Managing To-Do Tasks Scheduled in a Project

Introduction

While developing new code, you have likely often had a quick glimpse of a problem or situation you would like your code to handle, but had no time to deal with that idea right away. Perhaps you kept notes on a piece of paper or even filed formal tickets in a bug tracker, but there is a better way - maintaining notes directly in the source code. This feature is called Tasks, and it is available in both Riviera-PRO and ALINT.

Utilizing the Tasks window

Anywhere in a file, you can add a comment which starts with a predefined tag, leaving a note to yourself (or other project team members).

Figure 1 Comment with the predefined tag within the source code

Then, at a later time, you can utilize the Tasks window to review all of those notes or tasks assigned within your project, which will allow you to prioritize and deal with them one by one. To view the Tasks window, go to View | Tasks.

Figure 2 Tasks window sorted by priority

The Task window is used to keep track of two types of tasks:

1. Global: Tasks that are not associated with any particular source file or block of code. To create a global task, right-click the empty space within the Tasks window and select Add Task.

   

   Figure 3 Tasks window: global tasks

2. Tagged: Tasks that are associated with contexts which allows filenames and line numbers to be noted for tasks based on the tagged comments. This also enables cross-probing, which the user can double-click the task and is taken directly to the appropriate tagged comment line.

   

   Figure 4 Cross-probing tagged tasks

You can customize the list of predefined tags by going to Tools | Preferences | Tools | Tasks | Tags. This comes especially in handy if you want to comply with a certain bug or action item identification and tracking scheme specific to your current project (e.g. BUG_ID=1234).

Figure 5 Predefined tags list

Since tasks are visible to all project members, this functionality can be used during the code reviews process. Project Leads are able to review code (either manually or using ALINT with the: Interoperability of tasks) created by their peers, leave comments with actionable items whenever appropriate, and distribute them across the team by committing their changes to the project repository.

Conclusion

The Tasks window is an easy to use tool integrated with Riviera-PRO and ALINT that enables quick note taking. All of the project related notes are organized and kept at your fingertips, improving productivity, facilitating collaboration, and multitasking.