The ActionHub/ActionFlow platforms are rule-based, so the first thing you must do is
create rules to invoke action based on your processes. A few examples of rules to drive
process include invoking a build job in Jenkins based on a commit message to a specific
branch in a repository, invoking a workflow in CollabNet ActionFlow to deploy a build based
on a successful build message from a Jenkins job, and opening a defect in a project based on
a health event from a monitoring tool like New Relic.
You can create simple rules that check for one particular condition or complex
nested rules that have more than one condition to check.
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Log on to TeamForge and select a project from the
Menu.
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From the TeamForge tools menu, choose or . The Rules page appears.
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In the Rules section, click Create. The Create
Rule page appears.
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In the Rule Name field, enter the name given to the rule
that will be displayed in the rules list and in notifications generated by the
rule.
Enter meaningful attributes into this field to describe what the rule does.
This will make it easier to understand in lists and notifications.
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For the Rule Enabled option, click the checkbox to
enable or disable the rule. Disabling a rule prevents it from being processed by
the ActionHub rules engine.
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In the Rule Description field, enter a detailed
description describing the purpose of the rule.
Include as much detail as possible to help another person understand the
rule. For example, the description may include details about the parameters
defined for the action on the target system.
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Click Source, select the source from where the event
will be generated and click Save.
The SOURCE page shows a list of all sources defined in TeamForge EventQ.
These source systems generate events which may match the rule being defined.
Selecting the source also tells the editor the type of event generated by
the system such as commit, workitem, build, deploy, review, health and more.
This allows the editor to understand the format of the message and make it
easy to create the criteria for the rule.
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In the Criteria field, define the criteria for what
events should match the rule.
When a rule is first created it has a default criteria of
Matches
Any condition. This means it will match any event generated
by the source system. To modify the condition, click the
Matches
Any link and select
Edit Condition
from the menu. The
Add
Condition dialog box appears allowing you to modify the condition.
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Select a message property that should be evaluated.
The Property list displays a list of all
properties defined for the message type specified by the Source
system. For example, a source control system will show properties
for a commit message. A tracker system will show properties for a
work item message.
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From the Operator list, select the operator that
will determine how the property will be evaluated.
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In the Value field, specify the value to
evaluate against the property.
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Click Save.
Creating nested criteria
If you want to create a criteria that evaluates more than one condition such
as (work_item.created_by Contains user123
AND work_item.updated_by Contains
userQA) OR (work_item.status_id Equals
Ready for Deploy), you can create a nested criteria as follows.
To create a rule that checks for more than one condition, click the
Matches Any link and select
Convert to
Group from the shortcut-menu.
You now have two "Matches Any" conditions linked together by an "AND"
operator. You can toggle between "AND" and "OR" operators by clicking the
"AND" or "OR" operator.
Now, you can modify the conditions by clicking the Matches
Any link and selecting Edit Condition
from the menu. The Add Condition dialog box appears
allowing you to modify the condition.
Click Add New to add (nest) more conditions.
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From the TARGET drop-down list, select the target
system.
The TARGET drop-down list shows a list of all target
workflow systems. Selecting a target system populates the
ACTION drop-down with actions available for the
event type defined by the Source system.
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From the Action drop-down list, select the action to
take for the defined event.
The Action drop-down list shows all available actions
on the target workflow system based on the event type of the Source system.
Selecting an action populates the PARAMETERS table
with all the available parameters for the action. Refer to the documentation
for the action in the target workflow system for purpose of each parameter.
If the selected action requires input, the PARAMETERS
table will be populated with the required parameters.
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In the PARAMETERS table, specify the appropriate value
for each parameter. Since each action is different, refer to the documentation
for the action in the target workflow system for the purpose of each input
parameter.
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Click Save. The new rule is created.
Create as many rules you want. You can now go to the Rule Execution
History tab () to view the history of rules that are executed.
Create and execute a Manual Rule
The Manual Rule feature allows
you to create rules that will be manually executed on demand from the
Release Console page.
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From the Project Home menu, choose ActionHub.
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Click the Create Rule button.
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Enter all appropriate informaiton about the rule you wish to create while
choosing <Button Click> (Manual) from the Source list.
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In the Rule Parameters section, enter the Environment ID corresponding
with the environment that packages should be deployed to when this rule is
executed.
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On the Release Console page, select the radio button next
to the package you want to execute a Manual Rule for.
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Click the button corresponding to the Manual Rule that you would like to
execute.
Audit information for rules
Within ActionHub, you can view a
rule's general information, scope, change log and the rule execution
history.
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From the Project Home menu, choose ActionHub and select a
rule.
General tab: View general rule information.
Scope tab: View the scope of the rule.
Execution History tab: Lists the rule execution history.
Change Log tab: Shows the change log for a rule.
You now have two "Matches Any" conditions linked together by an "AND" operator. You can toggle between "AND" and "OR" operators by clicking the "AND" or "OR" operator.
Scope tab: View the scope of the rule.
Execution History tab: Lists the rule execution history.