Designating blocking defects

Use the Manage Blocking Defects window to associate defects with a test case execution record and mark it as blocked.

About this task

While viewing a test case execution record, you can submit a new defect and designate it as blocking, or you can designate an existing defect as blocking. If your team configures the Change and Configuration Management (CCM) application as your defect provider, you can file these defects and track their status in the CCM application.

Note: The steps in this topic explain how to mark an existing test execution record as blocked by associating it with new or existing defects. You can also mark a test case execution record as blocked by setting the Automatically block the Test Case Execution Record when associated with defects user preference and associating defects during test execution. For more information see, Submitting defects during test execution.

Procedure

In the main menu, click Execution > Browse > Test Case Execution Records. Blocking defects are flagged with an icon in the Blocking Status column or in the Blocking Defects panel on the one side of the Browse Test Case Execution Records view.
Select the test case execution record from the list.
Click the Manage Blocking Defects icon () to open the Manage Blocking Defects window.

From here, you can either create a defect or link to an existing defect.
To create a blocking defect:
1. Click the Create New Defect () icon to open the new defect form.
2. Complete the defect form. To designate the defect as blocking, select Blocker in the Severity field.
3. When you finish the form, click OK.
  The Manage Blocking Defects window is displayed again, now showing the new defect that you submitted.
  
  Tip: Clicking the defect ID reopens the defect form.
4. To close the Manage Blocking Defects window and return to the Browse Test Case Execution Records window, click OK.
5. Select the test case execution record that contains the defect that you just added.
  Note: If you are in a configuration-enabled project area, you need to be in the context of a global configuration to associate a defect with a Test Case Execution Record.
6. In the Defect Status column of that test case execution record, hover over the defect that you created.
  
  The hover text states: This test execution record is blocked. You can see defects in the related info section. The defect is now listed in the Blocking Defects panel on the one side of the Browse Test Case Execution Records view.
7. Hover over the new defect in the Blocking Defects section to see the status of the defect, which is now reported as New.
8. When the developer fixes the defect and updates the defect status, the changes are reflected in this panel.
To link to an existing defect:
1. Click the Link to Existing Defect () icon to open the Add Existing Defect window.
2. Complete the form to search for a related defect.
3. Select the defect, and click OK.
  The Manage Blocking Defects window opens, showing the defect that you just added.
4. Click OK to close the Manage Blocking Defects window and return to the Browse Test Case Execution Records window.
To change the status of the blocking defect:
1. In the Manage Blocking Defects window, select the defect.
2. Click the Change blocking status icon ().
3. Click OK.
The defect does not block the execution of the test case execution record but still affects it. The Blocks Test Execution link is removed from the Links section of the defect.
To remove a blocking defect:
1. In the Manage Blocking Defects window, select the defect.
2. Click the Remove icon ().
3. Click OK.
The defect is completed removed and does not affect the test case execution record.
If your team configures the Engineering Workflow Management application as the defect provider, you can verify in CCM application whether the defect is still listed as blocking.
1. In the CCM application, click Work Items.
2. Under Shared Queries, expand Engineering Test Management, and select the Defects blocking tests query.