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# Related items and dependencies

You can define connections between items by creating relations or dependencies between them.

In this topic:

## Related items

Related items are items that have a defined connection between them. The Relations tab of an item lets you define connections between the item and any other workspace item. Some relations are created automatically, such as the links between a test and its runs, or a test and defects detected during its run.

There are several types of relations that can exist between items. Some types of relations are listed in the table below. Depending on the type of item, other relations may also be available.

Relation | Details
--- | ---
Covering test | A test that covers the item. You can define a test as covering one or more items, such as features or user stories, and then track the quality of the items by analyzing the results of the covering tests. For details, see Build the backlog. You can also define an automated test as covering a manual or Gherkin test, to synchronize the tests' status and details. For details, see Link manual and Gherkin tests to automated tests.
Covering requirement document | A requirement document that describes requirements for the item. For details, see Requirements.
Dependency | A relationship where one item must be completed before another item. If Item A must be completed before Item B, Item A is defined as an upstream dependency of Item B. Item B is a downstream dependency of Item A. For details, see Create a dependency.
Linked item | A relationship between two different types of items.
Parent/child | The relationship between an item and the item above it (parent), or below it (child), in the backlog hierarchy. For details, see Backlog.
Pull request | Pull requests related to the item. For details on linking pull requests to your backlog items, see Track pull requests in your SCM system.
Specified by BDD Specifications | BDD specifications related to the item. For details, see BDD testing framework.
Trace to/from | A relationship between two of the same type of item.

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## Create a relationship

Some relationships are created automatically. For example, when you create a test for a feature, a Covering Test relationship is created between the test and its feature.

You can also manually add relationships between items.

To create a relationship:

1. Open the item's Relations tab.
2. Click the Chart button .
3. Click the Add Relation button and select the type of relationship type you want to create.
4. In the dialog box, select one or more items to which you want to create relationships.
5. Click Add. The relationships between the items are created.

To manage an item's relationships:

1. Open the item's Relations tab.
2. Click the Viewer button .

3. Select a relationship type to view the items connected by that type of relationship.

   Tip: For each relationship type, a number indicator shows how many items are connected to the current item.

4. Use the Add and Remove buttons to manually add or remove related items.

You can view and manage relations in the Chart layout or in the Viewer layout. The chart layout is the default view for the Relations tab. Once opened, the Relations tab saves the last view type per user, per entity. Relations can be added and deleted in the chart layout or viewer layout.

Layout | Details
--- | ---
Chart | The following describes the chart behaviors: All the entity cards related to your item are organized according to relation type. The relation type is displayed between the entity types. To view different parts of the chart, you can click and drag, and zoom in or out. Double-click the white space of the chart to return to the default zoom level. The number of items is displayed below each entity type at the bottom of the card. Click the number to view those items in the viewer grid. For single-relation cards, click the ellipsis that appears on the card to add or remove links.
Viewer | The following describes the viewer behaviors: Related items are listed and filtered according to the type of relationship selected. When there are 100+ items, an ellipsis appears in the number indicator, and the actual number is displayed in a tooltip.

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## Create a dependency

Dependencies are items related by the Upstream dependency and Downstream dependency relationships. Dependency relationships determine the order in which activities must be performed. The activities of an upstream dependency must be performed before the activities of a downstream dependency.

You can create dependencies between features, user stories, quality stories, and defects.

To create a dependency:

1. Open the Relations tab in the downstream item.
2. Click the Chart button .
3. Click Add Relation and select Upstream Dependency.
4. In the dialog box, select one or more items on which the downstream item is dependent.

After the first dependency is defined, you can add more dependencies from the dependencies map.

Manage dependencies

An item's dependencies are displayed in the item's Relations tab, and in a dedicated dependencies map.

To view the dependencies map, open an item's Details tab and click the View Dependencies button in the toolbar. If the button is not displayed, the item does not have any upstream or downstream dependencies.

In the feature Planning Board, features with dependencies are marked Dependencies exist . For details, see Planning Board feature dependencies.

To keep track of items with dependencies, you can add dependency fields to a grid using Choose columns. For details, see Grids and views.

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See also:

- Link manual and Gherkin tests to automated tests
- Build the backlog
- Planning Board

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