AgileTrack

File Release Notes and Changelog

Release Name: Version 1.1.3

Notes:
It has been a little while since the last release, but the time for AgileTrack 
1.1.3 is now here. This release focuses on improving the UI without altering the 
data structures so as to continue to be backwards compatible with the current 
1.1.x releases.

The main changes are highlighted briefly before getting into more detail 
regarding the updates. New or significantly improved features include:

    * Keyboard shortcuts for common actions and navigation
    * A completely revamped and more useful "Home" tab
    * Improved time logging interface
    * User interface for managing available project and issue states
    * Tree view of issues in iterations
    * Time/date formatting flexibility across application
    * JFreeCharts for chart rendering

A large number of fixes have been added as well. A few that stand out are:

    * Report queries have been corrected and output table is improved
    * Attachments were appearing to not save, but work smoothly again
    * Time table sorting and editing is fixed up
    * Projects with the same name can be selected individually again
    * Improvements that should give better responsiveness when saving records 
      and loading project trees

Various other details have also been fixed or touched up.

Keyboard Shortcuts

AgileTrack has long been needing keyboard shortcuts to make usage more 
efficient. The new keyboard shortcuts which have been added are described here. 
From most tabs, the following keyboard shortcuts are available:

    * Ctrl-S create/save records
    * Ctrl-N begin creating a new record
    * Ctrl-D delete the current record
    * F5 clear or reload the reload
    * Ctrl-Shift-F keyboard focus to top input field
    * Ctrl-M toggle toggle visibility of left panel record list
    * Ctrl-Shift-M maximize visibility of selected record
    * Ctrl-B toggle subscribe/unsubscribe for record

From the "Create" tab:

    * Ctrl-T creates or saves a template

From an open issue:

    * Ctrl-L toggle issue timer on/off

The main tabs can also be navigated directly:

    * Ctrl-Shift-C show creat tab
    * Ctrl-Shift-P show projects tab
    * Ctrl-Shift-L show issues tab
    * Ctrl-Shift-S show selected issue
    * Ctrl-Shift-T show selected sub-task
    * Ctrl-Shift-Q show queries tab
    * Ctrl-Shift-I show iterations tab
    * Ctrl-Shift-U show users tab
    * Ctrl-Shift-R show reports tab
    * Ctrl-Shift-H show home tab

Home Tab

The Home tab in previous releases had been long forgotten and didn't do anything 
very useful. The new home tab slightly resembles it, but with much more useful 
features. There are five sections to the view:

   1. The iteration selection and calendar area allows previous iterations to be 
   selected so that basic reporting for past iterations can be viewed. The 
   default is the current active iteration.
   
   2. An iteration burn-down chart is shown on the left. The burn down is based 
   on the number of issues in the iteration.
   
   3. An iteration progress pie-chart is shown in the bottom-left corner. It 
   shows the number of completed issues versus incomplete issues and measures 
   them based on the estimated hours to complete the issues.
   
   4. The top-right area of the view shows all issues in the iteration, sorted 
   by the most recently modified issues. It gives a quick view of what specific 
   things are being worked on during an iteration.
   
   5. The bottom-right area has a selection of preset reports that are run using 
   the reporting engine. All reports are run with the iteration issues being the 
   data set, and the iteration date range being the time span. Various reports 
   are provided.

With the changes to the Home tab, iteration progress is much more accessible and 
it will allow teams to respond better to change.

State Record View

Issue and projects states can now be defined by administrators. Using the 
Administration "Show States" toggle from the main Window menu or main context 
menu, the States tab can be displayed. All existing states will be listed.

    * The state name is what is displayed in lists throughout the tool.
    * States can have a list of available "next states" which are used when the 
      state progression feature is enabled. The available "next states" is used to 
      control the state workflow for issues, e.g. Prepare -> Open -> Complete. To 
      specify which states are allowable as "next states", simply select them from 
      in the list.
    * All states are defined for specific record types, e.g. Story, Task, 
      Component. The type selection determines if they will be available for 
      assignment within records of that type.
    * The state "Purpose" affects the highlight color of issues and projects.

Issue states are tied to the state definition only by the state name. If 
existing states are renamed, individual issues will also need to have their 
states reassigned manually.

Time Logging and Formatting

When time logs are manually entered, the user may now specify the log date, 
start and end times, and elapsed time when creating the log entry. Logs can also 
be editing in the time log table if there are any corrections that need to be 
made.

Anywhere times and calendars are shown, the user may use nearly any preferred 
format. The input fields will auto-detect the format the user is using and 
adjust formatting throughout the interface to match. For example, instead of 
typing "10/21/2007", a user may type "2007 Oct 21" and the interface will accept 
it. Times can be input using AM/PM, or 24 hour format. Time estimate fields 
allow fractional hours to be entered in addition to other formats, e.g. 2.5 
instead of 2h:30m. 

Conclusion

With this release, AgileTrack is beginning to reach a mature stage. It has most 
all of the features it was originally intended to have and the interface is 
pretty stable. Future releases haven't been planned yet, but are expected to 
include more flexibility in the data structures—user definable fields, etc.—and 
offer improved reporting and tracking.

Unless there are major problems requiring another release soon, it is expected 
that the AgileTrack documentation will be the next thing to be completed. In 
addition to that, the web interface (which is in development, but stalled for 
several months) will also be continued and released in the near future.

Thanks to those who have contributed bug reports and feature suggestions. As a 
reminder, users can create their own custom language translations, or otherwise 
customize labels in the interface. For instructions, just ask.


Changes:
2007-10-29 RELEASE: ----------------- version 1.1.3 -----------------
Client NEW: support for keyboard shortcuts
Client NEW: support custom start/end times
Client UPDATE: issue Create & Open button
Client FIXED: Exception after changing rights
Client UPDATE: Customisable Calander
Client NEW: Tree filter
Client UPDATE: values for min/max are not shown in the charts
Client FIXED: Saving an attachment w/o permissions saves the record, but not the file
Client NEW: specify start/end time for manual time log
Client UPDATE: allow entering of decimal number for estimation
Client UPDATE: show only open and recently closed iterations in iterations view
Client UPDATE: Iteration View sub task ordering
Client FIXED: Times sort appears to be broken
Client UPDATE: Collapase/expand issues in iteration view
Client FIXED: Document Attachment not working
Client UPDATE: button to start sub-task timer
Client UPDATE: updating issues in iteration view takes several seconds
Client FIXED: Error with MS SQL DB
Client UPDATE: report includes deleted / not open projects
Client FIXED: ability to exclude project with value at 0
Client NEW: issue copy/duplicate button
Client UPDATE: mark issues new to iteration
Client NEW: Task / sub-task tree in Iteration tab
Client FIXED: specifying urgency in query has no effect
Client FIXED: Multiple times updating?
Client UPDATE: Auto-Refresh
Client UPDATE: issue editing is still slow
Client FIXED: Project selection with error in issue form
Client UPDATE: The Brazilian's Potuguese translation is not good enough
Client NEW: Provide UI to manage available states
Client NEW: Revamp Home view to show more useful information