Inconsistency between started date and status of a Test Run

Hi,

The "Started on" information of a Test Run is set to the time when it was first opened by choosing "Execute" for this Test in the Test Execution. It doesn't matter if I do anything in the Test Run or not.

The "Status" information of a Test Run is set to "Executing" as soon as the first step is marked with a status.

This feels a bit inconsistent. In my opinion there is just one particular moment in which I start a Test Run. Either it is started, then the "Status" should be "Executing", or it is still "To Do", then the "Started on" should not be set.
The current behaviour leads to the following situations:

1. The tester clicks on "Execute", reads the Pre-Condition, and decides he can't continue right now. He hasn't done anything, still the "Started on" is already set. By this the "Started on" information is useless, as it just is the time somebody opened it for the first time.
2. The tester clicks on "Execute" and starts setting up the Pre-Condition. While doing so, the "Status" of the Test Run is still "To Do". At the Test Execution or Test Plan it looks like nobody is working on this Test Run. Of course I could add a first step "Setup the Pre-Condition" and tell the tester to set its status to "Executing" as soon as he starts, but this feels like a strange workaround. As well defining "As soon as somebody is assigned at the Test Run it is in progress" is not really a solution, because it is easily forgotten.

In my opinion, executing the Test Run should either not set the "Started on", or it should as well affect the Status. I would prefer the second option.

Regards,
Carsten Neumann

Edit: The solution was to make the Started On and Finished On dates editable. Those dates can be configured to be editable on the Xray global preferences.