Project Center is a DTP model that enables centralized task management. In order to connect to Project Center, you must configure a connection to DTP (see Connecting to DTP) and enable reporting. Your designated SOAtest server machine that runs nightly tests should also be connected with reporting enabled. 

  1. Choose Parasoft> Preferences to open the Preferences dialog.
  2. Select the Parasoft> DTP> Project Center category in the left pane.
  3. If Project Center is configured on DTP, you can enable the Use DTP settings option after configuring your connection to DTP to automatically configure the Project Center server and port number. You can disable the Use DTP settings option and manually configure the Project Center port number, but you cannot change the hostname. 
  4. Click Test Connection to verify the connection.
  5. (Optional) Enable the Enable test result reporting option if you want to send test results from this machine sent to Project Center.

    When to send test results to Project Center

    Most teams only connect their server-installed instance of SOAtest to Project Center. This is because they do not want Project Center reports and statistics to contain data from tests performed on developer desktops. However, Professional and/or Architect installations can also be configured to send data to Parasoft Project Center.

  6. (Optional) Enable the Log results as nightly test run option if you want Project Center to log results from this installation as the results from the nightly tests. If you enable this option, the test group sent to Project Center will have an additional key-value attribute pair: NIGHTLY=true .This attribute is not visible in Project Center reports, but it can be used in Test Group Properties Filter when defining a project in DTP.
  7. (Optional) Enable the Send summary only option if you want this machine to send only a brief summary report sent to Project Center. If you enable this option, only results summaries from static analysis and test execution (not individual violations) will be sent to Project Center.
  8. (Optional) Specify user-defined attributes as described in Configuring Report Attributes below. Such attributes will be sent to DTP along with test results. The data can be used to identify and filter results in DTP.
  9. Click Apply and click OK to save your settings.

About Project Attributes

When you enter a new project name, Project Center will automatically create a new project and add a Test Group Properties Filter called User-Attribute: Project. For example, if you type in the project name Parabank 2.0, the project will be created when the first test results are received and the User-Attribute: Project = Parabank 2.0 key-value pair will be added in this project definition Test Group Properties Filter.

When you click Find to locate an existing project, we recommend that you ensure that the User- Attribute: Project attribute is correctly set in the DTP administration Test Group Properties Filter. For example, for a project named "Parabank 2.0", you should see a User-Attribute: Project = Parabank 2.0 key-value pair in this project definition Test Group Properties Filter. These key-value pairs are automatically added for newly-created projects. 

Configuring Report Attributes

Project Center attributes help you mark results in ways that are meaningful to your organization. Test group results sent to DTP will contain:

  • Default attributes (for example, EXECUTION MODE=COMMAND-LINE is sent when tests run in command line mode; EXECUTION MODE=GUI is sent when tests are run in GUI mode; NIGHTLY=true is sent when the Log results as nightly test runs option is enabled).
  • Any custom attributes you set in the Parasoft preferences panel (DTP> Project Center page, Report attributes area).

Both types of attributes can be used when defining a project in DTP (you can access them in the Test Group Attributes Filter area).

For example, when you select "Project" (for instance, "Parabank 2.0"), the attribute pair "User-Attributes: Project" = "Parabank 2.0" is sent to DTP by default. You could also configure it to send additional attributes. For example, assume you define "milestone" = "beta" In that case, "User-Attributes: milestone" = "beta" is sent to DTP in the Test Group attributes.

Custom Project Center attributes can be specified in two ways:

  • Through the GUI.
  • Through localsettings.

To set general attributes (attributes that apply to all tests) through the GUI:

  1. Choose Parasoft> Preferences to open the Preferences dialog. 
  2. Select the Parasoft> DTP> Project Center category in the left pane.
  3. Click Add in the Report attributes section and specify key value pairs to send to Project Center. Each attribute contains two components: a general attribute category name and a specific identification value.
    • Example 1: If your group wants to label results by project names that are more specific than those used in the Parasoft Test project, you might use the attribute name PROJECT_NAME and the attribute value projname1. For the next project, you could specify an attribute with the attribute name PROJECT_NAME and the attribute value projname2.
    • Example 2: If your organization wants to label results by division, you might use the attribute name DIVISION and the attribute value division1 for all tests performed by your division. Another division could specify an attribute with the attribute name DIVISION and the attribute value division2.
    • Example 3: If your group wants to label results by project versions, you might use the attribute name VERSION and the attribute value 1.1. For the next project, you could specify an attribute with the attribute name VERSION and the attribute value 1.2.


For details on setting attributes through localsettings, see Configuring Localsettings.

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