Ea Connector Qc Userguide v2.0

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Version 2.0

Administration

&User Guide

14 October 2010

EA Connector to QC Version 2.0 – Administration and User Guide

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Copyright

The information contained in this document is proprietary to Catch Limited. No part of this publication may be

reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior

written consent of Catch Limited, including, but not limited to, network or other electronic storage or transmission, or

broadcast for distance learning.

Contact Information For further information about this course or anything else please contact us at:

Office: Level 3, 300 Queen Street

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Wellesley Street

Auckland 1141

New Zealand

Phone: +64 9 303 2023

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.catchlimited.com

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Contents

1 Product Overview ............................................................................................................................................................ 4

1.1 What is EA Connector to QC? .................................................................................................................................. 4

1.2 Key Features ............................................................................................................................................................ 4

2 System Requirements ...................................................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Supported Operating Systems ................................................................................................................................. 5

2.2 Supported Databases............................................................................................................................................... 5

2.3 Software Pre-requisites ........................................................................................................................................... 5

3 Application Installation .................................................................................................................................................... 6

3.1 Getting Started......................................................................................................................................................... 6

3.2 Configuring the Enterprise Architect database...................................................................................................... 10

3.3 Configuring HP Quality Center ............................................................................................................................... 10

4 Using EA Connector to QC ............................................................................................................................................. 12

4.1 Adding a Project..................................................................................................................................................... 12

4.2 Running as a Service .............................................................................................................................................. 14

4.3 Running Interactively ............................................................................................................................................. 15

4.4 Log Files.................................................................................................................................................................. 16

5 Additional Information .................................................................................................................................................. 17

5.1 Unsupported or Known Issues............................................................................................................................... 17

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1 Product Overview The EA Connector to QC enables companies to synchronize information between Sparx System's Enterprise Architect

and Hewlett Packard's Quality Center. The EA Connector to QC provides real time synchronization to help assure that

companies seamlessly integrate accurate data between Enterprise Architect and Quality Center. The connector comes

with re-built field mapping definitions for requirement and test synchronization for Enterprise Architect and Quality

Center. The connector will replicate package contents and hierarchy and is compatible with Quality Center Release(s)

10.0 and 11.0

Please report any issues to [email protected]

1.1 What is EA Connector to QC? The EA Connector to QC is not an add-in for Enterprise Architect. It is implemented as a windows service (Catch Limited

EA Connector to QC) and requires installation on a server that has network access to the Quality Center Server as well

as the server hosting the Enterprise Architect Repository.

1.2 Key Features • Synchronization of requirements and use cases in Enterprise Architect to/from requirements and tests in Quality

Center.

• Synchronization of structured use case scenarios to tests and test steps in Quality Center.

• Synchronization of package structure between Enterprise Architect and Quality Center.

For further information about Catch EA Connector for AC and associated products please contact

[email protected]

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2 System Requirements The following sections outline the system requirements.

2.1 Supported Operating Systems

EA Connector for QC is supported on the following operating systems:

• Windows XP memory 1 gigabytes minimum, 2 gigabytes recommended

• Windows Vista memory 1 gigabytes minimum, 2 gigabytes recommended

• Windows 7 memory 2 gigabytes minimum, 3 gigabytes recommended

• Windows Server 2003 memory 1 gigabytes minimum, 2 gigabytes recommended

• Windows Server 2008 memory 2 gigabytes minimum, 3 gigabytes recommended

• Windows Server 2008 r2 memory 2 gigabytes minimum, 3 gigabytes recommended

Configurations using less memory than this may run but performance will be severely degraded.

Whilst Windows XP/Vista/7 are supported we do not recommend these operating systems as a production platform.

2.2 Supported Databases

EA Connector to QC is supported on the following Databases:

HP Quality Centre

• Microsoft SQL Server 2005,2008 and 2008 r2 (including Express Editions)

• Oracle versions 10g and 11g

Sparx Enterprise Architect

• PostgreSQL versions 8.2 and above

• Microsoft SQL Server 2005, 2008 and 2008 r2 (including Express Editions)

• Oracle versions 10g and 11g

• MySql version 5.0 and above

2.3 Software Pre-requisites The pre-requisites for installing Catch EA Connector to QC are:

• The .Net Framework 3.5 SP1

• HP Quality Center COM Objects (see installation instructions)

Note: .eap files are not supported. The EA Connector to QC was built to support Enterprise Architect

Corporate Edition and above with a database backend.

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3 Application Installation

3.1 Getting Started

3.1.1 What’s included

EA Connector to QC consists of:

• A Windows service that runs in the background, and connects to both Enterprise Architect databases and HP

Quality Center installations (via the QC Client COM components).

• A management client that can be run on the server, and allows the user to:

o Install the required licenses for the software.

o Create "projects" which allow mapping of information back and forth between Enterprise Architect

database repositories and HP Quality Center projects.

• A set of database scripts which are used to configure the Enterprise Architect repository database, so that it's

able to store information about the Elements and Packages that have been synchronized with Quality Center.

• A shortcut for launching the windows Service in an interactive mode, which is suitable for diagnosing

problems with configuration.

3.1.2 Pre requisites installation

EA Connector to QC has 2 key pre-requisites. The first is the .Net Framework 3.5 SP1, EA Connector to QC is developed

in managed code, and relies on the .Net Framework to be installed before it can function. On modern operating

Systems (Windows Server 2008 r2 and Windows 7 for example) this version of the .Net Framework is already installed,

for earlier operating systems you can use the boot strapper to install the necessary files, or have your IT department

install the .Net Framework 3.5 SP1 redistributable from the Microsoft website.

The second pre-requisite is the HP Quality Center client libraries - also known as the OTA COM library. The client

library can either installed manually (For QC10, install the file “QCClient.msi” that comes on the QC10 installation

media, for QC11 install the file “TDConnect.exe” the comes on the installation media) or by using the client on the

server at least once.

Note: In prior editions of EA Connector to QC, it was required that Sparx Enterprise Architect be installed on the same

server as the connector service, however since version 2.0 this is no longer a requirement (customers upgrading are

also free to uninstall Enterprise Architect from their server to free up the EA license for use elsewhere in their

organization, if they so wish).

Note: The Quality Centre OTA COM library will be automatically installed if you

log into Quality Centre from a web browser on the server the application is installed on.

3.1.3 Installing

The EA Connector QC software is distributed as 2 files (often zipped up into a single archive).

A boot strapper executable (.exe file) can be executed to automatically install the required pre-requisites, before

installing EA Connector to QC (in this case the .Net Framework 3.5 SP1).

The product installer (.msi file) can be executed to install the software. Note: if you launch the boot strapper, once it

has completed installing the pre-requisite components it will automatically launch the .msi file to install the product, if

it exists in the same directory.

It is recommended that you launch the installer via the .exe file, to ensure the pre-requisites are installed prior to

installation of the product.

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When you launch the installer, you will be presented with a welcome screen – click “Next” to proceed.

Next you will see the EULA agreement screen. You must read and agree to the End User License Agreement before you

can proceed to install the software.

Next you will be prompted to select an installation path for the application.

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And now you are ready to proceed with installing the software, click “Install” to continue.

The installation will proceed (you will see a progress bar) – this may take some time, especially when upgrading from a

previous version of EA Connector to QC, as it must stop and start the Windows Service.

Click Finish to complete the installation, you can now begin configuring EA Connector to QC.

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3.1.4 Reviewing Installed Features

Now that you have EA Connector to QC installed, it is worth reviewing what changes were made to your server. The

key visible changes to the system after installation are:

1. A New “Catch Limited EA Connector to QC” service is installed on the machine and running.

2. Under Start -> All Programs, there is a new installation folder called “EA Connector to QC”, with shortcuts to the:

• Management client software “EA Connector to QC”

• The utility for running the EA Connector to QC Service interactively (Utility – Run Service in a UI with logging)

• A folder of Database Scripts, which must be applied to your EA Repository Database before they can be used

by EA Connector to QC.

Now that the application is installed, your next step is to install a Trial or Commercial license, so you can begin

configuring the product.

3.1.5 Registering the Product After installing EA Connector to QC you must register the product before you can use it. To register

1. Select Start/Programs/EA Connector to QC to display the Administration tool

2. Select Set License and note the Server Key

3. Copy the Server Key and email it to Catch ([email protected]) to obtain a license key for your server

3.1.6 Installing the License Once you have registered the product and obtained your license from Catch you must install the license before

beginning to use the product

1. Select Start/Programs/EA Connector to QC to display the Administration tool

2. Select Set License and paste the license key into the box provided

3. Click the apply button to install the license

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3.2 Configuring the Enterprise Architect database

The EA Connector to QC uses 2 tables within your EA database to manage synchronization of data between the

applications. These tables are the can_integrate_xref and can_integration_package_xref tables. To create these tables

1. Locate the appropriate SQL script for your specific database (e.g. create-MSSQL2005.sql for Microsoft SQL Server

2005) to create the tables

2. Use the appropriate tool to apply the script (e.g. SQL Management Studio for Microsoft SQL Server)

3. Check to ensure that the scrip runs successfully

Note: Database SQL scripts are located in the

<drive>:\\Program Files\Catch Limited\EA Connector to QC\Bin directory

Note: You may require DBA assistance to run these scripts. If you are upgrading from a prior release

of EA Connector to QC refer to the upgrade guide and run the appropriate upgrade scripts instead.

3.3 Configuring HP Quality Center

EA Connector to QC supports Quality Center version 10.0 and 11.0 . The following prerequisites should be met before

installing EA Connector to QC.

• Create a Quality Center user specifically for the connector

• Ensure that DISABLE_COMMAND_INTERFACE is set to ‘N’ on the Site Configuration tab of Site Administrator

or

• Make the connectors Quality Center user a member of the TDAdmin user group

In addition there are a series of custom fields that must be added to your Quality Center installation to ensure that the

EA Connector to QC will work. These fields are listed in the following section.

3.3.1 Requirements Custom Fields

Field Label Type Default Field Name

EA Guid STRING(40) RQ_USER_01

EA Path STRING(255) RQ_USER_02

EA Status STRING(255) RQ_USER_03

EA SYNC Time STRING(40) RQ_USER_04

3.3.2 Tests Custom Fields

Field Label Type Default Field Name

EA Guid STRING(40) TS_USER_01

EA Path STRING(255) TS_USER_02

EA Status STRING(255) TS_USER_03

EA SYNC Time STRING(40) TS_USER_04

Source ID STRING(255) TS_USER_05

Source Container ID STRING(255) TS_USER_06

Note: The Source ID and Source Container ID fields are new for release 2.0 of EA Connector to QC,

If upgrading from an earlier release you will need to add these fields.

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Note: The History, Masked, Required and Searchable check boxes should

all be unchecked for user fields made visible in the UI.

In Quality Center it is necessary to specify which USER fields are allowed for each type of requirement. This is

accomplished through the Project Customization screen. Select the Requirement Types option at left. Then, for each

type of requirement (Business, Folder, Functional, Group, Testing and Undefined as well as any custom requirement

types that may have been added), use the arrow buttons to move RQ_USER_01 through RQ_USER_04 from the Not in

Type list to the In Type list. Finally, press Save to ensure the changes are kept.

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4 Using EA Connector to QC

Once the configuration steps above have been performed you can begin the configuration of the Connector itself.

Configuration is carried out on a project by project basis. Note that EA Connector to QC is licensed by project count and

you may configure as many projects as your license allows.

4.1 Adding a Project

To add a new Project to EA Connector to QC right click on the Project List item in the tree. You will be prompted for a

name for the Project. Enter the Project Name you wish to use and click on the OK button.

The project will now be visible in the tree. Click on the project to begin configuring it. There are 3 configuration tabs to

complete.

4.1.1 EA Configuration Tab

The first tab enables you to specify the settings for the Enterprise Architect repository. The three fields that require

definition are

• EA Path The connection string for the EA database repository

• EA Requirement Root The root package to synchronize requirements to QC from

• EA Test Root The root package to synchronize tests to QC from

The EA path differs slightly depending upon what sort of database you are connecting too. Sample settings are shown

below.

Database Connection String

Microsoft SQL Server DBType=1;Connect=;Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Password=TopSecret;Persist Security

Info=True;User ID=MyUser;Initial Catalog=MyInitialCatalog;Data

Source=MyDataSource

Oracle DBType=3;Connect=;Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle.1;Password=ea;Persist

Security Info=True;User ID=ea;Data Source=ORCL_raven-vm2003

PostgreSQL DBType=4;Connect=;Provider=MSDASQL.1;Persist Security Info=False;Data

Source=My_ODBC_Connection_Name

MySql DBType=0;Connect=Provider=MSDASQL.1;Persist Security Info=False;Data

Source= My_ODBC_Connection_Name

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You may find it easier to simply copy the connection string from within EA itself as it is configured in exactly the same

way. To do so

• Open Enterprise Architect and Select File > Open Project from the main menu

• Select the connection from the Recent Projects list and copy the details form the Project to Open text box

• Paste this information into the EA Path box within EA Connector to QC

Once the EA Path is successfully configured you can click on the buttons next to EA Requirement Root and EA Test Root

fields to select the root package for Requirements and Tests within EA.

Click the verify button to ensure that the connector can successfully connect to the EA database. This may take several

seconds. Once verification is complete you will see a dialogue summarizing the checks performed. Confirm that all

steps have passed.

4.1.2 QC Configuration Tab

The second tab enables you to specify the settings for the Quality Center repository. The three fields that require

definition are

• QC Host The URL for OTA (API) access to Quality Center (e.g. http://QCServer:8080/qcbin)

• QC Domain The Quality Center domain to synchronize with for the project

• QC Project The Quality Center project to synchronize with for the project

• QC Product The Quality Center product to synchronize with for the project (optional)

• QC DB Type The database type for the Quality Center repository

• QC User The Quality Center user used to connect for synchronization

• QC Password The password for the Quality Center user used to connect for synchronization

• QC Requirement Root The root package to synchronize requirements to EA from (The Requirement Root

must begin with the path \Requirements\, with backslashes separating folder

names)

• QC Test Root The root package to synchronize tests to EA from (The Test Root must begin with

the path \Subject\, with backslashes separating folder names).

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Click the “Apply” button to save the QC Configuration settings.

4.1.3 EA to QC Configuration Tab

The third tab enables you to specify the settings for the synchronization between the Enterprise Architect and Quality

Center repositories. The three fields that require definition are

• What to Map Define the mapping contents. You may synchronize tests and/or requirements

• Mapping Direction Define the direction you want to map, EA to QC, vice versa or both

• Use Case Strategy Specify if you are using structured Use Cases (EA 8 feature) or not

• Map Authors If EA and QC use the same set of authors set to Yes

• QC Mappings If not using the default User Fields in QC modify accordingly

• Map Requirement Priority Map priorities if the same priorities are used in EA and QC

• Default QC Priority Priority to be used in QC if not mapping priorities

• QC Requirement Type The Requirement type to be used in QC when mapping from EA (normally should

be left blank, and should not be set to “Folder”).

• Map Test Status Map Test Statuses if the same Statuses are used in EA and QC

Click Apply to save the EA to QC Configuration settings. The EA Connector to QC is now configured and ready to run.

4.2 Running as a Service

EA Connector to QC is typically run as a Windows Service. In order to use the product in this mode some configuration

is required.

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4.2.1 Starting the Synchronization Service

The default setting is to run the “Catch Limited EA Connector to QC Service” automatically, you can alter this to use

manual startup in the Services section of Control Panel (if for example you are trialing the product, and do not want EA

Connector to QC running constantly).

4.2.2 Configuring Service Identity

By default the Windows Service is configured to launch using the “Local System” account, which may not have the

necessary rights to access network resources such as databases. In these cases you need to have a domain service

account created by your IT support team, and then configure the service to start using this account.

To change the identity of a Windows Service:

• Access the services snap-in via: Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services.

• Select the “Catch Limited EA Connector to QC”, right click and select “Properties” from the context menu.

• Select the “Lo On” tab.

• Click the “This account” radio button.

• Enter the username and password of the domain service account.

• Click Apply to save your changes.

4.3 Running Interactively

It is also possible to run the EA Connector to QC in interactive mode and view the logging messages it generates. This is

useful for debugging and troubleshooting connection strings and other configuration details. We advise use of this

mechanism for debugging purposes only.

Note: Ensure that the EA Connector to QC service is stopped before using the interactive version

of the tool, when using bi-direction synchronization, having more than 2 instances of

EA Connector to QC running may result in data loss.

To run EA Connector to QC interactively:

• Stop the EA Connector to QC Service

• Select Start > Programs > EA Connector to AC > Run Service in UI

• Click Ok in the warning screen

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The interactive console will be displayed.

Click Start to begin running EA Connector to QC.

If errors occur, click “Copy Log to Clipboard” – this information can then be pasted into emails etc. to assist Catch

Limited support staff.

More detailed logging can be enabled by selecting the “Message Level” button, selecting “Debug” will result in the

most verbose logging, and “Error” will result in the least amount of log messages being displayed.

4.4 Log Files

EA Connector to QC periodically writes to log files while it is executing. These log files can be found in the “Logs”

directory of the installation folder (normally %ProgramFiles%\Catch Limited\EA Connector to QC\Logs\).

When logging support issues you will often be requested to retrieve and supply these log files to Catch Limited Support

staff.

4.4.1 Enabling detailed logging

In some cases the log files may not contain enough information for Catch Limited support staff to identity the cause of

issues you may be experiencing, in these situations you will be asked to enable “detailed logging” – to do so:

Navigate to the installation folder of EA Connector to QC (normally %ProgramFiles%\Catch Limited\EA Connector to

QC\Bin\).

In the “Bin” directory you will find a file “logging.config”, open this with a text editor, such as notepad.

Locate this section:

<priority value="INFO" />

And replace the value “INFO” with the value “DEBUG” i.e.

<priority value="DEBUG” />

Save changes, and restart EA Connector to QC.

Detailed log files will now be captured.

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5 Additional Information

5.1 Unsupported or Known Issues

5.1.1 Simultaneous Updates in EA and QC

Synchronization runs continuously, with a synchronization pass approximately every 60 seconds. Still, it is possible that

conflicting edits will be made on both the EA side and QC side. If a synchronized record is updated on both sides, the

update with the latter timestamp will win, overwriting the edit with the older timestamp. However, EA and QC do not

provide a timestamp indicating when a record was deleted. If a record is deleted from one system and updated in the

other, The connection will consider EA to be the “master” system – it will delete the record from both systems if

deleted in EA, and will update the record in both systems (recreating it in QC) if an update is made in QC.

Likelihood of edge case: These scenarios are fairly unlikely because they require a near-simultaneous change to the

same record in both EA and QC.

5.1.2 Multiple QC connections from an EA Project

At present an EA Project can only be synchronized with a single QC project. Support for synchronization to multiple QC

projects will be available in later versions of EA Connector for QC.

5.1.3 Version Control in Quality Center

Quality Center Projects with Version Control enabled won't synchronize successfully unless the requirements/tests are

checked out to the user that is configured on the "QC Configuration" tab of the project (support for Version Control will

be available in later versions of EA Connector for QC).

5.1.4 Version Control in Quality Center

Synchronizing of requirements and use cases within the same package in Enterprise Architect is not supported; they

must be in separate packages that do not cross over each other.

5.1.5 Special Characters

Invalid characters for requirement/package names:

• \

• *

• ^

Invalid characters for test names:

• \

• /

• :

• "

• ?

• \

• <

• >

• |

• *

• %

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Invalid characters for test folder names:

• \

• *

• ^

5.1.6 Synchronization of Clocks

The clocks for the QC Server, EA Server, EA Client Machines and EA Connector to QC server must be synchronized.

Failure to do so may result in:

• Requirements, Tests and Use Cases being Synchronized repeatedly

• Changes not being detected immediately

There is also a known issue with changes to daylight saving on QC 10.0 that can result in Quality Center modification

times being one hour in the past/future. This issue with Quality Center can be resolved by restarting the Quality Centre

service.

We recommend disabling the EA Connector for QC over daylight saving change periods and restarting once the time on

the respective servers has been verified to be correct, and that modifications to Quality Center test/requirements

records the current date and time, not a value one hour in the past or future.

5.1.7 Running Multiple Instances

Running multiple instances of the EA Connector to QC service is not supported and may result in data loss.

5.1.8 Multiple QC Versions

An EA Connector to QC server can only be used to synchronize with QC10 or QC11 projects, not both as the client

software is not backwards/forwards compatible and only a single instance of the client software can be installed at any

one time.

5.1.9 Duplicate names

Requirements/Use Cases in Enterprise Tester with duplicate names will be renamed/disambiguated in Quality Center

through the appending of a suffix i.e. Requirement -> Requirement(2). This suffix will automatically increment for each

duplication - so if you had 3 requirements with the same name of "User can be authenticated" you would end up with

"User can be authenticated", "User can be authenticated(2)" and "User can be authenticated(3)" in QC.

Documents

Ea Connector Qc Userguide v2.0