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Hint
This document will refer to issues as the primary store of information in the tracker. This is the default of the classic template, but may vary in any given installation.
Your tracker holds information about issues in bundles we call items. An item may be an issue (a bug or feature request) or a user. The issue-ness or user-ness is called the item's class. So, for bug reports and features, the class is "issue", and for users the class is "user".
Each item in the tracker has an id number that identifies it along with its item class. To identify a particular issue or user, we combine the class with the number to create a unique label, so that user 1 (who, incidentally, is always the "admin" user) is referred to as "user1". Issue number 315 is referred to as "issue315". We call that label the item's designator.
Items in the database are never deleted, they're just "retired". You can still refer to them by ID - hence removing an item won't break references to the item. It's just that the item won't appear in any listings.
You may access your tracker through one of three ways:
The last is usually only used by administrators. Most users will use the web and e-mail interfaces. All three are explained below.
New issues may be submitted via the web or e-mail.
By default, the issue will have the status "unread". If another message is received for the issue, its status will change to "chatting".
The "home" page for a tracker will generally display all issues which are not "resolved".
If an issue is closed, and a new message is received then it'll be reopened to the state of "chatting".
The full set of prority and status values are:
Priority | Description |
---|---|
"critical" | panic: work is stopped! |
"urgent" | important, but not deadly |
"bug" | lost work or incorrect results |
"feature" | want missing functionality |
"wish" | avoidable bugs, missing conveniences |
Status | Description |
---|---|
"unread" | submitted but no action yet |
"deferred" | intentionally set aside |
"chatting" | under review or seeking clarification |
"need-eg" | need a reproducible example of a bug |
"in-progress" | understood; development in progress |
"testing" | we think it's done; others, please test |
"done-cbb" | okay for now, but could be better |
"resolved" | fix has been released |
All interfaces to your tracker use the same format for entering values. This means the web interface for entering a new issue, the web interface for searching issues, the e-mail interface and even the command-line administration tool.
These fields just take a simple text value, like It's broken.
These fields take a value which indicates "yes"/"no", "true"/"false", "1"/"0" or "on"/"off".
Fields like "Assigned To" and "Topics" hold references to items in other classes ("user" and "keyword" in those two cases.)
Sometimes, the selection is done through a menu, like in the "Assigned To" field.
Where the input is not a simple menu selection, we use a comma-separated list of values to indicated which values of "user" or "keyword" are interesting. The values may be either numeric ids or the names of items. The special value "-1" may be used to match items where the property is not set. For example, the following searches on the issues:
Date-and-time stamps are specified with the date in international standard format (yyyy-mm-dd) joined to the time (hh:mm:ss) by a period .. Dates in this form can be easily compared and are fairly readable when printed. An example of a valid stamp is 2000-06-24.13:03:59. We'll call this the "full date format". When Timestamp objects are printed as strings, they appear in the full date format.
For user input, some partial forms are also permitted: the whole time or just the seconds may be omitted; and the whole date may be omitted or just the year may be omitted. If the time is given, the time is interpreted in the user's local time zone. The Date constructor takes care of these conversions. In the following examples, suppose that yyyy is the current year, mm is the current month, and dd is the current day of the month.
When searching, a plain date entered as a search field will match that date exactly in the database. We may also accept ranges of dates. You can specify range of dates in one of two formats:
English syntax:
[From <value>][To <value>]
Keywords "From" and "To" are case insensitive. Keyword "From" is optional.
"Geek" syntax:
[<value>];[<value>]
Either first or second <value> can be omitted in both syntaxes.
For example, if you enter string "from 9:00" to "Creation date" field, roundup will find all issues, that were created today since 9 AM.
The <value> may also be an interval, as described in the next section. Searching of "-2m; -1m" on activity field gives you issues which were active between period of time since 2 months up-till month ago.
Other possible examples (consider local time is 2003-03-08.22:07:48):
Date intervals are specified using the suffixes "y", "m", and "d". The suffix "w" (for "week") means 7 days. Time intervals are specified in hh:mm:ss format (the seconds may be omitted, but the hours and minutes may not).
Item edit pages remember when the item was last edited. When a form is submitted, the user will be informed if someone else has edited the item at the same time they tried to.
Note
This document contains screenshots of the default look and feel. Your site may have a slightly (or very) different look, but the functionality will be very similar, and the concepts still hold.
The web interface is broken up into the following parts:
The first thing you'll see when you log into Roundup will be a list of open (ie. not resolved) issues. This list has been generated by a bunch of controls under the covers but for now, you can see something like:
The screen is divided up into three sections:
you may either register or log in. Registration takes you to:
Once you're logged in, the screen changes slightly to:
Note that the sidebar menu has changed slightly, so you can now get to your "My Details" page:
Note the new information on this page - the history.
Create a new issue with "create new" under the issue subheading. This will take you to:
The nosy list is explained below. Enter some information and click "submit new entry" and you'll be rewarded with:
or, if you don't enter all the required information (or some other error occurs) you'll get something like:
See entering values in your tracker for an explanation of what you may type into the search form.
You may save queries in the tracker by giving the query a name. Each user may only have one query with a given name - if a subsequent search is performed with the same query name supplied, then it will edit the existing query of the same name.
Queries may be marked as "private". These queries are only visible to the user that created them. If they're not marked "private" then all other users may include the query in their list of "Your Queries". Marking it as private at a later date does not affect users already using the query, nor does deleting the query.
If a user subsequently creates or edits a public query, a new personal version of that query is made, with the same editing rules as described above.
The searching page converts your selections into the following arguments:
Argument | Description |
---|---|
@sort | sort by prop name, optionally preceeded with '-' to give descending or nothing for ascending sorting. The sort argument can have several props separated with comma. |
@group | group by prop name, optionally preceeded with '-' or to sort in descending or nothing for ascending order. The group argument can have several props separated with comma. |
@columns | selects the columns that should be displayed. Default is all. |
@filter | indicates which properties are being used in filtering. Default is none. |
propname | selects the values the item properties given by propname must have (very basic search/filter). |
@search_text | performs a full-text search (message bodies, issue titles, etc) |
You may manually write URLS that contain these arguments, like so (whitespace has been added for clarity):
/issue?status=unread,in-progress,resolved& topic=security,ui& @group=priority,-status& @sort=-activity& @filters=status,topic& @columns=title,status,fixer
User access is controlled through Permissions. These are are grouped into Roles, and users have a comma-separated list of Roles assigned to them.
Permissions divide access controls up into answering questions like:
Any number of new Permissions and Roles may be created as described in the customisation documentation. Examples of new access controls are:
Roundup trackers may be used to facilitate e-mail conversations around issues. The "nosy" list attached to each issue indicates the users who should receive e-mail when messages are added to the issue.
When e-mail comes into a tracker that identifies an issue in the subject line, the content of the e-mail is attached to the issue.
You may even create new issues from e-mail messages.
E-mail sent to a tracker is examined for several pieces of information:
The subject line of the incoming message is examined to find one of:
If the subject line contains a prefix in [square brackets] then we're looking at case 1 or 2 above. Any "re:" or "fwd:" prefixes are stripped off the subject line before we start looking for real information.
If an item designator (class name and id number, for example issue123) is found there, a new "msg" item is added to the "messages" property for that item, and any new "file" items are added to the "files" property for the item.
If just an item class name is found there, we attempt to create a new item of that class with its "messages" property initialized to contain the new "msg" item and its "files" property initialized to contain any new "file" items.
The third case above - where no [information] is provided, the tracker's MAIL_DEFAULT_CLASS configuration variable defines what class of item the message relates to. We try to match the subject line to an existing item of the default class, and if there's a match, the message is related to that matched item. If not, then a new item of the default class is created.
The e-mail interface also provides a simple way to set properties on items. At the end of the subject line, propname=value pairs can be specified in square brackets, using the same conventions as for the roundup set shell command.
For example,
setting the priority of an issue:
Subject: Re: [issue1] the coffee machine is broken! [priority=urgent]
adding yourself to a nosy list:
Subject: Re: [issue2] we're out of widgets [nosy=+richard]
setting the nosy list to just you and cliff:
Subject: Re: [issue2] we're out of widgets [nosy=richard,cliff]
removing yourself from a nosy list and setting the priority:
Subject: Re: [issue2] we're out of widgets [nosy=-richard;priority=bug]
In all cases, the message relates to issue 2. The Re: prefix is stripped off.
If the sender of an e-mail is unknown to Roundup (looking up both user primary e-mail addresses and their alternate addresses) then a new user will be created. The new user will have their username set to the "user" part of "user@domain" in their e-mail address. Their password will be completely randomised, and they'll have to visit the web interface to have it changed. Some sites don't allow web access by users who register via e-mail like this.
Roundup only associates plain text (MIME type text/plain) as messages for items. Any other parts of a message are associated as downloadable files. If no plain text part is found, the message is rejected.
To do this, incoming messages are examined for multiple parts:
If the message is a response to a previous message, and contains quoted sections, then these will be stripped out of the message if the EMAIL_KEEP_QUOTED_TEXT configuration variable is set to 'no'.
The "summary" property on message items is taken from the first non-quoting section in the message body. The message body is divided into sections by blank lines. Sections where the second and all subsequent lines begin with a ">" or "|" character are considered "quoting sections". The first line of the first non-quoting section becomes the summary of the message.
All of the addresses in the To: and Cc: headers of the incoming message are looked up among the tracker users, and the corresponding users are placed in the "recipients" property on the new "msg" item. The address in the From: header similarly determines the "author" property of the new "msg" item. The default handling for addresses that don't have corresponding users is to create new users with no passwords and a username equal to the address.
The addresses mentioned in the To:, From: and Cc: headers of the message may be added to the nosy list depending on:
Roundup watches for additions to the "messages" property of items.
When a new message is added, it is sent to all the users on the "nosy" list for the item that are not already on the "recipients" list of the message. Those users are then appended to the "recipients" property on the message, so multiple copies of a message are never sent to the same user. The journal recorded by the hyperdatabase on the "recipients" property then provides a log of when the message was sent to whom.
If the author of the message is also in the nosy list for the item that the message is attached to, then the config var MESSAGES_TO_AUTHOR is queried to determine if they get a nosy list copy of the message too.
Usage:
roundup-mailgw [[-C class] -S field=value]* <instance home> [method]
The roundup mail gateway may be called in one of three ways:
- with an instance home as the only argument,
- with both an instance home and a mail spool file, or
- with both an instance home and a pop server account.
It also supports optional -C and -S arguments that allows you to set a fields for a class created by the roundup-mailgw. The default class if not specified is msg, but the other classes: issue, file, user can also be used. The -S or --set options uses the same property=value[;property=value] notation accepted by the command line roundup command or the commands that can be given on the Subject line of an e-mail message.
It can let you set the type of the message on a per e-mail address basis.
In the second case, the gateway reads all messages from the mail spool file and submits each in turn to the roundup.mailgw module. The file is emptied once all messages have been successfully handled. The file is specified as:
mailbox /path/to/mailbox
In the third case, the gateway reads all messages from the POP server specified and submits each in turn to the roundup.mailgw module. The server is specified as:
pop username:password@server
The username and password may be omitted:
pop username@server pop server
are both valid. The username and/or password will be prompted for if not supplied on the command-line.
Same as POP, but using Authenticated POP:
apop username:password@server
The basic usage is:
Usage: roundup-admin [options] [<command> <arguments>] Options: -i instance home -- specify the issue tracker "home directory" to administer -u -- the user[:password] to use for commands -d -- print full designators not just class id numbers -c -- when outputting lists of data, comma-separate them. Same as '-S ","'. -S <string> -- when outputting lists of data, string-separate them -s -- when outputting lists of data, space-separate them. Same as '-S " "'. Only one of -s, -c or -S can be specified. Help: roundup-admin -h roundup-admin help -- this help roundup-admin help <command> -- command-specific help roundup-admin help all -- all available help Commands: commit create classname property=value ... display designator[,designator]* export [class[,class]] export_dir find classname propname=value ... get property designator[,designator]* help topic history designator import import_dir initialise [adminpw] install [template [backend [admin password]]] list classname [property] pack period | date reindex retire designator[,designator]* rollback security [Role name] set items property=value property=value ... specification classname table classname [property[,property]*] Commands may be abbreviated as long as the abbreviation matches only one command, e.g. l == li == lis == list.
All commands (except help) require a tracker specifier. This is just the path to the roundup tracker you're working with. A roundup tracker is where roundup keeps the database and configuration file that defines an issue tracker. It may be thought of as the issue tracker's "home directory". It may be specified in the environment variable TRACKER_HOME or on the command line as "-i tracker".
A designator is a classname and an itemid concatenated, eg. bug1, user10, ... Property values are represented as strings in command arguments and in the printed results:
Strings are, well, strings.
Password values will display as their encoded value.
Date values are printed in the full date format in the local time zone, and accepted in the full format or any of the partial formats explained below.:
Input of... Means... "2000-04-17.03:45" 2000-04-17.03:45:00 "2000-04-17" 2000-04-17.00:00:00 "01-25" yyyy-01-25.00:00:00 "08-13.22:13" yyyy-08-13.22:13:00 "11-07.09:32:43" yyyy-11-07.09:32:43 "14:25" yyyy-mm-dd.14:25:00 "8:47:11" yyyy-mm-dd.08:47:11 "2003" 2003-01-01.00:00:00 "2003-04" 2003-04-01.00:00:00 "." "right now"
Link values are printed as item designators. When given as an argument, item designators and key strings are both accepted.
Multilink values are printed as lists of item designators joined by commas. When given as an argument, item designators and key strings are both accepted; an empty string, a single item, or a list of items joined by commas is accepted.
When multiple items are specified to the roundup get or roundup set commands, the specified properties are retrieved or set on all the listed items. When multiple results are returned by the roundup get or roundup find commands, they are printed one per line (default) or joined by commas (with the "-c" option).
Where the command changes data, a login name/password is required. The login may be specified as either "name" or "name:password".
If either the name or password is not supplied, they are obtained from the command-line.
With version 0.6.0 or newer of roundup which supports: multiple designators to display and the -d, -S and -s flags.
To find all messages regarding chatting issues that contain the word "spam", for example, you could execute the following command from the directory where the database dumps its files:
shell% for issue in `roundup-admin -ds find issue status=chatting`; do > grep -l spam `roundup-admin -ds ' ' get messages $issue` > done msg23 msg49 msg50 msg61 shell%
Or, using the -dc option, this can be written as a single command:
shell% grep -l spam `roundup get messages \ \`roundup -dc find issue status=chatting\`` msg23 msg49 msg50 msg61 shell%
You can also display issue contents:
shell% roundup-admin display `roundup-admin -dc get messages \ issue3,issue1` files: [] inreplyto: None recipients: [] author: 1 date: 2003-02-16.21:23:03 messageid: None summary: jkdskldjf files: [] inreplyto: None recipients: [] author: 1 date: 2003-02-15.01:59:11 messageid: None summary: jlkfjadsf
or status:
shell% roundup-admin get name `/tools/roundup/bin/roundup-admin \ -dc -i /var/roundup/sysadmin get status issue3,issue1` unread deferred
or status on a single line:
shell% echo `roundup-admin get name \`/tools/roundup/bin/roundup-admin \ -dc -i /var/roundup/sysadmin get status issue3,issue1\`` unread deferred
which is the same as:
shell% roundup-admin -s get name `/tools/roundup/bin/roundup-admin \ -dc -i /var/roundup/sysadmin get status issue3,issue1` unread deferred
Also the tautological:
shell% roundup-admin get name \ `roundup-admin -dc get status \`roundup-admin -dc find issue \ status=chatting\`` chatting chatting
Remember the roundup commands that accept multiple designators accept them ',' separated so using '-dc' is almost always required.
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