Atlassian Release JIRA version 4.4

Atlassian announced the release of version 4.4 of Jira on August the 2nd 2011.

This is the biggest release of JIRA in some time and satisfies over 1400 user votes on enhancements.

For the admin, life just got a whole lot better. Atlassian purchased the Sysbliss plugins early this year which included the visual Workflow Designer and we now see the benefits of this as it is fully integrated in Jira 4.4. Easily create workflows visually, make use of global transitions and users can view an individual issues workflow.

Admins also get a completely re-designed Administration area, which is now Project-centric. At glance you can see all the relevant aspects for the administration of your project. The re-designed user interface enable in-line editing of the key project aspects, making management a lot clearer and easier.

Users aren’t excluded, with powerful new JQL features their queries can time travel, using dynamic dates and the ability to report on who did an action and when opens new possibilities to reporting.

Improved email templates, optimised for mobile and threaded email clients such as gmail, make it simpler to manage your communications and see issue detail, no matter where you are.

One of the most voted for enhancements is the User timezone features. Now you can set your own timezone and see at a glance the time of day for other users, so no more guessing if you will get a prompt response or wondering if they are even awake.

See the release note for full details:

As an Atlassian Premier Partner Clearvision can assist you with your upgrade, using our experience and knowledge of not only Atlassians tools but other Software Change and Configuration management tools, we can assess how the upgrade will impact your environment and suggest how better to leverage new features to improve productivity and quality.

Clearvision already offer a number of key Atlassian services and products through the Atlassian Loyalty Scheme, see the following link for more detail:

In addition to Atlassian consulting services which are designed to help you get the most from Atlassian products including JIRA and Confluence, Clearvision also offer a range of Atlassian training courses covering topics which appeal to new users and Atlassian experts alike.

Clearvision is an official Atlassian premier partner providing Atlassian support to customers throughout the world. For more information on how Clearvision can help you get the most from Atlassian JIRA, Atlassian Confluence and other Atlassian Development tools such as FishEye, Clover, Crowd, GreenHopper, Crucible and even Atlassian BitBucket please contact us.

CM-Bridge, A Perfect Fit

Clearvision, a leading provider of Subversion, Git, Mercurial, Blackduck, Atlassian software, services and solutions for the enterprise announced the launch of CM-Bridge back in 2009.

CM-Bridge fully integrates and shares data between open source version control products and commercial version control solutions including IBM Rational ClearCase, Subversion, Git and Mercurial. Since the initial announcement CM-Bridge has dramatically grown in popularity for a number of reasons;

• CM-Bridge has expanded the number of CM tools it connects with, presently IBM Rational ClearCase, Subversion, Git, Mercurial and more to be announced in 2011.
• The CM market is going through a significant transition from commercial tools such as ClearCase to open source tools such as Subversion, Git and Mercurial, the need for a reliable and effective bridging/migration tool has become essential. Replicating your code between tools rather than managing a 'big bang' migration makes any move easier and significantly lowers risk. Read the paper,"Clearvision Whitepaper: Big Bang or Gradual Migration" regarding migration approaches.
• The cost makes the product a simple decision for all prospects. Atlassian broke the mold on software license costs and Clearvision is not ashamed to adopt a similar model, our aim is high quality, low cost solutions.
• It's also a multi-site solution... until CM-Bridge was launched the only options for Subversion to Subversion replication were SVN proxi-write through or Wandisco. CM-Bridge offers significant benefits over the alternatives by fulfilling the three needs of a customer: it's cost effective, low administration requirement it replicates data effectively, efficiently and reliably.
• The CM-Bridge coupled with Migrate2SVN, Migrate2Git and Affinity Change Integration offer those companies looking to manage software development in a mixed tool environment the perfect, low cost mechanism to migrate or integrate.

Contact Clearvision for more information.

The Rise of Git: Google Code Now Supports Git Repositories

On the 15th July 2011 Google Code announced (http://www.infoq.com/news/2011/07/google-git) its support for Git repositories.

Historically, Google Code offered support only for Subversion and Mercurial repositories and, ironically considering its use of Git for the Android Project, has appeared to be resistant to adopting for google.code. However it is suspected that the decision to “flip the switch” and support Git could be closely linked to the astronomical rise of github in recent years and the vast number of projects using github storage with Google Code issue trackers.

Although the specifics regarding the implementation back-end is unknown, the front-end effect is clear; with an existing Google Code project, you can now create a Git repository.

One Industry reviewer predicts this as the demise of Subversion support: It's unlikely that support for either Mercurial or Git will be dropped from Google Code in the future, but the days of SVN are likely to be numbered. The only major player whose future is bet on Hg is Bitbucket , who were acquired by Atlassian less than a year ago. The only significant player still using Mercurial is the OpenJDK forest at hg.java.net which is the development ecosystem that Sun initially set up.

Clearvision agree with the reviewer, that Google Code’s availability of Git repositories brings to light the overwhelming influence that Git is having on the industry and is likely to play a big part in a decision to use Git as the de-facto repository of choice for new and existing open-source projects.

Clearvision are market leaders in providing Git tools, Git support and Git training. Our AgileSCM tool provides an Application Lifecycle Management solution for Git, Subversion and Mercurial.

To understand how we can provide the solution to all your Git needs, please visit www.thegitgroup.com or contact one of our experienced sales team members to further discuss your requirements.

Migrating from ClearQuest to JIRA - Best Practises

Many people have recognised that IBM Rational ClearQuest has had its day in the sun and is no longer the automatic choice for enterprises and as such, many are moving to the newer generation of web based issue trackers such as Atlassians JIRA. This new breed of issue trackers offer performance, usability and features that are way in advance of Clearquest at a fraction of the cost. This paper is not designed to compare or critique the two tools, but rather addresses the common problems encountered when you have made the decision to move but don't know how to achieve it.

Download Now: Migrating from ClearQuest to Jira - Best Practises

New Release: CM-Bridge v4.1

CM-Bridge provides the means to connect and replicate data between Subversion, Git, Mercurial and ClearCase.

What's New in CM-Bridge v4.1?

Enhanced User Experience:

• Renames in Subversion are now treated as renames within ClearCase.
• A Number of Bug Fixes Including:
• CM-Bridge server can now be started without the CM-Bridge Webadmin Server being started beforehand.
• The .clearvision_cc2x folder is no longer transferred into ClearCase.
• Improved instructions and more detail regarding the upgrade of existing CM-Bridge installations.

To download the latest version now, or for more information click here.