System for relating workflow status to code component status in a software project

A computer-implemented method for transitioning an issue in a workflow of a software development effort based on a change made to at least one software component corresponding to the issue, the method comprising:

• A) identifying as an originating version for a promotion operation a first version of a software project comprising the at least one software component corresponding to the issue and identifying as a destination version for the promotion operation a second version of the software project;
• B) promoting the at least one software component such that the second version of the software project comprises the at least one software component;
• C) determining whether the first version and/or the second version is associated with a workflow transition such that the workflow transition should be applied when a promotion involving the first version and/or the second version is carried out;
• and
• D) when the first version and/or the second version is associated with a workflow transition, applying the associated workflow transition to the issue to transition the issue in the workflow from a first workflow stage to a second workflow stage, wherein applying the associated workflow transition comprises editing a workflow status for the issue stored in at least one computer-readable storage medium,
• wherein the at least one computer-readable storage medium stores information regarding the first version as at least one data structure comprising information describing the first version of the software project and describing the at least one software component included in the first version of the software project.

A computer-implemented method for promoting at least one software component from a first version of a software project to a second version of the software project based on a change made to an issue to which the at least one software component corresponds, the method comprising:

• A) applying a workflow transition to the issue to move the issue from a first workflow stage of the workflow to a second workflow stage of the workflow;
• B) determining whether the workflow transition is associated with a first version of the software project and/or a second version of the software project such that a promotion operation should be performed using the first version as an originating version and/or the second version as a destination version when the workflow transition is applied;
• and
• C) when it is determined that the workflow transition is associated with the first version and/or the second version of the software project, promoting at least one software component corresponding to the issue from the first version to the second version of the software project such that the second version of the software project comprises the at least one software component, wherein promoting the at least one software component comprises editing at least one data structure, stored in at least one computer-readable storage medium, that stores information regarding a version of the software project that includes the at least one software component,
• wherein the at least one computer-readable storage medium stores information regarding the first version as at least one data structure comprising information describing the first version of the software project and describing the at least one software component included in the first version of the software project.

An apparatus for use in managing a software development effort, the software development effort comprising a plurality of software components associated with a plurality of versions of a software project, each of the plurality of versions comprising an instance of at least one software component, the software development effort further comprising one or more issues associated with a workflow, each said issue of the one or more issues corresponding to a software development task to be performed for the software development effort and corresponding to one or more software components of the plurality of software components related to the software development task, wherein the workflow associated with the one or more issues includes a plurality of workflow stages and one or more workflow transitions indicating a relationship between workflow stages and each issue is associated with a workflow stage, the apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one computer-readable medium storing information comprising processor-executable instructions and data, the data identifying a relationship between a first workflow transition of the one or more workflow transitions and a first and second version of the plurality of versions of the software project,
• wherein the data identifies a first version of the software project as a source for software components to be promoted to a second version of the software project when a first workflow transition is applied to an issue that corresponds to the software components and identifies the first workflow transition as an action to be taken on the issue corresponding to the software components when the software components of the first version are promoted to the second version, and
• wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method, the method comprising
• (a) upon detecting a promotion operation that promotes the software components of the first version to the second version, determining, from a review of the data of the at least one computer-readable medium, that the first workflow transition is an action to be taken when software components of the first version are promoted and, in response to the determining, applying the first workflow transition to the issue corresponding to the software components, and
• (b) upon detecting a transition operation that applies a workflow transition to the issue, determining, from a review of the data of the at least one computer-readable medium, that software components of the first version should be promoted to the second version when the first workflow transition is applied and, in response to the determining, promoting the software components corresponding to the issue from the first version to the second version.