Release date: November 15th , 2023

New general improvements

•  Write-off expiry date is displayed in the UTC TimeZone in the Debt Manager and Peer Review dashboards.
  
  Pre-requisites: Have access to Debt Manager and Peer Review dashboards. Write-off approver permissions.
  
  Description: 
  
  The write-off expiration time is now displayed in UTC timezone, which allows teams to identify the precise moment when the write-off will expire and the issue will reopen.
   
  

→ How to enter an expiration date when approving a write-off expiration in the Peer Review Dashboard:

• • Go to the Quality Clouds Main Portal.
  • On the top, select the dropdown called “View”.
  • Select Peer Review Dashboard.
  • Click on the write-off located in the Progress column.
  • Select the Action to apply.
  • Define an Expiration Date if the action to apply is to Approve the write-off.

→ How to access the "Write Off Expiration Date" in the Peer Review Dashboard:

• • Go to the Quality Clouds Main Portal.
  • On the top, select the dropdown called “View”.
  • Select Peer Review Dashboard.
  • On the top go to the Grid graphics view.
  • Check the "Expiration Date" column.

→ How to access the "Write Off Expiration Date" in the Debt Manager Dashboard: 

• • Go to the Quality Clouds Main Portal.
  • On the top, select the dropdown called “View”.
  • Select Debt Manager dashboard.
    
  • Click on Closed (Written off) tab.
  • Go to the Closed Issues Justified tab.
  • Check the "Write Off Expiration Date" column.

 Use cases:

• • To approve the write-off: You can approve a write-off with an expiration date, offering the opportunity to reassess the issue at a later time. This feature proves beneficial, especially when enforcing Quality Gates conditions or dealing with diverse project types.
  • Once the expiration date for an approved write-off elapses, the issue reverts to the Active tab within the Debt Manager dashboard, marking the write-off status as expired.  

• New columns and ability to customize the grid in the Debt Manager dashboard.

Pre-requisites: Have access to the Debt Manager Dashboard. 

Description:

The Debt Manager dashboard categorizes issues or violations identified post Full Scan into three main classifications: Active, Closed Written-off, and Closed Fixed. This dashboard serves as a navigational tool for users to address technical debt-related concerns. Leveraging the write-off functionality, users have the ability to exclude specific issues from subsequent scans, enabling them to focus on issues that matter most to their development strategy.

In this release, we have added the columns "write-off status" and "write-off expiration date" to the grid view. The grid layout can be configured through the "Table Configuration" option.

This improvement will affect all the customers using ServiceNow, Salesforce and Office 365 and all users (Admin user, Project user, Normal user) with access to Debt Manager dashboard.

→ How to customize the grid: 

• Go to the Quality Clouds Main Portal.
• Select an instance.
• On the top, select the dropdown called “View”.
• Select Debt Manager dashboard.
• Select "Table configuration" option to customize the grid.
• Enable/disable the columns you want to view.
• Click and drag the column to reorder the layout of the grid.

Use cases: 

• • Requirements to organize dashboard information according to data prioritisation.
    
    
• New columns in the Peer Review dashboard.
  
  Pre-requisites: Have access to the Peer Review dashboard.
  
  Description: 

The Peer Review dashboard allows QC portal users to view the status of write-off exceptions generated by developers from the ServiceNow application. These exceptions can be further assigned to specific users based on configuration settings from the Admin Panel.

In this release, new columns have been added to the grid view of the Peer Review dashboard:

• • The "ID" column displays the unique ID of the Peer Review of an issue that has been requested for a write-off.
  • The "Action" column displays the status of the write-off. It shows "Approved" when the write-off has been accepted, "Rejected" when it hasn't been accepted (meaning the issue needs fixing), and "Pending" when there's no response yet.
  • The "Approved/Rejected Date" applies only to resolved issues with an approved or rejected action.

These changes aim to enhance the tracking of write-offs and provide more detailed information in the dashboard, offering a clear overview of the changes. This improvement will affect all the customers using ServiceNow, Salesforce and Office 365 and all users (Admin user, Project user, Normal user) with access to Peer Review dashboard.

→ How to view these new columns: 

• Go to the Quality Clouds Main Portal.
• Select an instance.
• On the top, select the dropdown called “View”.
• Select Peer Review dashboard.
• Go to the grid view.

• Tracking the ID when generating a write-off.
  
  Pre-requisites: Permissions (API Keys) to create a write-off when requesting a Peer Review using the Quality Clouds Application. 
  
  Description:
  
  The write-off feature, accessible in ServiceNow, Salesforce, and Office 365, allows users to exclude specific issues from future scans making it easier to manage issues that are deemed important by the governance team . When requesting a write-off, a unique ID is created. This ID serves as the unique identifier for the write-off, making it easy to identify each write-off within the platform. It's available for Normal, Project, and Admin users.
  Tracking write-off activities is possible using the unique ID in the Peer Review Dashboard. Additionally, when someone is added as an approver for a write-off request in an instance, they receive an email notification, which also includes this unique ID.
  
  

→ How to track the write- off Id in the Peer Review Dashboard:

• • Log into the Quality Clouds Main Portal.
  • Navigate to Peer Review dashboard.
  • Click on a requested Write-off for Peer Review to check the "Issues detail". 
  • Click on Issue Activity.
  • Verify the write-off id.
    
    
    

            Use cases:

• • Creating a write-off for an issue triggers a Peer Review request. The unique ID generated allows users to view the lifecycle of the issue.
    
    
•  A message warning about existing API Keys when deactivating/deleting specific users.
  
  Pre-requisites: A user that has created other users and related API keys to them.
  
  Description: 
  
  It is necessary to contact to Quality Clouds support, to eliminate a user that created several users with API Keys related. A message will pop up to warn about revoking/deleting the API Key, as a precondition to delete the user.
  
  → How to deactivate a user:

• • Go to the Quality Clouds Main Portal.
  • Select the Account tab.
  • Select the Users tab.
  • Click on  the toggle "Active" to deactivate a user.
  • A warning pop up will appear.
    
    
    

• • Quality Clouds support will deactivate the user.
    
    
    

• • Once the user is deactivated, it is possible to delete it by clicking on the trash icon.

New ServiceNow Best practices

• ACLs should not be entirely empty or contain the “Public” role.

New ServiceNow rule (SN-WEAK-ACL).

Description:

It mandates empty or "Public" role-containing ACLs can expose private data to unauthenticated users. To address this, developers are required to ensure ACLs on tables with private data, while excluding the "Public" role.

• Scheduled Jobs should specified a value for "Run as" field

New ServiceNow rule (SN-0472).

Description:

It mandates that scheduled jobs perform tasks that might require special access to resources. To address this, developers are required to validate job configurations for any defined values under the "Run as" field. 

• Scheduled Jobs should not be run by inactive/locked out users

New ServiceNow rule (SN-0471).

Description:

It mandates that scheduled jobs need an active user with proper resource access in the "Run as" field for successful execution. To address this, developers need to schedule all jobs with a "Run as" value have an active user, avoiding inactive/locked out accounts.

• A new set of ServiceNow rules have been implemented to detect usage of the GlideRecordSecure API (as well as the GlideRecord API) in client side code. In order to avoid duplicate detection of issues, the previously existing SN0007 rule has been deprecated. Instances which are created after the release of version 23.15 will not run rule SN0007, and will only run the set of six rules which replace it. Instances which were created before this release will continue to run rule SN0007, and will not run any of the new rules until they are manually activated. Note that in order to avoid duplicate issues, rule SN0007 should be set as ignored at the same time as the below new rules are activated.

• • GlideRecord and GlideRecordSecure should not be used in client side scripts - New ServiceNow rule (SN-GLIDERECORD-USAGE).
  • GlideRecord and GlideRecordSecure should not be used in Service Portal Widget-Client Script - New ServiceNow rule (SN-GLIDERECORD-USAGE-PWI-CLIENT).
  • GlideRecord and GlideRecordSecure should not be used in Catalog UI Policies. Script false - New ServiceNow rule (SN-GLIDERECORD-USAGE-CUIP-FALS).
  • GlideRecord and GlideRecordSecure should not be used in Catalog UI Policies. Script true - New ServiceNow rule (SN-GLIDERECORD-USAGE-CUIP-TRUE).
  • GlideRecord and GlideRecordSecure should not be used in UI Policies. Script false- New ServiceNow rule (SN-GLIDERECORD-USAGE-UIP-FALSE).
  • GlideRecord and GlideRecordSecure should not be used in UI Policies. Script true - New ServiceNow rule (SN-GLIDERECORD-USAGE-UIP-TRUE).

New Salesforce Best practices

• Avoid return statements in try/catch finally blocks.

New Salesforce rule (SF-AVOID-RETURN-FINALLY).

Description:

It mandates addressing the issue where return statements in try/catch finally blocks always execute, disregarding prior exceptions; to address this, remove such statements and review error handling logic.

• Cognitive Complexity

New Salesforce rule (SF-COGN-COMPLEX).

Description:

This rule impacts readability and maintenance costs. Developers must avoid structures that condense multiple statements into one, prevent breaks in the linear code flow, and steer clear of nested flow-breaking structures.

• Avoid Non Existent Annotations

New Salesforce rule (SF-COGN-COMPLEX).

Description:

This rule impacts Apex by supporting non-existent annotations for legacy reasons. Developers must replace legacy annotations with newer ones to remedy this.

• Inaccessible Aura Enabled Getter

New PMD rule for Salesforce (SF-INACC-AURA).

Description:

This practice ensures proper access control for Apex properties in Lightning components, restricting private or protected getters in Aura and Lightning Web Components. Developers need to make these getters public for compliance and clear functionality.

• Override Both Equals And Hashcode

New PMD rule for Salesforce (SF-OVERRIDE-BOTH).

Description:

This best practice requires developers to either override both public Boolean equals(Object obj) and public Integer hashCode() methods or not override either. 

• Test Methods Must Be In Test Classes

New PMD rule for Salesforce (SF-OVERRIDE-BOTH).

Description:

Test methods marked with @IsTest or testMethod, not in a test class, must be relocated or have @IsTest added to the class. Developers need to create an apex class with @isTest annotation and move the method to the class.

Bug fixes

•  Ability to assign a Peer Review approver to deactivated users
  
  

Bug explanation:

In the Peer Review dashboard, it was possible to assign a Peer Review approver to a deactivated user named "Removed user." This bug was affecting ServiceNow and Salesforce users.

Solution: 

When assigning an approver for a Peer Review, the deactivated user does not appear in the drop-down.

•  Sorting action works incorrectly in Live Check dashboard
  
  

Bug explanation:

In the Live Check dashboard, when sorting data from any column, the data was not displayed properly.

Solution: 

The bug has been fixed, and now sorting data in the Live Check dashboard works correctly.

• Toggles not working correctly in Admin portal
  
  

Bug explanation:

In the Admin portal, all toggles (with an active/inactive action) did not function properly as clicking on them didn't make any change. 

Solution: 

The bug has been fixed, and now toggles change correctly based on the clicked action.

• A rule generates a mismatch

Bug explanation:

The best practice “Dictionary entries present for a table that does not exist” is generating false positives.

Solution: 

The bug has been fixed, and now in the upcoming scan, all false positives will be closed.

• Scan Update Set error message
  
  

Bug explanation:

In the Admin portal, when upload information with XML format, in the Scan Update Set option, additional information related to the error message was required.  

Solution: 

When data in the XML format is not correct, additional information will show up, clarifying the error.