Issue and trigger rebalancing in a ranked issue management system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016239786-A1
Application number	US-201514622792-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 13, 2015
Priority date	Feb 13, 2015
Publication date	Aug 18, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Described herein is a computer implemented method for maintaining a plurality of issues, each issue having an associated rank value, the rank values of the plurality of issues defining an order of the plurality of issues. The method comprises receiving a rank operation request to change the rank of a subject issue; determining relevant issues to the rank operation request; and attempting to acquire locks on each of the relevant issues. In response to successfully acquiring locks on each of the relevant issues a new rank value for the subject issue is calculated and saved.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer implemented method for performing an issue balancing process, the method comprising:
defining an issue ranking scheme which defines allowable rank values and a plurality of issue buckets; maintaining a plurality of issues, each issue having an associated issue rank within the issue ranking scheme which defines the order of the issue with respect to other issues; performing one or more balancing operations, each balancing operation being in respect of a given issue and comprising: determining a new rank value for the given issue, the new rank value resulting in the given issue being moved from a current bucket to a new bucket, and wherein the balancing operation does not affect the order of the given issue with respect to other issues.

2 . The computer implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the issue buckets are defined by ranges of issue rank values.

3 . The computer implemented method according to claim 2 , wherein determining a new rank value in a balancing operation comprises determining a new rank value falling within the range of rank values defining the new bucket.

4 . The computer implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the rank value of a given issue comprises a balancing component and a normal component which are read together as the rank value, and wherein the issue buckets are defined by the balancing component of the rank value.

5 . The computer implemented method according to claim 4 , wherein the balancing component is of a greater significance than the normal component from an order determination perspective.

6 . The computer implemented method according to claim 4 , wherein determining a new rank value in a balancing operation comprises determining a new balancing component rank value defining the new bucket and determining a new normal component rank value defining a rank within the new bucket.

7 . The computer implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein determining a new rank value comprises determining the new rank value to have a rank length of less than a maximum issue rank length.

8 . The computer implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the balancing process comprises sequentially performing balancing operations on all issues maintained.

9 . The computer implemented method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining a direction of the balancing process.

10 . The computer implemented method according to claim 9 , wherein the direction of the balancing process is determined with reference to relative rankings of the current bucket the issues are ranked in and the new bucket the issues are to be balanced into, and wherein if the new bucket has a higher rank than the current bucket a balance up process is determined, and wherein if the new bucket has a lower rank than the current bucket a balance down process is determined.

11 . The computer implemented method according to claim 9 , wherein if the balancing process is determined to be a balance up process, the balancing process comprises performing balancing operations on higher ranked issues before lower ranked issues.

12 . The computer implemented method according to claim 11 , wherein the balancing up process comprises first balancing a maximum marker, the maximum marker defining a maximum rank value.

13 . The computer implemented method according to claim 9 , wherein if the balancing process is determined to be a balance down process, the balancing process comprises performing balancing operations on lower ranked issues before higher ranked issues.

14 . The computer implemented method according to claim 13 , wherein the balancing down process comprises first balancing a minimum marker, the minimum marker defining a maximum rank value.

15 . A system for performing an issue balancing process, the system comprising:
one or more processors; one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: define an issue ranking scheme which defines allowable rank values and a plurality of issue buckets; maintain a plurality of issues, each issue having an associated issue rank within the issue ranking scheme which defines the order of the issue with respect to other issues; perform one or more balancing operations, each balancing operation being in respect of a given issue and comprising causing the one or more processors to: determine a new rank value for the given issue, the new rank value resulting in the given issue being moved from a current bucket to a new bucket, and wherein the balancing operation does not affect the order of the given issue with respect to other issues.

16 . The system according to claim 15 , wherein the issue buckets are defined by ranges of issue rank values.

17 . The system according to claim 16 , wherein determining a new rank value in a balancing operation comprises determining a new rank value falling within the range of rank values defining the new bucket.

18 . The system according to claim 15 , wherein the rank value of a given issue comprises a balancing component and a normal component which are read together as the rank value, and wherein the issue buckets are defined by the balancing component of the rank value.

19 . The system according to claim 18 , wherein the balancing component is of a greater significance than the normal component from an order determination perspective.

20 . The system according to claim 18 , wherein determining a new rank value in a balancing operation comprises determining a new balancing component rank value defining the new bucket and determining a new normal component rank value defining a rank within the new bucket.

21 . The system according to claim 15 , wherein determining a new rank value comprises determining the new rank value to have a rank length of less than a maximum issue rank length.

22 . The system according to claim 15 , wherein the balancing process comprises sequentially performing balancing operations on all issues maintained by the system.

23 . The system according to claim 15 , wherein on execution the sequences of instructions cause the one or more processors to determine a direction of the balancing process.

24 . The system according to claim 23 , wherein the direction of the balancing process is determined with reference to relative rankings of the current bucket the issues are ranked in and the new bucket the issues are to be balanced into, and wherein if the new bucket has a higher rank than the current bucket a balance up process is determined, and wherein if the new bucket has a lower rank than the current bucket a balance down process is determined.

25 . The system according to claim 23 , wherein if the balancing process is determined to be a balance up process, the balancing process comprises performing balancing operations on higher ranked issues before lower ranked issues.

26 . The system according to claim 25 , wherein the balancing up process comprises first balancing a maximum marker, the maximum marker defining a maximum rank value.

27 . The system according to claim 23 , wherein if the balancing process is determined to be a balance down process, the balancing process comprises performing balancing operations on lower ranked issues before higher ranked issues.

Assignees

• Atlassian Pty Ltd

Inventors

• Lassau Mark
• Quail Matt
• Petrov Nikolay
• Bosticky Ivo
• Elias Michael

Classifications

• G06Q10/06316 Primary

  Sequencing of tasks or work · CPC title

• G06Q10/06315

  Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis · CPC title

• G06Q10/063116 Primary

  Schedule adjustment for a person or group · CPC title