Create business views

This section describes how to create business views, which can be used as a basis for ALM's reporting tools.

Business views overview

Business views are a semantic data layer that can be used as a basis for the various ALM reporting tools. Creating reports based on business views ensures standardization across the reports, as different reports that are based on the same business view reflect a common frame of reference.

Business views are based on project entities, and ensure that only information that is relevant to a business consumer is revealed in a report.

Example: You can select only those defect related entity fields that represent some business value to a report consumer. You then create a unique view which can be used and reused as a report basis.

For example, a business view based on Baselines could contain the Name, Description, and Baseline ID fields. This is because these fields convey information that could be important to the graph consumer who needs to understand baseline information from a business perspective only. By the same logic, the same business view does not include the Attachment and Auto complete type fields, as they have little business significance.

Business views can be based on a single project entity (for example, defects), or can represent more complex relationships between several entities (for example, defects, requirements, and tests). ALM provides a set of pre-defined business views that are available for selection.

Business views must be designed by a user who understands the business requirements of the organization. In addition, the process of creating business views utilizes DQL, a domain query language that is a flavor of ANSI SQL. It is important that the business view designer be able to understand DQL queries. For details on working with DQL, see Work with DQL.

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Create business views

This task describes how to create a business view.

To create a business view:

  1. In the Project Customization window, click the Business Views link.

    The Views tree displays predefined as well as user-defined views. The icon next to the view's name indicates the view's status.

    Published The view is valid and is published.
    Not Published The view is valid and is not published.
    Invalid The view is not valid.

  2. Click Add View. In the New View dialog box, enter the label and technical name, and click OK.

    Label

    The name of the view which is used for identification purposes only. For example, in the Views tree, and when selecting views in the Analysis View module, views are listed according to their labels.

    You can change the label using the Alias column in the selected fields grid. You cannot change a label for a field in a sub-entity.
    Technical name

    The name of the view which is used as part of the DQL query.

    The technical name cannot contain spaces.

  3. Add project entities to the business view.

    1. Under the Query Designer tab, click Add Entity.

      The Model tree opens in the right pane, displaying all project entities and fields in the current project. Entities are listed alphabetically according to their Labels, with their technical names in brackets.

    2. Select the entities you want to add to the new business view and drag them to the Main pane in the middle of the Query Designer tab.

      For each project entity you add, a <project entity> dialog box is added, displaying all available fields contained within the entity. Select specific fields to include in the view.

    Note: You can click the down arrow next to View to select the desired view for the Query Designer tab:

    • QBE Only. Hides the DQL Query Builder.

    • DQL Only. Displays only the DQL Query Builder.

    • QBE and DQL. Displays the entire Query Designer tab. This is the default view.

  4. Define relationships between selected entities.

    You create relationships between selected entities in one of the following ways:

    • Select a <project entity> dialog box, and in the Query Designer tab, click Add Related Entity.

      Source Entity

      The currently selected entity.
      Target Entity Displays a drop-down list enabling you to select an available target entity. For each available entity, the entity label appears, with its technical name in brackets.

      Relation Name

      		 Displays the relation name given the source and target entities. If more than one relation name exists, you can choose the desired name from the drop-down list.

    • When more than one entity has been selected, create the relationships manually by dragging a field from one entity to another.

    • Enter the query directly in the DQL Query Builder. See Work with DQL.

  5. (Optional) You can edit and define filter criteria for selected fields in the selected fields grid. For details, see Select Filter Condition Dialog Box.

  6. (Optional) To edit relationships between entities, double-click on a relationship line.

    Left/Right Object Displays the technical names of the joined entities.
    Select all from left/right Use the check boxes to define if the relationship contains inner, left, right, or outer joins.
    Join expression Enables you to edit the join expression.

  7. To validate the business view, in the Query Designer tab, click Validate View.

    The following checks are performed:

    • The DQL syntax is correct.

    • The query contains only fields from selected entities.

    Any warning or error messages are shown in the Query Results pane at the bottom of the Query Designer tab.

  8. To preview the business view, in the Query Designer tab, click Preview.

    • Query Results. Valid views only. Displays a preview of the view.
    • Query Messages. Invalid views only. Displays messages detailing problems with the view. Place the cursor over the message text to view a tooltip displaying the full message.

  9. To update the business view status, in the Query Designer tab, click the Status arrow and select Published.

    • Published. The view is available.

    • Not Published. The view is not available.

    Note:  

    • Business views with warning messages can be published. Business views with errors cannot be published. Some business views with warning messages can cause the business view reports not to be generated. For example, a business view created with duplicate fields or aliases generates a warning message, but no report is generated from this business view.

    • When changing a view from Not Published to Published, ALM first validates the view before changing the status.

    • When changing a view from Published to Not Published, you will no longer be able to view reports or graphs based on that view.

  10. On the Business Views page, click Save.

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See also: