What's New in ALM 12.60

This section provides an overview of the features that were introduced or enhanced in ALM 12.60 and ALM 12.60 patches.

ALM 12.60 enhancements

This section provides ALM 12.60 enhancements.

Importing QCP from previous versions

You can import QCP files from previous versions (ALM 12.00 or later) to ALM 12.60 without the need to include them in the initial upgrade process. This can be useful with archived or support phased upgrade projects.

Business Models Module enhancements

Business Models module now enables you to import models from ARIS 10.00. For details on Business Models module, see Business process models.

API Key authentication for API integrations

API key authentication provides a secure authentication mechanism for external applications accessing ALM's API.

The ALM site administrator generates and manages the list of API keys for ALM.

  • Each API key includes a Client ID and an API Key Secret for applications to use when authenticating.
  • Each API key is associated with an ALM user. Therefore, when an application uses an API key to access ALM, the application is limited by its user's permissions.
  • You can use an API key to access ALM only if it is currently listed as active in the list of API keys.

When writing ALM extensions or API scripts, obtain a Client ID and API Key Secret from the administrator, and use them for authentication. For details on API key authentication when using REST and OTA, see the Developer Help.

JDK Installation

JDK is decoupled from the ALM installation. You can now install a JDK patch level to meet the policy needs of your organization.

Business Views Microsoft Excel add-in enhancements

Includes the following updates:

  • REST API based. The add-in now connects to ALM using REST API.
  • 32-bit and 64-bit. The add-in is available in 32-bit and 64-bit. The 32-bit version is only for use with Microsoft Office 32-bit. The 64-bit version is only for use with Microsoft Office 64-bit.
  • Installation package. The installation package of the add-in now combines administrator and non-administrator installations in the same package. You can choose to install for all user (requires administrator permissions) or install only for yourself (non-administrator).
  • Manually install add-in. When installing the add-in directly from your ALM client (Dashboard > Analysis > BV Excel Report > Configuration tab) , a download page now opens enabling you to download and install the add-in. The uninstall option has been removed.
  • Two different versions of this add-in can coexist of the same client machine. This new version of the add-in (REST API based) can coexist with a previous version (OTA API based). They are shown as two different tabs in Microsoft Excel, enabling you to use different versions of ALM at the same time.
  • Proxy settings. By default, the connection to ALM is done via the Internet Explorer proxy settings. You can now use a different proxy server. For details, see Business Views Microsoft Excel reports.
BPT branching

Now you can add branches to your business process tests, either from ALM or UFT (version 14.50), enabling you to configure the components that UFT runs, depending on the state of your application during runtime.

BPT branches provide additional structure to your test to support complex and dynamic applications, which have non-linear functions and interfaces. Use branches to cover many different user flows in your app, using the same test.

For details on how to add branches from ALM, see Add branches.

For details on how to add branches from UFT, see UFT Help Center.

ALM Help Center enhancements

The help center now includes advanced site search functionality:

  • Intuitive friendly Google-like search
  • Search across all ADM help centers
  • Filter search results by selected products
  • Get results from separate deliverables in one place, such as PDFs and APIs

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ALM 12.60 Patch 1 enhancements

This section provides ALM 12.60 Patch 1 enhancements.

Running ALM client without deployment Using the ALM Client Launcher tool, you can now use an ALM client on any Windows machine without the need of deploying it from an ALM server and without Windows administrator permissions. For more details, visit Marketplace.
Support for Microsoft Application Virtualization You can now create ALM App-V packages using Microsoft App-V Sequencer. For details, see this KB article.
JDK Installation

The ALM installation now supports OpenJDK 8.

API Keys enhancements

SaaS. When deactivating a customer in ALM, all associated users are deactivated and their API keys are deleted.

Support for Microsoft Azure
  • For details on how to install ALM on Microsoft Azure, see this KB article.
  • For details on how to migrate your OnPrem ALM databases to an Azure SQL DB Managed Instance, see this KB article.
Memo field enhancements
  • Zoom options. To zoom in and out, hold down the Ctrl key and use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Or, hold down the Ctrl key and use the + and - keys to zoom in and out.
  • Find and replace values. To search and replace values in memo fields, click Find & Replace, or by pressing the shortcut keys Ctrl + F. For details, see Search, replace, and update ALM data.
Increased length of user defined fields
  • String. The maximum field length is now 2000 characters instead of 255 characters.
  • Lookup List. The maximum field length is now 2000 characters instead of 255 characters.
Support for NUnit 3.0 files

When importing tests from an external file to your Test Plan Tree, ALM now supports NUnit 3.0.

For details on how to import from an external XML file, see Import External Tests.

Sharing dashboard pages You can share dashboard pages for viewing outside ALM client. For details, see Dashboards.
Creating releases from template projects When creating a new release by copying from an existing release in a template project, ALM now also copies release scopes and milestone scopes from the template project. For details, see Project Planning and Tracking (PPT) releases.
Customizing the ALM Login Window

You can customize the ALM Login window, so that you can share any special announcements or important events with users that are using the same ALM server. You create a content file and save it on the ALM server. Users can view this content from their ALM Desktop Client machines. For example, you can notify the users that the ALM server will not be available for use due to an upgrade.

For details, see the "Customizing the ALM Login Window" section in the ALM Installation and Upgrade Guide - Windows or ALM Installation and Upgrade Guide - Linux.

Monitor test coverage with ALM Prisma (technical preview)

ALM Prisma is a Google Chrome extension that monitors your activity when testing a web application (AUT), and shows you at a glance which areas in the UI have been covered by your manual tests. Prisma reflects the actual coverage on your AUT by coloring the areas in the application that were tested. This helps you focus future testing on areas that have not been covered.

For details, see the ALM Prisma Guide.

BPT enhancements

Includes the following updates:

Defining default application areas. When creating an application area resource in the Test Resources module, you can now define a specific application area as the default one used for all components in the ALM project.

Skip option for debug runs. You can now configure a debug test run to skip specific components to speed up the run time – focusing in only on those components that need debugging. For details, see Debug automated tests and flows.

SAP Solution Manager 7.2 integration

Includes the following updates:

Multiple associations per branch. When creating associations to the ALM project, it is now possible to create multiple associations per branch. This option is supported starting from Solution Manager 7.2 SP07.

SM Sites. When importing solution documentation to ALM, you can now define the site where the corresponding systems are located. This field is supported starting from Solution Manager 7.2 SP07.

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ALM 12.60 Patch 6 enhancements

This section provides ALM 12.60 Patch 6 enhancements.

Enhancement

Description

ALM Test Runs Injection for Octane

ALM Test Runs Injection for Octane enables you to run tests in ALM and automatically inject test sets and test runs from ALM to ALM Octane.

For details, see ALM Test Runs Injection for ALM Octane.

Import LDAP users by group

You can import LDAP users by the option By Member Of.

For details, see Importing Users from LDAP.

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See also: