Defect Tracking Tools

Defect Tracking

  • Defect tracking is the process of finding defects by inspection, testing, or recording feedback from customers.
  • Defect tracking is important in software engineering as complex software systems typically have tens or hundreds or thousands of defects. Managing, evaluating and prioritizing these defects are a difficult task.
  • Defect tracking systems are computer database systems that store defects and help people to manage them.

Bug Tracking

  • A bug tracking system is a software application that is designed to help quality assurance and programmers keep track of reported software bugs in their work.
  • Many bug-tracking systems, such as those used by most open source software projects, allow users to enter bug reports directly. Other systems are used only internally in a company or organization doing software development. Typically bug tracking systems are integrated with other software project management applications.
  • A major component of a bug tracking system is a database that records facts about known bugs. Facts may include the time a bug was reported, its severity, the erroneous program behavior, and details on how to reproduce the bug; as well as the identity of the person who reported it and any programmers who may be working on fixing it.
  • Typical bug tracking systems support the concept of the life cycle for a bug which is tracked through status assigned to the bug. A bug tracking system should allow administrators to configure permissions based on status, move the bug to another status, or delete the bug. The system should also allow administrators to configure the bug statuses and to what status a bug in a particular status can be moved to.
  • A bug-tracking system may be used to generate reports on the productivity of programmers at fixing bugs.

Issue Tracking

  • An issue tracking system (also called trouble ticket system or incident ticket system) is a computer software package that manages and maintains lists of issues.
  • Issue tracking systems are commonly used in an organization's customer support call center to create, update, and resolve reported customer issues, or even issues reported by that organization's other employees.
  • An issue tracking system often also contains a knowledge base containing information on each customer, resolutions to common problems, and other such data.
  • An issue tracking system is similar to a "bug tracker", and often, a software company will sell both, and some bug trackers are capable of being used as an issue tracking system, and vice versa.

List of Defect Tracking / Bug Tracking / Issue tracking tools

Name of the tool

Brief Description

Platform

+1CR

Supports extensive problem report management capabilities that allow submitting, list, viewing, querying, printing, and administering change requests.

Solaris

Aardvark

Browser based bug tracking system

Hosted web-based service, or Aardvark in a Box for Windows NT 4.0 Server, Windows 2000 Server for the server

AllChange

Configuration/change management system

Server: Windows and UNIX

Bugcentral.com

Hosted bug tracking service

All platforms supported, accessible through any browser.

Bug/Defect Tracking Expert

Web-based bug/defect tracking system.

Windows NT 4.0, 2000; Solaris, RedHat Linux

Buggit

Manages bugs and features.

Windows with Access 97 or Access 2000

Buggy

A multiuser database program designed specifically for keeping track of bugs in programs.

Server: Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003, Clients All 32-bit Windows OS

Bugzilla

Web-based database for bugs.

Solaris, Linux, Win32, MacOS X, xBSD

Census Bug Tracking and Defect Tracking

 

Bug tracking system

All Windows, web-based

Telelogic Change

An entirely Web-based and fully integrated change request tracking and reporting system that simplifies the process for change request management.

Server: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Professional, Solaris, HP-UX, IBM AIX, Redhat Enterprise Linux. Client: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox.
ClearDDTS

 

A change request management product for UNIX specifically designed to track and manage product defects and enhancement requests uncovered during product development and quality assurance testing.

Server: Sun Solaris, HP-UX, DEC OSF1, IBM AIX, SGI IRIX

ClearQuest

A highly flexible defect and change tracking system that captures and tracks all types of change

Client: NT 4.0, 95/98, 2000. Server: NT 4.0, 95/98, 2000

 

CustomerFirst

CustomerFirst contains an integrated defect tracking system that improves the communicationsand workflow between support development quality assurance departments

Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, Netware, OS/2, Unix

Debian Bug Tracking System

Problem report database

Unix

Defect Tracker

Tracks and organizes defect reports during the development process

Server: Windows 98, 2000, NT 4.0, Linux

DevTrack

A defect- and project-tracking tool designed specifically for software development teams

Client: Windows 95/98, 2000, NT 4.0+. Server: Windows NT Server 4.0+, 2000

elementool

Bug and support tracking tool

Web-based, ASP-maintained server

GNATS

A set of tools for tracking bug reports

Server runs on unix. Clients may run on a broad set of platforms using a web interface, and several other user interfaces are available

JitterBug

 

Web based bug tracking system

Unix. Implemented in C.

Problem Reporting System (PRS)

 

A client/Server defect tracking tool that manages and tracks problem information during the project development life cycle

Windows

ProblemTracker

Web-based bug & defect tracking software

Windows 2000 Server, NT 4

ProjectPortal

A Quality Assurance (bug tracking) application and a document repository.

Server: Windows NT

PR-Tracker

Helps manage software development projects by tracking software bugs, action items, and change requests with problem reports

Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000

Razor/PT

Problem tracking system (with web add-on IssueWeaver)

Server: SunOS, Solaris, Windows NT 4.0, Linux, AIX, HP-UX, Digital Unix, IRIX. Client: all of the above plus Windows 95, 98.

BMC Remedy Quality Management

Automates the process for managing product defects and new features requests

Client: Windows or web-based. Server: Windows, Solaris, HP-UX

SilkCentral Issue Manager

A defect tracking product used to track and manage errors in software projects

Client: Windows 95, NT, or web client

SWBTracker

A Windows-based defect management solution for software developers who need to track problem reports and enhancement requests to their software products

Client: Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0

TestTrack Pro

Defect and Bug Tracking

Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, or Server 2008; Mac OS X; Linux; Solaris; Internet Explorer, Firefox, and other Web browsers that support HTML 3.0 and newer.

TrackWeb Defects

Windows and web based defect tracking solution

Client: Windows 95, 98, NT. Server: NT 4.0
Trackgear

A Web-based defect tracking solution.

Server: NT 4.0 Server
TrackRecord

An enterprise-wide change request management, defect and project tracking tool.

Client: Windows 95, 95, NT 4.0. Server: Windows NT 4.0.
Trackwise

A fully-integrated and extremely customizable tracking system used for managing problem reports, bugs/defects, change requests, customer complaints, and corrective action items.

Client: Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000. Server: Windows NT 3.51/4.0 server, UNIX
RADAR

Review-based Defect Management System

Windows 9x, Windows NT, Windows 2000; SQLServer 6.5+, Oracle 8+, MSAccess 97+