How to Share Libraries

This task describes how to share libraries between projects or within a project.

To learn more about sharing libraries, see Imported Libraries Overview.

1. Prerequisites

   • To import and synchronize libraries, you must have the appropriate Library module user permissions, as well as Create and Update permissions for the entity types you are importing. In addition to these permissions, synchronizing libraries requires Delete permissions for the entity types in the library. For more information on Library module permissions, refer to the HPE Application Lifecycle Management Administrator Guide: Libraries Permission Levels.

   • Verify that a baseline has been created for the library you want to import. For task details, see How to Use Libraries and Baselines in ALM.

   • Business Process Testing: Before importing a project with application areas to another project, make sure you have connected to the destination project at least one time from within Unified Functional Testing. For instructions, see the HPE Unified Functional Testing User Guide.

2. Import a library

   Import an existing library to your libraries tree to reuse a set of entities in your project or from a different project.

   Business Process Testing: After importing a library, do not change the content of either the existing source library from which a baseline is synchronized, or the target library to which a baseline is synchronized. This could result in a failure when synchronizing a baseline that includes Business Process Testing entities.

   1. In the Libraries module, right-click a library folder and select Import Library. For user interface details on the Import Library wizard, see Import Library Wizard.

   Business Process Testing: When importing libraries, components in the Obsolete and Component Requests folders are not included in the process.

   2. Click the View Log button in the Details tab. The Log: Import Library dialog box opens and displays progress.

   Note: When the process is complete, view the log before refreshing the display. If you refresh the display after the library is imported, the View Log button is no longer displayed, and you cannot view the log.

   For user interface details on the Libraries module window, see Libraries Module Window.

   3. Click the Refresh button on the module toolbar to refresh the display. The library details are displayed in the Details tab. For details on the available fields in the Details tab, see Libraries Module Fields.

3. Compare libraries

   Compare libraries to review changes made to entities in your projects over time.

   1. In the libraries tree, right-click a library and select Compare To. Select a library with which to compare, and choose one of the following:

      • Latest Baseline Created. Compare the library with the most recent baseline created in the other library.

      • Select Baseline. Select a baseline in the other library with which to compare. Opens the Select Baseline dialog box. Click the browse button to select a baseline from the list.

      Available for: A source library or an imported library.

      For user interface details on the Compare Libraries Tool, see Compare Libraries Tool Dialog Box.

   2. Click the Export Comparison Results button to save the library comparison results in .csv file format. After saving, the file opens in the default application defined for opening .csv files on your computer, such as Microsoft Excel.

4. Synchronize libraries

   Synchronize libraries to update your library with changes made in another associated library. You can update an imported library with changes made in the source library. You can also update a source library with changes made in the imported library.

   1. In the libraries tree, select the library that you want to update. Using the Compare Libraries Tool, compare the library by selecting a baseline in the other library with which to synchronize. For user interface details on the Compare Libraries Tool, see Compare Libraries Tool Dialog Box.

   2. In the Compare Libraries Tool, click the Synchronize button . The Library Verification dialog box opens, displaying the verification results.

   For user interface details on the Library Verification dialog box, see Library Verification Dialog Box.

   For concept details on library verification, see Library Verification.

   3. Click Continue to start the synchronization. The data is copied from the other library's baseline to your library.

   If the baseline includes an entity type that it did not contain at the time of import, a parent folder is created in your project. For example, you imported a library containing only tests, and defined a target root folder for the Test Plan module only. Later, requirements were added to the source library. During synchronization, a new folder is created in the Requirements module in your project, under the Requirements root folder, to store the newly imported requirements.

   4. Close the Compare Libraries Tool dialog box. Synchronization continues in a background process, and may take some time. You can continue working in your project during the synchronization process.

   5. Click the View Log button in the Details tab. The Log: Synchronize Libraries dialog box opens and displays progress.

   For user interface details on the Libraries module window, see Libraries Module Window.

   6. Click the Refresh button on the module toolbar to refresh the display. When the process completes, the Last Synchronization date is updated in the Imported By or Imported From tab.

5. Monitor library tasks

   When you import or synchronize libraries, these tasks are performed in the background, enabling you to continue working in your project while the processes are running. You can view the status and progress of all asynchronous tasks for the project using the Task Manager.

   On the ALM masthead, click and select Task Manager. For user interface details, see Task Manager Dialog Box.