Release management systems and methods

• US 9,495,132 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2009
• Issued: 11/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: O'Mahony, James, Raman, Suneesh, Garg, Archit, Tagalog, Sylvio, Subramanian, Jagannath
• Primary Examiner(s): Kang, Insun
• Assistant Examiner(s): CURBELO III, SERGIO JOSE
• Application Number:
  US12/349,435
• Publication Number:
  US 20100017784A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,870 Days
• Field of Search: 703 1- 22, 707790-812, 715200-277, 715733-759, 717101-104, 719315-316
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design

Abstract

Progress of a development cycle, such as for the development of a release of a software product, is tracked and managed using a release management system. Such a system allows groups and managers to retain any project planning or status files, in any appropriate structure. A manager can simply upload the file to the system as information is updated, and the system will apply appropriate templates and store the information in such a way that reporting and tracking can be done for any aspect of the development process at any level. For example, a single system can provide a high-level executive overview down to a detail level view of a particular group, using substantially current data for all aspects the process.

Claims

1. A method for tracking information relating to a development process, comprising:

receiving a first development file from a first source of a plurality of sources, each source of the plurality of sources assigned as responsible for an aspect of the development process, the first development file comprising project planning or project status information for the aspect of the development process for which the first source is responsible and indicating dependencies upon project planning or project status information from a second source of the plurality of sources, the dependencies indicating performance of a second set of one or more tasks being contingent on one or more extents of completion of a first set of one or more tasks;

applying a template to data in the received first development file, wherein applying the template adapts the data in the first development file to a common structure, wherein the common structure supports reporting and tracking of all aspects of the development process across the plurality of sources;

validating the data to identify first validated data after applying the template and notifying the first source when at least some of the data is determined to be invalid;

storing the first validated data for the received first development file to create first stored validated data using the common structure and based on applying the template;

storing the dependencies between the first development file and project planning or project status information from the second source as mappings to create stored mappings in a table, the stored mappings comprising the dependencies indicating one or more start times associated with the performance of the second set of one or more tasks being contingent on times associated with the one or more extents of completion of the first set of one or more tasks;

updating upload history information related to the received first development file in response to storing the first stored validated data;

receiving a second development file from a second source of the plurality of sources, the second development file comprising project planning or project status information for the aspect of the development process the second source for which is responsible, and wherein the first development file and the second development file have data structures unique to the respective source;

applying the template to data in the received second development file, wherein applying the template adapts the data in the second development file to the common structure;

validating the data to identity second validated data after applying the template and notifying the second source when at least some of the data is determined to be invalid;

storing the second validated data for the received second development file to create second stored validated data using the common structure and based on applying the template;

updating upload history information related to the received second development file in response to storing the second stored validated data; and

updating the first stored validated data for the received first development file to create first updated data based on the second stored validated data for the received second development file and the stored mappings in the table.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the development process relates to development of a version of a software product.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

each development file is uploaded by a user or application.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

a determination of whether the data is valid is based at least partially upon rules determined for the development process.

5. The method according to claim 1, further including:

providing a user with an ability to highlight an issue relating to the development process; and

allowing a user to run a report for the issue using the stored validated data.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

allowing a user to submit a change request for an aspect of the development process through a divisional master schedule; and

running a report for the change request.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

providing a user with an ability to view an upload and download history for the development process.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request to generate a report of a status of the project; and

in response to the request, generating the report based on the first updated data for the first development file and the second stored validate data for the second development file, the report including an overview of a status providing an aggregated view of the entire development process across the plurality of sources down to a detailed view of a status for each source and an upload history report based on the upload history information for the first development file and the second development file.

9. A system for tracking information relating to a development process, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory device including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive a first development file from a first source of a plurality of sources, each source of the plurality of sources assigned as responsible for an aspect of the development process, the first development file comprising project planning or project status information for the aspect of the development process for which the first source is responsible and indicating dependencies upon project planning or project status information from a second source of the plurality of sources, the dependencies indicating performance of a second set of one or more tasks being contingent on one or more extents of completion of a first set of one or more tasks;

apply a template to data in the received first development file, wherein applying the template adapts the data in the first development file to a common structure, wherein the common structure supports reporting and tracking of all aspects of the development process across the plurality of sources;

validate the data to identify first validated data after applying the template and notifying the first source when at least some of the data is determined to be invalid;

store the first validated data for the received first development file to create first stored validated data using the common structure and based on applying the template;

store the dependencies between the first development file and project planning or project status information from the second source as mappings to create stored mappings in a table, the stored mappings comprising the dependencies indicating one or more start times associated with the performance of the second set of one or more tasks being contingent on times associated with the one or more extents of completion of the first set of one or more tasks;

update upload history information related to the received first development file in response to storing the first stored validated data;

receive a second development file from a second source of the plurality of sources, the second development file comprising project planning or project status information for the aspect of the development process for which the second source is responsible, and wherein the first development file and the second development file have data structures unique to the respective source;

apply the template to data in the received second development file, wherein applying the template adapts the data in the second development file to the common structure;

validate the data to identity second validated data after applying the template and notifying the second source when at least some of the data is determined to be invalid;

store the second validated data to create second stored validated data for the received second development file using the common structure and based on applying the template;

update upload history information related to the received second development file in response to storing the second stored validated data; and

update the first stored validated data for the received first development file to create first updated data based on the second validated data for the received second development file and the stored mappings in the table.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein:

the development process relates to development of a version of a software product.

11. The system according to claim 9, wherein:

a determination of whether the data is valid is based at least partially upon rules determined for the development process.

12. The system according to claim 9, wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

provide a user with an ability to highlight an issue relating to the development process; and

allow the user to run a report for the issue using the stored validated data.

13. A non-transitory computer readable having stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to track information relating to a development process by:

receiving a first development file from a first source of a plurality of sources, each source of the plurality of sources assigned as responsible for an aspect of the development process, the first development file comprising project planning or project status information for the aspect of the development process for which the first source is responsible and indicating dependencies upon project planning or project status information from a second source of the plurality of sources, the dependencies indicating performance of a second set of one or more tasks being contingent on one or more extents of completion of a first set of one or more tasks;

applying a template to data in the received first development file, wherein applying the template adapts the data in the first development file to a common structure, wherein the common structure supports reporting and tracking of all aspects of the development process across the plurality of sources;

validating the data to identify first validated data after applying the template and notifying the first source when at least some of the data is determined to be invalid;

storing the first validated data for the received first development file to create first stored validated data using the common structure and based on applying the template;

storing the dependencies between the first development file and project planning or project status information from the second source as mappings to create stored mappings in a table, the stored mappings comprising the dependencies indicating one or more start times associated with the performance of the second set of one or more tasks being contingent on times associated with the one or more extents of completion of the first set of one or more tasks;

updating upload history information related to the received first development file in response to storing the first stored validated data;

receiving a second development file from a second source of the plurality of sources, the second development file comprising project planning or project status information for the aspect of the development process for which the second source is responsible, and wherein the first development file and the second development file have data structures unique to the respective source;

applying the template to data in the received second development file, wherein applying the template adapts the data in the second development file to the common structure;

validating the data to identity second validated data after applying the template and notifying the second source when at least some of the data is determined to be invalid;

storing the second validated data to create second stored validated data for the received second development file using the common structure and based on applying the template;

updating upload history information related to the received second development file in response to storing the second stored validated data; and

updating the first stored validated data for the received first development file to create first updated data based on the second validated data for the received second development file and the stored mappings in the table.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 13, wherein:

a determination of whether the data is valid is based at least partially upon rules determined for the development process.