Report Builder: Limit Scope vs Project Condition?
Why are there two ways to filter a JRS report on project area using Report Builder? Setting a condition on the project area appears to be a better approach because you can lock down the condition and/or make it required. What would be a reason to use the Limit Scope option instead of a condition?
Accepted answer
The Limit Scope section is easier to use and imposes broader restrictions on the results from a query. Adding Project conditions on artifact types is more flexible but is more time consuming to set and is more error prone.
When you select projects in Limit Scope, the report results are restricted to only resources from those projects, even if you have a traceability report which attempts to include resources from projects not selected (e.g., those other resources are excluded). However, it gives you a quick view of all of the projects included in the report and a single place to make changes to that list.
If you have a traceability report with multiple artifact types or multiple instances of the same artifact type (e.g., tracing parent work item to child work items), and you do not use the Limit scope section, you have to ensure all of the same artifact type instances have the same project condition defined. This is more error prone such that you might add an extra project in the condition to one of the type instances and forget to update the other type instance.
When you select projects in Limit Scope, the report results are restricted to only resources from those projects, even if you have a traceability report which attempts to include resources from projects not selected (e.g., those other resources are excluded). However, it gives you a quick view of all of the projects included in the report and a single place to make changes to that list.
If you have a traceability report with multiple artifact types or multiple instances of the same artifact type (e.g., tracing parent work item to child work items), and you do not use the Limit scope section, you have to ensure all of the same artifact type instances have the same project condition defined. This is more error prone such that you might add an extra project in the condition to one of the type instances and forget to update the other type instance.