Anyone used DevTrack (DevSuite)?

Hi guys, work has just rolled out DevSuite across the company and I was wanting to know a little more about it.

[ul]
[li]Has anyone here used it?[/li][li]What, if any, is the API/InterOp like for this?[/li][li]What have to integrated with it?[/li][li]Any advice?[/li][/ul]

I want to get cracking on integrating it within the DCC’s and forums.

Cheers.

I’ve used DevTrack a bit. Rather, I’ve used their API and integrated it into one of our key QA tools. I have not used the tool itself as a front-facing user, so just making that clear.

Some background… We have an in-house tool that logs in-game locations and screenshots to a database. It also integrates with Hansoft (our bug tracking weapon of choice ATM), and can create bugs and populate them with sensible values/attachments. Our corporate QA department uses DevTrack instead of Hansoft, so in order for them to benefit from our location-logging tool I had to add DevTrack integration as well.

Out of the box, DevTrack doesn’t have a usable API for integrating it with other tools. To do that you need to purchase a separate license for their LinkPlus module. LinkPlus uses a SOAP-based webservice as its only interface. It’s very much like regular web programming where you’re submitting requests, sometimes waiting longer than you’d like, then getting responses back that require parsing, etc. I had to learn a fair amount about dealing with SOAP responses in Python, turning error codes into friendly messages, generally through a lot of trial-and-error. It was tedious at first, but not terribly complex.

At the end of the day I was about as ambivalent about DevTrack as an overall tool as I am about Hansoft. Same goes for their APIs. When it comes to bug tracking software, I think your favorite band sucks. They’re all good at some things, and shockingly bad, but in different ways.

I’d suggest just getting LinkPlus up and running, along with the thing that lets you test their API calls right from a webform. It’s not awesome but without that I would have thrown it straight out the window. When you get into the dirty bits let me know and I can probably help you out on the specifics.

Thanks Adam.

We were on Hansoft but without the API, getting the LinkPlus modules is the exact information I was looking for and thanks for the heads up with “how it works”. I’m looking to do the same thing with location tracking and have the option to show locations in Maya. Back at Krome we had an inhouse Asset/Task/Bug management tool and the guys provided me with a C# API, lets hope that DevTrack has all the functionality that I had back then.

Cheers!

Thanks for starting this topic…and the info you shared with us, Adam. Specifically the LinkPlus module mentioned.
My experience with DevTrack, not a pleasant one. We used JIRA at a previous company, which i embraced with open arms. My complaints about DevTrack come from my experience and comparison between the two. Hopefully these aspects can be changed or addressed through the use of the LinkPlus module, if not already native to the software package.

[ul]
[li]No MarkUp language (readability sucks)
[/li][li]Email Notifications of new or changed tasks are cluttered.
[/li](new changes/notes to the task are not clearly highlighted at the start of the email. User/recipient must sift through entire thread)
[li]Cannot easily get link to task. (make note of the issue number to search for it)
[/li][li]Cannot easily email task to another user. (no search, roster/drop-rown or auto-completion of email addresses. you have to type it out.)
[/li][li]Once task is emailed (just emailed/shared, not assigned), the link still isn’t included. (good luck making it easy to get/receive comments and input on a task in one easy to find resource for others.)
[/li][li]Subscribing to tasks are far more cumbersome and less user friendly than the Watch List functions of JIRA…and when the subscriber is notified, they have to sort through the mess mentioned above. it isn’t clear and concise.
[/li][/ul]