Use Sample Templates to Get Started with Microsoft Word Exports
When exporting from Helix ALM to Microsoft Word, you use a Word document as a template, which controls what information is exported and the formatting of the document. Administrators and power users usually add templates to Helix ALM. To get started, it is easiest to download one of the many sample templates and then modify it to get the item information and look you need.
Pin a Folder When Adding Items to Folders
When adding items to folders in the web client, it can be annoying to drill down to find the same folder repeatedly. In the Add to Folder dialog box, click the pin button next to the folder you need to only show it and its subfolders. You will immediately see the pinned folder when you open the dialog box again. When you are done working with that folder, unpin it to show the entire folder list. You can also pin in the folders tree in the Folders list.
Double-Click a Requirement in a Document to Edit It
When working in a requirement document in the web client, double-click a requirement in the document pane to edit it in place. It is easier to make changes within the context of the document. Plus, there is no need to open the requirement or hunt down the right place to go to make changes. If you don’t see the field you want to update when you double-click to edit, add the field as a column in the document pane and it will be available when you edit the requirement.
Quickly Go to Recently Viewed Items
Helix ALM web client users — Easily go back to items you recently viewed or edited from the Recent Items list. The last 10 items of each item type you opened are in the list until you log out or switch projects. Click an item to go directly to it from anywhere in Helix ALM. Click View all recent items to navigate through all items you recently worked with.
Customize Shortcut Menus with Frequently Used Actions
Helix ALM desktop client users — You can customize shortcut menus that open when you right-click in list windows. Add the actions you perform most frequently and remove the ones you don’t use. Choose Tools > User Options and select the Shortcut Menus category or choose Configure Menu directly in the menu.
Add, Edit, and Delete Filters in the Web Client
Helix ALM filters are powerful to help you find exactly the information you need. Use filters to save criteria you frequently use to search so you can easily repeat that search. Filters are commonly used to narrow the items displayed in item lists, but are also used in other areas, such as reports.
Just like the desktop client, you can manage filters in the web client. When you’re working in an item list, click the filter icon and select a filter to apply it to the list. Options on the left side of the menu let you edit the current filter, add a new filter, or delete the current filter, depending on your security permissions.
Change What You See in the Requirement Document Tree
When you are working in a requirement document in the web client, there are a few options you can toggle to control what you see in the requirements tree. You can show or hide the requirement summary, outline number, and requirement tag. For example, it may be helpful to only show tag and summary or outline number and summary so you can easily scan to find what you need. Or, you may want to declutter the view and only show the summary, especially if the Tag column is displayed in the document. You can also search the requirements tree to quickly find requirements based on what is displayed.
Use Baselines to Preserve a Collection of Items
Baselines preserve data for a collection of items at a point in time, such as a project milestone. Information in a baseline cannot be modified, so they provide a reliable way to see historical information about your products and releases. Whether you need to survive an audit or quickly review what changed, baselines can save time, provide insight, and make collaboration easier.
Adding a baseline is easy. Select the source items to include, which can be any Helix ALM item type — requirements, requirement documents (including all requirements in the documents), test cases, test runs, issues, and folders (including all items and subfolders in the folders). Capture full traceability information by automatically including items related or linked to the source items.
Automatically Caption Tables and Images in Microsoft Word exports
You can configure automatically include captions on tables and images when exporting items from Helix ALM to Microsoft Word. For example, you can label tables in requirement descriptions sequentially as Table 1, Table 2, etc.
To do this, edit the Word export template. Put the field code for the item you want to automatically caption in an invisible table with one row and one column. Then, insert a Word AutoCaption outside of the table you added (see the Word help for details). Upload the new template to Helix ALM and test the export to make sure captions work as expected
Notify Users About Maintenance and Upgrades
Need to let your team know that you’re going to perform project maintenance or upgrade Helix ALM? Send them a message and users will see it while working in Helix ALM. If changes only affect one project, you can message users from the same place where you view users logged in to the project. If changes affect multiple projects, you can message all users logged into a Helix ALM Server from the server admin utility.
Automatically Approve All Requirements in a Document when a Document is Approved
When a requirement document is approved in Helix ALM, the requirements in that document are automatically locked. However, the status (workflow state) of individual requirements in the document does not change. You can configure Helix ALM to automatically approve the requirements when the document is approved.
- Make sure the Approved workflow state for both documents and requirements locks the items. (Your project may use a different ‘final state’ name.)
- Add a filter for requirements that uses the Is Locked restriction and Requirement is locked option.
- Add an escalation rule that runs every hour for requirements. Use the filter you added as the precondition and an Enter event action that specifies the Approve event.
Keep in mind that this automation rule is for convenience, not a substitute for human review. If you’re in a regulated industry, but still want to approve requirements in bulk, batch approvals through multiple selection is an easy and defensible process to implement.
Require Multiple People to Approve Helix ALM Items
Your process may require multiple people to approve Helix ALM items. For example, you may have four people assigned to review a test case and all of them must approve it to be considered approved. Administrators and other high-level users can configure the Helix ALM workflow to enforce this.
In the Helix ALM desktop client, edit the workflow multi-user assignment rules. Click the Assignment Rules tab in the Configure Workflow dialog box. Select a workflow state and click Edit. In the Multi-User Assignment Rules area, select Wait for all assigned users to respond then use the state with the highest priority. You can then order the possible resulting states from highest to lowest priority.
Using the test case example, you may have the Ready state as the lowest priority and the Changes Needed state as the highest priority. If three approvers enter an event that moves the test case to the Ready state and the other approver enters an event that moves it to the Changes Needed state, the test case is in the Changes Needed state because it has the highest priority.