Full JIRA plugin guide

JIRA is a bug tracking, issue tracking, and project management application. JIRA has been designed with a focus on task achievement, is instantly usable and is flexible to work with. It also offers a powerful Plugin architecture that allows us to write plugins that change the way things work or add entirely new functionalities. And by choosing Confluence as a Document Test repository and knowing the good integretion between this two application, it was an easy decision to choose JIRA as a Requirement Repository.

1. Install

Step 1 : Install the plugin

Download the pluging into JIRA/WEB-INF/lib/.
You will need to restart your application server.

JIRA versions supported: The plugin was tested on version 3.7.x to 3.12.2

First, make sure that the GreenPepper toolbox plugin is properly installed.
To do so,  from Global administration, check the plugin listing.

Step 2 : Create the GreenPepper custom field

I. Creating a custom field

In the JIRA administration pane, click the Custom fields link under Issue fields section.

• Click on Add a custom field.
• Select the GreenPepper references field type and click Next.
  
  

Adding more than one GreenPepper document links for the same JIRA project is useless and may result in an erratic behavior.

• Customize your field following your needs, then click Finish.
• The next pane will be the Screen associations. All options should be selected.

II. Configuring a custom field

In the JIRA administration pane, click Field configurations link under the Issue fields section. (It is optional however it is mandatory if you wish to write your test directly in your issues!)

• Click on Default field configuration.
  
  

  For GreenPepper to be able to read the content of your JIRA issues, you will need to set the Accept remote API calls to ON from your general configuration.

  
  
  

• Set your new custom field to Wiki style render. (Note: Ignore the warning if any.)
  
  
  
  
  You are now ready to Make a JIRA Issue executable directly from the Issue view.
  
  
  
  
  

  Before using the GreenPepper references custom field in the Issue navigator columns, make sure to register a your JIRA project : GreenPepper JIRA registration.

2. Configure

Link a JIRA project with GreenPepper Confluence plugin

Before using GreenPepper on your JIRA, you need to connect it with the GreenPepper server (i.e. this is the GreenPepper Confluence plugin).

1. Click the GreenPepper tab and in Server Configuration tab click Edit.
   
   
   
   
   
2. In Server context path enter your Confluence URL
3. In XML-RPC handler enter greenpepper1
4. Click Test then Save.

If you see a Red cross, you can have more informations about the error by reading the tooltip above the picture.
Principal case of error is an invalid Confluence URL.

Register a project to use GreenPepper

1. Click the GreenPepper tab and in Project Registration tab click Register.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Select the GreenPepper project to which you want to associate your repository to.
3. Enter the alias to identify your JIRA project (i.e. MYJIRA-PROJECTNAME).
4. In order to restrict access, enter the username and password of a Confluence and/or JIRA user. This restriction will be applied to Confluence, JIRA and any other plugins accessing or executing the executable specifications.
5. From the list, select a system under test, if any available.
6. Click Save.
   
   
   
   
   

3. Use

Make a JIRA Issue executable

This feature allows to create a link between a JIRA issue and a Confluence page which contains the executable specification.

How to use it

Prerequisites The JIRA project must be registered to GreenPepper.

1. Select Create a new reference for this issue from the operations available.

2. JIRA opens a window in which you can enter the name of the Confluence page to link with the issue (Specification title field).


3. If you do not know the name of the page, click the magnifying glass to see the list of available pages.
4. To view the content of a page, click the page name.
5. To select a particular page, click the Select this page link.
6. To confirm your choice, click Save reference.

• Once you have created a first link with Confluence, the GreenPepper ref. box appears in the issue information.
  7. From there you can:
  - Refresh the list of links.
  - Create a Issue Hierarchy report.
  - Edit a specification.
  - Run a specification.
  - Delete a link.
  
  
  
  
  
• To create another link, click New Reference and repeat steps 2 to 6.
  
  
  

Embedded specification

This feature allows to define executable specifications directly in JIRA issues. From JIRA, you can also run executable specifications.

How to use it

1. Edit an issue.
2. In a wiki style, type your test in the GreenPepper custom field text area.
3. Define the executable specification in respect of the GreenPepper formalism.
4. Once the issue is saved, GreenPepper provides a menu from which you can:
   • Run the specifications
   • View the execution's result

Here is an example of an embedded specification in JIRA:

Bulk reference management

This feature allows the user to manage references for a group of issues using the Bulk Change functionality provided by JIRA. It also allows the user to run all executable specifications referred by a selected group of issues.

How to use it

1. Select the group of issues for which you want to manage the reference.
2. Click the Bulk Change link.
   
   

1. Select the issues you wish to work on.
2. Choose Manage References among the list of operations and click Next.
3. Now, you can:
   • Manage the references of each issue using the Link an issue with a Confluence specification feature.
   • Run all specifications referenced in the issues selected.
   • View or Hide the result of the execution for each issue.
     
     

Issue Hiearchy report

This feature allows the user to manage the references for a group of issues using the Bulk Change functionality provided by JIRA. It also allows the user to run all executable specifications referred by a selected group of issues.

How to use it

There are two ways to produce an Issue Hierarchy report.

I. From the Browse Project page of a specific project

1. In the Reports section, select Issue Hierarchy Report.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Define the parameters and click Next to view the result.
   

   Issue key	Enter the JIRA issue key to specify the issue to report.
   Link type	This is the type of link available in the project. The types of links are defined in the administration panel, more specifically in Global Settings/Issue Linking.
   Include subtasks	A subtask is a type of issue automatically linked to another issue. By default, the subtasks are included in the report.

   
   
   

   
   
   
   

II. From the Issue Detail page

1. Select the JIRA issue you wish to report.
2. In the GreenPepper ref. box, click on Hierarchy Reports.
   
   
   
   
   
3. You now have to select the type of link and choose whether or not to include the subtasks.
4. Finally, click View Hierarchy to view the result.
   

III. Resulting report

Whatever way you choose, the resulting report will be the following:

Version Hierarchy report

This feature allows the user to manage references for a group of issues using the Bulk Change functionality provided by JIRA. It also allows the user to run all executable specifications referred by a selected group of issues.

How to use it

1. From the Browse Project page of a specific project, you can access the Version Hierarchy report from the list of reports.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Define the parameters and click Next to view the result.
   

   Version name	This is a mandatory parameter defining the issues to be contained in the report. You have to select an unreleased version or a released version from the list provided. JIRA will consider the issues for which the fix version field is equal to the selected version.
   Link type	This is the type of link available in the project. The types of links are defined in the administration panel, more specifically in Global Settings/Issue Linking.
   Include subtasks	A subtask is a type of issue automatically linked to another issue. By default, the subtasks are included in the report.
   Show orphans	The orphans are issues without links. By default, the orphans are shown in the report. (Note that an orphan may have a reference to a Confluence specification.)
   Display as	This report offers two views: Organigram or Tree View. (Note that you can modify the view once the report has been produced.)

   
   
   Here is an example of the resulting report:
   
   
   

4. FAQ

I keep having an error message when I try to create a new test case.

To be able to create a test case (a link between a requirement and a test document), you need a registered TEST repository (such as a space from Confluence) and a registered REQUIREMENT repository (such as a JIRA project) on the same project.
Make sure your project also has a defined system under test.

Is Confluence as a TEST repository mandatory?

No, it is not but it is highly recommended because the plugins for Confluence offer more flexibility and more functionalities. Furthermore, you may write your tests directly in the text fields of your JIRA issues since they are designed for it.

Some of the retrieved pages from Confluence have underlined macro errors.

To prevent deadlocks, we ask Confluence not to provide the GreenPepper macros for third-party applications which result in an underlined error on the page provided.