Tasktop Pro 1.6 Supports Task Management for C/C++ Projects and Automated Time Tracking

Posted by Srini Penchikala on Nov 06, 2009

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The latest version of Tasktop Pro, Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) integration suite for the Eclipse IDE, supports cross-repository linking, task management focus for C/C++ projects and agile ALM tool integration. Tasktop Technologies, creators of Eclipse Mylyn and Tasktop, announced last week the release of Tasktop Pro 1.6 version. The new release also supports automated time-tracking feature to complement the task management that provides the link between software development delivery and agile project management.

Tasktop Pro leverages Mylyn's task management framework to link development activity with the change management and ALM tools. For developers, this removes the additional task of keeping the ALM system up-to-date with actual development activity. For agile teams, it means realistic estimation because of the automated tracking of time spent, providing accurate project tracking and visibility.

Cross-repository linking:
The managed links between any ALM system with a Tasktop-certified integration (or any OSLC compliant ALM application) can be created to specify and share dependencies across bug, issue, and project tracking systems. Links are displayed in the task editor and automatically update to display the completion status of related tasks in other systems. New importing and migration features allow tasks to be easily moved between ALM systems and to be established as new items within an application. For example, an email thread can be converted and linked to a user story.

Automated time tracking:
New time reports allow developers to review and adjust time spent before submitting data to the existing project management tools for aggregate reporting. This approach eliminates the need to manually track time. Developers have control over the time tracking automation and can adjust actuals to account for meetings and other time away from the computer. The task editor now includes a new Time Tracking section that displays a graph of time spent on the task. Time spent can be adjusted by the developer as needed to reflect the accurate information.

Tasktop Pro also includes Mylyn 3.3, which contains new features that improve the usability of task management facilities. The most notable new Mylyn feature is the support for C/C++ projects which gives the ability to automatically link relevant information with development tasks for C and C++ developers using Eclipse CDT. This is useful with mobile and embedded application developers. C and C++ developers now get the same focused workspace and one-click multitasking as Java developers using Eclipse JDT.

InfoQ spoke with Mik Kersten, CEO of Tasktop Technologies about the new release and the future road map of the product. He said that Tasktop team is going to continue extending the support for Agile and Scrum development. They also have more connectors planned for release in the first quarter of next year. And some new collaborative features will be coming in the new release. Developers can find out more about the upcoming features by accessing the early access program, which periodically provides a sneak peak of what's coming next.

Srini Penchikala currently works as Security Architect and has 17 yrs of experience in software product management.

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