International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 04 Issue: 09 | Sep -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

BUG TRACKING SYSTEM (BTS)

Nitumani Sarmah1, Samiran Kakoty2

1Academic Counsellor, School of Computer and Information Sciences, IGNOU, Guwahati Centre
2Schools of Computer and Information Sciences, IGNOU, Guwahati Centre
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Abstract - A bug tracking system (BTS) is a software 2. OBJECTIVES OF BTS
application that is designed to help programmers to keep
track of reported software bugs in their work. A major The following are the objective of our work.
component of bug tracking system is a database that records
facts and known bugs submitted by the tester. Bug Tracking a) Application to keep track of bugs detected in a
System is an ideal solution to track the bugs of a product, project being developed.
solution or an application. Bug Tracking System allows b) Real-time tracking solution to keep track of the bugs
individual or groups of developers to keep track of outstanding detected.
bugs in their product effectively. c) Tool to track the performance of the developer
d) To make an application bug free.
Key Words: Error, Bugs, Software Development Life Cycle e) Efficient communication medium for project
(SDLC), bug categories, bug priorities Bug Tracker. manager, developer and tester.
f) Maximum possibility for reporting a bug and
1.INTRODUCTION debugging the issue.
g) Bug Tracking System is to test the application for the
Bug tracking is a system which is used to solve out any type bugs and report it to the project manager and
of bugs in any software. It is mostly useful for any software developer.
company. In this system we have design different types of h) Store the bug information with a unique id in the
user permission like developer, tester having different rights database.
to connect software. i) Easy to keep track of the bug and its resolving status.

A bug tracking system helps us to keep track of bugs 3. FUNCTIONALITIES

detected by tester of software and provide complete details
regarding bugs to the developer as well as project manager The functionalities of our work is as discussed below
of the software being tested. Bug Tracking System ensures
the user of it will be able track the bug details as well as the 3.1. Web Based
status of debugging.
Programs that are not web based require to be downloaded
For many years, bug-tracking mechanism is employed only and installed onto each computer to run it. This can be time
in some of the large software development houses. Most of consuming and can create a lot of hassle. Web based bug
the other small firms and developers never bothered with tracking system, on the other hand offer a program that does
bug tracking at all, instead they simply relied on shared lists not have to be downloaded. This is a big advantage since it
and email to monitor the status of defects. This procedure is can be accessed from any computer, anywhere. This means
error-prone and tends the developer to consider the bug as the tool can be used by multiple people at different
insignificant which ends up being dropped or ignored. computers without hassle of having to install on each
computer. It also is always updated, automatically.
Bug Tracking System plays a vital role in the testing phase.
The Bug Tracking System maintains the different user 3.2. Increased Productivity
interfaces separately i.e., it provides separate environments
for project manager, developer and tester. Bugs will be The Bug Tracking System can dramatically increase the
assigned to a person along with a bug id, screenshot, productivity and accountability of individual employees by
description, project name, etc. Bug can be submitted to the providing a documented workflow and positive feedback for
tester with an attachment for detailed report of the bug. good performance.
Admin can maintain users, projects, organizations, bug
categories, bug priorities, status of bug etc. 3.3. Quality of the Software

Bug tracking helps to improve the quality of software.

Without keeping track of the bugs, there would be no way to
© 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1445
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 09 | Sep -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

maintain control of what each person on the team works on,

fixes and finds problems with. Bug tracking system allows
prioritizing and making decisions that affect the quality of
the software.

3.4. One Shared, Central Location

Keeping all the issues in one place makes them much easier
to find. One doesn’t have to worry about finding the latest
message in an email chain, and work won’t stop even if
someone accidentally deletes the ‘bugs’ document from the
local storage.

3.5. Accountability

An issue tracker allows assigning issues to specific people, so

it’s easy to see who is working
on what at any given moment.

3.6. Paper Trails

If you ever need to refer to previous updates to an issue, or

need to review issues that were resolved in the past, bug
tracking software can help. Every update is permanently
logged, allowing you to quickly see who worked on the issue,
how long they worked on it, and how the issue progressed to
completion.
5. MODULES
4. SYSTEM DESIGN
5.1 Dashboard
4.1 Context Diagram
This module is first interface to the user after login into the
A system context diagram (SCD) in engineering is a diagram system. This provides quick access to frequently used
that defines the boundary between the system, or part of a modules by the user. It also has various information blocks
system, and its environment, showing the entities that to display application related information or data in list or
interact with it. This diagram is a high level view of a system. graphical chart. It may contain various input blocks (forms)
It is similar to a block diagram. So in the below depicted to quickly enter data. The dashboard will also have
diagram we have showcased the working principle of our navigation menu to access other modules in the application.
work.
5.2 Project Application Management

When a new application is added for testing, the application

needs to be managed by the user. This module allows the
user to manage and edit an application details such as
application id, developer details, tester, status of application,
etc. At this module user can also edit application details and
even delete application from the system.

5.3 Application list and details

4.2 ER Diagram
This module lets the user to view and manage the list of
The following ER Diagram is created to represent attributes application assigned to a user. It only shows those
as well as entities and relationships. It is typically application which the user will access. The user can sort this
implemented as a database. list by various parameters like last updated. It also shows the
details of the application like current working team,
application id, application status, etc.

© 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1446
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 09 | Sep -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

5.4 Developer management 5.9 Report

This module allows adding, editing, viewing and deleting the In this module the project manager will be able to generate
details of developer from the list of developers. It also lets reports at various stages like application being tested, bugs
the user to grant and revoke permission to access a project tracked by tester, bugs resolved by developer, developer
application. performance, tester performance periodically.

5.5 Developer performance 5.10 Profile management

This module is to track and generate report on the This module holds the account information for the user. It
performance of a developer. The performance of the has facility for the user to update profile details like name,
developer is based on total number of bugs fixed, average email, contact no, etc. Using this module user can change the
time taken to fix a bug, etc. password periodically or whenever required.

5.6 Tester Management 5.11 Login

This module allows the user to add, view, edit, and delete a This module is responsible to authenticate user with login
tester from the system. It allows assigning and revoking credentials entered. This module validates the input with the
permission from a tester to test an application. database and allows the valid user to access proper and
respective control panel. After validating the user, it also
5.7 Bug tracking and status management creates a session for the active user. Before validating the
credentials, it encrypts the input with proper algorithm.
At this module the user will be able to update bug details
that have been generated at the application. After adding the 5.12 Logout
bug details, a unique bug issue id will be generated. Keeping
the reference of the unique id, the bug status can be tracked. This module is responsible to securely logout the active user
from the application. It also destroys the active session for
5.7.1 Bug update the user from the server.

This module allows to create a new bug entry in system 6. USERS OF BTS
along with detailed information about the bug which
includes bug id, bug name, bug priority, project name, bug 6.1 Project Manager (Admin)
location, bug type, cause of the bug, screenshot image of the
bug, data used to generate bug or situation that caused the The project manager is also the administrator of the system.
bug, error id (if any). He/she has access to all the modules of the system. The
project manager assigns a developed application to the
5.7.2 Bug report Testers for testing. The tester tests the application and
identifies bugs in the application. When the tester
This module will be accessed by the developer user to get encounters a bug, he generates a unique id number for each
update on bugs that has been traced by the tester at the individual bug. The project manager interface uses the
application. The user will be able to access complete details following modules.
of the bug.
a) Admin Dashboard
5.7.3 Bug follow up b) Project Application Management
c) Developer Management
This module helps to keep track of all the bugs that have d) Tester Management
been assigned to a user. It displays all the changes that have e) Bug Tracking and Status Management
been made to the bug report since the creation of the bug. f) Developer performance
g) Application Status
5.8 Application Status h) Report
i) Admin profile Management
This module allows tracking the current status of the
application like developer team, testing team, reported bugs, 6.2 Tester
fixed bugs, etc. and also displays the status of bugs present in
the application. Tester can access to the projects or bugs assigned by the
manager, can view the assigned projects and can add a new

© 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1447
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 09 | Sep -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

bug to the list and send the bug back to the manager and the 7.2 Generate reports on the overall performance of
developer. Tester can login to the system and access the the system
assigned projects list. Whenever the tester encounters a bug
he adds the bug id and information in the application. The system admin can generate report on the bug tracking
Following are the modules use in this interface. system’s performance from time to time to prevent or fix any
kind of inconvenience that might be faced by the users while
a) Dashboard using the system.
b) Application list and details
c) Bug Update 7.3 Allowing any user to report bugs at ease
d) Bug follow up
e) Application Status Reporting bugs of any know software could be done by any
f) Report public user at any point of time which would analyzed by the
g) Tester profile Management tester and the validated bugs would be forwarded to the
developer for fixes.
6.3 Developer
7.4 Making site responsive to work with mobile
The is the one who develops the application as per customer
requirements and is responsible for the bug fixes. Can access Optimization of the system to use in mobile devices would
the task or bug assigned by the manager, view assigned benefit the users with faster and easier accessibility of the
projects and resolving the assigned bug. Developer can view web application.
the bugs list assigned by the manager. Following modules
are used in the developer module. 7.5 Developing mobile app
a) Dashboard A mobile app for the Bug Tracking System would help the
b) Application list user to easily access the system as well as to store and access
c) Bug Report data locally. It will also help to get real-time updates and
d) Bug follow up notification and the ongoing projects.
e) Developers Profile Management.
7.6 Email/SMS notification to tester/developer
7. FUTURE WORK
Automatic SMS alert and email notification to the testers and
The development of this project surely helps to solve and developers about bug reports, bug fixes, etc. can be
address all the problems faced by software testers and introduced to help the users keep track of the projects
developers. It can be implemented in almost any software without logging into the system.
development firms even freelance developers can make use
of this system on being upgraded in the future. Both in-house 7.7 Discussion forum
development and outsourced projects can be tested and the
bug issues can be fixed with ease using this system. A discussion to get the user to interact with the team
members to discuss about various types of bugs and the
Moreover, some parts of the project have remained ways to solve them. Also help each other to solve a problem
uncompleted due to some limitations of the project, which by working together in a group.
makes a place for future enhancements. Though that was not
the part of the objective of the project it would be great to
8. CONCLUSIONS
implement provided we’d have enough time. Some of those
limitations which make scope for future developments are as
A good Bug Tracking System (BTS) will do the task like
follows.
reporting, managing and fixing the bugs (if any). We are
trying our best here in this work to build an automated Bugs
7.1 Prioritize bug based on severity Tracking System which will help the developers and user to
choose and to find out the bugs as per their requirement and
Bugs can be set by the tester to ensure that the important constraints.
bugs are given a higher preference by the developer to fix
them as soon as they are found.
REFERENCES

[1] J. Aranda and G. Venolia, “The secret life of bugs: Going

past the errors and omissions in software repositories”,

© 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1448
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 09 | Sep -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

In ICSE’09 Proceedings of the 31st International

Conference on Software Engineering, 2009.

[2] Singh V.B., Kapur P.K. and Abhishek Tandon, “Measuring

Reliability Growth of Software by Considering Fault
Dependency, Debugging Time Lag and Irregular
Fluctuation”, ACM SIGSOFT, Software Engineering Notes
Vol. 35 , No.3 pp.1-11, May 2010.

[3] V.B. Singh, Krishna Kumar Chaturvedi, “Bug Tracking

and Reliability Assessment System (BTRAS)”
International Journal of Software Engineering and Its
Applications Vol. 5 No. 4, October, 2011.

[4] J. Anvik, L. Hiew, and G. C. Murphy, Who should fix this

bug?, In ICSE06 Proceedings of the 28th International
Conference on Software engineering, pages 361370.

BIOGRAPHIES

Mr. Nitumani Sarmah

Assistant Professor, USTM.
Also Working as Academic
Counselor at IGNOU, School of
Computer and Information
Sciences, Guwahati Regional
Center.

Mr. Samiran Kakoty

School of Computer and
Information Sciences.
IGNOU, Guwahati Regional Center

© 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1449