What's New in 23.4

The following new features and enhancements are introduced in the ALM Octane 23.4 release.

Note: This release begins a new version numbering system. This and future versions will be numbered according to the year and quarter in which the version is released. For example: 23.4, 24.1, 24.2.

What's New video

Learn about some of the new features included in ALM Octane 23.4:

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Dashboard and reporting

The following dashboard and reporting enhancements are available:

Area What's new
Dashboard tabs

In the Dashboard module, dashboards now open in tabs. You can open up to 10 dashboards in parallel, and switch between them without losing context.

For details, see Set up a dashboard.

Document report enhancements

When including manual run steps and attachments in Document reports, links to run step attachments are now displayed in addition to the run attachments.

For details, see Document reports.

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Requirements

The following enhancement is available in Requirements:

Area What's new
Import requirements from Word files

You can now import a Word file to create or update requirements, using a sidebar plugin. The requirement hierarchy corresponds to the heading levels in the Word file.

To install the plugin, see OpenText Marketplace.

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Quality

The following Quality enhancements are available:

Area What's new
Iteration-level reporting on planned runs Iteration-level reporting for manual tests and BDD scenarios now supports planned runs. For details, see Generate iteration-level reports and Generate example-level reports.
Enforce run order of manual tests in a suite

You can now mark suites that must be run in a certain order. Testers will not be able to run a manual test until all preceding manual tests are completed. With business rules, testers can be notified when the next test is ready.

For details, see Enforce manual test run order.

Grid editor for manual tests

You can now see manual test steps in a new grid view. This view shows you the steps in a table layout, with a clear distinction between actions and their corresponding expected results.

For details, see Create manual tests.

Test suite enhancements

The following enhancements are available for test suites:

  • Workflow phases are now available for test suites. As an admin, you can add custom phases to the predefined list, create workflows, and define business rules based on the phases. For details, see Workflow setup.
  • Test suites can now be added to My Work. For details, see My Work.

Test runner integration enhancements

The following test runner integration enhancements are available:

  • You can now run tests created in custom frameworks, such as Python, in GitLab.

  • You can now trigger automated test runs using Azure DevOps pipelines as test runners. 

For details, see Functionality supported by CI integrations.

Environment type user-defined fields

Admins can now create user-defined fields as an Environment type field. Users can select the environment for entities using this user-defined field.

For details, see Custom fields.

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Release

The following Release enhancements are available:

Area What's new

Partial process rerun

You can now rerun parts of a process:

  • During the execution of a process, you have the option to rerun the entire process or parts of it to overcome any issues. The duplicated parts can then be adjusted and prepared for another attempt.

  • For auto actions that failed during the advanced output processing step, you can rerun the action for only that step.

For details, see Run a release process.

Auto action enhancements

The following enhancements are available for auto actions:

  • You can now trigger a REST call as part of your release process flow. This allows for integrations with different applications that are not supported by default.

  • You can now select This Release Process as a value for an Update entities or Add comment auto action.

  • In addition to variables, auto action designers can now use existing process fields when populating input property values.

  • The History tab now lists changes to auto action input and output properties, and output processing steps.

For details, see Auto actions.

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Administration

The following administration enhancements are available:

Area What's new
Send messages to channels with business rules

You can configure business rules to send messages to apps such as Microsoft Teams or Slack.

For details, see Rule actions.

Shift migration tool

A new version of the Shift data migration solution tool is now available. For details, see OpenText Marketplace.

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REST API and OData log files

The following log file changes are introduced in version 23.4:

Area What's changed
REST API log files

The URI parameter has been split into multiple parameters, consisting of URI, API_TYPE, RESOURCE, and BASE_URL.

For example, if the previous URI was as follows:

http://localhost:8080/internal-api/shared_spaces/1001/workspaces/1002/red_line/readEntity?query="((subtype='feature'))"&order_by=id&red_line_value=1

The new parameters are now as follows:

  • URI: red_line/readEntity?query="((subtype='feature'))"&order_by=id&red_line_value=1

  • API_TYPE: internal-api

  • RESOURCE_NAME: red_line

  • BASE_URL: http://localhost:8080/

OData log files

The URI parameter has been split up into multiple parameters, consisting of URI, RESOURCE_NAME, and BASE_URL.

For example, if the previous URI was as follows:

http://localhost:8080/odata/v4/shared_spaces/1001/workspaces/1002/defects?$orderby=name desc&$filter=team ne null

The new parameters are now as follows:

  • URI: defects?$orderby=name desc&$filter=team ne null

  • RESOURCE_NAME: defects

  • BASE_URL: http://localhost:8080/

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REST API updates

The following REST API updates are applied between versions 16.2.100 and 23.4:

Entity Fields Update
defect

last_runs_of_work_item

flow_time

Access level changed from PUBLIC_TECH_PREVIEW to PUBLIC
feature

last_runs_of_work_item

flow_time

Access level changed from PUBLIC_TECH_PREVIEW to PUBLIC
quality_story flow_time Access level changed from PUBLIC_TECH_PREVIEW to PUBLIC
story

last_runs_of_work_item

flow_time

Access level changed from PUBLIC_TECH_PREVIEW to PUBLIC
waste

end_time

cycle_time

category

phase

owner_work_item

start_time

Access level changed from PUBLIC_TECH_PREVIEW to PUBLIC
work_item

last_runs_of_work_item

flow_time

Access level changed from PUBLIC_TECH_PREVIEW to PUBLIC
work_item_root product Field is deprecated in REST API

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