4.1. Create Project¶

To create a project, open the Create Project dialog from the MQC landing page.

../../_images/MQC_Create_New_Project.png — Figure 4.1 Start creating a new MQC project via the Create new Project entry in the left-hand side panel or via the menu entry in the Getting Started section inside the main window of the MQC landing page¶

Then there are two options:

either Creating a project from scratch
or via Loading a setup configuration file.

4.1.1. Creating a project from scratch¶

4.1.1.1. Default Mode¶

This is the easiest way to create a project from scratch.

Add one or more data locations containing data reports (see Data Locations) and enter the name of your project (see Project name). Additionally, a minimal revision granularity may be chosen (see Revisions).

Finish the setup by clicking the Create button.

../../_images/MQC_Create_New_Project_Dialog.png — Figure 4.2 Use the Create Project dialog (default mode) to configure the data source(s) initially, and set the project name and revision granularity.¶

This sets up a new MQC project with the reports from your data locations. Defaults are used for all remaining configurations. (see Settings)

A default quality model (see Quality Model) is automatically added based on the data found in the given data locations.

4.1.1.2. Advanced Mode¶

Alternatively, specific configurations can be set in the advanced mode.

Enable advanced mode by clicking on it in the top-right corner of the dialog window as shown in Figure 4.3.

../../_images/MQC_Create_New_Project_Advanced.png — Figure 4.3 Create Project dialog (advanced mode) to import data locations, quality model(s), project structure and to change settings before creating a project¶

The advanced mode allows to:

add configuration source files (e.g. quality model or project structure configurations, see Configuration Sources)
select or deselect file readers and connectors within the adapters section to control from where and how data is extracted from your data locations (see Adapters)
select pages, including preconfigured dashboards, to be visible after creating the project (see Pages)
adapt settings (e.g. project time frame or if propagation is be enabled, see Settings).

All configuration files will be loaded and all settings will be applied during project creation. This facilitates a more comprehensive creation of the project.

If you switch back from advanced to default mode, all of your changes will be kept and applied when creating the project, even if they are no longer visible.

Please note that all configuration settings, whether default or customized via the advanced dialog, can be changed later after the project has already been created (see Managing Configurations).

4.1.1.3. Creating an empty project¶

It is also possible to submit the Create Project dialog without selecting a data location. By doing so, an empty project is created. This is useful when configurations can be prepared, but there is not yet any data for the project.

Data locations can be added at any later point in time (see Data Locations).

4.1.2. Setup Configuration¶

A setup configuration contains all settings of the current project includig the paths of the imported configuration source files such as project structure(s) and quality model (see Managing Configurations).

A setup configuration file can be archived and later used as a backup for recreating a project or as a template for creating similar projects.

The following example shows a setup configuration in yaml format.

Listing 4.1 Setup configuration source in YAML¶

$schema: https://quality-commander.de/userguide/v87/schema/SetupConfigurationSource.schema.json
$version: 1.0
Data:
  Locations:
  - $type: MES.MQC.DataSourceLibrary.InternalConnectors.FileSystem.Forms.FileSystemDataLocationForm
    Path: Samples\SDOACar\Data
  Adapters:
    Enabled:
    - MES.MQC.DataSourceLibrary.Adapters.Files.MxamMxmrFileReader
    - MES.MQC.DataSourceLibrary.Adapters.Files.MtestHtmlFileReader
ProjectStructures:
  SourcePaths:
  - Samples\SDOACar\Config\08_ProjectStructures_ComplexStructures.yml
QualityModel:
  SourcePaths:
  - Samples\SDOACar\Config\09_QualityModel_ComplexStructures.yml
  - Suggestions\DefaultDataDetailsBins.yml
  - Suggestions\QualityModelSuggestion_MTest_Activities.yml
  - Suggestions\QualityModelSuggestion_MXAM_Activities.yml
  Bins:
  - Name: Good
    Color: '#50AF28'
    UpperQualityBoundary: 100
  - Name: Acceptable
    Color: '#F4D646'
    UpperQualityBoundary: 80
  - Name: Bad
    Color: '#D8181C'
    UpperQualityBoundary: 20
TargetValues:
  SourcePaths:
  - Samples\SDOACar\Config\06_TargetValuesPerMilestone.xlsx
Annotations: {}
Pages:
  Dashboard:
    SourcePaths:
    - Dashboards\DashboardSource_ProjectStatus.yml
    - Dashboards\DashboardSource_LatestChanges.yml
    Enabled:
    - Project Status
  Interactive:
    SourcePaths:
    - PageLayouts\QualityPageLayout.yml
    - PageLayouts\DataPageLayout.yml
    - PageLayouts\AvailabilityPageLayout.yml
    - PageLayouts\DataDetailsPageLayout.yml
    - PageLayouts\PageLayoutTemplates.yml
    Enabled:
    - Quality
    - Data
    - DataDetails
    - Availability
Settings:
  Project:
    Name: SDOAcar
  RevisionGranularity: Time
  RevisionGranularityCulture: en-GB
  ContextCategoriesEnabled: true
  Propagation: Project
  MonitoringEnabled: true
  MonitoringInterval: 10
  AutomaticDataRefreshServer: true
  AutomaticDataRefreshClient: false
  DataDetails: All
  DataDetailsMissing: PerFindingStructure
  DataDetailsLastRevisionsNum: 3
  DataDetailsRelationEnabled: true
  ActivityGenerationEnabled: true
  VisualizationPadding: 15

Typically, a setup configuration is exported from an existing project (see Exporting a setup configuration from an existing project).

To manually create a setup configuration file, the corresponding YAML schema may be used, which is available under

https://www.quality-commander.de/userguide/v87/schema/SetupConfigurationSource.schema.json

4.1.2.1. Exporting a setup configuration from an existing project¶

To export a setup configuration for the current project, click File > Export > Setup Configuration in the menu. The export menu provides the option to explicitly choose the file type of the exported setup configuration (YAML, JSON or Excel).

Please note that this menu entry is only available for users with the Editor role.

4.1.2.2. Loading a setup configuration file¶

MQC provides the possibility of importing a setup configuration file to easily set up a project.

To create a project from a setup configuration, click on the Open Setup Configuration button in the Create Project dialog as shown in Figure 4.4 and select a setup configuration file.

../../_images/MQC_Setup_Configuration_Import_CreateProjectDialog.png — Figure 4.4 Import a Setup Configuration via the Create Project dialog (default mode)¶

This will automatically switch to the advanced mode of the dialog. When importing a setup configuration, all contained configuration settings are read, validated, and the corresponding fields and sections in the configuration dialog are filled with the respective data or default values.

Subsequent adjustments can then be made (see Creating a project from scratch) before creating the project.

Please note that any settings already done in this dialog before importing a setup configuration will be overwritten.

When using the web version of MQC, the setup configuration has to be made available to the server. This can be achieved by storing it on a network drive or committing it to a git repository.

All paths inside the setup configuration have to be accessible by the server. A BasePath can be used, if the setup configuration file is located on a network drive.

4.1.3. Saving an MQC project¶

To save a newly created or updated project, click File > Save respectively click File > Save as in the menu.

There are two options:

either save the project locally as .dxp file if the project was created with the desktop client
or save the project in the server library (see Library), if the desktop client is connected to the MQC server or the project was created via the Web Player (see Web Player and Desktop Client).

Unless otherwise specified when saving, MQC uses the configured project name (see Project name) to store the project.

Depending on where it had been stored, there are two options to open an MQC project:

either via the Open local file entry in the left-hand side panel (see Figure 4.1)
or by browsing the server library using the Browse the library entry, if the desktop client is connected to the MQC server or the project was created via the Web Player.