The Mingle Dependency Tracker allows dependencies between cards and projects to be recorded and tracked.

The tool consists of three macros:

1. Project macro (dependency-tracker-project) : used to track all the dependencies within a project and to record dependencies between cards in the project and on other projects

2. Card macro (dependency-tracker-card): displays the dependencies relating to a single card and allows that cards dependencies to be recorded

3. Program macro (dependency-tracker-program): displays dependencies between projects

The three macros differ somewhat in the way they work, but all have the same general structure and behaviour.

To view the dependencies of a card, choose it in the central selector. The right-hand table shows the cards that the selected on depends on; the left-hand table shows the cards that depend on it.

Cards are colored according to whether their dependencies have been met. Cards with unmet dependencies are colored red, those with met dependencies and no dependencies at all are colored green.

Dependencies can be created using the form below the selector. This form can be used to create dependencies on other cards in the same project, or on cards in other projects. Duplicate and self-referential dependencies are disallowed.

A number of aspects of the macros can be configured. These include:

• the status that a card as to reach in order for a dependency to be considered met
• the card properties that are displayed
• the projects on which dependencies may be recorded
• the card types to be handled by the macro
• the set of cards that the macro should report on

See the section "Macro reference", below, for details.

The card macro should be placed in the description of a card. It reports on the dependencies involving that card and allows new dependencies for that card to be recorded.

The project macro should be placed on a wiki page. It reports on all dependencies within the project and on dependencies on other projects. It allows dependencies of any card in the project to be recorded.

The program macro should be placed on a wiki page. It is designed to be used in the context of program-level reporting, possibly in a dedicated program reporting project. It reports only on dependencies between projects. It is not possible to record dependencies using the program macro.

This section details the parameters that the macros take. Each should appear at most once. Examples of each one are given below.

met

MQL condition specifying when a dependency should be considered to be met. Mandatory.

met: Status = Accepted

 met: (Type = Story AND 'Story Status' >= Accepted) OR (Type = Bug AND 'Bug Status' >= Closed)

properties

A list of additional properties that will be displayed in the dependency table. Optional.

properties: [Status, 'Card Owner', Type]

 properties: Status

card-type

The card type, or types, to display in the tool. Optional. Defaults to "Story" in the project and program macros and the type of the current card in the card macro.

card-type: Story

 card-type: [Story, Task, Defect]

filter

MQL condition which restricts the cards displayed in the tool. Optional. No restriction is applied by default.

filter: Release = 'Release 3'

 filter: Component = UI AND Status != Closed

projects

Program mode only (see section "Standalone and program mode", below). The identifiers of the projects that make up the program. Optional. Includes the current project by default.

projects: [mobile_client, security, core_services]

dependency-project

Program mode only (see section "Standalone and program mode", below). The identifier of the project where dependencies are stored. Optional. Defaults to the current project.

dependency-project: program_reporting

This example macro invocation includes all the parameters:

{{

   dependency-tracker-project

     met: Status = Accepted

     properties: [Type, Status]

     card-type: [Story, Defect]

     filter: Release = 'Release 3'

     projects: [mobile_client, security, core_services]

     dependency-project: program_reporting

 }}

For more examples, see the section "Setting up the macros", below.

The Mingle Add-In for Excel 2010 extends Microsoft Excel with direct integration to Mingle. This add-in provides a convenient ribbon bar in the Excel user interface that you use to access features of the add-in. From there you can create, name, save and run MQL queries that extract data from Mingle and bring it into Excel for analysis using all the power of Excel.

• Connect to Mingle directly from Excel
• Optionally run more than one query per worksheet
• Save queries with Excel workbooks (optionally several queries per worksheet)
• Run the same queries again later (refersh)

Checkout a new addition to the Mingle ecosystem a Story Triangulation iPhone App by EEEMDW Inc.