Comparison of R4J Cloud and Data Center Features

The R4J application has two different implementations, one for Jira Cloud and the other for Jira Data Center. In general, both implementations have the same or very similar functionality. However, a few features are not yet implemented in R4J Cloud and in some cases, there are differences in functionality between R4J Cloud and R4J DC. The following table lists the R4J features and describes any differences in the state of implementation and will be regularly updated.

Feature

R4J
Data Center

R4J
Cloud

Comment

Documentation

Feature

R4J
Data Center

R4J
Cloud

Comment

Documentation

Folder Structures - Organize requirements in a hierarchical folder structure.

Adding existing Jira issues and moving them around via Drag and Drop in the project tree is available in both R4J DC and R4J Cloud.

 

  • Tree View

Both R4J DC and R4J Cloud provide a tree view for the organization of requirements in a hierarchical folder structure.

In R4J DC, folders are a built-in data structure. By contrast, R4J Cloud folders are simply issues of a specified type. The Jira administrator must specify the issue type for folders as part of the overall configuration of R4J - see Specify Folder Issue Type.

Minor R4J Cloud limitations:
It is currently not possible to add Confluence pages to the hierarchy in R4J Cloud.

DC | CLOUD

  • Tree Search and Filter

In R4J Cloud, search and filter using plain text or JQL is possible. In R4J DC, several filter options are available including Basic, JQL, Jira Filter, and Folder search filters.

DC | CLOUD

  • Folder History and Status

Since folders are issues in R4J Cloud, they have all the functionality of Jira issues. For example, folders have a history and workflow status, neither of which is available for folders in R4J DC.

 

Reading View - Display requirements inside their hierarchy.

R4J DC and R4J Cloud provide equivalent functionality. The look and feel is currently different, but alignment between the two is ongoing.

DC | CLOUD

Tabular View - Display requirements as a table, suitable for reviewing large numbers of requirements.

R4J Cloud does not yet provide a tabular view.

DC

Version Control - View detailed, comparable change histories to track the evolution of your requirements.

R4J DC and R4J Cloud provide equivalent functionality.

DC | CLOUD

Baselines - Snapshot current data to keep track of milestones and support reviews.

Baselines are supported in R4J Cloud.

DC | CLOUD

Artifact Reuse - Reduce time to market by reusing requirements from existing projects.

Both R4J DC and Cloud support requirement reuse by providing copy and paste operations.

R4J DC provides several options that can be used to customize what is copied to the new issue, including the folder structure, fields, sub-tasks, attachments and links. The original and copied requirement are can be linked. The administrator can also create predefined reuse configurations.

R4J Cloud provides also options that can be used to customize what is copied to the new issue. Folder structure, attachments and link relations from parents to children are included. The original and copied requirement can be linked. Predefined reuse configurations not yet possible.

DC | CLOUD

Import - Import requirements in ReqIF format.

R4J DC allows importing any ReqIF file (as long as a ReqIF mapping is provided). R4J Cloud currently only supports ReqIF import from R4J DC as part of the migration from R4J DC to Cloud.

DC | CLOUD

Export - Export requirements in various formats.

In addition to providing export in various formats, R4J DC and Cloud support custom export templates. R4J Cloud provides additional options to restrict the views or projects in which the templates can be used.

 

  • ReqIF format

R4J DC provides export in ReqIF format with a ReqIF mapping. R4J Cloud does not currently provide export in this format.

DC

  • Word format

R4J DC provides export in Word format in its various views. R4J Cloud only provides export in Word format in the project tree view.

DC | CLOUD

  • Excel format

R4J DC provides export a template based Excel format in its various views. The administrator can provide different export templates. R4J Cloud currently only provides export in a predetermined Excel format in the Coverage View.

DC

  • XML format

R4J DC provides export in XML format in all of its views. R4J Cloud does not currently provide export in this format.

 

Microsoft Excel Integration - Seamless roundtrip integration with MS Excel.

R4J DC and R4J Cloud provide similar functionality.

DC

Traceability Matrix - Visualize and analyze the relationships within requirements as well as other sorts of issues.

R4J DC and R4J Cloud provide similar functionality.

DC | CLOUD

Coverage Analysis - Detect gaps in the coverage of your requirements across the hierarchy.

R4J DC and R4J Cloud provide similar functionality.

DC | CLOUD

Suspect Logic - Discover requirements that need review when related requirements or other sorts of issues have been changed.

R4J DC supports suspect logic directly. R4J Cloud does not yet directly support suspect logic. However, it is possible to implement suspect monitoring using native Jira automation. Direct support of suspect logic is on the roadmap.

DC | CLOUD

Advanced Queries - Use JQL to query the R4J specific data structures.

R4J DC extends JQL with “query functions”, while R4J Cloud provides “issue properties” to accomplish the same purpose. R4J Cloud does not yet support queries for links or baselines.

DC | CLOUD

REST API - Integrate and extend R4J using the extensive API.

R4J DC and R4J Cloud provide similar functionality, due to the nature of the Jira cloud concept the APIs differ.

DC | CLOUD