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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I customize my Home Page?

As of version 2.0 users are no longer allowed to modify their "Home" page. Ability to do so interfered with the purpose of this page and was disabled until a better solution can be found. There were situations when user could define a layout incompatible with the query that is used to select data and end up missing some important columns or records. Another issue with "Home" page was that some users tend to display either too few columns or as many columns as possible including long text descriptions and bug details (so they wouldn't have to click elsewhere to read it). Also, the new "Navigator" menu takes over some of the removed functionality in terms of filtering and grouping records displayed on the Home page.

Although there is no interface to add new layout, "Home" page and "Query Results" are still based on layouts defined in the database. And if necessary, a relatively experienced administrator can manually add new or modify existing record in "SavedReports" table.

Can we change the default format of the pages/printouts?

To some extent. The columns displayed on Query results and Home page are defined in one of the tables. Currently, there is no web interface that allows such modifications. However, Administrator can use tools provided with SQL Server to modify this table directly and test the results prior to release. Regular users are not and will not be allowed in the future to customize their Home pages and default report layouts. See release notes for more information.

Can I set up GenieTracker so that I don't have to log in each time to use the system?

Yes, if Administrator allows this feature. Click on the Tools button on the Toolbar and then select the "Auto Login" option. The next time you enter the GenieTracker URL in your browser, GenieTracker will automatically log you in and take you to the Home Page.

Can I password protect the Admin pages?

You can password protect access to the Administration interface using IIS security, but it is not necessary. Administration scripts will not work for users that do not have sufficient permissions. Please refer to the Software Installation and System Configuration and Security chapters for detail instructions on how to setup your web server security.

Can employees access GenieTracker over the Internet?

Yes. GenieTracker is a standard web application and any client can access the system as long as a TCP/IP connection can be established to the web server. If you expose GenieTracker to the Internet, we recommend to apply a maximum level of security to your WWW, FTP, and SQL servers. Do expect to get 3-10 hacker and virus attacks each day! However, there is a better solution you may consider implementing. On Windows 2000 (and above) you can setup a Dial-in and VPN access (PPP over IP) with encryption and compression and have your employees connect to your internal network this way. Once connected your server should by accessible as usual.

Can my customers report bugs over the Internet?

Yes. GenieTracker includes a web interface that allows your customers to enter bug reports and monitor their status.

How is a "user" defined as far as licensing is concerned?

Each registered user in GenieTracker is counted as a licensed seat, with the exception of the following system defined users which do not count: Admin, Nobody, Inet, Guest, and all Internet user' accounts (customers).

If you have occasional users you may wish to create a user account that is shared by several users. Multiple email addresses must be separated with a "," comma character or you can setup a distribution list in your mail system.

How many users can GenieTracker support?

This depends on the licensing method you are using.

With Actual licensing method there is no coded limit to the number of users that GenieTracker can support (you can enter as many users as you need), there is a practical limit enforced by the performance of the server machine and the network.

With Fixed (named seats) method you can use up to 255 individual user accounts plus Admin, Nobody, Inet, Guest, and unlimited number of Internet user' accounts. If you have more users you should request a floating license (concurrent). In fact, to save some $$, you should consider concurrent license after you reach 50 users.

Floating license can handle up to 255 concurrent connections and the number of user accounts in your system is unlimited.

Using the recommended hardware requirements, it is estimated that GenieTracker can handle approximately 100 simultaneous sessions with acceptable performance. In practice the number of users that GenieTracker can support depends on how often each individual uses it and the type of activity performed. In general, bug tracker is not an application that is used around the clock, so under normal circumstances GenieTracker can easily support an organization consisting of thousands of individuals.

Does GenieTracker have automatic email notification capability?

Yes, GenieTracker includes fully integrated automated email notification. Email notification is triggered whenever bugs are added, modified, or there is a change in assignment or Status. You can also specify whether email should also be sent to a manager that oversees the current State or Product. Email behavior can be set up differently for each action taken, Status, Product, and can also be fine-tuned on per user basis. All parameters are fully configurable.

The body of the notification messages is based on a template (a text file) and can be altered to some degree if necessary.

Email notification mechanism uses SMTP service that comes with Windows 2000 or later to send standard SMTP message. Once notification is generated, it is sent to your primary mail server where it will be either delivered to internal mailbox or forwarded elsewhere. The only integration required is to make sure messages are not being rejected due to relay and anti-spam restrictions your existing mail system may have in place. For example, a dummy mailbox such as BUGTRACKER@company.com may be necessary if your mail server does not allow delivery from non-domain users.

How do I undelete a record?

If you know the bug number of the record, you can just press the Edit button in the Toolbar and enter this number. Then change the "Deleted" field at the bottom of the form to the value "No". If you do not know the bug number, you can use Query form to query the database for deleted records and then edit desired record. By default, field "Deleted" on the Query form is set to "No", make sure to select "Yes" value.

How can I improve and maintain a good performance?

First, you should poke-around to determine the source of the problem. It may not necessarily be the server. For example, a workstation may be bugged with adware and spyware.

Here are some tips:

• Keep your server clean.
• DO NOT use your server as a personal workstation.
• Remove all software that is not being used and you know exactly what it is for.
• NEVER install peer-to-peer file sharing software (Kazzaa, Morpheous, etc.) on your server. Doing so is asking for trouble.
• DO NOT install "FREE" and "TRAIL" software unless you have previously evaluated it on a separate computer and found that it works Ok and you were able to completely uninstall it.
• Create a database maintenance plan (SQL server) to optimize and shrink your database(s) at least once a week.
• Periodically clean-up temporary directories and defragment disks. Try not to use Diskeeper as a system service - too much I/O. It is better to run it manually when system is idle.
• Periodically check Windows Update site for the latest service packs, patches and drivers.

• Run Windows Task Manager on both client and server. Watch CPU and memory utilization while login-in to the GenieTracker and performing various tasks.
• Identify which computer is overloaded.
• Identify processes that run on this computer, CPU and memory they use.
• Identify system services that can be shut down and disabled.
• See how much physical memory is available.

• Run a simple network test.
• From server open command line interface and "ping <workstation_IP_address>".
  
  Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=44
  Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=44
  Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=32 time=30ms TTL=44
  Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=32 time=30ms TTL=44
  
  Do the same from workstation and ping server. See what is the average "time". Values between 10 and 30 are perfect, over 100 indicate a slow network response (for LANs). Furthermore, you can run "tracert <IP_address>" to see how many network devices a network packet has to travel through and time spent in route. Larger values indicate a slower response.

Are there Unix and Linux versions of GenieTracker available?

No, there are no Unix and Linux versions of GenieTracker. The system can be accessed from a Unix or Linux workstations with a compatible web browser, but the server components are designed to work with IIS, SMTP and MS SQL Server and takes many advantages of these services. Redesigning the system does not seem to be practical at this time. The same applies to cross-database support. Original design was to support multiple databases, but eventually this idea was dropped for many reasons including performance, stability, support, price, and the market share.

Is it possible to download/transfer data from other bug tracking systems?

Our system does not have an automated tool to import records from other databases simply because every case is unique, however everything can be done on database level with some human touch. There are a couple ways; SQL query, export to a text file, or a bit more advanced script if some conversion is necessary. We can provide instructions OR do this for you. The second option is more preferable. If anything brakes in our system we have the means to deal with it right away. The entire process should not take more than 1-2 days.

How variable is your search options?

Search is possible on all bug records and bug history, by any field, partial string/text, any status, user, group, etc., by range and with multiple choices where appropriate.

How long do your searches take for about 3,000 bugs?

There are four thing involved.

1) The actual search performed by SQL Server. This happens almost instantly regardless of the complexity of the search criteria.
2) Generation of the HTML code. Depends on the number of rows found. For all 3000 records should be about 2 seconds.
3) At the same time HTML output is delivered to the user. ~ 3MB, On 100 Mbit LAN about 2 sec.
4) Rendering by the browser. Depends how fast is user workstation. With 1GHz CPU should be about 2-3 seconds for all 3000 results.

In common office environment the entire process should take only a few seconds. The best performance is achieved when SQL and IIS web server are installed on the same server.

Are there any times in a bugs lifecycle where the user can not change the status of a bug?

No. There are no restrictions on changing Status, only a warning is displayed if user goes against Workflow rules. Exception would be only "New" status handled by system automatically.

Is it possible to reassign a bug to another person at any time?

Yes, with some minor restrictions where such action is absolutely inappropriate. For example, an internal user (employee) cannot assign bug to external user (customer). Also, reporting a new bug "on behalf" of another user is not allowed.

Can you create reports based on the person who is assigned the bug and its current status?

Yes. Our Query mechanism serves two purposes. Users can specify virtually any criteria, preview the results and print it when necessary. Additional advanced and special-purpose reports can be added either as a raw SQL statement (use tools provided with SQL Server) or as a stand-alone .asp script.

Is there an administrator function that will only allow the administrator to decide who sees what bugs?

There are "Group Level" permissions for each record. By removing default group "Everyone" and adding another group a bug record can be made inaccessible to members of other groups. However, this option needs to be used with some caution. You would not want assign a bug to a user and then deny access to a group he is a member of. Also, Administrator can deny ability to edit Record Security on per group basis.

Can the system be programmed to backup the entire database every night?

Yes. Use "Database Maintenance" feature of the SQL Server. Complete instructions are available here.

Can any user print out a single bug?

Yes. There is a "Print" button on the "View" page.

Can we print out a series of bugs at once based on module, assigned to, status, etc...?

Yes. Our Query mechanism serves two purposes. Users can specify virtually any criteria, preview the results and print it when necessary. Additional report layouts could be added after you/we define and configure the data record format during initial setup (i.e. the fields used). Frequently used queries can be saved and shared with other users.

Can we download an evaluation copy of your product?

Evaluation copy is available upon request. Due to certain amount of work required to setup and configure all of the components (IIS, SQL, SMTP, etc.) consider using our online demo for your evaluation. This is a fully functional version. Admin login and password available upon request.