Dependency Map for Jira

Dependency Map for Jira 1.1 User’s Guide

© 2019 FindOut Technologies AB 1 (11)

Dependency Map for Jira Version 1.1 User’s Guide



Welcome! Thank you for using Dependency Map for Jira!

Dependency Map is a tool for analyzing dependencies in your Jira projects.

Dependency Map bases its relationship visualization on the links between your Jira issues. If your project contains more than one type of link, you can choose which link type to visualize. The corresponding relationship visualizations will then highlight different aspects of your project.

The selection of issues to show is based on existing Jira filters. It is possible to assign colors to issues based on Jira fields.



Release notes Version 1.1

• It is now possible to select more than one issue in the diagram (via shift-click) • Create/delete links between issues directly in diagram • Optimized data fetch from Jira when 'sprint' is used as a field for maps • Added tooltip for issue boxes • Matrix layout row labels now has three lines of text • "Manage Maps" page now displays 50 maps per page • Map names in "Manage Maps" list are no longer truncated • Text is no longer truncated in tooltip • Fixed a bug: Long issue IDs did not fit in issue box • Fixed a bug: Duplicate diagram did not show correct creator and creation date • Fixed a bug: "Manage Maps" page becomes empty if certain other add-ons were installed • Fixed a bug: Deleting a Jira user who has created/edited a map caused the “Manage Maps” page

to break

Version 1.0

• New Matrix layout that enables Program Board/Big Room Planning (as well as other interesting ways to organize your issues)

• The sections in the Sections layout (previously Grouped layout) can now be based on a Jira field • Dependency maps can now use Sprint as a field configuration • Dependency maps can now use Project as a field configuration • Dependency Map can now handle larger maps than before (via the Matrix layout) • Hover over a section in Sections layout (or a cell in Matrix layout) to display information about the

section/cell • Click on an issue to highlight the issue and its dependents • Show/hide color legend • Improved zoom/pan behavior • Issues without an explicit priority is now colored according to a default color map (if the project

doesn’t have a custom priority scheme) • Versions (Fix Version/s, Affects Version/s) are now sorted alphabetically when no release date

has been set • Improved semantic zoom for issue boxes • The Manage Maps screen now lists maps in alphabetical order • Improved error messages • Web browser logging verbosity can now be controlled via the Jira settings for Logging and

Profiling • Rewrote issue fetching to reduce load on the Jira server • Various bug fixes and visual tweaks



Contents

Welcome! ........................................................................................................... 2

Getting Started .................................................................................................. 5

Create and Edit Dependency Maps ................................................................. 6

Configure, delete, and duplicate maps ........................................................... 8

Different Layouts .............................................................................................. 9

How to work with a Dependency Map ........................................................... 11



Getting Started After Dependency Map has been installed, a new menu (Dependency Map) will become visible in Jira’s navigation bar.

Under “Recent Maps” you will find your most recently used dependency maps. Clicking on one of these items will display the corresponding map. The first time you start Dependency Map this part of the menu will be empty.

The “Clear Recent Maps” menu item will clear the list of recent maps.

The “Manage Maps” menu item will navigate to a page where you can create, delete, and configure dependency maps.



Create and Edit Dependency Maps To create a visualization of your project, you must first tell Dependency Map which issues to include by creating or re-using a Jira filter. Please refer to the Jira manual for information about how to create issue filters.

To create a new map, select Dependency Map ® Manage Maps. This will open the manage maps page in Jira:

Then, click on the “Create Dependency Map” button in the top right corner. This will open the following dialog:

• Name: Enter a name for the new map.

• Filter: Select which Jira filter to use for the new map.

• Link type: Select which Jira link type to use for the arrows in the map.

• Layout: Select witch Dependency Map layout to use. Current choices are:



o Sections: Issues are grouped vertically in sections based on a Jira field (or a custom field). Common choices are “Sprint” or “Fix Version/s”.

o Matrix: Issues are sorted vertically and horizontally in cells based on two Jira fields. A common choice is “Team” for rows and “Sprint” for columns (which corresponds to a Program Board in the SAFe methodology).

o Ungrouped: Issues are positioned to highlight the structure of the link relationship graph.

• Group by (displayed when Sections layout is selected): The issue field to use for the sections.

• Row and Column (displayed when Matrix layout is selected): The issue fields to use for the rows and columns.

• Box color field: Select which issue field that should map to box colors in the diagram. To configure box colors, click the “Map Colors” button. This will open a color selection dialog:

Field options displays a list of all available options for the field you selected in the previous step. To select a new color for an option, select the option by clicking on it, and then click on the color you want on the right-hand side of the dialog.

NOTE: Dependency Map currently supports “radio button” and “single-choice select list” custom fields, as well as a selection of built-in Jira fields such as “Priority” , “Status”, “Sprint” and “Project”.



Configure, delete, and duplicate maps To configure an existing dependency map, click on the “…” button to the right of the map. This will display the following menu:

Configure will open a dialog that is similar to the “Create Dependency Map” dialog where you can make changes.

Duplicate will create a duplicate of the current Dependency Map, with the same name as the original. You can then select Configure to change the name and configuration of the new map.

Delete will delete the dependency map.



Different Layouts Currently, there are three layouts to choose from:

• Sections: This layout organizes issues in groups according to an issue field that you have configured, while attempting to avoid overlapping arrows.

o For custom fields, the sections are listed from top to bottom according to the order you have specified for the custom field.

o If you are using “Fix Version/s” or “Affects Version/s” the release date will be used, if available. Versions without a release date are sorted alphabetically.

• Ungrouped: This layout attempts to keep all issues at a similar distance from each other and organizes the issues so that link arrows point downwards or sideways, when possible. For the “Blocks” link type this can indicate a possible implementation order.



• Matrix: This layout was developed with SAFe Program Board/Big Room Planning in mind, but you can use it for many other purposes. For a typical Program Board, set Rows to “Team” and Columns to “Sprint”.

The Ungrouped and Section layouts attempt to position the issues so that the number of crossing links is minimized. For maps with many issues and/or links, this computation may become prohibitively expensive to carry out. If this happens, Dependency Map will inform you with a message. The Matrix layout will accept any number of issues and links (although the time it takes to compute the layout grows with the number of issues you include in your filter).



How to work with a Dependency Map Once the map is shown, you can navigate it using your mouse and/or trackpad.

• To pan, click the left mouse button and drag (or use the pan gesture on your trackpad). • To zoom, use the scroll wheel (or pinch gesture on your trackpad). If you zoom in enough you will

see the Summary of the issue, instead of just the issue key:

• To select an issue, click on the issue. To select additional issues, hold shift and click on the

issues. In addition to highlighting the selected issues, Dependency Map will also highlight their links, and any linked issues.

• To create a link between two issues, first select the issue you would like the link to start from. Then select the issue you would like the link to go to (via shift-click). Then press the Create link button in the Edit links box (in the upper right corner).

• To remove a link between two issues, first select the issue that the link starts from. Then select the issue that the link goes to (via shift-click). Then press the Delete link button in the Edit links box (in the upper right corner).

• To show or hide the Edit links box, click on the +/- sign next to the heading. • To show information about the row/column or section you are in, hover the mouse cursor

over the cell or section. • To show information about an issue, hover the mouse cursor over the issue. • To open an issue in Jira in a separate browser tab, double-click on the issue. • To update/refresh the map with the latest changes to issues, reload the page. • To show or hide the color legend (in the upper left corner), click on the +/- sign next to the

heading.

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