Workarounds and Limitations: Known issues in IBM Rational Quality Manager 6.0
The following known problems are related to Rational Quality Manager in the 6.0 release.
Workarounds
The following problems in this release have workarounds:
- Dropping an image outside the rich text editor in Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 hides the top of the page
- Initial Link Index Provider (LDX) indexing fails in large systems when configuration management is enabled
- Global configuration warnings occur during the read-only period after a server rename operation
- Rational Integration Tester test scripts are not fully executed from test suites
- Archiving approval groups causes an error in upgraded systems
- Dates and times for approval records are changed to the date and time of an upgrade
- Entries in the artifact history are not displayed after an upgrade
- Manual merges do not work if cookies are disabled in the WebSphere Application Server administrative console
- Test suites do not fully execute with the Run this suite in parallel option and multiple adapters
- Test phases aren’t merged when you merge a test plan
- Copying large test plans causes an out-of-memory error
- PDF generation fails for reports on manual test scripts
- Upgrading to a version 6 release causes a data source error in LQE and LDX
- Concurrent changes to an artifact can cause version issues in configurations
- No error is shown when merging configurations fails
- Artifacts with the same name can be merged into a single stream when name uniqueness is enabled
- Custom attributes with spaces in their names cannot be updated by using the OSLC API
- When you export a BIRT report to Microsoft Excel, you cannot open the new file in Excel
- Requirement names differ between test cases and CSV spreadsheets that are downloaded from them
- When requirement collection names are updated, the old name is still shown
- Artifacts are not displayed correctly if you permanently delete the artifact template they use
- Screen capture tool does not work on macOS
- The -rebuildTextIndices command can cause the system to stop responding if work items or attachments contain long lines of text
- Connection to the mobile client fails when the server has a self-issued SSL certificate that is signed by an internal certificate authority
- Problems opening the Rational Quality Manager importer from Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word
- The reconciliation with requirement collections fails with a timeout error
- Text in the editor might be displayed in a language that is not installed
- Subcategory values are missing from imported process templates
- TCERs cannot be generated for a large number of test cases at one time
- Categories cannot be saved if they have the same name as a different category type in the same hierarchy
- Test case results cannot be opened if requirement links were removed from the associated test case and manual test script steps when in a read-only state
Limitations
The following problems in this release do not currently have workarounds:
- Rational Performance Tester cannot connect to the server when Rational Quality Manager is configured with single sign-on (SSO)
- The Rational Quality Manager mobile application does not work in a single sign-on (SSO) environment
- When artifacts are merged from a baseline, some “Accept section” and “Merge section” operations are not supported
- Validated By test links from some RM applications to a version 6.0 or later Rational Quality Manager project area that is enabled for configuration management might link to the incorrect test artifact
- Removing a Rational DOORS or Rational DOORS Web Access requirements link from a test script step in a Rational Quality Manager project that is enabled for configuration management does not remove the corresponding artifact link in Rational DOORS or Rational DOORS Web Access
- Unavailable Machines widget and My Lab Resource Groups widget only work with the current project area
- Execution variables cannot be created without a predefined value
- Data Collection Component only loads requirement data from Rational DOORS Next Generation
- Test Statistics dashboard widget does not display multiple-valued categories correctly
- Email notifications for formal reviews are not customizable
- Guest Access feature is not supported
- Online migration is not supported for upgrading some versions of the Quality Management application
Workaround summary
Problem
In Microsoft Internet Explorer 9, if you drag an image and drop it outside the rich text editor, the top of the page can become hidden, and you cannot scroll to the top of the page.
Workaround
Complete either of these workarounds:
- Press Shift + Tab until the top portion of the page is visible.
- Save any changes and reload the browser window.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
When the configuration management capabilities are enabled in a Rational Quality Manager project, Rational DOORS Next Generation uses the Link Index Provider (LDX) to query links between Rational Quality Manager and Rational DOORS Next Generation. The Link Index Provider performs an initial index from the Rational Quality Manager repository when the configuration management capabilities are enabled. If the Rational Quality Manager repository is large, such as more than 1 million test tartifacts, the initial indexing operation can fail because of a timeout error.
Workaround
Complete these steps:
- As a user who has the JazzAdmin role, log on to Link Index Provider Configuration page: https://<hostname>:<port>/ldx/web/admin/advanced
- In the Advanced Properties Configuration section, click Edit, and change the value of the Socket Timeout field from 60 to 900 seconds.
- Go to the Data Sources page, https://<hostname>:<port>/ldx/web/admin/data-sources, click the data source named links_qm, and click Reindex.
If the reindexing operation fails again, wait to allow the Rational Quality Manager Tracked Resource Set (TRS) service to finish the initialization. The Link Index Provider will retry the operation until it succeeds.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
When you restart Rational Quality Manager after performing a server rename operation, the server remains in a read-only mode while it completes the renaming operation. When Rational Quality Manager is in the read-only mode, projects associated with global configurations before the server rename are no longer associated with them. In addition, the following warning is displayed when you attempt to switch the global configuration of a project:
Unable to switch to the global configuration <Global Configuration name>
Workaround
Wait for the server rename operation to complete and for Rational Quality Manager to exit the read-only mode. After the read-only period, the projects associated with global configurations before the server rename operation will continue to be associated with them, and you can associate projects with different global configurations.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
If you use a test suite to execute a Rational Integration Tester test script, the execution never finishes and the progress bar stalls at 10% completion. However, you can use a test case to correctly execute the same Rational Integration Tester test script.
Workaround
This issue is a known limitation in Rational Integration Tester 8.7.x that was corrected. Upgrade to Rational Integration Tester 9.0 or later.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
If you save an artifact with a formal review section and any of the approval groups have the Archive Approval Group operation applied, an error occurs. The problem occurs under the following conditions:
- The system was upgraded from a version earlier than 6.0.
- An approval group was archived before saving the artifact, either by a user or by a follow-up action.
Workaround
The problem cannot be fixed, but can be avoided. To avoid this issue, do not archive approval groups, and ensure that the Archive approval groups after a state group transition follow-up action is not enabled for any project. To confirm the project setting, complete the following steps:
- Open the project area Admin page.
- On the left menu, click Preconditions & Follow-up Actions.
- For each existing configuration, click the pencil icon to edit the configuration.
- If Archive approval groups after a state group transition is listed, click the delete icon (red x) to remove it
- Save the project area.
The following configurations support the Archive approval groups after a state group transition follow-up action:
- Save Test Plan
- Save Test Case
- Save Test Suite
- Save Test Script
- Save Test Case Result
- Save Test Suite Result
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
If you upgrade a version that is earlier than version 6.0, the date and time of approval records in formal reviews are incorrectly changed to the date and time of the upgrade. The following items are affected:
- All approvals that are either approved or rejected at the time of the upgrade (approvals in the pending state are not affected)
- Both individual approvals and group approvals
- All test artifacts that support formal reviews
Workaround
To determine the original date and time of an individual approval, you can look at the history view of the artifact.
To determine the original date and time of a group approval, you must look at the history of all the individual approvals. Note: These steps depend on a resolution for Work Item 149325.
- Open the History section in the test artifact editor.
- Locate the Other history event with the following message:
- Determine the date and time of the approval from the message of the Modified date history event.
To repair the incorrect date and time of approval records in formal reviews after an upgrade, contact IBM Software Support.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
If you upgrade a version that is earlier than version 6.0, some entries in the Other category of the artifact history are not displayed in the history view.
Workaround
The history is still intact, but is not displayed. To correct this issue, apply the appropriate interim fix.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
The compare and merge functionality in Rational Quality Manager uses a cache that maps to the HTTP session ID. If cookies are disabled in the WebSphere Application Server administrative console, the session ID is not sent in HTTP requests, which means that the Rational Quality Manager server cannot match the session with the cache and cannot process manual merges.
Workaround
To avoid this issue, enable cookies in the WebSphere Application Server administrative console:
- Browse to the administrative console page for WebSphere Application Server.
- Click Servers > Server Types > WebSphere Application Servers > server_name > Session management.
- Set the Enable cookies property to true.
- Save the changes.
- Restart WebSphere Application Server.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
If you run a test suite with the Run this suite in parallel option and multiple adapters, the test suite execution might remain in progress and never finish running. However, all test cases associated with the test suite are executed.
Workaround
- When you run a test suite, clear the Run this suite in parallel option.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
When you merge a test plan, the related test phases are not merged.
Workaround
Test phases are displayed in the test plan editor in the Test Schedule section. The test schedule has two parts: the first is labeled Test Schedule and the second is labeled Key Dates. You can repair the Test Schedule section by first clearing it, browsing for the iteration, and then re-attaching the desired iteration. You can repair the Key Date section by manually re-creating the key dates in the merged or cloned test plan.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
When you copy a very large number of artifacts from one project area to another project area, an out-of-memory error might occur. When you copy a test plan across projects, a thorough copy operation is performed that also copies related child artifacts.
Workaround
Significant improvements have been made for copying large numbers of artifacts across projects; however, the out-of-memory error might still occur. To avoid this issue, consider increasing the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) heap size or reducing the number of items that you copy at one time. For example, consider not copying all related child artifacts and only copying references to test cases, test scripts, and other artifacts. If you need to copy all related items, divide the overall hierarchy into smaller subsets to copy. If you cannot reduce or divide the items to copy, perform the copy operation when the system is least loaded and increase the available system memory.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
If you generate a PDF report on manual test scripts, the PDF generation fails if a manual test script step contains XHTML with style attributes that do not have a value assigned.
Example: <p style="margin: 2pt 0in; line-height: normal; -ms-text-autospace:;">
Workaround
Locate and remove any style attributes that do not have a value assigned.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
If you upgrade from any version 5 release of Rational Quality Manager to any version 6 release, the Quality Management data sources in Lifecycle Query Engine (LQE) and Link Index Provider (LDX) are not upgraded and the following error is displayed:
Add data source failed
Workaround
Re-index the Quality Management data sources.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
If multiple users update an artifact in a configuration at the same time, inconsistent versions of the artifact might be displayed in the configuration. This problem occurs because multiple versions of the artifact are internally marked as the current version. For example, you might experience the following issues:
- Different views show different versions of an artifact for the same configuration.
- An artifact cannot be found.
To detect whether a configuration has more than one current version of an artifact, run the following query. Note: The following query is for DB2. The schema name might differ for other databases: see the product documentation.
SELECT DISTINCT CONFIGURATION_ITEM_ID FROM VVCMODEL.VERSION WHERE CURRENT_COL = 1 GROUP BY CONFIGURATION_ITEM_ID, CONCEPT HAVING COUNT(CONCEPT) > 1
If the query finds more than one current version, complete the workaround; otherwise, no action is necessary.
Workaround
To repair existing instances, run the following command from the server directory of your application. Note: The following command is for Linux.
./repotools-application.sh -repairMultipleVersionsMarkedAsCurrent [credentialsFile=credentials.properties]
The utility might take a while to scan the entire database. You do not have to restart the server.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
When you merge configurations, accepting differences from the source configuration can cause an error. However, an error is not shown and the interface stops responding with the merge still in progress.
Workaround
Refresh the browser to try the merge operation again.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
Rational Quality Manager supports options to enforce name uniqueness for multiple artifact types; however, these options are not honored during a merge across configurations and duplicate names can result.
Workaround
Rename one of the artifacts.
Related information
Workaround summary
Problem
You cannot update custom attributes that contain spaces in their names by using the OSLC API. If you try to update a custom attribute that contains spaces, the OSLC API creates a new attribute that contains underscore characters in the name instead of spaces.
Workaround
Rename the original custom attribute and replace any spaces in the name with underscores instead.
Related information
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Test case results cannot be opened if requirement links were removed from the associated test case and manual test script steps when in a read-only stateLimitation summary
Problem
Rational Performance Tester cannot communicate with the Rational Quality Manager server when Rational Quality Manager is configured with single sign-on (SSO) authentication. When you configure the adapter from Rational Performance Tester and click Connect to RQM, an attempt is made to connect to the Rational Quality Manager server, but the connection is never established. Because the connection does not succeed, the Rational Performance Tester adapter is not listed on the Adapter Console page. A resolution to this issue is available in the Rational Performance Tester 8.7.1 adapter.
Related information
Limitation summary
Problem
The Rational Quality Manager mobile application cannot connect to the Rational Quality Manager server when the server is configured for a single sign-on (SSO) environment. In this scenario, you cannot use the mobile application to run tests in offline mode.
Related information
Limitation summary
Problem
When you merge artifacts from a baseline, some sections do not support the “Accept section” and “Merge section” operations. The following tables show the support for each artifact type.
Test plan
| Section | Accept support | Merge support |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | Yes | No |
| Business Objectives | Yes | No |
| Test Objectives | Yes | No |
| Formal Review | No | No |
| Requirement Collection Links | Yes | Yes |
| Development Plan Links | Yes | Yes |
| Rist Assesment | No | No |
| Test Schedule | No | No |
| Test Estimation | Yes | No |
| Test Environments | Yes | No |
| Quality Objectives | Yes | No |
| Enrty Criteria | Yes | No |
| Exit Criteria | Yes | No |
| Test Suites | Yes | Yes |
| Test Cases | Yes | Yes |
| Test Case Execution Records | Yes | No |
| Test Suite Execution Records | Yes | No |
| Resources | No | No |
| Attachments | No | No |
| Application Security | No | No |
| Associated E-Signature | No | No |
| Child Test Plans | Yes | Yes |
| Instruments and Test Equipment | No | No |
| Normative and Informative Documents | Yes | No |
| Sampling Strategy | Yes | No |
| Software Test Environment Details | No | No |
| Test Bed | Yes | No |
| Test Case Results | No | No |
| Test Suite Results | No | No |
| Test Conditions | Yes | No |
| Test Data | Yes | No |
| Test Identification | Yes | No |
| Test Plan Scope | Yes | No |
| Test Scripts | No | No |
| Test Strategy | Yes | No |
| Test Team | No | No |
Test case
| Section | Accept support | Merge support |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | Yes | No |
| Test Case Design | Yes | No |
| Formal Review | No | No |
| Development Items | Yes | Yes |
| Requirement Links | Yes | Yes |
| Risk Assesment | No | No |
| Pre-Condition | Yes | No |
| Post-Condition | Yes | No |
| Expected Results | Yes | No |
| Test Scripts | Yes | Yes |
| Test Case Execution Records | No | Yes |
| Attachments | No | No |
| Execution Variables | No | No |
| Associated E-Signature | No | No |
| Normative and Informative Documents | Yes | No |
| Notes | Yes | No |
| Test Case Scope | Yes | No |
| Test Description | Yes | No |
| Test Preparation | Yes | No |
Test script
| Section | Accept support | Merge support |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | No | No |
| Formal Review | No | No |
| Manual Steps | Yes | No |
| Execution Variables | No | No |
| Associated E-Signature | No | No |
| Keyword Coverage | No | No |
| Remote Script | No | No |
Test suite
| Section | Accept support | Merge support |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | Yes | No |
| Test Suite Design | Yes | No |
| Formal Review | No | No |
| Risk Assesment | No | No |
| Pre-Condition | Yes | No |
| Post-Condition | Yes | No |
| Expected Results | Yes | No |
| Test Cases | Yes | No |
| Test Suite Execution Records | No | Yes |
| Attachments | No | No |
| Execution Variables | No | No |
| Associated E-Signature | No | No |
| Normative and Informative Documents | Yes | No |
Keyword
| Section | Accept support | Merge support |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | Yes | No |
| Detailed Description | Yes | No |
| Test Scripts | No | No |
Test environment
| Section | Accept support | Merge support |
|---|---|---|
| Description | No | No |
| Coverage | No | No |
| Lab Resource Description | No | No |
Test case execution record
| Section | Accept Support | Merge Support |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | Yes | No |
| Blocking Defects | No | No |
| Previous Result Details | No | No |
Test suite execution record
| Section | Accept support | Merge support |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | Yes | No |
| Test Case Execution Records | No | No |
| Previous Result Details | No | No |
Test case result
| Section | Accept support | Merge support |
|---|---|---|
| Weight Distribution | No | No |
| Test Environment | No | No |
| Defects | No | No |
| Notes | Yes | No |
| Categories | No | No |
| Execution Variables | No | No |
| Custom Properties | No | No |
| Previous Results | No | No |
| Result Details | No | No |
| Formal Review | No | No |
| State of Test Artifacts | No | No |
| Associated E-Signature | No | No |
Test suite result
| Section | Accept support | Merge support |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | No | No |
| Test Environment | No | No |
| Categories | No | No |
| Weight Distribution | No | No |
| Result Details | No | No |
| Associated E-Signature | No | No |
| Execution Variables | No | No |
| State of Test Artifacts | No | No |
| Formal Review | No | No |
Related information
Limitation summary
Problem
When a version 6.0 or later Rational Quality Manager project area is enabled for configuration management, you cannot create new requirements links to Rational DOORS, Rational DOORS Web Access, or version 5 releases of Rational DOORS Next Generation because these products and versions do not support configuration management. However, you can create a Validated By test link in the opposite direction: from these Requirements Management (RM) applications to a version 6.0 or later Rational Quality Manager project area that is enabled for configuration management. If you create a baseline or stream in the version 6.0 or later Rational Quality Manager project area, the test artifact links that are shown in the RM application might not point to the correct test artifact in the correct configuration. For this reason, you should not create Validated By test links from these RM applications to a version 6.0 or later Rational Quality Manager project area that is enabled for configuration management.
Related information
Limitation summary
Problem
When a Rational Quality Manager project area is enabled for configuration management, you cannot create new requirements links to Rational DOORS or Rational DOORS Web Access because these products do not support configuration management. If a Rational Quality Manager project area has existing requirements links to Rational DOORS or Rational DOORS Web Access before configuration management is enabled, those links become read-only and cannot be removed. However, requirements links in a test script step are an exception. Because you can remove test script steps, any requirements links that are associated with the steps must also be removed. For this reason, requirements links from Rational DOORS and Rational DOORS Web Access can be removed from a Rational Quality Manager project area that is enabled for configuration management. When these links are removed from Rational Quality Manager, the corresponding artifact links are not removed from Rational DOORS or Rational DOORS Web Access.
Related information
Limitation summary
Problem
The lab resource properties for Rational Quality Manager are project specific. These properties are used in the Unavailable Machines widget and the My Lab Resource Groups widget to query the lab resources. If a different project is selected in the widget settings, the lab resource properties for Rational Quality Manager will not match the properties in the different project, the query of lab resources will not return any results, and the widget will be empty.
Related information
Limitation summary
Problem
Typically, you can create an execution variable without a predefined value to use in a test script step. In this scenario, the value can be specified during execution. In the 6.0 release, the display of appending the specified value to the variable during execution was incorrect. The resolution was to ensure that a placeholder is set in the test script step for the value, which requires the execution variable to have a default value. This resolution caused the regression that the execution variable cannot be created without a predefined value.
Related information
Limitation summary
Problem
Starting in Rational Quality Manager 6.0, the Data Collection Component only loads requirement data from Rational DOORS Next Generation. The Data Collection Component no longer integrates with applications that are not part of the Rational solution for Collaborative Lifecycle Management (CLM), such as Rational RequisitePro. The Data Collection Component does not load requirement data from such applications or expose it through the Rational Quality Manager Reportable REST API. This limitation also applies to mixed environments that deploy both Rational Quality Manager 5.x and 6.0. This limitation should be considered before upgrading to the Rational solution for CLM version 6.0 or later.
Related information
Limitation summary
Problem
If you group the Test Statistics dashboard widget by a category that has multiple values associated with it, only the results for the first value are displayed. For example, consider a Test Phase category that has three values: Development Test, Integration Test, and User Acceptance Test. The category values are assigned to 7 test cases in the following way:
- 3 test cases have both the Development Test and Integration Test values (the Development Test value is listed first)
- 2 test cases have only the Development Test value
- 2 test cases have only the Integration Test value
In this scenario, the results should show that each value is assigned to 5 test cases. However, because the widget tabulates only the first value for categories with multiple values, the widget shows that 5 test cases contain the Development Test value, and only 2 test cases contain the Integration Test value.
Related information
Limitation summary
Problem
The notification messages that are emailed to users when a formal review on a test artifact changes, such as when an approval or a comment is added, are not customizable. Specifically, on the Manage Project Area page, in the Mail Templates section, any changes to the default text for the following notifications are not included in the email messages that are sent: Approvals, Messages At Me, Work Item Aggregate Changes Notification, and Work Item Changed Notification.
Related information
Limitation summary
Problem
The Guest Access feature enables guest access to secure resources by using a dedicated guest user. However, enabling the Guest Access feature and configuring a Guest Access user ID in the Advanced Properties causes several issues (for example, with browsing and editing test artifacts). Because of these limitations, Guest Access is not supported in Rational Quality Manager.
Related information
Limitation summary
Online migration is not supported for upgrading some versions of the Quality Management application
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