17. Target Values¶
MQC provides the possibility to define target values for selected measures, i.e. base measures as well as quality properties, to enable the user to compare the current state of a project to an expected state.
The User is able to define:
target values for each artifact;
target values for each milestone (whereas target values can be defined for selected milestones only);
one or multiple target values per measure.
MQC allows:
to define arbitrary target names;
to import a target value configuration at any time replacing previously imported targets;
to completely remove imported target values;
to switch on or off the visualization of target values.
MQC shows target values in trend charts as well as in status charts of custom pages (see Custom Pages).
In trend charts target values are shown as additional dashed line per measure trend line using the same color as used for the measure itself (see Figure 17.1).
In status charts target values are shown as horizontal line per measure bar (see Figure 17.2).
17.1. Configuration of Target Values¶
Target values have to be configured for milestones, hence, targets are intended to be reached at the end of the corresponding milestone. Based on the configured milestone targets, MQC calculates target values for revisions (see details in Calculation of Target Values per Revision).
The configuration of target values in MQC is done via Excel and must have the following structure:
Artifact Name: the name of the artifact a target value shall be applied to
Milestone Name: the name of the milestone a target value shall be reached
Target for Measure Name: for each measure, a target value shall be applied to, a separate column has to be filled; the column header must contain the full qualified name of the respective measure and is expected in the following notation:
Targets for base measures (as defined in the Quality Model Excel file
TargetValuesPerMilestone_Template.xlsx
to be found under:C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\TIBCO\Spotfire\10.3.3\Modules\MES.MQC.CoreExtension_X.X.X.X\Resources\SampleFiles\
within the “Base Measure” sheet):DataSourceName.MeasurementName.BaseMeasureName.VariableName.TargetName
Targets for quality properties (as defined in the Quality Model Excel file within the “Quality Model” sheet):
QualityPropertyName.TargetName
Figure 17.3 shows different options to configure target values per quality property:
for selected milestones (not the first and not the last one),
for all milestones,
for the first and the last milestone.
Please note, if the configured measure name does not contain a target name at the end, a default target name “Target” is applied by MQC instead.
To import a target value configuration Excel file, open the Target Values dialog from the Configuration section of the menu, click on
and navigate to the folder, where you have stored your configuration.Importing a new target value configuration will replace all previously imported target values.
To make the imported target values visible in the corresponding visualizations on custom pages, enable the Figure 17.4).
check box in the dialog from the configuration section of the menu (seeDisabling the check box just removes the targets from the visualizations, whereas the target value configuration still remains in MQC.
If the
check box is already enabled when importing a target value configuration, MQC will automatically update all corresponding visualizations. The same applies, when custom pages are added or replaced. MQC will automatically include already imported target values into the custom pages visualizations.To remove all configured target values, choose
in the Target Values dialog from the Configuration section of the menu. MQC then automatically updates all corresponding visualizations.17.2. Calculation of Target Values per Revision¶
Via configuration, target values can be assigned to arbitrary milestones, i.e.
to all configured milestones (see Project Milestone Structure)
to one or more but not all milestones
MQC supports target value gaps (one or more milestones without targets)
at the beginning of a project
in the mid of a project
as well as at the end of a project.
Target values are defined per (end of) milestone. Measures and quality properties in MQC are always handled per revision. Thus, MQC calculates target values per revision based on the configured milestone target values.
MQC interpolates between previous and next configured milestone target value. As init value, which is assigned to the project start date, MQC uses 0.
After the last milestone with configured target value, MQC keeps the last target value. Interpolation currently is done linearly.
Note
For a comprehensive target value calculation, a proper milestone configuration is needed. Each milestone must contain a valid milestone start and due date. Please refer to Project Milestone Structure.