BugTraX is a Defect Tracking Systems, which allows individual or groups of developers to keep track of outstanding bugs in their product effectively.  For many years, developers have simply relied on shared lists and email to monitor the status of defects. This procedure is error-prone and tends to cause those bugs judged least significant by developers to be dropped or ignored.

These days, many companies are finding that integrated defect-tracking systems reduce downtime, increase productivity, and raise customer satisfaction with their systems. Along with full disclosure, an open bug-tracker allows manufacturers to keep in touch with their clients and resellers, to communicate about problems effectively throughout the data management chain. Many corporations have also discovered that defect-tracking helps reduce costs by providing IT support accountability, telephone support knowledge bases, and a common, well-understood system for accounting for unusual system or software issues.

 Life Cycle Model:

1. Dynamic state definition of a bug’s life cycle - The owner of the system can fix n number of different states of a bug’s life cycle.

2. Fixed reporting structure - The system provides a fix and generalized reporting structure for reporting the bug into the system and maintain a  dual view for each issues according to the user’s and owner’s perception.

 Cycle Management Model:

1. Assignment Circle - It provides an easy way of assignment of a task to other person, who would be an allocated resource for the same project.

2. Trail maintenance of each activity - The system records the task-assignment (as a step for fixing) circle of a bug and each activity of state change (in the life cycle) on each assignment. It provides a full report (while it has reached the end of its life cycle) and as well as a step by  step report (while it has not reached the end of its life cycle) on the same depending on the activeness of the bug.

 Knowledge base model and Knowledge sharable system - The historical database   maintains the trailing report for each issue and provides a advance level of searching mechanism to the knowledge base.

  Analysis Model - The system provides textual and graphical reports on the analysis model. This model consists of -

1. a comparative analysis between different projects in the existing system w.r.t.certain time frame
2. a project specific analysis w.r.t. a certain time frame and/or a certain client or bug reporter
3. a project specific and version specific analysis in certain time frame and/or a certain client or bug reporter
4. a project, version and component specific analysis in certain time frame and/or a certain client or bug reporter
5. Analysis on the basis of User/Client’s perception of the bug in certain time frame and/or a certain client or bug reporter
6. Analysis on the basis of owner’s perception of the bug in certain time frame and/or a certain client or bug reporter
7. Analysis on the basis of technical domain like Operating system, platform

   Navigation Model - The navigation bars are provided dynamically and depends on  the rights of the certain role under which the user belongs to. System provides the opportunity to create different roles depending upon their importance in the system and the administrator of the system can assign specific rights to those roles as required.

   Security Model - The system maintains a strict security process which restricts any unauthorised malicious actions, which are taken by an alien entity of the system or a known but unauthorised entity of the system

  Parameterization - The system maintain an .ini file to handle its system parameters.

  Mail notification - All the activities of lifecycle management model, is followed up by an automated mail notification to the corresponding person.

 File Uploading facility - The system provides facility for attaching files at the time of  reporting a bug for a detail clarification on the issue.

Technical Details

The application, BugTraX, is a 3-tiered web application which follows the notions of Windows DNA architecture.

Microsoft’s SQL server is used for data layer and acts as a centralised database for the application. The business logic layer consists of dynamic link libraries, which follow COM+ (/MTS) specifications for window’s components. The components are developed using visual Basic 6.0. Active Server Pages is used to develop the presentation layer.

The application can be hosted on Windows NT or Windows 2000 server family and requires IIS 4.0 or onwards. It is browsable through IE 4.0 and onwards and Netscape 4.0 and onwards.

Collaboration Data Object is required for supporting automated mail utility.

The installation creates a database and inserts the default entries to the database. The parameters for database connectivity and other system parameters are maintained in an initialization file. The system also maintains an application log which tracks the performance of the system. To manage automated mails, the system offers two respective parameterized files which control the header and footer part of the automated mails.

The installation of the software registers the following list of server-components for BugTraX
 

	BugTraXDBCon.dll - this handles the connectivity of the database.
	BugTraXFileHandle.dll - this handles the different file I/O operations.
	BugTraXAuthUser.dll - this controls the user authentication process, access controls and session management.
	BugTraXProfileHandle.dll - this manages the profile and role information of the system.
	BugTraXProductHandler.dll - this manages the product related information of the system.
	BugTraXBugHandler.dll - this component takes care of the bug  management model, adaptive search algorithms and assignment model of the system.
	BugTraXAnalyzer.dll - this component is used for the analysis model of the application.
	Ebcrypt.dll - this component offers generic encryption/decryption  algorithms.
	Chartdirector.dll - this component is used for chart generation and graphical representation.
	Full language based reporting system to customize and download reports
	Complete Web-based administration
	Shows the employee timesheet status (sent, not received, received)