Question
Crestone Technology
MX
Last activity: 17 Feb 2021 10:12 EST
How to review branch code by Agile Workbench work item?
Hello,
My team is using the branch code review feature, and we find it valuable. However, we do have a challenge, and we can't seem to find a solution anywhere in pega.com or the Designer Studio help:
"How can we focus on the rules for a specific work item?"
Suppose my team is working on several stories in a sprint. The number of rules to review quickly grows large. Each story may involve only a few rules. In order to review the rules for a story, we have to manually track which rules are part of which story. Surely we are missing something? Agile Workbench enables us to associate rule changes with work items, so we assume there must be a way to review rule changes by work item.
During branch code review, how can we filter/limit the rules to review by an Agile Workbench work item?
This seems like such an obvious feature that we think we are missing something, but it's hard to say for sure because
- there is no user guide for Agile Workbench (https://collaborate.pega.com/question/agile-workbench-user-guide)
- the help topics for Agile Workbench and Branch Code Review do not mention each other
Outside of code review, where can we see rules grouped by work item?
Hello,
My team is using the branch code review feature, and we find it valuable. However, we do have a challenge, and we can't seem to find a solution anywhere in pega.com or the Designer Studio help:
"How can we focus on the rules for a specific work item?"
Suppose my team is working on several stories in a sprint. The number of rules to review quickly grows large. Each story may involve only a few rules. In order to review the rules for a story, we have to manually track which rules are part of which story. Surely we are missing something? Agile Workbench enables us to associate rule changes with work items, so we assume there must be a way to review rule changes by work item.
During branch code review, how can we filter/limit the rules to review by an Agile Workbench work item?
This seems like such an obvious feature that we think we are missing something, but it's hard to say for sure because
- there is no user guide for Agile Workbench (https://collaborate.pega.com/question/agile-workbench-user-guide)
- the help topics for Agile Workbench and Branch Code Review do not mention each other
Outside of code review, where can we see rules grouped by work item?
Leaving branch code review aside for a moment, I have yet to find anywhere in Pega where I can see the rules associated with a work item. Once again, I'm sure we must be missing something... When we create or check in a rule, we associate the change with a work item, but where can we report on that association? Where can we observe the rules associated with a work item? We have not found any way to observe that association, even in the work items themselves!
It's great having branch code review, and we are very interested in learning more!
Accepted Solution
Updated: 19 Nov 2018 14:28 EST
Pegasystems Inc.
US
I'm not familiar with the branch code review feature, but I can clarify how Agile Workbench items (e.g., user stories) are associated with rules. The rule to US association is indirect via a feature…
- A US is associated with a feature via AW:
- A rule is associated with a US via check in:
I'm not familiar with the branch code review feature, but I can clarify how Agile Workbench items (e.g., user stories) are associated with rules. The rule to US association is indirect via a feature…
- A US is associated with a feature via AW:
- A rule is associated with a US via check in:
- A rule is therefore associated with a feature:
So currently, you can see all rules associated with a feature, but not with a specific work item.
Pegasystems Inc.
US
Elliott,
Thank you for your questions. It appears that you and the other PSC participant have discovered a product doc gap. On your behalf, I submitted Pega-internal Agile Studio FDBK-28937.
Elliott,
Thank you for your questions. It appears that you and the other PSC participant have discovered a product doc gap. On your behalf, I submitted Pega-internal Agile Studio FDBK-28937.
While the Pega 8.1 Help topics provide additional information, including the set on https://community.pega.com/sites/default/files/help_v81/express/procomhelpmain.htm#project-delivery/application-features/proj-implementing-a-feature-tsk.htm, they seem to omit the connection to rules that you are seeking.
-Mary
Crestone Technology
MX
Thank you, Mary - for the sanity check (confirming that something is indeed missing) and for entering a ticket about fixing it.
Cheers,
Elliott
Accepted Solution
Updated: 19 Nov 2018 14:28 EST
Pegasystems Inc.
US
I'm not familiar with the branch code review feature, but I can clarify how Agile Workbench items (e.g., user stories) are associated with rules. The rule to US association is indirect via a feature…
- A US is associated with a feature via AW:
- A rule is associated with a US via check in:
I'm not familiar with the branch code review feature, but I can clarify how Agile Workbench items (e.g., user stories) are associated with rules. The rule to US association is indirect via a feature…
- A US is associated with a feature via AW:
- A rule is associated with a US via check in:
- A rule is therefore associated with a feature:
So currently, you can see all rules associated with a feature, but not with a specific work item.
Crestone Technology
MX
Thank you, Tom. I'll give that a go.
Thank you also to Mary for prompting me to reply. I somehow hadn't noticed Tom's answer. I'm aghast that I seem to have left it unanswered for more than a week. My apologies, Tom!
I am experimenting with features and subfeatures to find a balance of associating rules with
- a very limited scope (1-2 stories, maybe some refactoring) that would give me a manageable focus for code review
- a wider scope that could be useful for other purposes
If I think I've hit on a good balance I'll report back here. I'll mark this question answered.
Cheers,
Elliott
Crestone Technology
MX
Update: after using them for a few weeks, I find that the Feature/Sub-Feature/User Story (and defect) capabilities in Agile Workbench are valuable. I would recommend them to other users. Pega allows N-levels of sub-features. By adding layers of sub-features, you can get as specific as you like, or need.
I didn't realize this when I first looked at Agile Workbench; I thought that I had only one or two levels of Feature specialization to work with. With that limitation in mind, I failed to see the potential of Features. I ignored them and in doing so, I think I missed most of the value of Agile Workbench.
I do find that there is one capability still missing. Pega, please consider enabling code review, similar to branch code reviews:
- of all the associated rules of a feature (or subfeature)
- within a branch, a code review limited to a feature or subfeature
By bringing them together, I think that would magnify the value of both branching and Agile Workbench.
I would also encourage you to emphasize a particular point in the documentation about branching. For several sprints, my team began a branch at the start of the sprint and merged at the end of the sprint. This worked passably well for 1-2 developers and short sprints. Beyond that, we had 50+ rules changed and code reviews became unwieldy. If the documentation doesn't already include this point, I would suggest making the point that teams should limit the scope of pending changes in branches and code reviews by:
Update: after using them for a few weeks, I find that the Feature/Sub-Feature/User Story (and defect) capabilities in Agile Workbench are valuable. I would recommend them to other users. Pega allows N-levels of sub-features. By adding layers of sub-features, you can get as specific as you like, or need.
I didn't realize this when I first looked at Agile Workbench; I thought that I had only one or two levels of Feature specialization to work with. With that limitation in mind, I failed to see the potential of Features. I ignored them and in doing so, I think I missed most of the value of Agile Workbench.
I do find that there is one capability still missing. Pega, please consider enabling code review, similar to branch code reviews:
- of all the associated rules of a feature (or subfeature)
- within a branch, a code review limited to a feature or subfeature
By bringing them together, I think that would magnify the value of both branching and Agile Workbench.
I would also encourage you to emphasize a particular point in the documentation about branching. For several sprints, my team began a branch at the start of the sprint and merged at the end of the sprint. This worked passably well for 1-2 developers and short sprints. Beyond that, we had 50+ rules changed and code reviews became unwieldy. If the documentation doesn't already include this point, I would suggest making the point that teams should limit the scope of pending changes in branches and code reviews by:
- merging several times per sprint, and
- using several branches for a team. Experiment to find the sweet spot that works for you, such as using a separate branch for each group of related stories under an epic, or for each developer
The current documentation about the DevOps pipeline recommends the use of a "Team layer" application. Using several branches, it is best to have several team layer applications, so that one branch does not override another.
Cheers,
Elliott
LSA and Team Mentor
Crestone Technology
Capgemini
CA
Hi Elliott, seems like you are using Agile work bench a lot in the project and I am struggling to find some real use of agile work bench and its capabilities.
Can you take a look at below post and comment on few of the questions?
https://collaborate.pega.com/question/agile-work-bench-associated-rules-feature
Thanks in advance.