Stages Documentation

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73:releasenotes [2019/02/27 23:23] – emr73:releasenotes [2019/03/21 21:37] – emr
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 ====== Release Notes for Stages V7.3 ====== ====== Release Notes for Stages V7.3 ======
  
-Stages V7.3 comes with innovative features to support complex product development processes. Project and program processes can now be upgraded in flight. Already finished parts remain unchanged. This allows multi-year programs - typical for automotive or aerospace industries - to always use the latest development processes without changing the past.+Stages V7.3 comes with innovative features to support complex product development processes. Project and program processes can now be upgraded in flight, while already finished parts remain unchanged. This allows multi-year programs - typical for automotive or aerospace industries - to always use the latest development processes without changing their past.
  
-Modelers can design processes faster by using centralized element pools, for example for roles or tools. This improves process consistency and enables better collaboration across different business units.+Modelers can design processes faster by using centralized element pools, for example for roles or tools. This improves process consistency and enables better alignment across different business units.
  
 The new version also further improves process usability. Usage statistics provide valuable insights how processes are being used and lead the way into quantitative process improvement. The new version also further improves process usability. Usage statistics provide valuable insights how processes are being used and lead the way into quantitative process improvement.
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 ===== Phase Freeze ===== ===== Phase Freeze =====
  
-Product Development Processes, etc.+Typical product development programs for vehicles, aircrafts, or medical devices run over multiple years. During that time, the product development process changes and improves. Of course, those improvements should be incorporated into the running programs without changing already executed phases and activities. For that purpose, Stages provides a new phase freeze capability. It allows process managers to freeze phases, activities, work products, etc., that have already concluded. For complex programs spanning multiple projects, the phase freeze can be executed consistently across all projects within one operation.
  
-===== Process Modules now allow on-demand integration =====+{{  :73:phasefreeze-main.png?direct&800x450  }}
  
-If you have a standard set of roles or tools you would like to use throughout all of your processes, …+After the phase freeze, the processes can be upgraded to newer versions with the existing version management capabilities. When creating a new valid version for the program, the frozen process parts are merged with the upgraded processes in a consistent way.
  
-===== Direct Download of Templates, Checklists, etc. =====+The phase freeze is controlled by scripts, so it can be adjusted also for customized process metamodels.
  
-Make templates, checklists, and other material directly available at activities, work products, or roles.+===== On-demand Integration of Process Modules =====
  
-===== Workspace Tree Navigation =====+A lot of organizations have a standard set of roles or tools that needs to be consistenly used in all processes. As these sets tend to grow large, Stages 7.3 now contains a on-demand integration capability, where only those elements are integrated that are actually being used in a workspace.
  
-…+To enable on-demand integration, turn off the switch in new the ''Add elements at once'' step when adding a module.
  
-===== Popular Process Elements =====+[[:73:ondemandmodules-addmodules.png?media=73:ondemandmodules-addmodules.png|{{  :73:ondemandmodules-addmodules.png?nolink&799x408  }}]]
  
-Popular process elements of each user are now shown on the landing page. This allows quick access to frequently used parts of the process content.+For already added modules, you can change this behavior via the context menu of a module in ''Management > Process Modules'' 
 + 
 +{{  :73:ondemandmodules-modifymodule.png?direct&800x346  }} 
 + 
 +To associate a process element with an element from a on-demand module, search for its name in the quick-assign dialog. In addition to the local elements, the search will now find also elements from the on-demand module. 
 + 
 +{{  :73:ondemandmodules-quickassign.png?direct&400x322  }} 
 + 
 +When selecting the element, it will be integrated into your local process and associated with your current process element. 
 + 
 +If you do not know the name of the element, use the ''Assign'' dialog, click or tap on the workspace name on the top, and navigate to the module 
 + 
 +{{  :73:ondemandmodules-selectmodule.png?direct&600x238  }} 
 + 
 +Then select the elements you want to associate. The elements will then be integrated into your local process and associated with your current process element. 
 + 
 +{{  :73:ondemandmodules-associateelements.png?direct&600x508  }} 
 + 
 +When the common element pool is being updated to a newer version, use the existing process version management capabilities to also upgrade the integrated elements in your workspace. 
 + 
 +===== Direct Download of Templates, Checklists, and other Guidance Material ===== 
 + 
 +To save users some clicks, it can be valuable to make templates, checklists, and other file-based guidance material directly downloadable from activity or work product pages. For example, an activity page can directly show all templates and checklists for all output work products of that activity. 
 + 
 +{{  :73:directdownloads-activity.png?direct&800x473  }} 
 + 
 +The same can be configured for work products, which can directly show download links for templates and checklists. 
 + 
 +The new Unified Configuration 2.3 already uses the new capabilities to show direct downloads in the "Viewing" perspective for activities and work products. 
 + 
 +===== Hierarchical Workspace Navigation ===== 
 + 
 +Especially in more complex programs, product development processes are separated into multiple workspaces, e.g. one for system engineering and program management, one for hardware engineering, and one for software engineering. To easily navigate between them, Stages V7.3 contains a new hierarchical navigation. Users can get to the new navigation style by clicking or tapping on "Browse" in the workspace selection dialog. 
 + 
 +{{youtube>Q4YsiJ5KKGk?large}} 
 + 
 +Clicking or tapping on ">" navigates to child workspaces, clicking or tapping on "<" navigates to the parent workspace. To open a workspace, click or tap on the workspace name. 
 + 
 +To access a workspace by its name, click or tap on "Search" and start typing. All matching workspace candidates will be listed as you type. 
 + 
 +===== Usage Statistics ===== 
 + 
 +With version 7.3, most accessed process elements for each user are now shown on the landing page. This allows users to easily come back to parts of the process content they use frequently.
  
 For process managers, more detailed access statistics are shown in the ''Management'' menu. This enables you to determine which parts of the process content are highly used and therefore focus process optimization on those areas. For process managers, more detailed access statistics are shown in the ''Management'' menu. This enables you to determine which parts of the process content are highly used and therefore focus process optimization on those areas.
 +
 +{{  :73:accessstatistics-main.png?nolink&800x450  }}
 +
 +The statistics show popular process elements for the current or all workspaces, the most actively used workspaces, and a breakdown of process content accesses by element type.
 +
 +===== Process Feedback in Jira =====
 +
 +Users can now send feedback directly from the process content. Each feedback is automatically created as a Jira item, so you can efficiently track and process end user feedback. The Jira item also contains a link back to the originating process element, so full traceability of process change requests is assured
 +
 +{{  :73:feedback-start.png?direct&800x381  }}
 +
 +The Jira item can contain the following information:
 +
 +  * Name and user ID of the user that initiated the feedback
 +  * Summary
 +  * Description
 +  * Name of the workspace
 +  * Link back to the process content
 +
 +Details: [[:72:jira_feedback|How to configure it]]
 +
 +===== Integration with Sharepoint =====
 +
 +Stages 7.3 also contains an improved integration with Sharepoint, so you can manage project files, templates, checklists, and all other file-based guidance stored in Sharepoint directly from Stages.
 +
 +The following Sharepoint versions are supported:
 +
 +  * Sharepoint 2010
 +  * Sharepoint 2013
 +  * Sharepoint 2016
 +  * Sharepoint 2019
 +
 +An integration with Sharepoint Online (Sharepoint 365) is planned for version 7.4.
 +
 ===== Workspace Attributes ===== ===== Workspace Attributes =====
  
-Classifying workspaces, e.g. for projects, products, product lines, etc.+Workspaces can now have specific attributes. Administrators can globally define possible attributes via the ''Administration > Workspaces > … > Configure Workspace Attributes''  menu in __any__  workspace:
  
-===== Admin Jobs =====+{{  :73:workspaceattributes-listattributes.png?direct&798x217  }}
  
-Automating role assignments, data export, etc.+Attributes can be of type string or selection. Here is an example of how to define a selection and its possible values: 
 + 
 +{{  :73:workspaceattributes-defineselection.png?direct&799x416  }} 
 + 
 +After defining the attributes, they can be used in individual workspaces. To set an attribute to a specific value for a workspace, use the ''Edit''  menu for that workspace and switch to the ''Attributes''  tab: 
 + 
 +{{  :73:workspaceattributes-selectattributes.png?direct&800x276  }} 
 + 
 +In Stages 7.3, the workspace attributes can be used in scripts, e.g. to select only a specific set of workspaces: 
 + 
 +<code> 
 +var workspace = stages.getProjectByPath(workspacePath); 
 +var modelYearAttribute = workspace.getAttribute("modelYear"); 
 +var modelYearAttributeValue = modelYearAttribute.getProperty("databaseValue"); 
 + 
 +if (modelYearAttributeValue == "2020") { 
 +   ... 
 +} 
 +</code> 
 + 
 +Future versions of Stages will make use of those attributes to allow end users to easier find their workspaces. 
 + 
 +===== Administrative Jobs ===== 
 + 
 +Role assignments or data exports can now be automated with the new jobs capability. Administrators can upload scripts via the ''Administration > Jobs''  and select the execution frequence via a cron expression. 
 + 
 +The existing Facade API can be used to navigate through the process content. For example, to assign a user named **''userName''  **to a role named ''**roleName**''  in a workspace ''**workspacePath**'', use the following code: 
 + 
 +<code> 
 +var user = stages.getUserByUsername(userName); 
 +var project = stages.getProjectByPath(workspacePath); 
 +if (user != null && project != null) { 
 +    var roles = project.getEntities("containsProcess@SYSTEM")[0].getEntities("containsRole@SYSTEM"); 
 +    for (var i = 0; i <roles.length; i++) { 
 +        var role = roles[i]; 
 +        if (role.getProperty("DisplayName") == roleName) { 
 +            commands.execute(commands.newAssignUserCommand(role, [user])); 
 +        } 
 +    } 
 +} 
 +</code> 
 + 
 +Sample scripts can be downloaded here: 
 + 
 +  * {{:73:userroleassignment.txt|Role assignment}}  via an Excel sheet that is managed as a file instance in a Stages process 
 +  * {{:73:dataexport.txt|Data export}}  to an external SQL table 
 + 
 +Please note, that these scripts are just samples and __need to be adjusted__  to your local environment to be run. 
 + 
 +We plan to expand the API in future Stages versions to also perform other administrative tasks.
  
 ===== Other Changes ===== ===== Other Changes =====
  
-A new link in the left side navigation now always points to the Stages online documentation. It can be configured to also point to customer-specific help content.+A new ''Help''  link in the left side navigation now always points to the Stages online documentation. It can be configured to also point to customer-specific help content.
  
-Processes can now also be copied. A process copy is completely independent of its original, so all element identities, module relationships, and overwrites are reset in the copied version.+Processes can now also be copied into an empty workspace. The process copy is completely independent of its original, so all element identities, module relationships, and overwrites are reset in the copied version.
  
 A ZIP file with exported process content can now be directly imported into an empty workspace. A ZIP file with exported process content can now be directly imported into an empty workspace.
  
-Configuration variable properties can now be managed in the ''conf/config.properties'' and ''conf/secret.properties'' files in Java property format and used in ''config.xml'' and other xml config files. The ''secret.properties'' is not contained in the pks runtime info, so it can be used to securely store passwords and other access credentials that should never leave an organization's network or the server.+Similar to users, permission groups are now also searchable by name. 
 + 
 +Administrators can now put Stages into maintenance mode via the ''Administration''  menu. In maintenance mode, no users except ''root''  can log into the system. Users that are currently logged on receive a warning message on their screen and an email. The maintenance mode is kept across service restarts, so it is most valuable for system upgrades: put the system into maintenance mode, perform the upgrade, perform system testing, subsequent configuration changes and service restarts without being disturbed by users logging on again. After the tests have been successful, turn off the maintenance mode and users can log in again. 
 + 
 +Configuration variable properties can now be managed in the ''conf/config.properties''  and ''conf/secret.properties''  files in Java property format and used in ''config.xml''  and other xml config files. The ''secret.properties''  is not contained in the pks runtime info, so it can be used to securely store passwords and other access credentials that should never leave an organization's network or the server. 
 + 
 +===== Mandatory Manual Upgrade Steps ===== 
 + 
 +==== Remove outdated stages-cms implementations ==== 
 + 
 +Remove existing stages-cms-*.jar files from folders: <stages-root>/lib/, <stages-root>/extension/ 
 + 
 +==== Adapt the server.xml ==== 
 + 
 +The Resources definition in "<font inherit/Courier New,Courier,monospace;;inherit;;inherit>conf/server.xml</font>" has to be adjusted. The following Resources tag in server.xml 
 + 
 +<code> 
 +<Context path="/stages" ...> 
 +  [...] 
 +  <Resources allowLinking="true" caseSensitive="false"/> 
 +  [...] 
 +</Context> 
 +</code> 
 + 
 +has to be replaced with the following Resources tag: 
 + 
 +<code> 
 +<Context path="/stages" ...> 
 +  [...] 
 +  <Resources allowLinking="true" className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.StandardRoot"> 
 +    <JarResources className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" 
 +                  base="${stages.lib}" webAppMount="/WEB-INF/lib" /> 
 +    <JarResources className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" 
 +                  base="${stages.datacache}/generated/lib" webAppMount="/WEB-INF/lib" /> 
 +  </Resources> 
 +  [...] 
 +</Context> 
 +</code>