Systems and methods to synchronize artifact relationships across a plurality of repositories

• US 9,459,839 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2014
• Issued: 10/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tasktop Technologies, Inc. (Planview Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Tasktop Technologies, Inc. (Planview Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kisynski, Jacek, Ritchie, Colin, Muskalla, Benjamin, Kersten, Mik
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen, Wei
• Assistant Examiner(s): MORSHED, HOSSAIN M
• Application Number:
  US14/571,113
• Publication Number:
  US 20160170715A1
• Time in Patent Office: 659 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/70 Software maintenance or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management

Abstract

Systems and methods synchronize artifact relationships across a plurality of repositories. One example method includes mapping a first relationship of a first relationship type between a first source artifact in a first repository and a second source artifact to a second relationship of a second relationship type between a first target artifact in a second repository and a second target artifact according to a relationship mapping provided by a schema mapping guide. One example system includes a repository synchronizer to synchronize artifact relationship across at least first and second repositories. The repository synchronizer can include at least one processor. The example system can further include one or more schema mapping guides that provide one or more relationship mappings between the first and second repositories.

Claims

1. A method of operation in a repository synchronizer to synchronize artifact relationships across a plurality of repositories, the repositories respectively associated with respective ones of a plurality of software development tools, the repository synchronizer comprising at least one processor and at least one non-transitory processor-readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and which stores at least one of processor-executable instructions or data, the method comprising:

for a first source artifact in a first repository associated with a first development tool, the first source artifact which is logically associated by a defined first relationship of a first relationship type with a second source artifact;

identifying, autonomously by the repository synchronizer, a first target artifact in a second repository that corresponds to the first source artifact, the second repository associated with a second development tool, the second development tool different from the first development tool;

determining, autonomously by the repository synchronizer, a defined second relationship type for a second relationship between the first target artifact in the second repository that corresponds to the first source artifact in the first repository and a second target artifact that corresponds to the second source artifact based at least in part on a schema mapping guide that provides a relationship mapping from the first relationship type in the first repository to the defined second relationship type in the second repository, the determined defined second relationship type from a second set of defined relationship types for the second repository which is different from a first set of defined relationship types for the first repository; and

causing, autonomously by the repository synchronizer, the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the defined second relationship type based at least in part on a schema mapping guide that provides a relationship mapping from the first relationship type in the first repository to the defined second relationship type in the second repository comprises determining the defined second relationship type based at least in part on the schema mapping guide that provides a user-defined relationship mapping from the first relationship type in the first repository to the defined second relationship type in the second repository.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein causing the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type comprises establishing the second relationship of the determined defined second relationship type between the first target artifact and the second target artifact.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein causing the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type comprises changing the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to the determined defined second relationship type from a third relationship type.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein causing the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type comprises determining that the second relationship exists between the first target artifact and the second target artifact as the determined defined second relationship type and leaving the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact as the determined defined second relationship type.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to identifying the first target artifact in the second repository that corresponds to the first source artifact:

receiving an indication of an alteration of one or more data fields associated with the first source artifact; and

scanning the data fields of the first source artifact to identify as unprocessed the defined first relationship.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the first target artifact in the second repository that corresponds to the first source artifact comprises identifying, periodically and not responsive to human prompting, the first target artifact in the second repository that corresponds to the first source artifact, determining the defined second relationship type for the second relationship comprises determining, periodically and not responsive to human prompting, the defined second relationship type for the second relationship, and causing the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type comprises causing, periodically and not responsive to human prompting, the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the first source artifact, the second source artifact, the first target artifact, and the second target artifact comprise one of a task, a goal, a user story, an epic, a defect, a requirement, an issue, a folder, a changeset, or a test.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a defined second relationship type for a second relationship between the first target artifact in the second repository that corresponds to the first source artifact in the first repository and a second target artifact that corresponds to the second source artifact comprises:

determining whether the first relationship between the first source artifact and the second source artifact is an internal relationship within the first repository;

responsive to determining that the first relationship is an internal relationship within the first repository, determining whether the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact is to be an internal relationship within the second repository; and

responsive to determining that the second relationship is to be an internal relationship within the second repository, determining whether the second target artifact exists within the second repository.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein determining a defined second relationship type for a second relationship between the first target artifact in the second repository that corresponds to the first source artifact in the first repository and a second target artifact that corresponds to the second source artifact further comprises marking one or more of the first source artifact, the defined first relationship, and the second target artifact as pending in response to determining that the second target artifact does not exist within the second repository.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a defined second relationship type for a second relationship between the first target artifact in the second repository that corresponds to the first source artifact in the first repository and a second target artifact that corresponds to the second source artifact comprises:

determining whether the first relationship between the first source artifact and the second source artifact is an internal relationship within the first repository;

responsive to determining that the first relationship is an internal relationship within the first repository, determining whether the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact is to be an internal relationship within the second repository; and

responsive to determining that the second relationship is not to be an internal relationship within the second repository, generating a resource locator that describes a location of the second target artifact within the first repository or a third repository.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein generating a resource locator that describes a location of the second source artifact within the first repository or a third repository comprises generating a user-selectable uniform resource locator (URL) providing access to the location of the second target artifact within the first repository or the third repository.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein causing the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type comprises associating the resource locator that describes the location of the second target artifact with the first target artifact as the second relationship.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a defined second relationship type for a second relationship comprises determining whether the first relationship between the first source artifact and the second source artifact is an internal relationship within the first repository and causing the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type comprises, responsive to determining that the first relationship is not an internal relationship within the first repository, merging a resource locator that describes a location of the second source artifact within the first repository or a third repository with any existing resource locators associated with existing relationships of the first target artifact.

15. A system to enable collaborative development of software products across a plurality of software development tools, comprising:

at least a first repository that stores a first plurality of artifacts associated with a first software development tool and a second repository that stores a second plurality of artifacts associated with a second software development tool that is different from the first software development tool; and

a repository synchronizer to synchronize artifact relationships across at least the first and second repositories, the repository synchronizer comprising at least one processor and at least one non-transitory processor-readable medium communicatively coupled to at least one processor and which stores processor-executable instructions, execution of which causes, for at least a first source artifact of the first repository that is logically associated by a defined first relationship of a first relationship type with a second source artifact, the repository synchronizer to;

identify a first target artifact in the second repository that corresponds to the first source artifact;

determine a defined second relationship type for a second relationship between the first target artifact in the second repository that corresponds to the first source artifact in the first repository and a second target artifact that corresponds to the second source artifact based at least in part on a schema mapping guide that provides a relationship mapping between the first relationship type in the first repository and the defined second relationship type in the second repository, the determined defined second relationship type from a second set of defined relationship types for the second repository which is different from a first set of defined relationship types for the first repository; and

cause the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the relationship mapping provided by the schema mapping guide is user-defined.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions that cause the repository synchronizer to cause the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type cause the repository synchronizer to establish the second relationship of the determined defined second relationship type between the first target artifact and the second target artifact.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions that cause the repository synchronizer to cause the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type cause the repository synchronizer to change the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to the determined defined second relationship type from a third relationship type.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions that cause the repository synchronizer to cause the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type cause the repository synchronizer to determine that the second relationship exists between the first target artifact and the second target artifact as the determined defined second relationship type and leave the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact as the determined defined second relationship type.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions cause the repository synchronizer to autonomously identify the first target artifact in the second repository, autonomously determine the defined second relationship type for the second relationship, and autonomously cause the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type.

21. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions cause the repository synchronizer to periodically and not responsive to human prompting identify the first target artifact in the second repository, periodically and not responsive to human prompting determine the defined second relationship type for the second relationship, and periodically and not responsive to human prompting cause the second relationship between the first target artifact and the second target artifact to match the determined defined second relationship type.

22. A method to synchronize artifact relationships across a plurality of repositories respectively associated with a plurality of software development tools, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more computing devices, data that describes a first attribute field associated with a first source artifact contained in a source repository associated with a first software development tool of the plurality of software development tools, the first attribute field that describes a first relationship of a first relationship type between the first source artifact and at least a second source artifact;

obtaining, by the one or more computing devices, a schema mapping guide that describes at least one relationship mapping between the first relationship type in the source repository and a second relationship type in a target repository associated with a second software development tool of the plurality of software development tools, the second software development tool different than the first software development tool; and

updating, by the one or more computing devices based at least in part on the first attribute field and the schema mapping guide, a second attribute field associated with a first target artifact contained in the target repository to describe a second relationship of the second relationship type between the first target artifact and at least a second target artifact.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein obtaining, by the one or more computing devices, the schema mapping guide comprises obtaining, by the one or more computing devices, the schema mapping guide that describes at least one user-defined relationship mapping between the first relationship type in the source repository and the second relationship type in the target repository.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein receiving, by the one or more computing devices, data that describes a first attribute field associated with a first source artifact comprises receiving, by the one or more computing devices, an indication that a change has occurred in one or more attribute fields associated with the first source artifact and scanning, by the one or more computing devices, the one or more attribute fields to identify as unprocessed a change in the first attribute field.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

determining, by the one or more computing devices, whether the second target artifact is included in the target repository with the first target artifact, wherein when it is determined that the second target artifact is not included in the target repository with the first target artifact, updating, by the one or more computing devices based at least in part on the first attribute field and the schema mapping guide, a second attribute field associated with a first target artifact comprises generating, by the one or more computing devices, a resource locator that describes a location of the second target artifact within the source repository or a third repository and associating, by the one or more computing devices, the resource locator with the first target artifact.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

determining, by the one or more computing devices, whether the second source artifact is included in the source repository with the first source artifact, wherein when it is determined that the second source artifact is not included in the source repository with the first source artifact, updating, by the one or more computing devices based at least in part on the first attribute field and the schema mapping guide, a second attribute field associated with a first target artifact comprises associating, by the one or more computing devices, a resource locator that describes a location of the second source artifact with the first target artifact.