Integrate PPM requests with OpenText Software Delivery Management entities

You can use the integration between PPM requests and OpenText Software Delivery Management entities to manage OpenText Software Delivery Management entities using PPM. This enables both users to work on features and user stories.

In this topic:

• Overview
• Qualified request types
• Map PPM request types to agile entity types
• Create a mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management entity by creating a PPM request
• Synchronize OpenText Software Delivery Management entities to PPM as requests
• Link a PPM request to an existing OpenText Software Delivery Management entity
• Value sync between PPM and the integrated agile system
• View event logs

Overview

When a PPM request type is mapped to an agile entity type (such as feature and user story) and an OpenText Software Delivery Management project, you can establish a mapping between a PPM request and an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity. For example, depending on the integration configuration:

• When you create and move a request of the request type to a certain workflow step in PPM, an entity of the mapped entity type is automatically created in the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management project.
• For any entity that is created or already exists in the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management project but not yet mapped to a PPM request, a request of the mapped request type is automatically created in PPM after running the External Request Info Sync Service.
• You can link a PPM request to an existing OpenText Software Delivery Management entity.

After the mapping is established between a PPM request and an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity, changes in the request or the entity are synced between PPM and OpenText Software Delivery Management. This allows both PPM and OpenText Software Delivery Management users to work on requests, defects, features, and user stories.

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Qualified request types

The PPM request type must meet the following requirements before it can be mapped to an entity type and an OpenText Software Delivery Management project.

Requirement	Description
The request type is enabled.	Make sure the request type is active.
The request header type for the request type includes the field group: Agile Integration Info.	This field group in the PPM request details page contains details of the mapped agile entity. To add the Agile Integration Info field group to a request header type, see Request header type field groups .
The request type is assigned a workflow, and the workflow contains an execution step that has the following special command added: ksc_create_agile_requirement [REQ.REQUEST_ID]	When you create a request of the request type in PPM, and when the request moves to the execution workflow step, the special command triggers the action of creating a mapped agile entity. To assign a workflow to a request type, see Create simple default rules for request types . To add the special command to an execution workflow step: In the workbench, open Configuration > Workflows. Open the target workflow, and go to the Layout tab. Right-click the execution step, and select Edit Source. In the Execution Type field, select Workflow Step Commands. In the Execution section, click New Cmd. In the New Command window, give the command a name, and in the Steps field, type ksc_create_agile_requirement [REQ.REQUEST_ID]. Click Add to add the command, and click Save to save the changes to the execution step.

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Map PPM request types to agile entity types

Before creating a mapping between a PPM request and an entity in OpenText Software Delivery Management, and synchronizing data between the two systems, you need to map a PPM request type to an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity type. You can map the same PPM request type to different entity types that are managed in different OpenText Software Delivery Management projects.

To map a qualified PPM request type to an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity type:

1. Add an OpenText Software Delivery Management instance. See Add an OpenText Software Delivery Management agile instance.

2. Make sure the account provided on the General tab has required role to OpenText Software Delivery Management workspace.

   For details about roles in OpenText Software Delivery Management, see the OpenText Software Delivery Management documentation.

3. In the Request Mapping tab of the instance, click the Add button next to Request Type Mapping.

   

4. Map a PPM request type to a project and an entity type that is managed in the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management project.

   PPM Request Type	Select a PPM request type to map. The PPM request type must be a qualified request type. See Qualified request types for details.
   Agile Project	Select an OpenText Software Delivery Management project (OpenText Software Delivery Management workspace) where a mapped entity is to be created. You can select the wildcard project: * to indicate all the OpenText Software Delivery Management projects. If you select the wildcard project, when a request of the request type is created in PPM, an entity of the mapped entity type can be created in all OpenText Software Delivery Management projects. Note: The wildcard project (*) is available only when it is enabled. For details, see Enable " * " ALM Octane project mapping in request agile mapping.
   Agile Entity Type	Select an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity type to map to the PPM request type. For example, if you select Feature, when you create a request of the request type in PPM, a feature is created in the OpenText Software Delivery Management project. When the selected OpenText Software Delivery Management project is associated with a shared space and if you have the Space Admin role to that project, the Shared Epic is available for selection. You can map a shared epic to PPM request.
   Mapping Status	Whether the mapping is enabled or not. You can only enable a request type mapping after you set up field mappings for it.

5. Specify the sync direction for the mapping.

   Sync direction option	Description
   PPM request -> New Agile entity	When you create and move a request of the request type to a certain workflow step in PPM, an associated agile entity is automatically created in the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management project. This option is selected by default.
   Agile entity -> New PPM request	For any entity that is created or already exists in OpenText Software Delivery Management, and not yet mapped to a PPM request, a PPM request of the mapped request type is automatically created the next time when the External Request Info Sync Service runs. Caution: If you already have a large number of existing agile entities in OpenText Software Delivery Management, be cautious of enabling this sync direction, because PPM creates a mapped PPM request for each of these agile entities.
   PPM request -> Existing Agile entity	You can map a PPM request to an existing entity in the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management project.

6. Click Save.

7. Add field mappings to enable the request type mapping.

   How field mappings work

   • When you create a request in PPM, the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management entity fields are auto-filled with the values in the request fields.
   • When you create an entity in OpenText Software Delivery Management, the mapped PPM request fields are auto-filled with the values in the entity fields.

   • When you update a field in the PPM request or OpenText Software Delivery Management entity, the field value is synced from PPM to OpenText Software Delivery Management, or from OpenText Software Delivery Management to PPM, or bi-directionally, depending on how sync direction is set for the field mapping.

   How to add a field mapping

   1. Click the Add button next to Field Mapping.

      

   2. Add mappings between PPM request fields and OpenText Software Delivery Managemententity fields.

      For details about the supported field type mappings, see Supported field type mappings.

      PPM Request Field	Select a PPM request field to map.
      Agile Entity Field	Select an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity field to map to the PPM request field.
      Sync Direction	From PPM to Agile. The value of the PPM field overrides the value of the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management field. From Agile to PPM. The value of the OpenText Software Delivery Management field overrides the value of the mapped PPM field. Bi-directional. The value of the field whose last update date is later overrides the value of the other field. Note: Make sure the clocks in the PPM server and OpenText Software Delivery Management server are synched. Otherwise, changes done in OpenText Software Delivery Management might override changes done in PPM even when the changes in PPM are done after the changes in OpenText Software Delivery Management.
      Value Mapping	Required only when both fields in a field mapping are list values. You can also map values after saving the field mapping. To map values: Click Map Values. Select a value from the PPM Values column and a value from the Agile System Values, and then select an enabled button to specify the direction of the value mapping. !: Enabled when field mapping sync direction is "From Agile to PPM". If the agile field is filled with the selected value, the corresponding PPM field is auto-filled with the mapped value. ": Enabled when field mapping sync direction is "From PPM to Agile". If the PPM field is filled with the selected value, the corresponding agile field is auto-filled with the mapped value. D: Enabled when field mapping sync direction is "Bi-directional". If the PPM field is filled with the selected value, the corresponding agile field is auto-filled with the mapped value, and vice versa. Click OK.

   3. Click Save.

      If you map a PPM field to an unqualified agile field, the field mapping is highlighted in red upon saving. Hover over it to see details about how to correct it.

   4. Repeat these steps to add other field mappings.
8. Click in the Request Type Mapping line to enable the request type mapping.

9. (Optional) If you want to receive email notifications when the request type mapping error occurs or the mapping creates or updates entities in OpenText Software Delivery Management or PPM, set up email notifications for the request type mapping.

   1. Select the request type mapping, and click in the Request Type Mapping line.
   2. Specify when and how often email notifications are sent and sent to whom.

   3. Click Save.

   Email notifications provide the same information as event logs. See View event logs.

Known issues if you map a PPM request type to an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity type in the wildcard project

• If you map one PPM request field to multiple OpenText Software Delivery Management entity fields that are available in different OpenText Software Delivery Management projects and set the sync direction to “Bidirectional” or “From Agile To PPM”, when an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity is created by creating a PPM request, after the synchronization, the value in the mapped PPM request field may be set to empty.

• If you add mappings between multiple PPM request fields and OpenText Software Delivery Management entity fields and set the sync direction to “Bidirectional” or “From Agile To PPM”, when an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity is created by creating a PPM request, if a mapped agile field does not exist in the OpenText Software Delivery Management entity, after the synchronization, the value in the mapped PPM request field may be set to empty.

• If two or more entity fields in different OpenText Software Delivery Management projects have the same field name, the Agile Entity Field displays only one entity field. Mapping a PPM request field to such an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity field may cause synchronization failure.

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Create a mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management entity by creating a PPM request

When you create and move a request to a certain workflow step in PPM, a mapped entity is automatically created in OpenText Software Delivery Management.

To create a mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management entity by creating a PPM request:

1. Prerequisites:

   • Make sure the OpenText Software Delivery Management agile entity type is mapped to a PPM request type and the mapping is enabled.
   • The PPM request -> New Agile entity sync direction is enabled for the mapping. For details, see Map PPM request types to agile entity types.
   • Make sure the PPM request type is assigned a workflow, and the workflow contains an execution step that has the ksc_create_agile_requirement special command added. For details, see Add a special command to an execution workflow step.
2. From the main menu, select Demand Management > Create Request, and click the mapped request type.

3. In the Create New <PPM_Request_Type> page, Agile Integration Info section, provide the following information.

   

   Agile Instance Name	Select the OpenText Software Delivery Management instance where the mapping is created.
   Agile Project	Select the OpenText Software Delivery Management workspace where you want the agile entity to be created.
   Agile Entity Type	Select the entity type that the agile entity belongs to.
   Sync Flag	If set to Yes, the PPM request would trigger creating a mapped agile entity in OpenText Software Delivery Management, and the value changes of mapped fields are synced between PPM and OpenText Software Delivery Management. See Value sync between PPM and the integrated agile system. If set to No, the PPM request does not trigger creating a mapped agile entity in OpenText Software Delivery Management. If you change sync flag to "No" after the PPM request successfully creates a mapped agile entity in OpenText Software Delivery Management, the value changes of mapped fields are not synced between the two systems.

   Do not edit these fields after you create the request, otherwise, the sync between the request and the agile entity may fail.

4. Provide other request information.

5. Submit the request.

   When the request moves to the workflow step where the special command ksc_create_agile_requirement [REQ.REQUEST_ID] is added, an entity of the selected agile entity type is created in the selected project (workspace) in OpenText Software Delivery Management. You can click the link in the Agile Entity ID field to open the entity in OpenText Software Delivery Management.

What if a field is required in OpenText Software Delivery Management but its mapped field in PPM request is not filled?

It might happen that a field is required when creating an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity but the field is not mapped to a PPM request field, or its mapped PPM field is not filled.

In this case, to avoid OpenText Software Delivery Management entity creation failure, PPM would give a default value to the required OpenText Software Delivery Management entity field when creating the entity.

For example, the Name field is required when creating a user story in OpenText Software Delivery Management. If the mapped PPM field is not filled, the Name field would be auto-filled with the default message "This user story is auto-created by the mapped PPM request <request_id>."

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Synchronize OpenText Software Delivery Management entities to PPM as requests

For any OpenText Software Delivery Management entity that is created or already exists in the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management project, and is not yet mapped to a PPM request, a PPM request of the mapped request type is automatically created the next time when the External Request Info Sync Service runs.

To synchronize OpenText Software Delivery Management entities to PPM as requests:

1. Prerequisites:

   • Make sure the OpenText Software Delivery Management entity type is mapped to a PPM request type, and the mapping is enabled.
   • The Agile entity -> New PPM request sync direction is enabled for the mapping. For details, see Map PPM request types to agile entity types.

2. Enable the External Request Info Sync Service. For details, see Schedule background services.

   When the External Request Info Sync Service runs, for any agile entity of the mapped agile entity type created or already existing in the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management project that is not yet mapped to a PPM request, a request is automatically created in PPM to map to the OpenText Software Delivery Management entity.

   The fields in the Agile Integration Info section of the mapped PPM request are automatically filled with the information of the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management entity. The Agile Entity ID field lists the link to the mapped OpenText Software Delivery Management entity. Clicking the link opens the agile entity in OpenText Software Delivery Management.

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Link a PPM request to an existing OpenText Software Delivery Management entity

You can link a PPM request to an existing entity in OpenText Software Delivery Management.

To link a PPM request to an existing OpenText Software Delivery Management entity:

1. Prerequisites:

   • The OpenText Software Delivery Management entity type is mapped with a PPM request type, and the mapping is enabled.
   • The PPM request -> Existing Agile entity sync direction is enabled for the mapping. For details, see Map PPM request types to agile entity types.

2. Open a target PPM request. PPM requests that can be linked to an existing OpenText Software Delivery Management entity must meet the following requirements:

   • The request is of the mapped request type.
   • The request is not already linked to an agile entity.

3. In the Agile Integration Info section, provide the following information:

   Field	Description
   Agile Instance Name	Select the OpenText Software Delivery Management instance where the mapping is created.
   Agile Project	Select the OpenText Software Delivery Management project where the agile entity is created.
   Agile Entity Type	Select the entity type to which the OpenText Software Delivery Management entity belongs.
   Existing Agile Entity	Select the OpenText Software Delivery Management entity to which the PPM request is linked. Note: By default, this field is always available as long as the request is not mapped to an agile entity. Administrators can configure whether this field is available or editable when the request is under a specific status. For details, see Configure request field status dependencies.
   Sync Flag	Sync flag: Yes. Create a corresponding entity in OpenText Software Delivery Management, and sync the value changes of mapped fields between PPM and OpenText Software Delivery Management. For details about what values are synced, see Value sync between PPM and the integrated agile system. No. Do not create an entity in OpenText Software Delivery Management. Note: If you change sync flag to No after a corresponding entity is successfully created in OpenText Software Delivery Management, the value changes of the mapped fields are not synced between PPM and OpenText Software Delivery Management.

4. Click Save.

   The mapping is created between the PPM request and the OpenText Software Delivery Management entity.

   A link to the mapped entity is listed in the Agile Entity ID field, which links directly to the entity in the integrated agile system.

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Value sync between PPM and the integrated agile system

When you create a request of a request type that is mapped to an OpenText Software Delivery Management entity type, and set the request field Sync Flag to Yes, the value changes that happen in mapped fields are synced regularly between PPM and OpenText Software Delivery Management.

• The sync happens every time when the background service External Request Info Sync Service runs.
• The background service syncs the field value changes according to how the sync direction is set for each field mapping. See Sync Direction.
• If a PPM Text field is mapped to an OpenText Software Delivery Management Memo field, and changes are synced from OpenText Software Delivery Management to PPM, a reference record is added in the PPM request to fully display the Memo field information.

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View event logs

Event logs keep records of:

• Whether a PPM request or an agile entity was created, updated, or deleted.
• Date and time of the event.
• Whether an error occurs to an event.
• Other details.

To view event logs of a request type mapping:

1. Select the request type mapping and click .
2. You can search the log for all the events that are logged for that request type mapping or only for their error events, over the date range you specify.

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