Synchronize with ALM Octane work items

You can synchronize PulseUno reviews and pull requests with ALM Octane work items in a product or Git repository.

Guidelines and behaviors

To set up synchronization, you define rules that map ALM Octane attributes or phases to specific review states in PulseUno. An attribute change in ALM Octane triggers the corresponding state change in PulseUno, and vice versa.

Guidelines:

  • You can map PulseUno states to ALM Octane system-defined fields, such as phase, or user-defined fields of string and list types, for example, review_stage_udf.

    To access a list of fields, in ALM Octane, navigate to Settings > Spaces, select your shared space, and click Entities > Fields. You need shared space admin permissions to work with fields. For details, see the ALM Octane help.

  • Synchronization is available for the following PulseUno states:

    Reviews In Review, Rework, Approved
    Pull requests In Review, Rework, Approved, Completed

    For details about review states, see About reviews.

  • Some rules work in both directions, incoming and outgoing. But you can choose to apply rules in one direction only, for example, when a change in PulseUno triggers a transition in ALM Octane but not the other way.

    Example: You can add a bidirectional rule that maps the In Progress phase of an ALM Octane defect to the Rework state of a PulseUno review. This way, when a defect transitions to the In Progress phase in ALM Octane, the associated review is automatically sent for rework in PulseUno. Also, when a PulseUno review is sent for rework, the associated ALM Octane item automatically transitions to the In Progress phase.

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Synchronization steps

To synchronize PulseUno review and pull request states with ALM Octane phases, complete the following steps.

Step 1

In ALM Octane: Create an entity rule with the Trigger webhook action to make a webhook call on the Update Entity event.

The Trigger webhook rule must include the name and the fields that you define in the incoming rule in PulseUno. Use a WebSocket for communication. See the ALM Octane help.
Step 2 (Dimensions CM only)

If you are using requests from Dimensions CM, and Dimensions CM has ALM Octane mapped as the request provider, you need to ensure that no API calls fail in a working synchronization.

In ALM Octane: Assign ALM Octane users and API access accounts the following permission: Integrations > Get API response with user data.
Step 3 In PulseUno: Connect an ALM Octane instance. See Connect to ALM Octane.
Step 4 In PulseUno: Enable the relevant product or Git repository to use the ALM Octane connection. See Enable ALM Octane connection.
Step 5 In PulseUno: Set the rules for synchronizing ALM Octane and PulseUno request states. See Define synchronization rules.

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Enable ALM Octane connection

After you connect an ALM Octane instance, enable your product to use this connection for synchronization.

Note: Administrator or owner permissions required.

To enable the ALM Octane connection:

  1. In PulseUno, on the top navigation bar, select the relevant space from the spaces list.

  2. On the Products page, open the product for which to set up synchronization.

  3. On the sidebar, select Settings > Integrations.

  4. On the Integrations page, in the ALM Octane section, select the ALM Octane connection and enter the ID of the relevant ALM Octane workspace. Ensure that this is the same ALM Octane instance that is configured as the request provider in Dimensions CM.

  5. Click Save.

After enabling the connection, set the rules for synchronizing request states.

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Define synchronization rules

Create the rules that map PulseUno review and pull request states to ALM Octane attributes or phases and define the actions to trigger transitions between states.

Note: Administrator permissions required.

To define request synchronization rules:

  1. Navigate to Administration > Connections.

  2. Click the name of the ALM Octane connection you want to use. The Connection page opens.

  3. On the sidebar, select Request synchronization.

  4. On the Request Synchronization page, click Add . The new synchronization page opens.

  5. In the General tab, specify the following details:

    Title Enter a name for the new synchronization.
    Workspaces Enter one or more ALM Octane workspace IDs to synchronize with. Separate IDs with commas, for example, 1002, 1003, 1004.
    Direction

    Select the direction for the rule:

    • From PulseUno review to ALM Octane request. Outgoing direction. A change in a PulseUno state triggers a phase transition in ALM Octane.

    • From ALM Octane request to PulseUno review. Incoming direction. A change in an ALM Octane phase triggers a state transition in PulseUno.

    • Bidirectional (Default). Changes are triggered both ways.

  6. To set the rules for ALM Octane defects, user stories, or quality stories, select the relevant tab and specify the following settings.

    Note: ALM Octane attributes and values are not case-sensitive.

    Setting Description
    Reuse settings

    Select one of the options:

    • Do not reuse settings. Create a new set of rules.
    • Same as Defects. For user stories or quality stories, apply the same rules as for defects.
    • Same as User Stories. For defects or quality stories, apply the same rules as for user stories.
    • Same as Quality Stories. For defects or user stories, apply the same rules as for quality stories.
    Reviews

    Publish review when the associated ALM Octane item's attributes match the following.

    The In Review rule works in the incoming direction only, from ALM Octane to PulseUno.

    Click Add and enter the ALM Octane attribute and value that causes the change in PulseUno and sends the associated review to the In Review state.

    Example: You may specify the attribute Phase and the value Opened. This way, when an ALM Octane item transitions to the Opened phase, the associated PulseUno review is published.

    Send review to rework when the associated ALM Octane item's attributes match the following.

    Change the associated ALM Octane item's attributes when review is sent to rework.

    Click Add and set the Rework rule depending on your selected direction:

    • Enter the ALM Octane attribute and value that sends the associated PulseUno review for rework.

    • Enter the ALM Octane attribute and value to which the item transitions when a PulseUno review changes to the Rework state.

      Example: You may specify the attribute Phase and the value In Progress. This way, when a PulseUno review is sent for rework, the associated ALM Octane item transitions to the In Progress phase.

    When the review is approved, change the associated ALM Octane item's attributes as follows.

    The Approved rule works in the outgoing direction only, from PulseUno to ALM Octane.

    Click Add and enter the ALM Octane attribute and value to which the item transitions when a PulseUno review advances to Approved.

    Example: You may specify the attribute Phase and the value Fixed. This way, when a PulseUno review is approved, the associated ALM Octane item transitions to the Fixed phase.
    Pull requests
    Publish the pull request when the associated ALM Octane item's attributes match the following.

    Click Add and set the In Review rule in the same way as for reviews.

    Send the pull request to rework when the associated ALM Octane item's attributes match the following.

    Change the associated ALM Octane item's attributes when the pull request is sent to rework.

    Click Add and set the Rework rule in the same way as for reviews.

    When the pull request is approved, change the associated ALM Octane item's attributes as follows.

    Click Add and set the Approved rule in the same way as for reviews.

    When the pull request is completed, change the associated ALM Octane item's attributes as follows.

    The Completed rule works in the outgoing direction only, from PulseUno to ALM Octane.

    Click Add and enter the ALM Octane attribute and value to which the item transitions when a PulseUno pull request is merged and completed.

    Example: You may specify the attribute Phase and the value Closed. This way, when a PulseUno pull request is merged, advancing to a Completed state, the associated ALM Octane item transitions to the Closed phase.

  7. To add another mapping to any of the rules, click Add under the rule. All mappings in a rule must be matched to trigger the corresponding change.

  8. Click Save.

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See also: