Workflow for Processing a Defect Action through its Lifecycle

A defect action is created in the Evaluate state. During its lifecycle it can be promoted and demoted as appropriate, until it reaches either the Closed or Rejected state.

The stages in this procedure are as follows:

Before you begin: A parent defect must exist.

Evaluate the Defect Action

This workflow shows you how to evaluate a defect action.

  1. When a defect is promoted to the Open state, a single defect action is created in the Evaluate state. Additional defect actions can be created from the defect actions page for the defect. See Creating a Defect Action.

    Note: The actions in this section can be taken when the defect action is in any state.

  2. The Defect Manager evaluates the defect action in relation to other defect actions. If this defect action:
    • Cannot be fixed until another defect action is resolved, uses Actions > Mark as Dependent Of on the Dependents page for the defect action.
    • If other defects cannot be fixed until this defect is resolved, uses Actions > Add Existing Dependent on the Dependents page for the defect action.
    • If the work defined by the defect action affects other objects other than the model version against which it was reported, uses Actions > Add Affected Item on the Affected Items page for the defect action.
  3. The Defect Manager determines if the work defined by the defect action should be included in a current model version revision, or committed for fixing in a future model release and updates the defect using one of these methods:
    • If a current model version, uses Actions > Commit for Model Version and selects the model version where the fix will be implemented.
    • If a future model version, uses Actions > Mark as Candidate and selects the model.
    See Defect Action Properties for details on these actions.
  4. The Defect Manager assigns the defect action to an action assignee and a quality assignee. The action assignee can be a software developer, hardware developer, UI designer, technical writer, or any other job function required. The person, however, must be assigned the Defect Engineer role. See Assigning a Defect Action.
  5. (Optional) If the defect action is a software change, creates an implementation review to manage the files being created or updated. See Initiating an Implementation Review.
    The implementation review must be complete before the defect action can be promoted to Closed.
  6. The Defect Manager promotes the defect action to the Open state.

The defect action is in the Open state; any implementation reviews are in the Initiated state; the defect remains in the Open state.

Open the Defect Action

This workflow shows you how to open a defect action.

  1. The Action Assignee works on the defect action.
  2. If more information is required, the Action Assignee demotes the defect action to the Evaluate state. See Demoting a Defect Action.
  3. To define the build that includes the work defined by the defect action, the Action Assignee uses Actions > Mark as Available in Build, selects the build of the model version where the fix will be implemented. See Defect Action Properties.
  4. When the development work is complete, the Action Assignee checks in any reference documents to support the fix, and promotes the defect action to the Test state. See Testing a Defect Action.

The defect action is in the Test state; the defect remains in the Open state.

Test the Defect Action

This workflow shows you how to test a defect action.

  1. The Quality Assignee tests the work done to resolve the defect action. If the work done did not resolve the problem, or created another problem, demotes the defect action to the Open state. See Demoting a Defect Action.
  2. If an implementation review was created, the Quality Assignee (or another person with access) promotes it to Complete. See Editing an Implementation Review. The defect action cannot be promoted to Closed until the implementation review is promoted to Complete.
  3. When all problems are resolved and the fix is verified, the Quality Assignee promotes the defect action to the Closed state. See Closing a Defect Action.

If all defect actions for this defect are in the Closed states, Defect Management automatically promotes the defect to the Closed state. If the defect actions are in a combination of Closed and Rejected states, promotes the defect to the Closed state. If the defect actions are all in the Rejected state, promotes the defect to the Rejected state.

Close the Defect Action

No actions are taken in this state unless the Defect Manager or design team determines that the defect action needs to be reopened. If so, a member of those teams demotes the defect action to the Evaluate, Open, or Test state as needed.

See Demoting a Defect Action.

Reject the Defect Action

No actions are taken in this state unless the Defect Manager or design team determines that the defect action should be worked on. If so, a member of those teams demotes the defect action to the Evaluate, Open, or Test state as needed.

See Demoting a Defect Action.