Need a search and replace function (should not have to rely on Round Trip with Excel)

Manel Moreno
edited August 2016 in
Kristina, from my point of view this method (that we also are forced to use) is just a workaround for a JAMA limitation. If you are satisfied with it then Excel become a mandatory tool for using JAMA.

And this is just one example, editing test steps is even worse and again Excel is a must.

Note: This conversation was created from a reply on: Can I search and replace a string in a whole project.

Comments

  • Kristina King
    edited June 2016
    Manel, I agree with you that it is a workaround given there is no Jama feature or function that accomplishes the task. I'll branch your reply into an Idea post so that we can consider it as such!
  • Knowledge Base
    edited May 2015
    I agree with Manel. Search and replace is a very basic feature, in absence of which requires lot of manual efforts. Moreover, there is nothing like exclusive edit, that allows to edit all the test cases at one go. I have to go to each test case, then click on edit, then edit it.

    It makes work more tedious and time consuming.
  • Vladimir Cech
    edited June 2016
    This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled Find and replace.

    Following https://community.jamasoftware.com/jama/topics/can-i-search-and-replace-a-string-in-a-whole-project-...
    It would be good if there is a possibility for Find and Replace within a text field. When there is long text this function helps to do all changes / replacements as quickly as possible.
    Vlada
  • Kristina King
    edited June 2016
    Thanks for the Idea, Vladimir. I definitely understand why you would need this—I'm just merging your Idea with another that exists for a true find-and-replace function.

    See image for relevant comments that were lost in the merge.
    image
  • Samar Shrestha
    edited June 2016
    This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled Bulk Change for "Rich Text Field".

    Currently, Jama does not support bulk change for "Rich Text Field" like description (including other type of fields). Jama does have a workaround with "Excel round-trip" but lot of our users found it as time-consuming, error-prone, difficult to use, confusing Band-Aid. 

    We would like to have feature like "Find and replace" certain text values from the selected filter.

    Can you let us know if you have any plan to add it in your upcoming release?

    Thanks
  • Kristina King
    edited June 2016
    Hi Samar,

    At this point the ability to find and replace is not on the road map. Suffice it to say, I agree with you that while Roundtrip does get the job done, it is not efficient nor intuitive.
  • Kristina King
    edited June 2016
    Hi Samar,

    At this point the ability to find and replace is not on the road map. Suffice it to say, I agree with you that while Roundtrip does get the job done, it is not efficient nor intuitive.
  • Edward Choi
    edited August 2016
    Excel Round-Trip doesn't work very well with mixed item types, especially if there are large Richtext fields in some of them.

    Given that Jama already has a project level search function (so it can find all instances of a text string) would it be possible to replace all instances of the search term?

    We have a lot of users who would like this function. Frequently we don't know an official name upfront so we put a dummy name in like *FANCY_NAME_TBD* that needs to be replaced later. Or we change our mind and would like something to be updated in multiple places.

    The best workaround I've seen is to export to Word, and then use Word's find and replace function. Then import the word document back in and delete the old copy. This isn't a perfect fix either because it only works on description fields, and all the history of the item is lost. Also, it makes Word the copy of record and Jama just an incidental upload at the end of development, which isn't how we want Jama to be used.

    Can we get this on the roadmap?

    Thanks,

    Ed
  • Kristina King
    edited August 2016
    Hi Ed,

    I checked in on the state of the roadmap and nothing like this is planned.
  • Harald Hotz-Behofsits
    edited August 2016
    Kristina. I hope you are not Kassandra. Have a look into Greek Mythology and the Trojan war.
  • Kristina King
    edited August 2016
    HA. Me too. I'd love to be wrong about some of these things ;)
  • What's the update on Search and Replace? I was astonished to find (ha) that there is no search and replace capability in Jama. It's a very basic function of a database and would simplify the process greatly (the exporting/edit round-trip to Excel is awkward at best). 

    Case in point: We have a certain system component we a totally revamping for a next-gen project. I reused (without sync) the necessary requirements. Now to quickly search and replace the product name... oh dang!

    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 08-17-2016 20:26
    From: Kristina King
    Subject: Re: Need a search and replace function (should not have to rely on Round Trip with Excel)

    HA. Me too. I'd love to be wrong about some of these things ;)




  • Hey Rolland,

    There is no update to speak of, although your use case is bound to be the most common one. We have had a little bit of feedback about this need, but it's not something critical, ergo it hasn't been prioritized.

    ------------------------------
    Kristina King
    Jama Software
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 01-05-2017 12:16
    From: Rolland Vandersluis
    Subject: Re: Need a search and replace function (should not have to rely on Round Trip with Excel)

    What's the update on Search and Replace? I was astonished to find (ha) that there is no search and replace capability in Jama. It's a very basic function of a database and would simplify the process greatly (the exporting/edit round-trip to Excel is awkward at best). 

    Case in point: We have a certain system component we a totally revamping for a next-gen project. I reused (without sync) the necessary requirements. Now to quickly search and replace the product name... oh dang!

    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 08-17-2016 20:26
    From: Kristina King
    Subject: Re: Need a search and replace function (should not have to rely on Round Trip with Excel)

    HA. Me too. I'd love to be wrong about some of these things ;)









  • neil gitkind
    edited April 2018
    We are interested in finding out if there is an update from the JAMA team on this question. This would be a very useful feature when seeking to re-use groups of requirements on new projects - or elsewhere in the same project.

    We are having an internal debate on whether the Product Name should be included in the requirement text (description) and unfortunately, the awkward necessity of an excel round-trip is affecting pro-con calculus. In my mind there is significant advantage for this "best practice" of using the product name in the requirement.

    Thanks!
    -Neil
  • Cynthia Weber
    edited April 2018
    This would be a valuable function for us, too. Trying to get all the test cases aligned with the same choice of synonym would be much easier if I didn't have to individually update each one.
  • Manel Moreno
    edited April 2018
    Unfortunately, after 3 years from my first request, this doesn't seem to deserve being included in the development backlog...

    I hope it will be in a near future! ;-)
  • Gavin Ryan-Keenor
    Gavin Ryan-Keenor Business Analyst
    edited April 2018
    +1
    Round trip provides some of this functionality but is limited - as soon as bullet points are used or any real formatting round trip is no longer an option.
    We would also like to see this considered for inclusion on the roadmap for future development.
  • LawrenceR Rigge
    edited April 2018
    We need more people to champion this feature - the Jama team seems more responsive to volume versus the "irritation factor".  The Excel "workaround" is not useful if you make use of graphical content (a picture is worth a thousand words often applies to requirements).  In my experience, anyone who reuses requirements and/or works with large numbers of requirements will get highly irritated when they discover there is no search/replace functionality.
  • Steve Kay
    edited April 2018
    Agree with this need. As our product line grows, we reuse many components and associated specifications. Lack of search and replace hinders the efficiency of Jama's reuse features.
    Steve Kay
    Principal Systems Test Architect
    Hologic - Breast Health
  • Nicki Repici
    edited April 2018
    This would be awesome. We oftentimes use a "code name" for our products as we don't always have their finalized name in place before we start writing requirements. It would be great to be able to replace all of those at once.
  • Jamey Potechin
    edited July 2018
    I agree for exactly the same reasons as already detailed. We start a project with one name and may change names as it develops, sometimes more than once.
    Round trip through Word might be effective, but the best solution would be a built-in find and replace, which should not be hard to implement.
    Has anyone tried doing this through the API?