This topic describes how to connect all team Parasoft Project Center server. Project Center correlates data sent from C++test to other quality and compliance data, providing visibility and control into the software development process and the products it is delivering.

Sections include:

Prerequisites

If your team is using Parasoft Project Center, at least one installation of C++test —your designated server machine that runs nightly tests—should be connected (with reporting enabled).

Working with Project Center requires that C++test is connected to DTP, see Connecting to DTP.

Connecting to Parasoft Project Center

To connect a machine to Parasoft Project Center:

Choose Parasoft> Preferences to open the Preferences dialog.
Select the Parasoft> DTP> Project Center category in the left pane.
If the appropriate Project Center is not already set (from the auto-configuration process described in C++test Configuration Overview), enter your Project Center’s host (either a name or an IP address) in the Host name field, then enter its port in the Port number field.
(Optional) If you want results from this machine sent to Project Center, check the Enable test result reporting option.
- Most teams connect only their C++test server installation to Parasoft Project Center because they do not want their Parasoft 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.
(Optional) If you want Project Center to log results from this installation as the results from the nightly tests, check the Log results as nightly test run option.
- 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 DTP project.
(Optional) If you want this machine to send only a brief summary report sent to Project Center, check the Send summary only option.
- If you enable this option, only results summaries from static analysis and test execution (not individual violations) will be sent to Project Center.
(Optional) Specify user-defined attributes as described in Configuring Parasoft Project Center Attributes below. Such attributes will be sent to DTP along with test results; they can be used to identify and filter results in DTP.
Click Apply.
Click OK to set and save your settings.

Configuring Parasoft Project Center 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 the project (for instance, "Parabank 2.0") in the Project area in Preferences> DTP, 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 Test Group attributes.

In earlier versions of C++test, the Project field did not exist. User attributes were used to match results to projects. This is no longer needed.

With the current versions, user attributes should be used only as auxiliary means to express "Nightly" or "Beta." Do not use them to express the exact DTP project version; this should be set by choosing the appropriate "General Project."

Using the old style user attributes rather than choosing the appropriate General Project may prevent results from being properly assigned to the DTP project.

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:

Do one of the following:
- If you want to set attributes that will be applied to all tests run by this installation, choose Parasoft> Preferences to open the Preferences dialog, then select the Parasoft> DTP> Project Center category in the left pane.
- If you want to set attributes that will be applied only to tests of a specific project or file, right-click the item(s) that you want to set Parasoft Project Center attributes for, then choose Properties from the shortcut menu, then choose Parasoft> Project Center Attributes in the left pane.
Use the available controls in the Attributes section to add or import Parasoft Project Center attribute settings. 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 C++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.