Managing Items that are Related to Requests

When items are related to a request, you can action the items, or compare an item with another revision, workfile or item.

Actioning Items

Comparing Items

Actioning Items

To action items:

1. Right-click the request containing the related items and select Related. The request opens with the Related tab active.

2. Select the item or items that you want to action, right click, and select Action. The Action Item wizard appears.

3. On the Select lifecycle state page do one of the following:

   • If you selected a single item choose one of the following options:

   •   Next lifecycle state: Select this option to action the item to a normal next state. Only valid next states are shown.

   •   To specific state: Select this option if you want to action the item to any other state. Select a state from the list. You will need the necessary privilege to action to one of these states.

   • If you selected multiple items, from the To specific state list select a state. You will need the necessary privilege to action to one of these states.

4. Click Next.

5. (Single items only) On the Modify item attributes page, set or change the attributes for an item. The attributes that you see depend on the following:

   • The type of item.

   • The item's lifecycle state.

   The Attributes column displays the attributes that are available for the selected role. You cannot change attributes displayed in italics. Attributes displayed in bold require a value.

   Do the following:

   1. From the Role list optionally select a role to filter the attributes and only show ones that are relevant to a specific role.

   2. In the Values column type a value for each attribute, or select one from the list (if applicable).

6. Click Next.

7. On the Delegate to other users page, delegate the selected items to other users, assign other users a role on the items, or remove previously delegated users.

   Do the following:

   1. From the Role to delegate list choose a role.

   2. Choose one of the following Capability options:

      •   Primary

      •   Secondary

      •   Leader

   3. To assign a user select one in the Available users list and click Assign. The user is added to the Assigned users list.

   4. To add a user to the Assigned Users list and remove all the current users, select one in the Available users list and click Replace.

8. Click Next.

9. On the Add a comment page optionally add a comment before you action the items.

10. Click Next.

11. The Summary page displays a summary of the actions to be performed on the selected items.

12. Click Finish.

Comparing Items

To compare items:

1. Right-click the request containing the related item and select Related. The request opens with the Related tab active.

2. Right click the item that you want to action and select Compare. The Compare Items dialog appears.

3. Select one of the following options:

   • Another revision: select a different revision of the item that is related to the request. If only one revision is related to the request, this option is unavailable.

   • A workfile: select a file to compare with the item. Type the full path and filename, or click the Browse button to find a file.

   • Another item: select a different item to compare with the item. Type the item specification, or click the Browse button and select an item from the Select Object list. The item specification has the following format:

   productID:itemID. partVariant-itemType; revision

4. To enable item header substitution, select the Expand substitution variables check box.

5. Click OK. The Serena Merge Tool appears, enabling you to compare differences between the items.