Work with phases and tasks

In Release, phases in a template or release represent blocks of activities that occur in succession. Activities in a template or release are modeled as tasks, which are logically grouped in phases. You can use the release flow editor to manage phases and tasks.

Work with phases

Add a phase

To add a phase:

1. In the template or release, select Release Flow from the left navigation bar.

2. Click Add Phase. A new phase with the title 'New Phase' appears.

3. Click the phase title to change it. Optionally, you can:

   • Move the phase by dragging it.
   • Select a different color for the phase.

4. To view a description of the phase and its start date, due date, and duration, click .

   Release uses the dates and duration when displaying the phase in the planner and calendar. If these dates are not consistent with the release dates, as defined in the release properties, a warning displays.

Copy a phase

To copy a phase, click . This is useful during modeling, when you have similar or identical phases. When you duplicate a phase that is active and has running and completed tasks, the tasks in the new phase are all in the planned state.

Delete a phase

To delete a phase, click .

Note: You cannot delete a completed or active phase of a running release.

Work with tasks

Add a task to a phase

To add a task to a phase:

1. In the template or release, select Release Flow from the Show menu.
2. Click Add task within the phase.
3. Click the task title to change it.
4. Select the task type.
5. To create the task and add it to the phase, click Add. Optionally, you can:
   • Move the task by dragging it.
   • Drag the task to another phase.
6. Click the task to edit its details.

Add a task to a parallel or sequential group

Parallel groups and sequential groups are containers for other tasks.

• Within a parallel group, all tasks start simultaneously. The parallel group task finishes when all of its children are complete.

• Within a sequential group, tasks are executed in order. The sequential group task finishes when the last task in the sequence is complete.

To add a task to a task group, click Add task at the bottom of the group. To move a task into a task group, drag and drop it. To collapse or expand a task group, click its arrow.

Set a precondition on a task

You can control the execution flow by setting a precondition on a task. A precondition is an if statement for tasks, written in Jython script code.

If the precondition evaluates to True, the task is started. If the precondition evaluates to False, the task is skipped.

If an exception is raised or a compilation error occurs when Release is evaluating the precondition script, the task fails. You can fix the script and retry the task.

There are two methods that can be used to write preconditions.

Boolean expression

A Boolean expression is restricted to a single statement script. For example:

releaseVariables['jobStatus'] == 'Success'

The task starts only if the variable jobStatus is equal to Success.

Multi-line script

If you need a more complex script, you must set the result variable. For example:

print("Executing precondition")

...

result = True

Disable preconditions

You can disable preconditions on certain task types. For example, to disable preconditions on parallel groups, modify ext/synthetic.xml as follows:

<type-modification type="xlrelease.ParallelGroup">
    <property name="preconditionEnabled" kind="boolean" required="true" default="false" hidden="true"
        description="Whether preconditions should be enabled"/>
</type-modification>

important

The Release server must be restarted for this modification to take effect.

Add comments to a task

To add comments to any type of task in a template or release in the Release GUI, open the task and click Add comment.

You can also use the REST API and Jython API to automatically add comments to tasks. For an example, see Using the Release API in scripts.

Comment size limit

To prevent performance issues, comments are limited to 32,768 characters.

• If you manually add a comment that exceeds the limit, Release will truncate the comment.
• If a Script task adds a comment that exceeds the limit, Release will truncate the comment. Release attaches the full output of the script to the task, regardless if it was truncated or not.

You can change the comment size limit for each task type in the XL_RELEASE_SERVER_HOME/conf/deployit-defaults.properties file. For example:

#xlrelease.Task.maxCommentSize=32768

To change the comment size limit:

1. Delete the number sign (#) at the beginning of the relevant line.
2. Change the limit.
3. Save the file.
4. Restart the Release server.

Edit a task

To edit a task in a template or release, go to the release flow editor and click the task.

Editing task fields

To edit a field in a task:

1. Click the task.
2. Edit the properties.
3. Press Enter or click outside the field to finish editing.

note

In large text fields, you can press Enter to start a new line and click the checkmark icon to save.

To cancel your changes, press Esc. To cancel your changes in a large text field, click the round cancel icon.

Your changes to the task details are saved immediately.

Title and description

The task title appears in the top colored bar. Click it to edit the text.

Use the description to describe the purpose of the task and add instructions on how to complete it.

Release supports the Markdown syntax for styled text such as headers, bold text, italicized text, hyperlinks, bulleted lists, and so on. For more information, see Use Markdown in Release.

note

Use hyperlinks to refer to documents published elsewhere, such as on a wiki or SharePoint server.

Task status and transitions

If the task is assigned to you, you can use the following buttons to indicate the actions performed on the task:

• Complete: The task is done. You can optionally add a comment about the completion of the task. After completion, Release advances to the next task in the phase and sends the appropriate notifications.

• Skip: No work was needed or could be done, and you have moved on to another task. You can use this option for tasks that are not relevant to the release. You are required to enter a comment explaining why you skipped the task. Release marks the task as skipped and moves on to the next task.

• Fail: An unforeseen event is preventing the completion of the task or you do not know how to complete the task. This stops the release flow, and Release notifies the release owner.

Task attachments

The Attachments section is located below the comments.

Task properties

Property	Description
Status	To signal that the timely completion of a task is at risk or that you require help, without failing the task, use the Status flags in the upper right corner of the task properties. The status flag appears in all overviews to alert the release manager and other users.
Scheduled start date	Use the scheduled start date to schedule a task to be performed at an exact time. For example, a deployment with Deploy that must start at midnight or that an email must be sent to all stakeholders at 9:00 AM on Monday. Note: The task will not start on the scheduled start date if it is not yet active in the flow. All previous tasks must be complete before a scheduled task is started and the scheduled start date is reached. If the previous tasks are completed after the scheduled start date, the task will start the moment it becomes active. Click the scheduled start date to select a date and time. When executing the release flow, Release will wait until this time, if it has been set, to execute the task. While waiting, the task is marked with an alarm clock icon and a gray text indicating when it will start. Dates in Release are displayed using the clients operating system's timezone. Dates and times are formatted according to the browser's language settings.
Due date	Set a due date on a task to mark the time that the task must be completed.
Duration	Instead of explicitly setting the due date, you can use the duration property to indicate how long a task should last. Note: If no dates or duration are set, the "inferred" dates and duration appear in grey.
Assigned to	This section indicates the user who owns the task and is responsible for completing it. It also indicates the team that the task is assigned to. Teams are a way to group users who are involved in the release and who have the same role. For example, you could have a DEV team, QA team and an OPS team. During planning, it can be useful to assign a task to a team because you may not know in advance who will participate in a certain release. If a task is assigned to a team but not to a user, all team members receive an email when the task becomes active, if not disabled in the notification settings. To remove an assignment to a user or a team, click the cross icon.

Change a task's type

You can change the type of a task in:

• A template
• A planned release that has not started yet
• An active release, if the task that you want to change has not started yet

To change the type of a task in a template, you need the Edit Template permission on the template. To change the type of a task in a release, you need the Edit Task permission on the release.

To change a task's type:

1. Open the template or release in the release flow editor.

2. Click on the task you want to change.

3. In the menu, hover over Change type.

4. Select a task type.

   Release will copy the values of properties that are shared between the task's previous type and the type that you selected.

Notes:

• You cannot change the type of an active, completed, failed, or skipped task.
• You can change a task to a parallel or sequential group, but you cannot change a parallel or sequential group to a different type of task.

Copy a task

To copy a task, click the button in the upper right corner of the task. You cannot copy tasks that are completed.

Delete a task

To delete a task, click the button in the upper right corner of the task. In an active release, you can only remove tasks that are in the planned state.