Patent ID: 8615741

Claim:
A method for improved management of software defect items, the method comprising: maintaining, in a defect tracking apparatus, a plurality of defect attributes the plurality of defect attributes regarding a software defect item, wherein the software code is under a developing process by a software developer, the software defect item comprising a defect in software code, the plurality of defect attributes associated with the software defect item, wherein the plurality of defect attributes include at least one primary attribute and at least one first derived attribute, the at least one primary attribute received by the defect tracking apparatus from a user, a user comprising the software developer using the defect tracking apparatus to track software defect items, and wherein the first derived attribute is derived from one or more of a primary attribute and a second derived attribute of the plurality of defect attributes, the derived attributes derived using one or more predefined rules associated with the defect tracking apparatus without specific direction of a user; associating at least one of the primary attributes and at least one of the derived attributes with a user, the user associated with the software defect item; determining if action is required by the user on the software defect item, wherein the determination is made using the at least one primary attribute and the at least one derived attribute; and alerting the user that action by the user is required in response to determining that action is required by the user.