terms, then do not use Bug Tracking.

Bug Tracking Main Page

After you login to Bug Tracking, this is what you will see.

The first section is the search section. The default project is “Test” and below in the section under “Maintenance Pages” are instructions for creating new projects. By selecting items in the dropdowns, you can narrow the search based on the various search items. To see the defaults for each dropdown, click on the arrow down.

Category:

Status:

Assigned to:

Priority:

Project: Test

NEW		Number	Category	Status	Priority	Short Description	Created by	Assigned to	Files
EDIT	V	1	Defect	Open	High	Test problem	admin	admin	1

Please select ID

You must select a project. All other selections are optional. Here, you can add a new issue “NEW”, edit an issue “EDIT” or view an issue “V”.

The following is a view of the sample issue in the Test project after clicking on EDIT.

Issue Number: 1	Category:	Status:	Priority:
Test problem
Product is nice, please tell friends to get their own copy !
Created by:	Assigned To:	Creation Date:	Status changed:
DELETE

base dir:/1/1/

· Test.jpg - 47104 bytes, last modified on 6/19/2005 8:56:30 PM.

1 files related to this issue

In the EDIT view, you can modify an issue. When you are done with your changes, click on the “SAVE” button to save your changes. Although you can delete an issue “DELETE” we do not recommend this. We also recommend the following format when modifying issues. “User Name – Date – comments” – with the most recent comments on top. Example “John Smith wrote – July 19, 2005 – Comment.” This is what works best for us, although you can adopt any format that works best for your organization or team.

The NEW issue view is similar, although the dropdowns will be set to the defaults (as determined in Maintenance), and the textbox will be blank.

The information underneath the “SAVE” button indicates the location where data about this issue is stored.

Below that, if there are files attached to an issue, the file names for each file are displayed as links for downloading, along with information on the file properties. In the example above, there is one file attached to this issue – although there could be more or less.

You can add files in both the NEW and EDIT views. Clicking on the “# files related to this issue” link opens a new browser window where you can upload files or view/delete files already attached to an issue. You can upload almost any type of file, and typically these are graphics of error messages, or other files (text, data, etc.) that are related to the issue.

Upload Files Page

The upload/view files page looks like this:

Test.jpg - 47104 bytes, last modified on 6/19/2005 8:56:30 PM. Delete

To upload a file, browse to the file you want to upload and select it. Click on the Upload button. You can upload multiple files, but each file must be uploaded individually. When you are finished uploading files, close the window.

If an issue has files attached, the file names will be displayed as links below the “Upload” button, followed by information about the file properties (as shown above for Test.jpg). To view or download an attached file, click on the link. To delete the file, click on Delete. Although you can delete attached files if you want, we do not recommend it. It is best to retain attached files so there is a complete record of each issue.

Email Confirmation

After creating or modifying an issue, the system will send the owner (Assigned to) of the issue an email with details to alert them that a change has been made to the issue.

Maintenance Pages

This is where you setup and manage Bug Tracking. To access the maintenance pages, go to the URL where you have Bug Tracking installed and add “/maintenance” to the end of the URL. This is what you will see when you first enter the maintenance pages. Each section is explained in detail below:

Edit users table
Edit Categories table
Edit Priorities table
Edit Projects table
Edit User Access table
Edit Statuses table
Edit BETA users table

Edit users table

Here you can add/delete users. Enter the user name, password and the user’s email address. To disable a user, change their password or delete the entry.

The packaged defaults are:

User ID

User Name:

Password:

Email:

Of course, you will want to change the admin password when you start using Bug Tracking. Please note the security issues under the Getting Started section above.

Edit Categories table
Here you can add/delete categories for issues, and set which one to appear as default when a new issue is created. The packaged defaults are:

Defect (Default)

Feature

To Do

Documentation

Web

Install

Unknown

As with all other sections, you can use the packaged defaults, or create your own.

Edit Priorities table
Here you can add/delete priorities for issues, and set which one to appear as default when a new issue is created. The packaged defaults are:

Highest – Red Alert

High (Default)

Normal

Low

Hobby

Edit Projects table
Here you can add/delete projects. The packaged default is “Test” with a project ID of 1. As you create projects, the project ID is automatically assigned a number value.

Edit User Access table
On this page, you need to assign projects to each user. When a user logs into Bug Tracking, only the projects to which that user is granted access under this table will be displayed in the Project dropdown. Whenever you add a user or a project, project and user ID’s are automatically assigned by Bug Tracking. These are the numeric values used to set user access to projects in this table. To make setting user access quick and easy, we recommend you print out a list of the projects and users.

For each user, enter the numeric value of the user ID and the project ID for each project to which you want to grant this user access when he or she logs into Bug Tracking. Each user needs one entry for each project. If you want to remove a user’s access to a project, delete or change that entry.

This is not a security feature. Please note the security issues under the Getting Started section above. The design purpose for assigning projects to users is a convenience feature intended to prevent the projects dropdown from becoming cluttered with closed projects or projects not related to a users work.

Edit Statuses table
Here you can add/delete status list for issues. The packaged defaults are:

Open

Done

Default

Closed

By default, whenever a new issue is created, the status is set to “open.”

Edit BETA users table

Here you can manage/modify data about beta testers that have signed up under the beta pages. If you discover an undesirable beta tester, we recommend changing their password, as this will prevent them from signing up again with the same email address.

Beta Tester Pages

The Beta Tester project is automatically assigned the Project ID of 99. If the project does not exist when the beta folder is accessed, it is created on the fly. The user in charge of managing the beta project should be assigned to Project ID 99.

The user in charge of beta projects should be the individual responsible for gathering and summarizing input from beta testers and submitting issues to the team member responsible for them. For example, ten beta testers may report the same bug. The user in charge of beta projects should summarize the problem and create an issue for the project assigned to the user responsible for fixing that bug.

The config.asp (as noted above) and the beta tester pages noted below are the only pages that you can modify in under your License for Bug Tracking. The pages are indicated below, and the default text (text which you can modify) is shown in red.

Beta Tester Login Page

Beta testers can sign up and login to the beta testers pages by accessing the URL where you have Bug Tracking installed and adding “/beta” to the URL. You may want to mask this location by using a DNS entry, for example, http://beta.test.com where the DNS points to the URL of Bug Tracking/Beta.

/beta/login.asp

1. In the top box, you can put information about your beta project(s).

2. The space below the login section is where you can put in any information that you determine is important to your beta testers. The packaged default is instructions for creating graphics of error messages.

When a beta tester or potential beta tester enters this page, this is what he or she will see.

If this is your first time here, and you want to sign up for the “FILL IN PROJECT(S) NAME” beta testing,
click the "New User" link below and sign in.

You can enter any other information about the project(s), for example qualifications,

how and when you will contact beta testers, etc.

New User

Password

Frequently asked questions
Creating a graphic of an error message
Other items can go here

Instructions for Creating Graphics of Error Messages

· As soon as an error message pops up (and before you clear it), do a "print screen."

· Open a graphics program like Microsoft Paint, Adobe Photoshop, or Paint Shop Pro. Windows comes with Microsoft Paint (Start, Programs, Accessories, Paint)

· When the graphics program is open, press "ctrl + V" to paste the screen image.

· Select File, Save As.

· Enter a file name using your name and date. Example (johndoe08302004). If you have more than one graphic, add a letter at the end of each. Example (johndoe08302004a) and (johndoe08302004b).

· Under file type, if .jpg is available, select .jpg. If not, then use bmp (bitmap).

· Make a note of the location where you are saving the file so you can conveniently browse to it when you are reporting the incident on our beta test site.

Other items can go here

Beta Tester New User Page

When a new beta testers clicks on the New User link, it will take them to this page where they can enter some personal information, and information about their system. The beta tester’s email address will become his or her user name, and the information they enter here will be included in all future issues submitted by this beta tester.

Please input your information
Your name:
Your email address:
The password you need:

Computer make
Computer Model
Processor Make & Speed
Memory
Hard Drive free space
Operating System
Operating System Updates Current Y/N

Beta Tester Returning User

/beta/index.asp

When a beta tester logs in they are taken to this page, which identifies them, and enables them to report a new incident.

Welcome User Name
Report a new incident

Below the “Report a new incident” link, this page should display the same information that is displayed in the lower half of the login page, and is not repeated here.

Beta Tester Report a New Incident Page

/beta/incident.asp

When a beta tester enters the “Report a New Incident Page” they are able to enter their incident and modify their system information if it has changed.

Thank you for helping us make “FILL IN PROJECT(S) NAME” better. Because of the forensic aspect of the investigation, we cannot overstate the importance of the information you will be providing on this form. Our software developers will use every aspect of your information to try to reproduce the problem and find a solution, so every bit of information counts.

It is particularly important that we know exactly how to recreate a problem.

Support

Visit www.coolsoftllc.com and go to support. To submit a support issue, go to the Request Support link. You will need the email address and order number that appears on your confirmation email when you first purchased your license. We will forward your questions to the developer, and someone will get back to you within a few business days.

NOTE: We do not support third party products like ASPMAIL, web browsers or Microsoft products. If you need support with a third party product, contact the developer of that product.

Bug Tracking has been tested in Internet Explorer 6.1 and Netscape 7.2, and functions well with those web browsers. It should work with other browsers too, but we cannot guaranty that.

Introduction:

Table of Contents

Introduction

Table of Contents

System Requirements

System Requirements

Getting Started

Installing Bug Tracking

Setting Up Third Party Software

Using Bug Tracking

EDIT

V

Maintenance Pages

This is where you setup and manage Bug Tracking. To access the maintenance pages, go to the URL where you have Bug Tracking installed and add “/maintenance” to the end of the URL. This is what you will see when you first enter the maintenance pages. Each section is explained in detail below:

Beta Tester Pages

The Beta Tester project is automatically assigned the Project ID of 99. If the project does not exist when the beta folder is accessed, it is created on the fly. The user in charge of managing the beta project should be assigned to Project ID 99.

Beta Tester New User Page

Beta Tester Returning User

Support