The release notes provide information on the features and improvements in the specified version. The release dates that are related to the version of the release are published in the Curriculum/Workload Management release schedule.
Competence management and applications
The first version a new functionality is released that allows management of user competences using processes and workflows for entry, amendment and validation. Reporting is made available to provide an overview on users and their competences, including deadlines nearing or being passed for certified competences with end dates.
Furthermore a function is added for internal system users to apply for a role at an educational object, using their competences as proof. The application is designed and developed generic, based on the requested use case to support the application for a role as lecturer to a module for internal users. The application is supported by a configurable process and workflows to enable the application and the 'hire'.
Remark: Since this is a first release that requires additional internal testing by TimeEdit and the generation of user documentation the releases options should in this release be considered as a first iteration to test and validate. Any feedback is more than welcome.
The stories below have been built to support the functionality:
As an administrator I must be able to manage the set of qualifications (competences) options - CUR-2632
The first step in supporting the above mentioned functions is the ability to define and manage qualifications (competences) by the administrator. Users will use these to select and define the required 'personal' information regarding the selected competence.
Competences can be grouped using a type, allowing improved management for the admin and filter options for users. The required competence fields are configured by the administrator, and may for instance have the following configuration:
- Code: unique identifier of the competence (required)
- Name: name of the competence (required)
- Type: the grouping mechanism to allow for filtering
- License: indicator if the users requires a license (certificate, ...) as proof for the competence
- Start date: in case of a license, the start date can be provided
- End date: in case of a license that expires, the end date should be provided
The above configuration is based on the usage of the Element Competence. This element can be configured and extended with additional fields, e.g. license.
As a user I must be able to manage my own competences - CUR-2635
The user should be able to define and maintain their own competences. This story is designed and defined in such a way the page developed supports the following options:
- User can view own competences, default behaviour
- User can manage (add, edit) own competences, requires authorisation EDIT_COMPETENCE or EDIT_COMPETENCE_WORKFLOW
- Manager (authorised role) can view user competences, requires authorisation VIEW_COMPETENCE
- Manager can manage (add, edit) user competences, requires authorisation EDIT_COMPETENCE or EDIT_COMPETENCE_WORKFLOW
The data to be entered by the user is based on the configuration of the competence and includes the option to add a document as proof for the license.
As a authorised user (manager) I must be able to validate and approve (self-managed) competences - CUR-2637
In case a user manages the own competences, a added or change competence requires validation. In this first iteration the approval is steered from the above shown report. The manager can filter on competences that are awaiting approval and 'approve' or 'reject' the competence.
As a user I should be able to apply for an educational object, e.g. Module - CUR-2639
The application can be configured using the standard configuration options for processes and workflows. The first step in the process is the support for a user to apply for an educational object, e.g. Module.
The application will provide the following information:
- Specify the desired module (standard search box: code, name)
- Select the role (lecturer, examiner, ...)
- Specify the competence(s) that are relevant for the application, from the own list of competences.
- Specify additional information to will clear the why and help the management decision
The user will have an overview of the applications.
As an authorised used (e.g. manager) I should be able to manage a single application - CUR-2640
Based on the process mentioned above, when the staff members has filled in the application it will be sent to the next stakeholder.
The next stakeholder (manager) will get the task to approve the request.
The approval flow provides the information provided by the staff member to assist in the decision making and either approve or disapprove the request.
Improvements
The issues in release mentioned under the section improvements are considered as new functionality, user experience improvements or bug fixes. Issues marked as Hotfix have been developed during this Sprint release, but are hotfixed and technically added to the previous release or direct to production based on the impact of the issue.
Using a formula hook to update specification fields should work - CUR-2703 (Hotfix)
The formula hook can be used for bulk change of information, e.g. codes, based on a formula. Then applying this hook with a formula including the academic year on a specification, this fails. This has been fixed by enabling the usage of the academic year in code generation for specifications.
Configuration should be respected - CUR-3278, CUR-3259, CUR-3264, CUR-2606
In this release some issued with fields not respecting the configured behaviour have been fixed:
- Activity type should not be editable, in case it is defined as read-only
- Duration marked as required, should behave as required (and not optional)
- Reference and Element fields in select options should show both code and name when configured
The end date of reference type should be respected and only show reference values that are still active
Reporting should support 'separate' fields to be selected - CUR-2282
The reporting offers the option to select for instance the modules offered by a program. The module in the report was shown as a combination of the module code and the module name (one column). In case only the module code was needed, in Excel a macro should be defined to separate both values.
To improve the usability, separate values are made available for code, externalId and name.
Correctable should be honoured when configured - CUR-3277 (Hotfix)
A task configured to be correctable should follow to configured calculation rule and allow the user to correct the calculated value. The option to correct the calculated value was not shown. This has been fixed, to enable correcting calculated values based on the configuration setting.
Delete button should be available on activity-grid, list and card (acceptance only) - CUR-3274 (Hotfix)
In the previous release a bug was found where the delete button was only shown in case the activity-grid was empty. As soon there was data, the delete button was no longer available. This has been hotfixed prior to the release to production.
The behaviour of availability-preferences should be improved - CUR-3273
In case a user is requested to enter their availability preferences, the default configuration (everything set to available) or their last saved preferences are shown. In case the users navigates away (e.g. next button in workflow), the data is not saved since no 'changes' were made. And thus the preferences from last year were not saved to this year.
A fix is applied to improve / correct the behaviour:
- If the preference data is never changed in the context of the requested period, it will be marked as 'new' and when preceding in the workflow it will be saved.
- If the preference data is already saved and no changes were made the user can continue the workflow, and no data will be saved.
Team members should not receive tasks when they have been end dated - CUR-3260
Team members no longer member of a team based on a set end-date were still getting tasks assigned in a new year. This has been fixed, and the end-date of the team membership assignment will be respected.
General page behaviour should be more consistent and show correct data - CUR-2596, CUR-3258, CUR-2603, CUR-3238
Some issues were reported concerning the general page not being consistent and label and corresponding value data not showing correctly. Some fixes are applied to the general page to solve these issues:
- Only show fields that are configured to be shown on the page
- Use the labels of the fields, instead of 'fixed' labels
- Show the label and its value next to each other
- Respect 'visible' condition settings
- Support display of team email address in case roles are assigned a team
Administrator configuration:
Since fields are no longer 'automagically' shown on the general page, but only based on configuration the configuration for fields to be shown should have the checkbox 'Display on general' set.
Fields with formulas should work on form pages - CUR-3253 (Hotfix)
In case a field with a formula on a form page was changed, the data was not save. When changing the same field on the standard 'additional' page the data was saved. The cause was found and has been hotfixed, and fields can be changed when used on additional and form pages.
Long (reference) text should be fully readable in read-only mode - CUR-3255
Long texts, considered to be displayed on a single line, where cut-off when showing in read-only mode. In fact it also happens when not in read-only mode, but then the text was fully accessible moving the cursor.
A fix is applied where single line texts and reference list values exceeding the page size are cut-off, but will have a mouse-over option that will fully expand the text. This is not only applied on read-only values, but also for select boxes with values that exceed the select box width.
As a user I want to define a note - CUR-3247, CUR-2937
In case a user selected the option to create a note, e.g. add a note for a specific assignment, the screen freezed. Only after refresh the user could continue without having the option to specify the note. This has been fixed, and it is again possible to create notes.
Fix usability issues - CUR-3242, CUR-3231
Two small, but annoying usability issues introduced in the previous release, are fixed:
- Improve contrast in select boxes where the highlight and text color were (almost) the same
- Prevent admin pages to require two clicks to open the page
The schedule weeks on teacher page should respect the configuration - CUR-2523
When creating activities, the schedule weeks are displayed according to the configuration settings in both the activity-grid and list. However, on the page of type 'teacher' the week number shown is always the academic year week number. In case for instance the schedule week is configured, a difference occurred in the display on the activity-grid/list and the teacher assign page. This has been fixed, and all week numbers shown will follow the generic configured week-display configuration.
Integration
The issues mentioned under the section integration are considered as extension, improvements or bug fixes related to the WLM/Curriculum API, OOAPI and/or CSV import functionality.
API documentation should show the correct response page - CUR-3281
It was noted the API documentation didn't show the correct response page (message format) in all cases. This has been fixed.
API users should be informed when open changes are reapplied to their import - CUR-3261
The standard behaviour using the API so update information in WLM is that the API will not overwrite / override any pending manual applied changes. This behaviour was implemented silently, sometimes raising questions why updates via the API were not processed.
To improve a better understanding of the above use case, the logging is extended with an information message informing the object is 'updated', but not all fields due to pending manual changes. This helps in not being puzzled why it seems the API doesn't work, but understand it works, but the result is different due to the pending change.
API calendar service extended - CUR-2944
The API calendar service is extended with the start and end date of the academic year. The underlying periods already provided the dates, but the year itself not.
Offering code should be saved using the API - CUR-3271
When using the API is was noted the offering code was not saved. This has been fixed.
Security
An integral part of our development and build process is automatic scanning for known security vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities will be fixed based on their impact, which means that in some cases an immediate hot-fix will be applied, and in other cases the vulnerability will be fixed in the current or next Sprint (release). The security section provides an overview of the vulnerabilities mitigated. For more information on reported vulnerabilities, see the central database of vulnerabilities.
In this release no security vulnerabilities were reported requiring a fix.
Refer to the Workload Management manual for configuration guidance.