[Processdash-announce] Process Dashboard 1.12 is Now Available

[<pro...@li...>]

The Process Dashboard development team is pleased to announce the
availability of version 1.12 of the Process Dashboard.  To download version
1.12, visit:
http://www.processdash.com/

Version 1.12 includes these significant new features:

   - Since version 1.7, the dashboard has included a team metrics collection
   framework called "Software Systems Development." To avoid the possibility of
   copyright violations, that metrics framework has used a different set of
   process phases than the TSP(SM). Beginning with version 1.12, Carnegie
   Mellon University has generously granted us permission to
distribute<http://www.processdash.com/pspTermsOfUse>a TSP-compatible
metrics framework. This new framework will reduce the
   learning curve for TSP teams as they first begin to use the Process
   Dashboard. *(Legal disclaimer: The open source team that writes the
   Process Dashboard  is not affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University.
   Carnegie Mellon University has neither reviewed nor endorsed the Process
   Dashboard or this metrics framework.)*
   - Process Dashboard installers are now provided to support the assignment
   sequence of the PSP(SM) Fundamentals and Advanced courses.
   - It is now possible to attach HTTP URLs to the elements in a Common Team
   Workflow. This can be used to associate organizational process scripts or
   wiki pages that describe the steps in a workflow. *(Note: this feature is
   only available for team projects that are created using Process Dashboard
   1.12 or later.)*
   - Data from earned value schedules can now be exported to Microsoft
   Project in the new MS Office XML format.
   - In the WBS Editor Team Member List, the column headers now display
   dates in a locale-sensitive manner for non-US teams.
   - Some international dashboard users have seen problems with corruption
   of accented characters in the Team Dashboard. A new feature is provided in
   the Preferences dialog to help those teams.
   - Teams can optionally choose to have the WBS Editor prompt for read-only
   mode on startup. (This option can be controlled on a project-by-project
   basis.)
   - Several reporting enhancements:
   - The "Status of Team Member Metrics" page has always displayed the date
      when each team member last exported their metrics. Now, it also
displays the
      date they last performed a "Sync to WBS" operation.
      - Charts have been added to the PSP project plan summary forms to
      display time, defects, and PQI.
      - In the past, the components and tasks in a rolled-up team EV
      schedule would sometimes not appear in the same order that they appear in
      the WBS. The reporting logic has been enhanced so the EV schedule will
      follow the WBS element ordering more closely.
      - The EV Report will now display a warning message if tasks have been
      marked complete in the future, or if time has been logged in the future.
      This can help in the troubleshooting of problems caused by data
entry typos.
      - On the Weekly EV Report, the "Tasks Completed Last Week" table now
      displays a total row.
      - In the WBS Editor and in the EV reports, when a percent complete
      number is greater than 99.5% but less than 100%, it will be
rounded down to
      99%. This helps to avoid confusion, since 100% will now only appear for
      tasks that are truly complete.
   - Fixes to several bugs, including:
      - A bug was affecting the date-based filtering of entries in the Time
      Log (for example, when you request to view time log entries for "Today").
      This bug has been corrected.
      - Teams that have upgraded to a recent version of the Code
      Collaborator server were finding that defect types were no longer being
      transferred by the "Import from Code Collaborator" feature. This
problem has
      been corrected.
      - In the personal dashboard, the Team Project Tools and Settings page
      has previously included a checkbox to "Include all WBS components and
      documents in sync operations." This checkbox represented obsolete
      functionality, and now only causes problems when individuals
enable it out
      of curiosity. To avoid those problems, the feature has been removed.
   - Installers are now available in EXE format for use on Windows systems.
   These EXEs can simplify the installation process for users who previously
   encountered problems with filesystem permissions in Windows Vista.


Upgrade Considerations

   - Teams are encouraged to upgrade together. Some features may not work
   properly until all team members have upgraded, and exported their data at
   least once.
   - Teams using the built-in metrics collection framework will enjoy this
   functionality simply by upgrading. Teams that have defined their own custom
   metrics collection framework will need to refresh the
definition<http://www.tuma-solutions.com/metricsFrameworkEditor.html#upgrading>of
that framework.

Download

For more information, or to download the Process Dashboard, visit:
http://www.processdash.com/


PSP(SM) and TSP(SM) are service marks of Carnegie Mellon University. The
open source team that writes the Process Dashboard is not affiliated with
Carnegie Mellon University. Neither Carnegie Mellon University nor the
Software Engineering Institute have reviewed or endorsed the Process
Dashboard.