4592a7a63d2e279be9de750cd3d23f93ecdceb8c
1 ===================
2 Customising Roundup
3 ===================
5 :Version: $Revision: 1.89 $
7 .. This document borrows from the ZopeBook section on ZPT. The original is at:
8 http://www.zope.org/Documentation/Books/ZopeBook/current/ZPT.stx
10 .. contents::
11 :depth: 1
13 What You Can Do
14 ===============
16 Before you get too far, it's probably worth having a quick read of the Roundup
17 `design documentation`_.
19 Customisation of Roundup can take one of five forms:
21 1. `tracker configuration`_ file changes
22 2. database, or `tracker schema`_ changes
23 3. "definition" class `database content`_ changes
24 4. behavioural changes, through detectors_
25 5. `access controls`_
26 6. change the `web interface`_
28 The third case is special because it takes two distinctly different forms
29 depending upon whether the tracker has been initialised or not. The other two
30 may be done at any time, before or after tracker initialisation. Yes, this
31 includes adding or removing properties from classes.
34 Trackers in a Nutshell
35 ======================
37 Trackers have the following structure:
39 =================== ========================================================
40 Tracker File Description
41 =================== ========================================================
42 config.py Holds the basic `tracker configuration`_
43 dbinit.py Holds the `tracker schema`_
44 interfaces.py Defines the Web and E-Mail interfaces for the tracker
45 select_db.py Selects the database back-end for the tracker
46 db/ Holds the tracker's database
47 db/files/ Holds the tracker's upload files and messages
48 detectors/ Auditors and reactors for this tracker
49 html/ Web interface templates, images and style sheets
50 =================== ========================================================
52 Tracker Configuration
53 =====================
55 The ``config.py`` located in your tracker home contains the basic
56 configuration for the web and e-mail components of roundup's interfaces.
57 As the name suggests, this file is a Python module. This means that any
58 valid python expression may be used in the file. Mostly though, you'll
59 be setting the configuration variables to string values. Python string
60 values must be quoted with either single or double quotes::
62 'this is a string'
63 "this is also a string - use it when the value has 'single quotes'"
64 this is not a string - it's not quoted
66 Python strings may use formatting that's almost identical to C string
67 formatting. The ``%`` operator is used to perform the formatting, like
68 so::
70 'roundup-admin@%s'%MAIL_DOMAIN
72 this will create a string ``'roundup-admin@tracker.domain.example'`` if
73 MAIL_DOMAIN is set to ``'tracker.domain.example'``.
75 You'll also note some values are set to::
77 os.path.join(TRACKER_HOME, 'db')
79 or similar. This creates a new string which holds the path to the
80 ``'db'`` directory in the TRACKER_HOME directory. This is just a
81 convenience so if the TRACKER_HOME changes you don't have to edit
82 multiple valoues.
84 The configuration variables available are:
86 **TRACKER_HOME** - ``os.path.split(__file__)[0]``
87 The tracker home directory. The above default code will automatically
88 determine the tracker home for you, so you can just leave it alone.
90 **MAILHOST** - ``'localhost'``
91 The SMTP mail host that roundup will use to send e-mail.
93 **MAILUSER** - ``()``
94 If your SMTP mail host requires a username and password for access, then
95 specify them here. eg. ``MAILUSER = ('username', 'password')``
97 **MAILHOST_TLS** - ``'no'``
98 If your SMTP mail host provides or requires TLS (Transport Layer
99 Security) then set ``MAILHOST_TLS = 'yes'``
101 **MAILHOST_TLS_KEYFILE** - ``''``
102 If you're using TLS, you may also set MAILHOST_TLS_KEYFILE to the name of
103 a PEM formatted file that contains your private key.
105 **MAILHOST_TLS_CERTFILE** - ``''``
106 If you're using TLS and have specified a MAILHOST_TLS_KEYFILE, you may
107 also set MAILHOST_TLS_CERTFILE to the name of a PEM formatted certificate
108 chain file.
110 **MAIL_DOMAIN** - ``'tracker.domain.example'``
111 The domain name used for email addresses.
113 **DATABASE** - ``os.path.join(TRACKER_HOME, 'db')``
114 This is the directory that the database is going to be stored in. By default
115 it is in the tracker home.
117 **TEMPLATES** - ``os.path.join(TRACKER_HOME, 'html')``
118 This is the directory that the HTML templates reside in. By default they are
119 in the tracker home.
121 **TRACKER_NAME** - ``'Roundup issue tracker'``
122 A descriptive name for your roundup tracker. This is sent out in e-mails and
123 appears in the heading of CGI pages.
125 **TRACKER_EMAIL** - ``'issue_tracker@%s'%MAIL_DOMAIN``
126 The email address that e-mail sent to roundup should go to. Think of it as the
127 tracker's personal e-mail address.
129 **TRACKER_WEB** - ``'http://tracker.example/cgi-bin/roundup.cgi/bugs/'``
130 The web address that the tracker is viewable at. This will be included in
131 information sent to users of the tracker. The URL **must** include the
132 cgi-bin part or anything else that is required to get to the home page of
133 the tracker. You **must** include a trailing '/' in the URL.
135 **ADMIN_EMAIL** - ``'roundup-admin@%s'%MAIL_DOMAIN``
136 The email address that roundup will complain to if it runs into trouble.
138 **EMAIL_FROM_TAG** - ``''``
139 Additional text to include in the "name" part of the ``From:`` address used
140 in nosy messages. If the sending user is "Foo Bar", the ``From:`` line is
141 usually::
143 "Foo Bar" <issue_tracker@tracker.example>
145 The EMAIL_FROM_TAG goes inside the "Foo Bar" quotes like so::
147 "Foo Bar EMAIL_FROM_TAG" <issue_tracker@tracker.example>
149 **MESSAGES_TO_AUTHOR** - ``'new'``, ``'yes'`` or``'no'``
150 Send nosy messages to the author of the message?
151 If 'new' is used, then the author will only be sent the message when the
152 message creates a new issue. If 'yes' then the author will always be sent
153 a copy of the message they wrote.
155 **ADD_AUTHOR_TO_NOSY** - ``'new'``, ``'yes'`` or ``'no'``
156 Does the author of a message get placed on the nosy list automatically?
157 If ``'new'`` is used, then the author will only be added when a message
158 creates a new issue. If ``'yes'``, then the author will be added on followups
159 too. If ``'no'``, they're never added to the nosy.
161 **ADD_RECIPIENTS_TO_NOSY** - ``'new'``, ``'yes'`` or ``'no'``
162 Do the recipients (To:, Cc:) of a message get placed on the nosy list?
163 If ``'new'`` is used, then the recipients will only be added when a message
164 creates a new issue. If ``'yes'``, then the recipients will be added on
165 followups too. If ``'no'``, they're never added to the nosy.
167 **EMAIL_SIGNATURE_POSITION** - ``'top'``, ``'bottom'`` or ``'none'``
168 Where to place the email signature in messages that Roundup generates.
170 **EMAIL_KEEP_QUOTED_TEXT** - ``'yes'`` or ``'no'``
171 Keep email citations. Citations are the part of e-mail which the sender has
172 quoted in their reply to previous e-mail.
174 **EMAIL_LEAVE_BODY_UNCHANGED** - ``'no'``
175 Preserve the email body as is. Enabiling this will cause the entire message
176 body to be stored, including all citations and signatures. It should be
177 either ``'yes'`` or ``'no'``.
179 **MAIL_DEFAULT_CLASS** - ``'issue'`` or ``''``
180 Default class to use in the mailgw if one isn't supplied in email
181 subjects. To disable, comment out the variable below or leave it blank.
183 The default config.py is given below - as you
184 can see, the MAIL_DOMAIN must be edited before any interaction with the
185 tracker is attempted.::
187 # roundup home is this package's directory
188 TRACKER_HOME=os.path.split(__file__)[0]
190 # The SMTP mail host that roundup will use to send mail
191 MAILHOST = 'localhost'
193 # The domain name used for email addresses.
194 MAIL_DOMAIN = 'your.tracker.email.domain.example'
196 # This is the directory that the database is going to be stored in
197 DATABASE = os.path.join(TRACKER_HOME, 'db')
199 # This is the directory that the HTML templates reside in
200 TEMPLATES = os.path.join(TRACKER_HOME, 'html')
202 # A descriptive name for your roundup tracker
203 TRACKER_NAME = 'Roundup issue tracker'
205 # The email address that mail to roundup should go to
206 TRACKER_EMAIL = 'issue_tracker@%s'%MAIL_DOMAIN
208 # The web address that the tracker is viewable at. This will be
209 # included in information sent to users of the tracker. The URL MUST
210 # include the cgi-bin part or anything else that is required to get
211 # to the home page of the tracker. You MUST include a trailing '/'
212 # in the URL.
213 TRACKER_WEB = 'http://tracker.example/cgi-bin/roundup.cgi/bugs/'
215 # The email address that roundup will complain to if it runs into
216 # trouble
217 ADMIN_EMAIL = 'roundup-admin@%s'%MAIL_DOMAIN
219 # Additional text to include in the "name" part of the From: address
220 # used in nosy messages. If the sending user is "Foo Bar", the From:
221 # line is usually: "Foo Bar" <issue_tracker@tracker.example>
222 # the EMAIL_FROM_TAG goes inside the "Foo Bar" quotes like so:
223 # "Foo Bar EMAIL_FROM_TAG" <issue_tracker@tracker.example>
224 EMAIL_FROM_TAG = ""
226 # Send nosy messages to the author of the message
227 MESSAGES_TO_AUTHOR = 'no' # either 'yes' or 'no'
229 # Does the author of a message get placed on the nosy list
230 # automatically? If 'new' is used, then the author will only be
231 # added when a message creates a new issue. If 'yes', then the
232 # author will be added on followups too. If 'no', they're never
233 # added to the nosy.
234 ADD_AUTHOR_TO_NOSY = 'new' # one of 'yes', 'no', 'new'
236 # Do the recipients (To:, Cc:) of a message get placed on the nosy
237 # list? If 'new' is used, then the recipients will only be added
238 # when a message creates a new issue. If 'yes', then the recipients
239 # will be added on followups too. If 'no', they're never added to
240 # the nosy.
241 ADD_RECIPIENTS_TO_NOSY = 'new' # either 'yes', 'no', 'new'
243 # Where to place the email signature
244 EMAIL_SIGNATURE_POSITION = 'bottom' # one of 'top', 'bottom', 'none'
246 # Keep email citations
247 EMAIL_KEEP_QUOTED_TEXT = 'no' # either 'yes' or 'no'
249 # Preserve the email body as is
250 EMAIL_LEAVE_BODY_UNCHANGED = 'no' # either 'yes' or 'no'
252 # Default class to use in the mailgw if one isn't supplied in email
253 # subjects. To disable, comment out the variable below or leave it
254 # blank. Examples:
255 MAIL_DEFAULT_CLASS = 'issue' # use "issue" class by default
256 #MAIL_DEFAULT_CLASS = '' # disable (or just comment the var out)
258 #
259 # SECURITY DEFINITIONS
260 #
261 # define the Roles that a user gets when they register with the
262 # tracker these are a comma-separated string of role names (e.g.
263 # 'Admin,User')
264 NEW_WEB_USER_ROLES = 'User'
265 NEW_EMAIL_USER_ROLES = 'User'
267 Tracker Schema
268 ==============
270 Note: if you modify the schema, you'll most likely need to edit the
271 `web interface`_ HTML template files and `detectors`_ to reflect
272 your changes.
274 A tracker schema defines what data is stored in the tracker's database.
275 Schemas are defined using Python code in the ``dbinit.py`` module of your
276 tracker. The "classic" schema looks like this (see below for the meaning
277 of ``'setkey'``)::
279 pri = Class(db, "priority", name=String(), order=String())
280 pri.setkey("name")
282 stat = Class(db, "status", name=String(), order=String())
283 stat.setkey("name")
285 keyword = Class(db, "keyword", name=String())
286 keyword.setkey("name")
288 user = Class(db, "user", username=String(), organisation=String(),
289 password=String(), address=String(), realname=String(),
290 phone=String())
291 user.setkey("username")
293 msg = FileClass(db, "msg", author=Link("user"), summary=String(),
294 date=Date(), recipients=Multilink("user"),
295 files=Multilink("file"))
297 file = FileClass(db, "file", name=String(), type=String())
299 issue = IssueClass(db, "issue", topic=Multilink("keyword"),
300 status=Link("status"), assignedto=Link("user"),
301 priority=Link("priority"))
302 issue.setkey('title')
304 Classes and Properties - creating a new information store
305 ---------------------------------------------------------
307 In the tracker above, we've defined 7 classes of information:
309 priority
310 Defines the possible levels of urgency for issues.
312 status
313 Defines the possible states of processing the issue may be in.
315 keyword
316 Initially empty, will hold keywords useful for searching issues.
318 user
319 Initially holding the "admin" user, will eventually have an entry
320 for all users using roundup.
322 msg
323 Initially empty, will hold all e-mail messages sent to or
324 generated by roundup.
326 file
327 Initially empty, will hold all files attached to issues.
329 issue
330 Initially empty, this is where the issue information is stored.
332 We define the "priority" and "status" classes to allow two things:
333 reduction in the amount of information stored on the issue and more
334 powerful, accurate searching of issues by priority and status. By only
335 requiring a link on the issue (which is stored as a single number) we
336 reduce the chance that someone mis-types a priority or status - or
337 simply makes a new one up.
340 Class and Items
341 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
343 A Class defines a particular class (or type) of data that will be stored
344 in the database. A class comprises one or more properties, which gives
345 the information about the class items.
347 The actual data entered into the database, using ``class.create()``, are
348 called items. They have a special immutable property called ``'id'``. We
349 sometimes refer to this as the *itemid*.
352 Properties
353 ~~~~~~~~~~
355 A Class is comprised of one or more properties of the following types:
357 * String properties are for storing arbitrary-length strings.
358 * Password properties are for storing encoded arbitrary-length strings.
359 The default encoding is defined on the ``roundup.password.Password``
360 class.
361 * Date properties store date-and-time stamps. Their values are Timestamp
362 objects.
363 * Number properties store numeric values.
364 * Boolean properties store on/off, yes/no, true/false values.
365 * A Link property refers to a single other item selected from a
366 specified class. The class is part of the property; the value is an
367 integer, the id of the chosen item.
368 * A Multilink property refers to possibly many items in a specified
369 class. The value is a list of integers.
372 FileClass
373 ~~~~~~~~~
375 FileClasses save their "content" attribute off in a separate file from
376 the rest of the database. This reduces the number of large entries in
377 the database, which generally makes databases more efficient, and also
378 allows us to use command-line tools to operate on the files. They are
379 stored in the files sub-directory of the ``'db'`` directory in your
380 tracker.
383 IssueClass
384 ~~~~~~~~~~
386 IssueClasses automatically include the "messages", "files", "nosy", and
387 "superseder" properties.
389 The messages and files properties list the links to the messages and
390 files related to the issue. The nosy property is a list of links to
391 users who wish to be informed of changes to the issue - they get "CC'ed"
392 e-mails when messages are sent to or generated by the issue. The nosy
393 reactor (in the ``'detectors'`` directory) handles this action. The
394 superseder link indicates an issue which has superseded this one.
396 They also have the dynamically generated "creation", "activity" and
397 "creator" properties.
399 The value of the "creation" property is the date when an item was
400 created, and the value of the "activity" property is the date when any
401 property on the item was last edited (equivalently, these are the dates
402 on the first and last records in the item's journal). The "creator"
403 property holds a link to the user that created the issue.
406 setkey(property)
407 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
409 Select a String property of the class to be the key property. The key
410 property must be unique, and allows references to the items in the class
411 by the content of the key property. That is, we can refer to users by
412 their username: for example, let's say that there's an issue in roundup,
413 issue 23. There's also a user, richard, who happens to be user 2. To
414 assign an issue to him, we could do either of::
416 roundup-admin set issue23 assignedto=2
418 or::
420 roundup-admin set issue23 assignedto=richard
422 Note, the same thing can be done in the web and e-mail interfaces.
424 If a class does not have an "order" property, the key is also used to
425 sort instances of the class when it is rendered in the user interface.
426 (If a class has no "order" property, sorting is by the labelproperty of
427 the class. This is computed, in order of precedence, as the key, the
428 "name", the "title", or the first property alphabetically.)
431 create(information)
432 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
434 Create an item in the database. This is generally used to create items
435 in the "definitional" classes like "priority" and "status".
438 Examples of adding to your schema
439 ---------------------------------
441 TODO
444 Detectors - adding behaviour to your tracker
445 ============================================
446 .. _detectors:
448 Detectors are initialised every time you open your tracker database, so
449 you're free to add and remove them any time, even after the database is
450 initialised via the "roundup-admin initialise" command.
452 The detectors in your tracker fire *before* (**auditors**) and *after*
453 (**reactors**) changes to the contents of your database. They are Python
454 modules that sit in your tracker's ``detectors`` directory. You will
455 have some installed by default - have a look. You can write new
456 detectors or modify the existing ones. The existing detectors installed
457 for you are:
459 **nosyreaction.py**
460 This provides the automatic nosy list maintenance and email sending.
461 The nosy reactor (``nosyreaction``) fires when new messages are added
462 to issues. The nosy auditor (``updatenosy``) fires when issues are
463 changed, and figures out what changes need to be made to the nosy list
464 (such as adding new authors, etc.)
465 **statusauditor.py**
466 This provides the ``chatty`` auditor which changes the issue status
467 from ``unread`` or ``closed`` to ``chatting`` if new messages appear.
468 It also provides the ``presetunread`` auditor which pre-sets the
469 status to ``unread`` on new items if the status isn't explicitly
470 defined.
472 See the detectors section in the `design document`__ for details of the
473 interface for detectors.
475 __ design.html
477 Sample additional detectors that have been found useful will appear in
478 the ``'detectors'`` directory of the Roundup distribution. If you want
479 to use one, copy it to the ``'detectors'`` of your tracker instance:
481 **newissuecopy.py**
482 This detector sends an email to a team address whenever a new issue is
483 created. The address is hard-coded into the detector, so edit it
484 before you use it (look for the text 'team@team.host') or you'll get
485 email errors!
487 The detector code::
489 from roundup import roundupdb
491 def newissuecopy(db, cl, nodeid, oldvalues):
492 ''' Copy a message about new issues to a team address.
493 '''
494 # so use all the messages in the create
495 change_note = cl.generateCreateNote(nodeid)
497 # send a copy to the nosy list
498 for msgid in cl.get(nodeid, 'messages'):
499 try:
500 # note: last arg must be a list
501 cl.send_message(nodeid, msgid, change_note,
502 ['team@team.host'])
503 except roundupdb.MessageSendError, message:
504 raise roundupdb.DetectorError, message
506 def init(db):
507 db.issue.react('create', newissuecopy)
510 Database Content
511 ================
513 Note: if you modify the content of definitional classes, you'll most
514 likely need to edit the tracker `detectors`_ to reflect your
515 changes.
517 Customisation of the special "definitional" classes (eg. status,
518 priority, resolution, ...) may be done either before or after the
519 tracker is initialised. The actual method of doing so is completely
520 different in each case though, so be careful to use the right one.
522 **Changing content before tracker initialisation**
523 Edit the dbinit module in your tracker to alter the items created in
524 using the ``create()`` methods.
526 **Changing content after tracker initialisation**
527 As the "admin" user, click on the "class list" link in the web
528 interface to bring up a list of all database classes. Click on the
529 name of the class you wish to change the content of.
531 You may also use the ``roundup-admin`` interface's create, set and
532 retire methods to add, alter or remove items from the classes in
533 question.
535 See "`adding a new field to the classic schema`_" for an example that
536 requires database content changes.
539 Access Controls
540 ===============
542 A set of Permissions is built into the security module by default:
544 - Edit (everything)
545 - View (everything)
547 The default interfaces define:
549 - Web Registration
550 - Web Access
551 - Web Roles
552 - Email Registration
553 - Email Access
555 These are hooked into the default Roles:
557 - Admin (Edit everything, View everything, Web Roles)
558 - User (Web Access, Email Access)
559 - Anonymous (Web Registration, Email Registration)
561 And finally, the "admin" user gets the "Admin" Role, and the "anonymous"
562 user gets "Anonymous" assigned when the database is initialised on
563 installation. The two default schemas then define:
565 - Edit issue, View issue (both)
566 - Edit file, View file (both)
567 - Edit msg, View msg (both)
568 - Edit support, View support (extended only)
570 and assign those Permissions to the "User" Role. Put together, these
571 settings appear in the ``open()`` function of the tracker ``dbinit.py``
572 (the following is taken from the "minimal" template's ``dbinit.py``)::
574 #
575 # SECURITY SETTINGS
576 #
577 # new permissions for this schema
578 for cl in ('user', ):
579 db.security.addPermission(name="Edit", klass=cl,
580 description="User is allowed to edit "+cl)
581 db.security.addPermission(name="View", klass=cl,
582 description="User is allowed to access "+cl)
584 # and give the regular users access to the web and email interface
585 p = db.security.getPermission('Web Access')
586 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
587 p = db.security.getPermission('Email Access')
588 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
590 # May users view other user information? Comment these lines out
591 # if you don't want them to
592 p = db.security.getPermission('View', 'user')
593 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
595 # Assign the appropriate permissions to the anonymous user's
596 # Anonymous role. Choices here are:
597 # - Allow anonymous users to register through the web
598 p = db.security.getPermission('Web Registration')
599 db.security.addPermissionToRole('Anonymous', p)
600 # - Allow anonymous (new) users to register through the email
601 # gateway
602 p = db.security.getPermission('Email Registration')
603 db.security.addPermissionToRole('Anonymous', p)
606 New User Roles
607 --------------
609 New users are assigned the Roles defined in the config file as:
611 - NEW_WEB_USER_ROLES
612 - NEW_EMAIL_USER_ROLES
615 Changing Access Controls
616 ------------------------
618 You may alter the configuration variables to change the Role that new
619 web or email users get, for example to not give them access to the web
620 interface if they register through email.
622 You may use the ``roundup-admin`` "``security``" command to display the
623 current Role and Permission configuration in your tracker.
626 Adding a new Permission
627 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
629 When adding a new Permission, you will need to:
631 1. add it to your tracker's dbinit so it is created
632 2. enable it for the Roles that should have it (verify with
633 "``roundup-admin security``")
634 3. add it to the relevant HTML interface templates
635 4. add it to the appropriate xxxPermission methods on in your tracker
636 interfaces module
639 Example Scenarios
640 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
642 **automatic registration of users in the e-mail gateway**
643 By giving the "anonymous" user the "Email Registration" Role, any
644 unidentified user will automatically be registered with the tracker
645 (with no password, so they won't be able to log in through the web
646 until an admin sets their password). Note: this is the default
647 behaviour in the tracker templates that ship with Roundup.
649 **anonymous access through the e-mail gateway**
650 Give the "anonymous" user the "Email Access" and ("Edit", "issue")
651 Roles but do not not give them the "Email Registration" Role. This
652 means that when an unknown user sends email into the tracker, they're
653 automatically logged in as "anonymous". Since they don't have the
654 "Email Registration" Role, they won't be automatically registered, but
655 since "anonymous" has permission to use the gateway, they'll still be
656 able to submit issues. Note that the Sender information - their email
657 address - will not be available - they're *anonymous*.
659 **only developers may be assigned issues**
660 Create a new Permission called "Fixer" for the "issue" class. Create a
661 new Role "Developer" which has that Permission, and assign that to the
662 appropriate users. Filter the list of users available in the assignedto
663 list to include only those users. Enforce the Permission with an
664 auditor. See the example
665 `restricting the list of users that are assignable to a task`_.
667 **only managers may sign off issues as complete**
668 Create a new Permission called "Closer" for the "issue" class. Create a
669 new Role "Manager" which has that Permission, and assign that to the
670 appropriate users. In your web interface, only display the "resolved"
671 issue state option when the user has the "Closer" Permissions. Enforce
672 the Permission with an auditor. This is very similar to the previous
673 example, except that the web interface check would look like::
675 <option tal:condition="python:request.user.hasPermission('Closer')"
676 value="resolved">Resolved</option>
678 **don't give web access to users who register through email**
679 Create a new Role called "Email User" which has all the Permissions of
680 the normal "User" Role minus the "Web Access" Permission. This will
681 allow users to send in emails to the tracker, but not access the web
682 interface.
684 **let some users edit the details of all users**
685 Create a new Role called "User Admin" which has the Permission for
686 editing users::
688 db.security.addRole(name='User Admin', description='Managing users')
689 p = db.security.getPermission('Edit', 'user')
690 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User Admin', p)
692 and assign the Role to the users who need the permission.
695 Web Interface
696 =============
698 .. contents::
699 :local:
700 :depth: 1
702 The web interface is provided by the ``roundup.cgi.client`` module and
703 is used by ``roundup.cgi``, ``roundup-server`` and ``ZRoundup``
704 (``ZRoundup`` is broken, until further notice). In all cases, we
705 determine which tracker is being accessed (the first part of the URL
706 path inside the scope of the CGI handler) and pass control on to the
707 tracker ``interfaces.Client`` class - which uses the ``Client`` class
708 from ``roundup.cgi.client`` - which handles the rest of the access
709 through its ``main()`` method. This means that you can do pretty much
710 anything you want as a web interface to your tracker.
712 Repercussions of changing the tracker schema
713 ---------------------------------------------
715 If you choose to change the `tracker schema`_ you will need to ensure
716 the web interface knows about it:
718 1. Index, item and search pages for the relevant classes may need to
719 have properties added or removed,
720 2. The "page" template may require links to be changed, as might the
721 "home" page's content arguments.
723 How requests are processed
724 --------------------------
726 The basic processing of a web request proceeds as follows:
728 1. figure out who we are, defaulting to the "anonymous" user
729 2. figure out what the request is for - we call this the "context"
730 3. handle any requested action (item edit, search, ...)
731 4. render the template requested by the context, resulting in HTML
732 output
734 In some situations, exceptions occur:
736 - HTTP Redirect (generally raised by an action)
737 - SendFile (generally raised by ``determine_context``)
738 here we serve up a FileClass "content" property
739 - SendStaticFile (generally raised by ``determine_context``)
740 here we serve up a file from the tracker "html" directory
741 - Unauthorised (generally raised by an action)
742 here the action is cancelled, the request is rendered and an error
743 message is displayed indicating that permission was not granted for
744 the action to take place
745 - NotFound (raised wherever it needs to be)
746 this exception percolates up to the CGI interface that called the
747 client
749 Determining web context
750 -----------------------
752 To determine the "context" of a request, we look at the URL and the
753 special request variable ``:template``. The URL path after the tracker
754 identifier is examined. Typical URL paths look like:
756 1. ``/tracker/issue``
757 2. ``/tracker/issue1``
758 3. ``/tracker/_file/style.css``
759 4. ``/cgi-bin/roundup.cgi/tracker/file1``
760 5. ``/cgi-bin/roundup.cgi/tracker/file1/kitten.png``
762 where the "tracker identifier" is "tracker" in the above cases. That means
763 we're looking at "issue", "issue1", "_file/style.css", "file1" and
764 "file1/kitten.png" in the cases above. The path is generally only one
765 entry long - longer paths are handled differently.
767 a. if there is no path, then we are in the "home" context.
768 b. if the path starts with "_file" (as in example 3,
769 "/tracker/_file/style.css"), then the additional path entry,
770 "style.css" specifies the filename of a static file we're to serve up
771 from the tracker "html" directory. Raises a SendStaticFile exception.
772 c. if there is something in the path (as in example 1, "issue"), it
773 identifies the tracker class we're to display.
774 d. if the path is an item designator (as in examples 2 and 4, "issue1"
775 and "file1"), then we're to display a specific item.
776 e. if the path starts with an item designator and is longer than one
777 entry (as in example 5, "file1/kitten.png"), then we're assumed to be
778 handling an item of a ``FileClass``, and the extra path information
779 gives the filename that the client is going to label the download
780 with (i.e. "file1/kitten.png" is nicer to download than "file1").
781 This raises a ``SendFile`` exception.
783 Both b. and e. stop before we bother to determine the template we're
784 going to use. That's because they don't actually use templates.
786 The template used is specified by the ``:template`` CGI variable, which
787 defaults to:
789 - only classname suplied: "index"
790 - full item designator supplied: "item"
793 Performing actions in web requests
794 ----------------------------------
796 When a user requests a web page, they may optionally also request for an
797 action to take place. As described in `how requests are processed`_, the
798 action is performed before the requested page is generated. Actions are
799 triggered by using a ``:action`` CGI variable, where the value is one
800 of:
802 **login**
803 Attempt to log a user in.
805 **logout**
806 Log the user out - make them "anonymous".
808 **register**
809 Attempt to create a new user based on the contents of the form and then
810 log them in.
812 **edit**
813 Perform an edit of an item in the database. There are some special form
814 elements you may use:
816 :link=designator:property and :multilink=designator:property
817 The value specifies an item designator and the property on that item
818 to which *this* item should be added, as a link or multilink.
819 :note
820 Create a message and attach it to the current item's "messages"
821 property.
822 :file
823 Create a file and attach it to the current item's "files" property.
824 Attach the file to the message created from the ``:note`` if it's
825 supplied.
826 :required=property,property,...
827 The named properties are required to be filled in the form.
828 :remove:<propname>=id(s)
829 The ids will be removed from the multilink property. You may have
830 multiple ``:remove:<propname>`` form elements for a single <propname>.
831 :add:<propname>=id(s)
832 The ids will be added to the multilink property. You may have multiple
833 ``:add:<propname>`` form elements for a single <propname>.
835 **new**
836 Add a new item to the database. You may use the same special form
837 elements as in the "edit" action.
839 **retire**
840 Retire the item in the database.
842 **editCSV**
843 Performs an edit of all of a class' items in one go. See also the
844 *class*.csv templating method which generates the CSV data to be
845 edited, and the ``'_generic.index'`` template which uses both of these
846 features.
848 **search**
849 Mangle some of the form variables:
851 - Set the form ":filter" variable based on the values of the filter
852 variables - if they're set to anything other than "dontcare" then add
853 them to :filter.
855 - Also handle the ":queryname" variable and save off the query to the
856 user's query list.
858 Each of the actions is implemented by a corresponding ``*actionAction*``
859 (where "action" is the name of the action) method on the
860 ``roundup.cgi.Client`` class, which also happens to be available in your
861 tracker instance as ``interfaces.Client``. So if you need to define new
862 actions, you may add them there (see `defining new web actions`_).
864 Each action also has a corresponding ``*actionPermission*`` (where
865 "action" is the name of the action) method which determines whether the
866 action is permissible given the current user. The base permission checks
867 are:
869 **login**
870 Determine whether the user has permission to log in. Base behaviour is
871 to check the user has "Web Access".
872 **logout**
873 No permission checks are made.
874 **register**
875 Determine whether the user has permission to register. Base behaviour
876 is to check the user has the "Web Registration" Permission.
877 **edit**
878 Determine whether the user has permission to edit this item. Base
879 behaviour is to check whether the user can edit this class. If we're
880 editing the "user" class, users are allowed to edit their own details -
881 unless they try to edit the "roles" property, which requires the
882 special Permission "Web Roles".
883 **new**
884 Determine whether the user has permission to create (or edit) this
885 item. Base behaviour is to check the user can edit this class. No
886 additional property checks are made. Additionally, new user items may
887 be created if the user has the "Web Registration" Permission.
888 **editCSV**
889 Determine whether the user has permission to edit this class. Base
890 behaviour is to check whether the user may edit this class.
891 **search**
892 Determine whether the user has permission to search this class. Base
893 behaviour is to check whether the user may view this class.
896 Default templates
897 -----------------
899 Most customisation of the web view can be done by modifying the
900 templates in the tracker ``'html'`` directory. There are several types
901 of files in there. The *minimal* template includes:
903 **page.html**
904 This template usually defines the overall look of your tracker. When
905 you view an issue, it appears inside this template. When you view an
906 index, it also appears inside this template. This template defines a
907 macro called "icing" which is used by almost all other templates as a
908 coating for their content, using its "content" slot. It also defines
909 the "head_title" and "body_title" slots to allow setting of the page
910 title.
911 **home.html**
912 the default page displayed when no other page is indicated by the user
913 **home.classlist.html**
914 a special version of the default page that lists the classes in the
915 tracker
916 **classname.item.html**
917 displays an item of the *classname* class
918 **classname.index.html**
919 displays a list of *classname* items
920 **classname.search.html**
921 displays a search page for *classname* items
922 **_generic.index.html**
923 used to display a list of items where there is no
924 ``*classname*.index`` available
925 **_generic.help.html**
926 used to display a "class help" page where there is no
927 ``*classname*.help``
928 **user.register.html**
929 a special page just for the user class, that renders the registration
930 page
931 **style.css.html**
932 a static file that is served up as-is
934 The *classic* template has a number of additional templates.
936 Note: Remember that you can create any template extension you want to,
937 so if you just want to play around with the templating for new issues,
938 you can copy the current "issue.item" template to "issue.test", and then
939 access the test template using the ":template" URL argument::
941 http://your.tracker.example/tracker/issue?:template=test
943 and it won't affect your users using the "issue.item" template.
946 How the templates work
947 ----------------------
950 Basic Templating Actions
951 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
953 Roundup's templates consist of special attributes on the HTML tags.
954 These attributes form the Template Attribute Language, or TAL. The basic
955 TAL commands are:
957 **tal:define="variable expression; variable expression; ..."**
958 Define a new variable that is local to this tag and its contents. For
959 example::
961 <html tal:define="title request/description">
962 <head><title tal:content="title"></title></head>
963 </html>
965 In this example, the variable "title" is defined as the result of the
966 expression "request/description". The "tal:content" command inside the
967 <html> tag may then use the "title" variable.
969 **tal:condition="expression"**
970 Only keep this tag and its contents if the expression is true. For
971 example::
973 <p tal:condition="python:request.user.hasPermission('View', 'issue')">
974 Display some issue information.
975 </p>
977 In the example, the <p> tag and its contents are only displayed if
978 the user has the "View" permission for issues. We consider the number
979 zero, a blank string, an empty list, and the built-in variable
980 nothing to be false values. Nearly every other value is true,
981 including non-zero numbers, and strings with anything in them (even
982 spaces!).
984 **tal:repeat="variable expression"**
985 Repeat this tag and its contents for each element of the sequence
986 that the expression returns, defining a new local variable and a
987 special "repeat" variable for each element. For example::
989 <tr tal:repeat="u user/list">
990 <td tal:content="u/id"></td>
991 <td tal:content="u/username"></td>
992 <td tal:content="u/realname"></td>
993 </tr>
995 The example would iterate over the sequence of users returned by
996 "user/list" and define the local variable "u" for each entry.
998 **tal:replace="expression"**
999 Replace this tag with the result of the expression. For example::
1001 <span tal:replace="request/user/realname" />
1003 The example would replace the <span> tag and its contents with the
1004 user's realname. If the user's realname was "Bruce", then the
1005 resultant output would be "Bruce".
1007 **tal:content="expression"**
1008 Replace the contents of this tag with the result of the expression.
1009 For example::
1011 <span tal:content="request/user/realname">user's name appears here
1012 </span>
1014 The example would replace the contents of the <span> tag with the
1015 user's realname. If the user's realname was "Bruce" then the
1016 resultant output would be "<span>Bruce</span>".
1018 **tal:attributes="attribute expression; attribute expression; ..."**
1019 Set attributes on this tag to the results of expressions. For
1020 example::
1022 <a tal:attributes="href string:user${request/user/id}">My Details</a>
1024 In the example, the "href" attribute of the <a> tag is set to the
1025 value of the "string:user${request/user/id}" expression, which will
1026 be something like "user123".
1028 **tal:omit-tag="expression"**
1029 Remove this tag (but not its contents) if the expression is true. For
1030 example::
1032 <span tal:omit-tag="python:1">Hello, world!</span>
1034 would result in output of::
1036 Hello, world!
1038 Note that the commands on a given tag are evaulated in the order above,
1039 so *define* comes before *condition*, and so on.
1041 Additionally, you may include tags such as <tal:block>, which are
1042 removed from output. Its content is kept, but the tag itself is not (so
1043 don't go using any "tal:attributes" commands on it). This is useful for
1044 making arbitrary blocks of HTML conditional or repeatable (very handy
1045 for repeating multiple table rows, which would othewise require an
1046 illegal tag placement to effect the repeat).
1049 Templating Expressions
1050 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1052 The expressions you may use in the attribute values may be one of the
1053 following forms:
1055 **Path Expressions** - eg. ``item/status/checklist``
1056 These are object attribute / item accesses. Roughly speaking, the
1057 path ``item/status/checklist`` is broken into parts ``item``,
1058 ``status`` and ``checklist``. The ``item`` part is the root of the
1059 expression. We then look for a ``status`` attribute on ``item``, or
1060 failing that, a ``status`` item (as in ``item['status']``). If that
1061 fails, the path expression fails. When we get to the end, the object
1062 we're left with is evaluated to get a string - if it is a method, it
1063 is called; if it is an object, it is stringified. Path expressions
1064 may have an optional ``path:`` prefix, but they are the default
1065 expression type, so it's not necessary.
1067 If an expression evaluates to ``default``, then the expression is
1068 "cancelled" - whatever HTML already exists in the template will
1069 remain (tag content in the case of ``tal:content``, attributes in the
1070 case of ``tal:attributes``).
1072 If an expression evaluates to ``nothing`` then the target of the
1073 expression is removed (tag content in the case of ``tal:content``,
1074 attributes in the case of ``tal:attributes`` and the tag itself in
1075 the case of ``tal:replace``).
1077 If an element in the path may not exist, then you can use the ``|``
1078 operator in the expression to provide an alternative. So, the
1079 expression ``request/form/foo/value | default`` would simply leave
1080 the current HTML in place if the "foo" form variable doesn't exist.
1082 You may use the python function ``path``, as in
1083 ``path("item/status")``, to embed path expressions in Python
1084 expressions.
1086 **String Expressions** - eg. ``string:hello ${user/name}``
1087 These expressions are simple string interpolations - though they can
1088 be just plain strings with no interpolation if you want. The
1089 expression in the ``${ ... }`` is just a path expression as above.
1091 **Python Expressions** - eg. ``python: 1+1``
1092 These expressions give the full power of Python. All the "root level"
1093 variables are available, so ``python:item.status.checklist()`` would
1094 be equivalent to ``item/status/checklist``, assuming that
1095 ``checklist`` is a method.
1097 Modifiers:
1099 **structure** - eg. ``structure python:msg.content.plain(hyperlink=1)``
1100 The result of expressions are normally *escaped* to be safe for HTML
1101 display (all "<", ">" and "&" are turned into special entities). The
1102 ``structure`` expression modifier turns off this escaping - the
1103 result of the expression is now assumed to be HTML, which is passed
1104 to the web browser for rendering.
1106 **not:** - eg. ``not:python:1=1``
1107 This simply inverts the logical true/false value of another
1108 expression.
1111 Template Macros
1112 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1114 Macros are used in Roundup to save us from repeating the same common
1115 page stuctures over and over. The most common (and probably only) macro
1116 you'll use is the "icing" macro defined in the "page" template.
1118 Macros are generated and used inside your templates using special
1119 attributes similar to the `basic templating actions`_. In this case,
1120 though, the attributes belong to the Macro Expansion Template Attribute
1121 Language, or METAL. The macro commands are:
1123 **metal:define-macro="macro name"**
1124 Define that the tag and its contents are now a macro that may be
1125 inserted into other templates using the *use-macro* command. For
1126 example::
1128 <html metal:define-macro="page">
1129 ...
1130 </html>
1132 defines a macro called "page" using the ``<html>`` tag and its
1133 contents. Once defined, macros are stored on the template they're
1134 defined on in the ``macros`` attribute. You can access them later on
1135 through the ``templates`` variable, eg. the most common
1136 ``templates/page/macros/icing`` to access the "page" macro of the
1137 "page" template.
1139 **metal:use-macro="path expression"**
1140 Use a macro, which is identified by the path expression (see above).
1141 This will replace the current tag with the identified macro contents.
1142 For example::
1144 <tal:block metal:use-macro="templates/page/macros/icing">
1145 ...
1146 </tal:block>
1148 will replace the tag and its contents with the "page" macro of the
1149 "page" template.
1151 **metal:define-slot="slot name"** and **metal:fill-slot="slot name"**
1152 To define *dynamic* parts of the macro, you define "slots" which may
1153 be filled when the macro is used with a *use-macro* command. For
1154 example, the ``templates/page/macros/icing`` macro defines a slot like
1155 so::
1157 <title metal:define-slot="head_title">title goes here</title>
1159 In your *use-macro* command, you may now use a *fill-slot* command
1160 like this::
1162 <title metal:fill-slot="head_title">My Title</title>
1164 where the tag that fills the slot completely replaces the one defined
1165 as the slot in the macro.
1167 Note that you may not mix METAL and TAL commands on the same tag, but
1168 TAL commands may be used freely inside METAL-using tags (so your
1169 *fill-slots* tags may have all manner of TAL inside them).
1172 Information available to templates
1173 ----------------------------------
1175 Note: this is implemented by
1176 ``roundup.cgi.templating.RoundupPageTemplate``
1178 The following variables are available to templates.
1180 **context**
1181 The current context. This is either None, a `hyperdb class wrapper`_
1182 or a `hyperdb item wrapper`_
1183 **request**
1184 Includes information about the current request, including:
1185 - the current index information (``filterspec``, ``filter`` args,
1186 ``properties``, etc) parsed out of the form.
1187 - methods for easy filterspec link generation
1188 - *user*, the current user item as an HTMLItem instance
1189 - *form*
1190 The current CGI form information as a mapping of form argument name
1191 to value
1192 **config**
1193 This variable holds all the values defined in the tracker config.py
1194 file (eg. TRACKER_NAME, etc.)
1195 **db**
1196 The current database, used to access arbitrary database items.
1197 **templates**
1198 Access to all the tracker templates by name. Used mainly in
1199 *use-macro* commands.
1200 **utils**
1201 This variable makes available some utility functions like batching.
1202 **nothing**
1203 This is a special variable - if an expression evaluates to this, then
1204 the tag (in the case of a ``tal:replace``), its contents (in the case
1205 of ``tal:content``) or some attributes (in the case of
1206 ``tal:attributes``) will not appear in the the output. So, for
1207 example::
1209 <span tal:attributes="class nothing">Hello, World!</span>
1211 would result in::
1213 <span>Hello, World!</span>
1215 **default**
1216 Also a special variable - if an expression evaluates to this, then the
1217 existing HTML in the template will not be replaced or removed, it will
1218 remain. So::
1220 <span tal:replace="default">Hello, World!</span>
1222 would result in::
1224 <span>Hello, World!</span>
1227 The context variable
1228 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1230 The *context* variable is one of three things based on the current
1231 context (see `determining web context`_ for how we figure this out):
1233 1. if we're looking at a "home" page, then it's None
1234 2. if we're looking at a specific hyperdb class, it's a
1235 `hyperdb class wrapper`_.
1236 3. if we're looking at a specific hyperdb item, it's a
1237 `hyperdb item wrapper`_.
1239 If the context is not None, we can access the properties of the class or
1240 item. The only real difference between cases 2 and 3 above are:
1242 1. the properties may have a real value behind them, and this will
1243 appear if the property is displayed through ``context/property`` or
1244 ``context/property/field``.
1245 2. the context's "id" property will be a false value in the second case,
1246 but a real, or true value in the third. Thus we can determine whether
1247 we're looking at a real item from the hyperdb by testing
1248 "context/id".
1250 Hyperdb class wrapper
1251 :::::::::::::::::::::
1253 Note: this is implemented by the ``roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLClass``
1254 class.
1256 This wrapper object provides access to a hyperb class. It is used
1257 primarily in both index view and new item views, but it's also usable
1258 anywhere else that you wish to access information about a class, or the
1259 items of a class, when you don't have a specific item of that class in
1260 mind.
1262 We allow access to properties. There will be no "id" property. The value
1263 accessed through the property will be the current value of the same name
1264 from the CGI form.
1266 There are several methods available on these wrapper objects:
1268 =========== =============================================================
1269 Method Description
1270 =========== =============================================================
1271 properties return a `hyperdb property wrapper`_ for all of this class's
1272 properties.
1273 list lists all of the active (not retired) items in the class.
1274 csv return the items of this class as a chunk of CSV text.
1275 propnames lists the names of the properties of this class.
1276 filter lists of items from this class, filtered and sorted by the
1277 current *request* filterspec/filter/sort/group args
1278 classhelp display a link to a javascript popup containing this class'
1279 "help" template.
1280 submit generate a submit button (and action hidden element)
1281 renderWith render this class with the given template.
1282 history returns 'New node - no history' :)
1283 is_edit_ok is the user allowed to Edit the current class?
1284 is_view_ok is the user allowed to View the current class?
1285 =========== =============================================================
1287 Note that if you have a property of the same name as one of the above
1288 methods, you'll need to access it using a python "item access"
1289 expression. For example::
1291 python:context['list']
1293 will access the "list" property, rather than the list method.
1296 Hyperdb item wrapper
1297 ::::::::::::::::::::
1299 Note: this is implemented by the ``roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLItem``
1300 class.
1302 This wrapper object provides access to a hyperb item.
1304 We allow access to properties. There will be no "id" property. The value
1305 accessed through the property will be the current value of the same name
1306 from the CGI form.
1308 There are several methods available on these wrapper objects:
1310 =============== ========================================================
1311 Method Description
1312 =============== ========================================================
1313 submit generate a submit button (and action hidden element)
1314 journal return the journal of the current item (**not
1315 implemented**)
1316 history render the journal of the current item as HTML
1317 renderQueryForm specific to the "query" class - render the search form
1318 for the query
1319 hasPermission specific to the "user" class - determine whether the
1320 user has a Permission
1321 is_edit_ok is the user allowed to Edit the current item?
1322 is_view_ok is the user allowed to View the current item?
1323 =============== ========================================================
1325 Note that if you have a property of the same name as one of the above
1326 methods, you'll need to access it using a python "item access"
1327 expression. For example::
1329 python:context['journal']
1331 will access the "journal" property, rather than the journal method.
1334 Hyperdb property wrapper
1335 ::::::::::::::::::::::::
1337 Note: this is implemented by subclasses of the
1338 ``roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLProperty`` class (``HTMLStringProperty``,
1339 ``HTMLNumberProperty``, and so on).
1341 This wrapper object provides access to a single property of a class. Its
1342 value may be either:
1344 1. if accessed through a `hyperdb item wrapper`_, then it's a value from
1345 the hyperdb
1346 2. if access through a `hyperdb class wrapper`_, then it's a value from
1347 the CGI form
1350 The property wrapper has some useful attributes:
1352 =============== ========================================================
1353 Attribute Description
1354 =============== ========================================================
1355 _name the name of the property
1356 _value the value of the property if any - this is the actual
1357 value retrieved from the hyperdb for this property
1358 =============== ========================================================
1360 There are several methods available on these wrapper objects:
1362 ========= ================================================================
1363 Method Description
1364 ========= ================================================================
1365 plain render a "plain" representation of the property. This method
1366 may take two arguments:
1368 escape
1369 If true, escape the text so it is HTML safe (default: no). The
1370 reason this defaults to off is that text is usually escaped
1371 at a later stage by the TAL commands, unless the "structure"
1372 option is used in the template. The following are all
1373 equivalent::
1375 <p tal:content="structure python:msg.content.plain(escape=1)" />
1376 <p tal:content="python:msg.content.plain()" />
1377 <p tal:content="msg/content/plain" />
1378 <p tal:content="msg/content" />
1380 Usually you'll only want to use the escape option in a
1381 complex expression.
1383 hyperlink
1384 If true, turn URLs, email addresses and hyperdb item
1385 designators in the text into hyperlinks (default: no). Note
1386 that you'll need to use the "structure" TAL option if you
1387 want to use this::
1389 <p tal:content="structure python:msg.content.plain(hyperlink=1)" />
1391 Note also that the text is automatically HTML-escaped before
1392 the hyperlinking transformation.
1394 field render an appropriate form edit field for the property - for
1395 most types this is a text entry box, but for Booleans it's a
1396 tri-state yes/no/neither selection.
1397 stext only on String properties - render the value of the property
1398 as StructuredText (requires the StructureText module to be
1399 installed separately)
1400 multiline only on String properties - render a multiline form edit
1401 field for the property
1402 email only on String properties - render the value of the property
1403 as an obscured email address
1404 confirm only on Password properties - render a second form edit field
1405 for the property, used for confirmation that the user typed
1406 the password correctly. Generates a field with name
1407 "name:confirm".
1408 now only on Date properties - return the current date as a new
1409 property
1410 reldate only on Date properties - render the interval between the date
1411 and now
1412 local only on Date properties - return this date as a new property
1413 with some timezone offset
1414 pretty only on Interval properties - render the interval in a pretty
1415 format (eg. "yesterday")
1416 menu only on Link and Multilink properties - render a form select
1417 list for this property
1418 reverse only on Multilink properties - produce a list of the linked
1419 items in reverse order
1420 ========= =====================================================================
1423 The request variable
1424 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1426 Note: this is implemented by the ``roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLRequest``
1427 class.
1429 The request variable is packed with information about the current
1430 request.
1432 .. taken from ``roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLRequest`` docstring
1434 =========== ============================================================
1435 Variable Holds
1436 =========== ============================================================
1437 form the CGI form as a cgi.FieldStorage
1438 env the CGI environment variables
1439 base the base URL for this tracker
1440 user a HTMLUser instance for this user
1441 classname the current classname (possibly None)
1442 template the current template (suffix, also possibly None)
1443 form the current CGI form variables in a FieldStorage
1444 =========== ============================================================
1446 **Index page specific variables (indexing arguments)**
1448 =========== ============================================================
1449 Variable Holds
1450 =========== ============================================================
1451 columns dictionary of the columns to display in an index page
1452 show a convenience access to columns - request/show/colname will
1453 be true if the columns should be displayed, false otherwise
1454 sort index sort column (direction, column name)
1455 group index grouping property (direction, column name)
1456 filter properties to filter the index on
1457 filterspec values to filter the index on
1458 search_text text to perform a full-text search on for an index
1459 =========== ============================================================
1461 There are several methods available on the request variable:
1463 =============== ========================================================
1464 Method Description
1465 =============== ========================================================
1466 description render a description of the request - handle for the
1467 page title
1468 indexargs_form render the current index args as form elements
1469 indexargs_url render the current index args as a URL
1470 base_javascript render some javascript that is used by other components
1471 of the templating
1472 batch run the current index args through a filter and return a
1473 list of items (see `hyperdb item wrapper`_, and
1474 `batching`_)
1475 =============== ========================================================
1477 The form variable
1478 :::::::::::::::::
1480 The form variable is a bit special because it's actually a python
1481 FieldStorage object. That means that you have two ways to access its
1482 contents. For example, to look up the CGI form value for the variable
1483 "name", use the path expression::
1485 request/form/name/value
1487 or the python expression::
1489 python:request.form['name'].value
1491 Note the "item" access used in the python case, and also note the
1492 explicit "value" attribute we have to access. That's because the form
1493 variables are stored as MiniFieldStorages. If there's more than one
1494 "name" value in the form, then the above will break since
1495 ``request/form/name`` is actually a *list* of MiniFieldStorages. So it's
1496 best to know beforehand what you're dealing with.
1499 The db variable
1500 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1502 Note: this is implemented by the ``roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLDatabase``
1503 class.
1505 Allows access to all hyperdb classes as attributes of this variable. If
1506 you want access to the "user" class, for example, you would use::
1508 db/user
1509 python:db.user
1511 The access results in a `hyperdb class wrapper`_.
1514 The templates variable
1515 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1517 Note: this is implemented by the ``roundup.cgi.templating.Templates``
1518 class.
1520 This variable doesn't have any useful methods defined. It supports being
1521 used in expressions to access the templates, and consequently the
1522 template macros. You may access the templates using the following path
1523 expression::
1525 templates/name
1527 or the python expression::
1529 templates[name]
1531 where "name" is the name of the template you wish to access. The
1532 template has one useful attribute, namely "macros". To access a specific
1533 macro (called "macro_name"), use the path expression::
1535 templates/name/macros/macro_name
1537 or the python expression::
1539 templates[name].macros[macro_name]
1542 The utils variable
1543 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1545 Note: this is implemented by the
1546 ``roundup.cgi.templating.TemplatingUtils`` class, but it may be extended
1547 as described below.
1549 =============== ========================================================
1550 Method Description
1551 =============== ========================================================
1552 Batch return a batch object using the supplied list
1553 =============== ========================================================
1555 You may add additional utility methods by writing them in your tracker
1556 ``interfaces.py`` module's ``TemplatingUtils`` class. See `adding a time
1557 log to your issues`_ for an example. The TemplatingUtils class itself
1558 will have a single attribute, ``client``, which may be used to access
1559 the ``client.db`` when you need to perform arbitrary database queries.
1561 Batching
1562 ::::::::
1564 Use Batch to turn a list of items, or item ids of a given class, into a
1565 series of batches. Its usage is::
1567 python:utils.Batch(sequence, size, start, end=0, orphan=0,
1568 overlap=0)
1570 or, to get the current index batch::
1572 request/batch
1574 The parameters are:
1576 ========= ==============================================================
1577 Parameter Usage
1578 ========= ==============================================================
1579 sequence a list of HTMLItems
1580 size how big to make the sequence.
1581 start where to start (0-indexed) in the sequence.
1582 end where to end (0-indexed) in the sequence.
1583 orphan if the next batch would contain less items than this value,
1584 then it is combined with this batch
1585 overlap the number of items shared between adjacent batches
1586 ========= ==============================================================
1588 All of the parameters are assigned as attributes on the batch object. In
1589 addition, it has several more attributes:
1591 =============== ========================================================
1592 Attribute Description
1593 =============== ========================================================
1594 start indicates the start index of the batch. *Note: unlike
1595 the argument, is a 1-based index (I know, lame)*
1596 first indicates the start index of the batch *as a 0-based
1597 index*
1598 length the actual number of elements in the batch
1599 sequence_length the length of the original, unbatched, sequence.
1600 =============== ========================================================
1602 And several methods:
1604 =============== ========================================================
1605 Method Description
1606 =============== ========================================================
1607 previous returns a new Batch with the previous batch settings
1608 next returns a new Batch with the next batch settings
1609 propchanged detect if the named property changed on the current item
1610 when compared to the last item
1611 =============== ========================================================
1613 An example of batching::
1615 <table class="otherinfo">
1616 <tr><th colspan="4" class="header">Existing Keywords</th></tr>
1617 <tr tal:define="keywords db/keyword/list"
1618 tal:repeat="start python:range(0, len(keywords), 4)">
1619 <td tal:define="batch python:utils.Batch(keywords, 4, start)"
1620 tal:repeat="keyword batch" tal:content="keyword/name">
1621 keyword here</td>
1622 </tr>
1623 </table>
1625 ... which will produce a table with four columns containing the items of
1626 the "keyword" class (well, their "name" anyway).
1628 Displaying Properties
1629 ---------------------
1631 Properties appear in the user interface in three contexts: in indices,
1632 in editors, and as search arguments. For each type of property, there
1633 are several display possibilities. For example, in an index view, a
1634 string property may just be printed as a plain string, but in an editor
1635 view, that property may be displayed in an editable field.
1638 Index Views
1639 -----------
1641 This is one of the class context views. It is also the default view for
1642 classes. The template used is "*classname*.index".
1645 Index View Specifiers
1646 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1648 An index view specifier (URL fragment) looks like this (whitespace has
1649 been added for clarity)::
1651 /issue?status=unread,in-progress,resolved&
1652 topic=security,ui&
1653 :group=+priority&
1654 :sort==activity&
1655 :filters=status,topic&
1656 :columns=title,status,fixer
1658 The index view is determined by two parts of the specifier: the layout
1659 part and the filter part. The layout part consists of the query
1660 parameters that begin with colons, and it determines the way that the
1661 properties of selected items are displayed. The filter part consists of
1662 all the other query parameters, and it determines the criteria by which
1663 items are selected for display. The filter part is interactively
1664 manipulated with the form widgets displayed in the filter section. The
1665 layout part is interactively manipulated by clicking on the column
1666 headings in the table.
1668 The filter part selects the union of the sets of items with values
1669 matching any specified Link properties and the intersection of the sets
1670 of items with values matching any specified Multilink properties.
1672 The example specifies an index of "issue" items. Only items with a
1673 "status" of either "unread" or "in-progress" or "resolved" are
1674 displayed, and only items with "topic" values including both "security"
1675 and "ui" are displayed. The items are grouped by priority, arranged in
1676 ascending order; and within groups, sorted by activity, arranged in
1677 descending order. The filter section shows filters for the "status" and
1678 "topic" properties, and the table includes columns for the "title",
1679 "status", and "fixer" properties.
1681 Searching Views
1682 ---------------
1684 Note: if you add a new column to the ``:columns`` form variable
1685 potentials then you will need to add the column to the appropriate
1686 `index views`_ template so that it is actually displayed.
1688 This is one of the class context views. The template used is typically
1689 "*classname*.search". The form on this page should have "search" as its
1690 ``:action`` variable. The "search" action:
1692 - sets up additional filtering, as well as performing indexed text
1693 searching
1694 - sets the ``:filter`` variable correctly
1695 - saves the query off if ``:query_name`` is set.
1697 The search page should lay out any fields that you wish to allow the
1698 user to search on. If your schema contains a large number of properties,
1699 you should be wary of making all of those properties available for
1700 searching, as this can cause confusion. If the additional properties are
1701 Strings, consider having their value indexed, and then they will be
1702 searchable using the full text indexed search. This is both faster, and
1703 more useful for the end user.
1705 The two special form values on search pages which are handled by the
1706 "search" action are:
1708 :search_text
1709 Text with which to perform a search of the text index. Results from
1710 that search will be used to limit the results of other filters (using
1711 an intersection operation)
1712 :query_name
1713 If supplied, the search parameters (including :search_text) will be
1714 saved off as a the query item and registered against the user's
1715 queries property. Note that the *classic* template schema has this
1716 ability, but the *minimal* template schema does not.
1719 Item Views
1720 ----------
1722 The basic view of a hyperdb item is provided by the "*classname*.item"
1723 template. It generally has three sections; an "editor", a "spool" and a
1724 "history" section.
1727 Editor Section
1728 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1730 The editor section is used to manipulate the item - it may be a static
1731 display if the user doesn't have permission to edit the item.
1733 Here's an example of a basic editor template (this is the default
1734 "classic" template issue item edit form - from the "issue.item.html"
1735 template)::
1737 <table class="form">
1738 <tr>
1739 <th nowrap>Title</th>
1740 <td colspan="3" tal:content="structure python:context.title.field(size=60)">title</td>
1741 </tr>
1743 <tr>
1744 <th nowrap>Priority</th>
1745 <td tal:content="structure context/priority/menu">priority</td>
1746 <th nowrap>Status</th>
1747 <td tal:content="structure context/status/menu">status</td>
1748 </tr>
1750 <tr>
1751 <th nowrap>Superseder</th>
1752 <td>
1753 <span tal:replace="structure python:context.superseder.field(showid=1, size=20)" />
1754 <span tal:replace="structure python:db.issue.classhelp('id,title')" />
1755 <span tal:condition="context/superseder">
1756 <br>View: <span tal:replace="structure python:context.superseder.link(showid=1)" />
1757 </span>
1758 </td>
1759 <th nowrap>Nosy List</th>
1760 <td>
1761 <span tal:replace="structure context/nosy/field" />
1762 <span tal:replace="structure python:db.user.classhelp('username,realname,address,phone')" />
1763 </td>
1764 </tr>
1766 <tr>
1767 <th nowrap>Assigned To</th>
1768 <td tal:content="structure context/assignedto/menu">
1769 assignedto menu
1770 </td>
1771 <td> </td>
1772 <td> </td>
1773 </tr>
1775 <tr>
1776 <th nowrap>Change Note</th>
1777 <td colspan="3">
1778 <textarea name=":note" wrap="hard" rows="5" cols="60"></textarea>
1779 </td>
1780 </tr>
1782 <tr>
1783 <th nowrap>File</th>
1784 <td colspan="3"><input type="file" name=":file" size="40"></td>
1785 </tr>
1787 <tr>
1788 <td> </td>
1789 <td colspan="3" tal:content="structure context/submit">
1790 submit button will go here
1791 </td>
1792 </tr>
1793 </table>
1796 When a change is submitted, the system automatically generates a message
1797 describing the changed properties. As shown in the example, the editor
1798 template can use the ":note" and ":file" fields, which are added to the
1799 standard changenote message generated by Roundup.
1802 Form values
1803 :::::::::::
1805 We have a number of ways to pull properties out of the form in order to
1806 meet the various needs of:
1808 1. editing the current item (perhaps an issue item)
1809 2. editing information related to the current item (eg. messages or
1810 attached files)
1811 3. creating new information to be linked to the current item (eg. time
1812 spent on an issue)
1814 In the following, ``<bracketed>`` values are variable, ":" may be one of
1815 ":" or "@", and other text ("required") is fixed.
1817 Properties are specified as form variables:
1819 ``<propname>``
1820 property on the current context item
1822 ``<designator>:<propname>``
1823 property on the indicated item (for editing related information)
1825 ``<classname>-<N>:<propname>``
1826 property on the Nth new item of classname (generally for creating new
1827 items to attach to the current item)
1829 Once we have determined the "propname", we check to see if it is one of
1830 the special form values:
1832 ``:required``
1833 The named property values must be supplied or a ValueError will be
1834 raised.
1836 ``:remove:<propname>=id(s)``
1837 The ids will be removed from the multilink property.
1839 ``:add:<propname>=id(s)``
1840 The ids will be added to the multilink property.
1842 ``:link:<propname>=<designator>``
1843 Used to add a link to new items created during edit. These are
1844 collected and returned in ``all_links``. This will result in an
1845 additional linking operation (either Link set or Multilink append)
1846 after the edit/create is done using ``all_props`` in ``_editnodes``.
1847 The <propname> on the current item will be set/appended the id of the
1848 newly created item of class <designator> (where <designator> must be
1849 <classname>-<N>).
1851 Any of the form variables may be prefixed with a classname or
1852 designator.
1854 Two special form values are supported for backwards compatibility:
1856 ``:note``
1857 create a message (with content, author and date), linked to the
1858 context item. This is ALWAYS designated "msg-1".
1859 ``:file``
1860 create a file, attached to the current item and any message created by
1861 :note. This is ALWAYS designated "file-1".
1864 Spool Section
1865 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1867 The spool section lists related information like the messages and files
1868 of an issue.
1870 TODO
1873 History Section
1874 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1876 The final section displayed is the history of the item - its database
1877 journal. This is generally generated with the template::
1879 <tal:block tal:replace="structure context/history" />
1881 *To be done:*
1883 *The actual history entries of the item may be accessed for manual
1884 templating through the "journal" method of the item*::
1886 <tal:block tal:repeat="entry context/journal">
1887 a journal entry
1888 </tal:block>
1890 *where each journal entry is an HTMLJournalEntry.*
1892 Defining new web actions
1893 ------------------------
1895 You may define new actions to be triggered by the ``:action`` form
1896 variable. These are added to the tracker ``interfaces.py`` as methods on
1897 the ``Client`` class.
1899 Adding action methods takes three steps; first you `define the new
1900 action method`_, then you `register the action method`_ with the cgi
1901 interface so it may be triggered by the ``:action`` form variable.
1902 Finally you `use the new action`_ in your HTML form.
1904 See "`setting up a "wizard" (or "druid") for controlled adding of
1905 issues`_" for an example.
1908 Define the new action method
1909 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1911 The action methods have the following interface::
1913 def myActionMethod(self):
1914 ''' Perform some action. No return value is required.
1915 '''
1917 The *self* argument is an instance of your tracker ``instance.Client``
1918 class - thus it's mostly implemented by ``roundup.cgi.Client``. See the
1919 docstring of that class for details of what it can do.
1921 The method will typically check the ``self.form`` variable's contents.
1922 It may then:
1924 - add information to ``self.ok_message`` or ``self.error_message``
1925 - change the ``self.template`` variable to alter what the user will see
1926 next
1927 - raise Unauthorised, SendStaticFile, SendFile, NotFound or Redirect
1928 exceptions
1931 Register the action method
1932 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1934 The method is now written, but isn't available to the user until you add
1935 it to the `instance.Client`` class ``actions`` variable, like so::
1937 actions = client.Class.actions + (
1938 ('myaction', 'myActionMethod'),
1939 )
1941 This maps the action name "myaction" to the action method we defined.
1944 Use the new action
1945 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1947 In your HTML form, add a hidden form element like so::
1949 <input type="hidden" name=":action" value="myaction">
1951 where "myaction" is the name you registered in the previous step.
1954 Examples
1955 ========
1957 .. contents::
1958 :local:
1959 :depth: 1
1962 Adding a new field to the classic schema
1963 ----------------------------------------
1965 This example shows how to add a new constrained property (i.e. a
1966 selection of distinct values) to your tracker.
1969 Introduction
1970 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
1972 To make the classic schema of roundup useful as a TODO tracking system
1973 for a group of systems administrators, it needed an extra data field per
1974 issue: a category.
1976 This would let sysadmins quickly list all TODOs in their particular area
1977 of interest without having to do complex queries, and without relying on
1978 the spelling capabilities of other sysadmins (a losing proposition at
1979 best).
1982 Adding a field to the database
1983 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1985 This is the easiest part of the change. The category would just be a
1986 plain string, nothing fancy. To change what is in the database you need
1987 to add some lines to the ``open()`` function in ``dbinit.py``. Under the
1988 comment::
1990 # add any additional database schema configuration here
1992 add::
1994 category = Class(db, "category", name=String())
1995 category.setkey("name")
1997 Here we are setting up a chunk of the database which we are calling
1998 "category". It contains a string, which we are refering to as "name" for
1999 lack of a more imaginative title. (Since "name" is one of the properties
2000 that Roundup looks for on items if you do not set a key for them, it's
2001 probably a good idea to stick with it for new classes if at all
2002 appropriate.) Then we are setting the key of this chunk of the database
2003 to be that "name". This is equivalent to an index for database types.
2004 This also means that there can only be one category with a given name.
2006 Adding the above lines allows us to create categories, but they're not
2007 tied to the issues that we are going to be creating. It's just a list of
2008 categories off on its own, which isn't much use. We need to link it in
2009 with the issues. To do that, find the lines in the ``open()`` function
2010 in ``dbinit.py`` which set up the "issue" class, and then add a link to
2011 the category::
2013 issue = IssueClass(db, "issue", ... ,
2014 category=Multilink("category"), ... )
2016 The ``Multilink()`` means that each issue can have many categories. If
2017 you were adding something with a one-to-one relationship to issues (such
2018 as the "assignedto" property), use ``Link()`` instead.
2020 That is all you need to do to change the schema. The rest of the effort
2021 is fiddling around so you can actually use the new category.
2024 Populating the new category class
2025 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2027 If you haven't initialised the database with the roundup-admin
2028 "initialise" command, then you can add the following to the tracker
2029 ``dbinit.py`` in the ``init()`` function under the comment::
2031 # add any additional database create steps here - but only if you
2032 # haven't initialised the database with the admin "initialise" command
2034 Add::
2036 category = db.getclass('category')
2037 category.create(name="scipy", order="1")
2038 category.create(name="chaco", order="2")
2039 category.create(name="weave", order="3")
2041 If the database has already been initalised, then you need to use the
2042 ``roundup-admin`` tool::
2044 % roundup-admin -i <tracker home>
2045 Roundup <version> ready for input.
2046 Type "help" for help.
2047 roundup> create category name=scipy order=1
2048 1
2049 roundup> create category name=chaco order=1
2050 2
2051 roundup> create category name=weave order=1
2052 3
2053 roundup> exit...
2054 There are unsaved changes. Commit them (y/N)? y
2056 TODO: explain why order=1 in each case. Also, does key get set to "name"
2057 automatically when added via roundup-admin?
2060 Setting up security on the new objects
2061 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2063 By default only the admin user can look at and change objects. This
2064 doesn't suit us, as we want any user to be able to create new categories
2065 as required, and obviously everyone needs to be able to view the
2066 categories of issues for it to be useful.
2068 We therefore need to change the security of the category objects. This
2069 is also done in the ``open()`` function of ``dbinit.py``.
2071 There are currently two loops which set up permissions and then assign
2072 them to various roles. Simply add the new "category" to both lists::
2074 # new permissions for this schema
2075 for cl in 'issue', 'file', 'msg', 'user', 'category':
2076 db.security.addPermission(name="Edit", klass=cl,
2077 description="User is allowed to edit "+cl)
2078 db.security.addPermission(name="View", klass=cl,
2079 description="User is allowed to access "+cl)
2081 # Assign the access and edit permissions for issue, file and message
2082 # to regular users now
2083 for cl in 'issue', 'file', 'msg', 'category':
2084 p = db.security.getPermission('View', cl)
2085 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
2086 p = db.security.getPermission('Edit', cl)
2087 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
2089 So you are in effect doing the following (with 'cl' substituted by its
2090 value)::
2092 db.security.addPermission(name="Edit", klass='category',
2093 description="User is allowed to edit "+'category')
2094 db.security.addPermission(name="View", klass='category',
2095 description="User is allowed to access "+'category')
2097 which is creating two permission types; that of editing and viewing
2098 "category" objects respectively. Then the following lines assign those
2099 new permissions to the "User" role, so that normal users can view and
2100 edit "category" objects::
2102 p = db.security.getPermission('View', 'category')
2103 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
2105 p = db.security.getPermission('Edit', 'category')
2106 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
2108 This is all the work that needs to be done for the database. It will
2109 store categories, and let users view and edit them. Now on to the
2110 interface stuff.
2113 Changing the web left hand frame
2114 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2116 We need to give the users the ability to create new categories, and the
2117 place to put the link to this functionality is in the left hand function
2118 bar, under the "Issues" area. The file that defines how this area looks
2119 is ``html/page``, which is what we are going to be editing next.
2121 If you look at this file you can see that it contains a lot of
2122 "classblock" sections which are chunks of HTML that will be included or
2123 excluded in the output depending on whether the condition in the
2124 classblock is met. Under the end of the classblock for issue is where we
2125 are going to add the category code::
2127 <p class="classblock"
2128 tal:condition="python:request.user.hasPermission('View', 'category')">
2129 <b>Categories</b><br>
2130 <a tal:condition="python:request.user.hasPermission('Edit', 'category')"
2131 href="category?:template=item">New Category<br></a>
2132 </p>
2134 The first two lines is the classblock definition, which sets up a
2135 condition that only users who have "View" permission for the "category"
2136 object will have this section included in their output. Next comes a
2137 plain "Categories" header in bold. Everyone who can view categories will
2138 get that.
2140 Next comes the link to the editing area of categories. This link will
2141 only appear if the condition - that the user has "Edit" permissions for
2142 the "category" objects - is matched. If they do have permission then
2143 they will get a link to another page which will let the user add new
2144 categories.
2146 Note that if you have permission to *view* but not to *edit* categories,
2147 then all you will see is a "Categories" header with nothing underneath
2148 it. This is obviously not very good interface design, but will do for
2149 now. I just claim that it is so I can add more links in this section
2150 later on. However to fix the problem you could change the condition in
2151 the classblock statement, so that only users with "Edit" permission
2152 would see the "Categories" stuff.
2155 Setting up a page to edit categories
2156 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2158 We defined code in the previous section which let users with the
2159 appropriate permissions see a link to a page which would let them edit
2160 conditions. Now we have to write that page.
2162 The link was for the *item* template of the *category* object. This
2163 translates into Roundup looking for a file called ``category.item.html``
2164 in the ``html`` tracker directory. This is the file that we are going to
2165 write now.
2167 First we add an info tag in a comment which doesn't affect the outcome
2168 of the code at all, but is useful for debugging. If you load a page in a
2169 browser and look at the page source, you can see which sections come
2170 from which files by looking for these comments::
2172 <!-- category.item -->
2174 Next we need to add in the METAL macro stuff so we get the normal page
2175 trappings::
2177 <tal:block metal:use-macro="templates/page/macros/icing">
2178 <title metal:fill-slot="head_title">Category editing</title>
2179 <td class="page-header-top" metal:fill-slot="body_title">
2180 <h2>Category editing</h2>
2181 </td>
2182 <td class="content" metal:fill-slot="content">
2184 Next we need to setup up a standard HTML form, which is the whole
2185 purpose of this file. We link to some handy javascript which sends the
2186 form through only once. This is to stop users hitting the send button
2187 multiple times when they are impatient and thus having the form sent
2188 multiple times::
2190 <form method="POST" onSubmit="return submit_once()"
2191 enctype="multipart/form-data">
2193 Next we define some code which sets up the minimum list of fields that
2194 we require the user to enter. There will be only one field - "name" - so
2195 they better put something in it, otherwise the whole form is pointless::
2197 <input type="hidden" name=":required" value="name">
2199 To get everything to line up properly we will put everything in a table,
2200 and put a nice big header on it so the user has an idea what is
2201 happening::
2203 <table class="form">
2204 <tr><th class="header" colspan="2">Category</th></tr>
2206 Next, we need the field into which the user is going to enter the new
2207 category. The "context.name.field(size=60)" bit tells Roundup to
2208 generate a normal HTML field of size 60, and the contents of that field
2209 will be the "name" variable of the current context (which is
2210 "category"). The upshot of this is that when the user types something in
2211 to the form, a new category will be created with that name::
2213 <tr>
2214 <th nowrap>Name</th>
2215 <td tal:content="structure python:context.name.field(size=60)">
2216 name</td>
2217 </tr>
2219 Then a submit button so that the user can submit the new category::
2221 <tr>
2222 <td> </td>
2223 <td colspan="3" tal:content="structure context/submit">
2224 submit button will go here
2225 </td>
2226 </tr>
2228 Finally we finish off the tags we used at the start to do the METAL
2229 stuff::
2231 </td>
2232 </tal:block>
2234 So putting it all together, and closing the table and form we get::
2236 <!-- category.item -->
2237 <tal:block metal:use-macro="templates/page/macros/icing">
2238 <title metal:fill-slot="head_title">Category editing</title>
2239 <td class="page-header-top" metal:fill-slot="body_title">
2240 <h2>Category editing</h2>
2241 </td>
2242 <td class="content" metal:fill-slot="content">
2243 <form method="POST" onSubmit="return submit_once()"
2244 enctype="multipart/form-data">
2246 <input type="hidden" name=":required" value="name">
2248 <table class="form">
2249 <tr><th class="header" colspan="2">Category</th></tr>
2251 <tr>
2252 <th nowrap>Name</th>
2253 <td tal:content="structure python:context.name.field(size=60)">
2254 name</td>
2255 </tr>
2257 <tr>
2258 <td> </td>
2259 <td colspan="3" tal:content="structure context/submit">
2260 submit button will go here
2261 </td>
2262 </tr>
2263 </table>
2264 </form>
2265 </td>
2266 </tal:block>
2268 This is quite a lot to just ask the user one simple question, but there
2269 is a lot of setup for basically one line (the form line) to do its work.
2270 To add another field to "category" would involve one more line (well,
2271 maybe a few extra to get the formatting correct).
2274 Adding the category to the issue
2275 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2277 We now have the ability to create issues to our heart's content, but
2278 that is pointless unless we can assign categories to issues. Just like
2279 the ``html/category.item.html`` file was used to define how to add a new
2280 category, the ``html/issue.item.html`` is used to define how a new issue
2281 is created.
2283 Just like ``category.issue.html`` this file defines a form which has a
2284 table to lay things out. It doesn't matter where in the table we add new
2285 stuff, it is entirely up to your sense of aesthetics::
2287 <th nowrap>Category</th>
2288 <td><span tal:replace="structure context/category/field" />
2289 <span tal:replace="structure db/category/classhelp" />
2290 </td>
2292 First, we define a nice header so that the user knows what the next
2293 section is, then the middle line does what we are most interested in.
2294 This ``context/category/field`` gets replaced by a field which contains
2295 the category in the current context (the current context being the new
2296 issue).
2298 The classhelp lines generate a link (labelled "list") to a popup window
2299 which contains the list of currently known categories.
2302 Searching on categories
2303 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2305 We can add categories, and create issues with categories. The next
2306 obvious thing that we would like to be able to do, would be to search
2307 for issues based on their category, so that, for example, anyone working
2308 on the web server could look at all issues in the category "Web".
2310 If you look for "Search Issues" in the 'html/page.html' file, you will
2311 find that it looks something like
2312 ``<a href="issue?:template=search">Search Issues</a>``. This shows us
2313 that when you click on "Search Issues" it will be looking for a
2314 ``issue.search.html`` file to display. So that is the file that we will
2315 change.
2317 This file should begin to look familiar, by now. It is a simple HTML
2318 form using a table to define structure. You can add the new category
2319 search code anywhere you like within that form::
2321 <tr>
2322 <th>Category:</th>
2323 <td>
2324 <select name="category">
2325 <option value="">don't care</option>
2326 <option value="">------------</option>
2327 <option tal:repeat="s db/category/list"
2328 tal:attributes="value s/name"
2329 tal:content="s/name">category to filter on</option>
2330 </select>
2331 </td>
2332 <td><input type="checkbox" name=":columns" value="category"
2333 checked></td>
2334 <td><input type="radio" name=":sort" value="category"></td>
2335 <td><input type="radio" name=":group" value="category"></td>
2336 </tr>
2338 Most of this is straightforward to anyone who knows HTML. It is just
2339 setting up a select list followed by a checkbox and a couple of radio
2340 buttons.
2342 The ``tal:repeat`` part repeats the tag for every item in the "category"
2343 table and sets "s" to each category in turn.
2345 The ``tal:attributes`` part is setting up the ``value=`` part of the
2346 option tag to be the name part of "s", which is the current category in
2347 the loop.
2349 The ``tal:content`` part is setting the contents of the option tag to be
2350 the name part of "s" again. For objects more complex than category,
2351 obviously you would put an id in the value, and the descriptive part in
2352 the content; but for categories they are the same.
2355 Adding category to the default view
2356 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2358 We can now add categories, add issues with categories, and search for
2359 issues based on categories. This is everything that we need to do;
2360 however, there is some more icing that we would like. I think the
2361 category of an issue is important enough that it should be displayed by
2362 default when listing all the issues.
2364 Unfortunately, this is a bit less obvious than the previous steps. The
2365 code defining how the issues look is in ``html/issue.index.html``. This
2366 is a large table with a form down at the bottom for redisplaying and so
2367 forth.
2369 Firstly we need to add an appropriate header to the start of the table::
2371 <th tal:condition="request/show/category">Category</th>
2373 The *condition* part of this statement is to avoid displaying the
2374 Category column if the user has selected not to see it.
2376 The rest of the table is a loop which will go through every issue that
2377 matches the display criteria. The loop variable is "i" - which means
2378 that every issue gets assigned to "i" in turn.
2380 The new part of code to display the category will look like this::
2382 <td tal:condition="request/show/category"
2383 tal:content="i/category"></td>
2385 The condition is the same as above: only display the condition when the
2386 user hasn't asked for it to be hidden. The next part is to set the
2387 content of the cell to be the category part of "i" - the current issue.
2389 Finally we have to edit ``html/page.html`` again. This time, we need to
2390 tell it that when the user clicks on "Unasigned Issues" or "All Issues",
2391 the category column should be included in the resulting list. If you
2392 scroll down the page file, you can see the links with lots of options.
2393 The option that we are interested in is the ``:columns=`` one which
2394 tells roundup which fields of the issue to display. Simply add
2395 "category" to that list and it all should work.
2398 Adding in state transition control
2399 ----------------------------------
2401 Sometimes tracker admins want to control the states that users may move
2402 issues to. You can do this by following these steps:
2404 1. make "status" a required variable. This is achieved by adding the
2405 following to the top of the form in the ``issue.item.html``
2406 template::
2408 <input type="hidden" name="@required" value="status">
2410 this will force users to select a status.
2412 2. add a Multilink property to the status class::
2414 stat = Class(db, "status", ... , transitions=Multilink('status'),
2415 ...)
2417 and then edit the statuses already created, either:
2419 a. through the web using the class list -> status class editor, or
2420 b. using the roundup-admin "set" command.
2422 3. add an auditor module ``checktransition.py`` in your tracker's
2423 ``detectors`` directory, for example::
2425 def checktransition(db, cl, nodeid, newvalues):
2426 ''' Check that the desired transition is valid for the "status"
2427 property.
2428 '''
2429 if not newvalues.has_key('status'):
2430 return
2431 current = cl.get(nodeid, 'status')
2432 new = newvalues['status']
2433 if new == current:
2434 return
2435 ok = db.status.get(current, 'transitions')
2436 if new not in ok:
2437 raise ValueError, 'Status not allowed to move from "%s" to "%s"'%(
2438 db.status.get(current, 'name'), db.status.get(new, 'name'))
2440 def init(db):
2441 db.issue.audit('set', checktransition)
2443 4. in the ``issue.item.html`` template, change the status editing bit
2444 from::
2446 <th nowrap>Status</th>
2447 <td tal:content="structure context/status/menu">status</td>
2449 to::
2451 <th nowrap>Status</th>
2452 <td>
2453 <select tal:condition="context/id" name="status">
2454 <tal:block tal:define="ok context/status/transitions"
2455 tal:repeat="state db/status/list">
2456 <option tal:condition="python:state.id in ok"
2457 tal:attributes="
2458 value state/id;
2459 selected python:state.id == context.status.id"
2460 tal:content="state/name"></option>
2461 </tal:block>
2462 </select>
2463 <tal:block tal:condition="not:context/id"
2464 tal:replace="structure context/status/menu" />
2465 </td>
2467 which displays only the allowed status to transition to.
2470 Displaying only message summaries in the issue display
2471 ------------------------------------------------------
2473 Alter the issue.item template section for messages to::
2475 <table class="messages" tal:condition="context/messages">
2476 <tr><th colspan="5" class="header">Messages</th></tr>
2477 <tr tal:repeat="msg context/messages">
2478 <td><a tal:attributes="href string:msg${msg/id}"
2479 tal:content="string:msg${msg/id}"></a></td>
2480 <td tal:content="msg/author">author</td>
2481 <td nowrap tal:content="msg/date/pretty">date</td>
2482 <td tal:content="msg/summary">summary</td>
2483 <td>
2484 <a tal:attributes="href string:?:remove:messages=${msg/id}&:action=edit">
2485 remove</a>
2486 </td>
2487 </tr>
2488 </table>
2490 Restricting the list of users that are assignable to a task
2491 -----------------------------------------------------------
2493 1. In your tracker's "dbinit.py", create a new Role, say "Developer"::
2495 db.security.addRole(name='Developer', description='A developer')
2497 2. Just after that, create a new Permission, say "Fixer", specific to
2498 "issue"::
2500 p = db.security.addPermission(name='Fixer', klass='issue',
2501 description='User is allowed to be assigned to fix issues')
2503 3. Then assign the new Permission to your "Developer" Role::
2505 db.security.addPermissionToRole('Developer', p)
2507 4. In the issue item edit page ("html/issue.item.html" in your tracker
2508 directory), use the new Permission in restricting the "assignedto"
2509 list::
2511 <select name="assignedto">
2512 <option value="-1">- no selection -</option>
2513 <tal:block tal:repeat="user db/user/list">
2514 <option tal:condition="python:user.hasPermission(
2515 'Fixer', context._classname)"
2516 tal:attributes="
2517 value user/id;
2518 selected python:user.id == context.assignedto"
2519 tal:content="user/realname"></option>
2520 </tal:block>
2521 </select>
2523 For extra security, you may wish to setup an auditor to enforce the
2524 Permission requirement (install this as "assignedtoFixer.py" in your
2525 tracker "detectors" directory)::
2527 def assignedtoMustBeFixer(db, cl, nodeid, newvalues):
2528 ''' Ensure the assignedto value in newvalues is a used with the
2529 Fixer Permission
2530 '''
2531 if not newvalues.has_key('assignedto'):
2532 # don't care
2533 return
2535 # get the userid
2536 userid = newvalues['assignedto']
2537 if not db.security.hasPermission('Fixer', userid, cl.classname):
2538 raise ValueError, 'You do not have permission to edit %s'%cl.classname
2540 def init(db):
2541 db.issue.audit('set', assignedtoMustBeFixer)
2542 db.issue.audit('create', assignedtoMustBeFixer)
2544 So now, if an edit action attempts to set "assignedto" to a user that
2545 doesn't have the "Fixer" Permission, the error will be raised.
2548 Setting up a "wizard" (or "druid") for controlled adding of issues
2549 ------------------------------------------------------------------
2551 1. Set up the page templates you wish to use for data input. My wizard
2552 is going to be a two-step process: first figuring out what category
2553 of issue the user is submitting, and then getting details specific to
2554 that category. The first page includes a table of help, explaining
2555 what the category names mean, and then the core of the form::
2557 <form method="POST" onSubmit="return submit_once()"
2558 enctype="multipart/form-data">
2559 <input type="hidden" name=":template" value="add_page1">
2560 <input type="hidden" name=":action" value="page1submit">
2562 <strong>Category:</strong>
2563 <tal:block tal:replace="structure context/category/menu" />
2564 <input type="submit" value="Continue">
2565 </form>
2567 The next page has the usual issue entry information, with the
2568 addition of the following form fragments::
2570 <form method="POST" onSubmit="return submit_once()"
2571 enctype="multipart/form-data"
2572 tal:condition="context/is_edit_ok"
2573 tal:define="cat request/form/category/value">
2575 <input type="hidden" name=":template" value="add_page2">
2576 <input type="hidden" name=":required" value="title">
2577 <input type="hidden" name="category" tal:attributes="value cat">
2578 .
2579 .
2580 .
2581 </form>
2583 Note that later in the form, I test the value of "cat" include form
2584 elements that are appropriate. For example::
2586 <tal:block tal:condition="python:cat in '6 10 13 14 15 16 17'.split()">
2587 <tr>
2588 <th nowrap>Operating System</th>
2589 <td tal:content="structure context/os/field"></td>
2590 </tr>
2591 <tr>
2592 <th nowrap>Web Browser</th>
2593 <td tal:content="structure context/browser/field"></td>
2594 </tr>
2595 </tal:block>
2597 ... the above section will only be displayed if the category is one
2598 of 6, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17.
2600 3. Determine what actions need to be taken between the pages - these are
2601 usually to validate user choices and determine what page is next. Now
2602 encode those actions in methods on the ``interfaces.Client`` class
2603 and insert hooks to those actions in the "actions" attribute on that
2604 class, like so::
2606 actions = client.Client.actions + (
2607 ('page1_submit', 'page1SubmitAction'),
2608 )
2610 def page1SubmitAction(self):
2611 ''' Verify that the user has selected a category, and then move
2612 on to page 2.
2613 '''
2614 category = self.form['category'].value
2615 if category == '-1':
2616 self.error_message.append('You must select a category of report')
2617 return
2618 # everything's ok, move on to the next page
2619 self.template = 'add_page2'
2621 4. Use the usual "new" action as the ``:action`` on the final page, and
2622 you're done (the standard context/submit method can do this for you).
2625 Using an external password validation source
2626 --------------------------------------------
2628 We have a centrally-managed password changing system for our users. This
2629 results in a UN*X passwd-style file that we use for verification of
2630 users. Entries in the file consist of ``name:password`` where the
2631 password is encrypted using the standard UN*X ``crypt()`` function (see
2632 the ``crypt`` module in your Python distribution). An example entry
2633 would be::
2635 admin:aamrgyQfDFSHw
2637 Each user of Roundup must still have their information stored in the
2638 Roundup database - we just use the passwd file to check their password.
2639 To do this, we add the following code to our ``Client`` class in the
2640 tracker home ``interfaces.py`` module::
2642 def verifyPassword(self, userid, password):
2643 # get the user's username
2644 username = self.db.user.get(userid, 'username')
2646 # the passwords are stored in the "passwd.txt" file in the
2647 # tracker home
2648 file = os.path.join(self.db.config.TRACKER_HOME, 'passwd.txt')
2650 # see if we can find a match
2651 for ent in [line.strip().split(':') for line in
2652 open(file).readlines()]:
2653 if ent[0] == username:
2654 return crypt.crypt(password, ent[1][:2]) == ent[1]
2656 # user doesn't exist in the file
2657 return 0
2659 What this does is look through the file, line by line, looking for a
2660 name that matches.
2662 We also remove the redundant password fields from the ``user.item``
2663 template.
2666 Adding a "vacation" flag to users for stopping nosy messages
2667 ------------------------------------------------------------
2669 When users go on vacation and set up vacation email bouncing, you'll
2670 start to see a lot of messages come back through Roundup "Fred is on
2671 vacation". Not very useful, and relatively easy to stop.
2673 1. add a "vacation" flag to your users::
2675 user = Class(db, "user",
2676 username=String(), password=Password(),
2677 address=String(), realname=String(),
2678 phone=String(), organisation=String(),
2679 alternate_addresses=String(),
2680 roles=String(), queries=Multilink("query"),
2681 vacation=Boolean())
2683 2. So that users may edit the vacation flags, add something like the
2684 following to your ``user.item`` template::
2686 <tr>
2687 <th>On Vacation</th>
2688 <td tal:content="structure context/vacation/field">vacation</td>
2689 </tr>
2691 3. edit your detector ``nosyreactor.py`` so that the ``nosyreaction()``
2692 consists of::
2694 def nosyreaction(db, cl, nodeid, oldvalues):
2695 # send a copy of all new messages to the nosy list
2696 for msgid in determineNewMessages(cl, nodeid, oldvalues):
2697 try:
2698 users = db.user
2699 messages = db.msg
2701 # figure the recipient ids
2702 sendto = []
2703 r = {}
2704 recipients = messages.get(msgid, 'recipients')
2705 for recipid in messages.get(msgid, 'recipients'):
2706 r[recipid] = 1
2708 # figure the author's id, and indicate they've received
2709 # the message
2710 authid = messages.get(msgid, 'author')
2712 # possibly send the message to the author, as long as
2713 # they aren't anonymous
2714 if (db.config.MESSAGES_TO_AUTHOR == 'yes' and
2715 users.get(authid, 'username') != 'anonymous'):
2716 sendto.append(authid)
2717 r[authid] = 1
2719 # now figure the nosy people who weren't recipients
2720 nosy = cl.get(nodeid, 'nosy')
2721 for nosyid in nosy:
2722 # Don't send nosy mail to the anonymous user (that
2723 # user shouldn't appear in the nosy list, but just
2724 # in case they do...)
2725 if users.get(nosyid, 'username') == 'anonymous':
2726 continue
2727 # make sure they haven't seen the message already
2728 if not r.has_key(nosyid):
2729 # send it to them
2730 sendto.append(nosyid)
2731 recipients.append(nosyid)
2733 # generate a change note
2734 if oldvalues:
2735 note = cl.generateChangeNote(nodeid, oldvalues)
2736 else:
2737 note = cl.generateCreateNote(nodeid)
2739 # we have new recipients
2740 if sendto:
2741 # filter out the people on vacation
2742 sendto = [i for i in sendto
2743 if not users.get(i, 'vacation', 0)]
2745 # map userids to addresses
2746 sendto = [users.get(i, 'address') for i in sendto]
2748 # update the message's recipients list
2749 messages.set(msgid, recipients=recipients)
2751 # send the message
2752 cl.send_message(nodeid, msgid, note, sendto)
2753 except roundupdb.MessageSendError, message:
2754 raise roundupdb.DetectorError, message
2756 Note that this is the standard nosy reaction code, with the small
2757 addition of::
2759 # filter out the people on vacation
2760 sendto = [i for i in sendto if not users.get(i, 'vacation', 0)]
2762 which filters out the users that have the vacation flag set to true.
2765 Adding a time log to your issues
2766 --------------------------------
2768 We want to log the dates and amount of time spent working on issues, and
2769 be able to give a summary of the total time spent on a particular issue.
2771 1. Add a new class to your tracker ``dbinit.py``::
2773 # storage for time logging
2774 timelog = Class(db, "timelog", period=Interval())
2776 Note that we automatically get the date of the time log entry
2777 creation through the standard property "creation".
2779 2. Link to the new class from your issue class (again, in
2780 ``dbinit.py``)::
2782 issue = IssueClass(db, "issue",
2783 assignedto=Link("user"), topic=Multilink("keyword"),
2784 priority=Link("priority"), status=Link("status"),
2785 times=Multilink("timelog"))
2787 the "times" property is the new link to the "timelog" class.
2789 3. We'll need to let people add in times to the issue, so in the web
2790 interface we'll have a new entry field, just below the change note
2791 box::
2793 <tr>
2794 <th nowrap>Time Log</th>
2795 <td colspan="3"><input name=":timelog">
2796 (enter as "3y 1m 4d 2:40:02" or parts thereof)
2797 </td>
2798 </tr>
2800 Note that we've made up a new form variable, but since we place a
2801 colon ":" in front of it, it won't clash with any existing property
2802 variables. The names you *can't* use are ``:note``, ``:file``,
2803 ``:action``, ``:required`` and ``:template``. These variables are
2804 described in the section `performing actions in web requests`_.
2806 4. We also need to handle this new field in the CGI interface - the way
2807 to do this is through implementing a new form action (see `Setting up
2808 a "wizard" (or "druid") for controlled adding of issues`_ for another
2809 example where we implemented a new CGI form action).
2811 In this case, we'll want our action to:
2813 1. create a new "timelog" entry,
2814 2. fake that the issue's "times" property has been edited, and then
2815 3. call the normal CGI edit action handler.
2817 The code to do this is::
2819 class Client(client.Client):
2820 ''' derives basic CGI implementation from the standard module,
2821 with any specific extensions
2822 '''
2823 actions = client.Client.actions + (
2824 ('edit_with_timelog', 'timelogEditAction'),
2825 ('new_with_timelog', 'timelogEditAction'),
2826 )
2828 def timelogEditAction(self):
2829 ''' Handle the creation of a new time log entry if
2830 necessary.
2832 If we create a new entry, fake up a CGI form value for
2833 the altered "times" property of the issue being edited.
2835 Punt to the regular edit action when we're done.
2836 '''
2837 # if there's a timelog value specified, create an entry
2838 if self.form.has_key(':timelog') and \
2839 self.form[':timelog'].value.strip():
2840 period = Interval(self.form[':timelog'].value)
2841 # create it
2842 newid = self.db.timelog.create(period=period)
2844 # if we're editing an existing item, get the old timelog
2845 # value
2846 if self.nodeid:
2847 l = self.db.issue.get(self.nodeid, 'times')
2848 l.append(newid)
2849 else:
2850 l = [newid]
2852 # now make the fake CGI form values
2853 for entry in l:
2854 self.form.list.append(
2855 MiniFieldStorage('times', entry))
2857 # punt to the normal edit action
2858 if self.nodeid:
2859 return self.editItemAction()
2860 else:
2861 return self.newItemAction()
2863 you add this code to your Client class in your tracker's
2864 ``interfaces.py`` file. Locate the section that looks like::
2866 class Client:
2867 ''' derives basic CGI implementation from the standard module,
2868 with any specific extensions
2869 '''
2870 pass
2872 and insert this code in place of the ``pass`` statement.
2874 5. You'll also need to modify your ``issue.item`` form submit action so
2875 it calls the time logging action we just created. The current
2876 template will look like this::
2878 <tr>
2879 <td> </td>
2880 <td colspan="3" tal:content="structure context/submit">
2881 submit button will go here
2882 </td>
2883 </tr>
2885 replace it with this::
2887 <tr>
2888 <td> </td>
2889 <td colspan="3">
2890 <tal:block tal:condition="context/id">
2891 <input type="hidden" name=":action" value="edit_with_timelog">
2892 <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit Changes">
2893 </tal:block>
2894 <tal:block tal:condition="not:context/id">
2895 <input type="hidden" name=":action" value="new_with_timelog">
2896 <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit New Issue">
2897 </tal:block>
2898 </td>
2899 </tr>
2901 The important change is setting the action to "edit_with_timelog" for
2902 edit operations (where the item exists) and "new_with_timelog" for
2903 creations operations.
2905 6. We want to display a total of the time log times that have been
2906 accumulated for an issue. To do this, we'll need to actually write
2907 some Python code, since it's beyond the scope of PageTemplates to
2908 perform such calculations. We do this by adding a method to the
2909 TemplatingUtils class in our tracker ``interfaces.py`` module::
2911 class TemplatingUtils:
2912 ''' Methods implemented on this class will be available to HTML
2913 templates through the 'utils' variable.
2914 '''
2915 def totalTimeSpent(self, times):
2916 ''' Call me with a list of timelog items (which have an
2917 Interval "period" property)
2918 '''
2919 total = Interval('')
2920 for time in times:
2921 total += time.period._value
2922 return total
2924 Replace the ``pass`` line as we did in step 4 above with the Client
2925 class. As indicated in the docstrings, we will be able to access the
2926 ``totalTimeSpent`` method via the ``utils`` variable in our
2927 templates.
2929 7. Display the time log for an issue::
2931 <table class="otherinfo" tal:condition="context/times">
2932 <tr><th colspan="3" class="header">Time Log
2933 <tal:block
2934 tal:replace="python:utils.totalTimeSpent(context.times)" />
2935 </th></tr>
2936 <tr><th>Date</th><th>Period</th><th>Logged By</th></tr>
2937 <tr tal:repeat="time context/times">
2938 <td tal:content="time/creation"></td>
2939 <td tal:content="time/period"></td>
2940 <td tal:content="time/creator"></td>
2941 </tr>
2942 </table>
2944 I put this just above the Messages log in my issue display. Note our
2945 use of the ``totalTimeSpent`` method which will total up the times
2946 for the issue and return a new Interval. That will be automatically
2947 displayed in the template as text like "+ 1y 2:40" (1 year, 2 hours
2948 and 40 minutes).
2950 8. If you're using a persistent web server - roundup-server or
2951 mod_python for example - then you'll need to restart that to pick up
2952 the code changes. When that's done, you'll be able to use the new
2953 time logging interface.
2955 Using a UN*X passwd file as the user database
2956 ---------------------------------------------
2958 On some systems the primary store of users is the UN*X passwd file. It
2959 holds information on users such as their username, real name, password
2960 and primary user group.
2962 Roundup can use this store as its primary source of user information,
2963 but it needs additional information too - email address(es), roundup
2964 Roles, vacation flags, roundup hyperdb item ids, etc. Also, "retired"
2965 users must still exist in the user database, unlike some passwd files in
2966 which the users are removed when they no longer have access to a system.
2968 To make use of the passwd file, we therefore synchronise between the two
2969 user stores. We also use the passwd file to validate the user logins, as
2970 described in the previous example, `using an external password
2971 validation source`_. We keep the users lists in sync using a fairly
2972 simple script that runs once a day, or several times an hour if more
2973 immediate access is needed. In short, it:
2975 1. parses the passwd file, finding usernames, passwords and real names,
2976 2. compares that list to the current roundup user list:
2978 a. entries no longer in the passwd file are *retired*
2979 b. entries with mismatching real names are *updated*
2980 c. entries only exist in the passwd file are *created*
2982 3. send an email to administrators to let them know what's been done.
2984 The retiring and updating are simple operations, requiring only a call
2985 to ``retire()`` or ``set()``. The creation operation requires more
2986 information though - the user's email address and their roundup Roles.
2987 We're going to assume that the user's email address is the same as their
2988 login name, so we just append the domain name to that. The Roles are
2989 determined using the passwd group identifier - mapping their UN*X group
2990 to an appropriate set of Roles.
2992 The script to perform all this, broken up into its main components, is
2993 as follows. Firstly, we import the necessary modules and open the
2994 tracker we're to work on::
2996 import sys, os, smtplib
2997 from roundup import instance, date
2999 # open the tracker
3000 tracker_home = sys.argv[1]
3001 tracker = instance.open(tracker_home)
3003 Next we read in the *passwd* file from the tracker home::
3005 # read in the users
3006 file = os.path.join(tracker_home, 'users.passwd')
3007 users = [x.strip().split(':') for x in open(file).readlines()]
3009 Handle special users (those to ignore in the file, and those who don't
3010 appear in the file)::
3012 # users to not keep ever, pre-load with the users I know aren't
3013 # "real" users
3014 ignore = ['ekmmon', 'bfast', 'csrmail']
3016 # users to keep - pre-load with the roundup-specific users
3017 keep = ['comment_pool', 'network_pool', 'admin', 'dev-team',
3018 'cs_pool', 'anonymous', 'system_pool', 'automated']
3020 Now we map the UN*X group numbers to the Roles that users should have::
3022 roles = {
3023 '501': 'User,Tech', # tech
3024 '502': 'User', # finance
3025 '503': 'User,CSR', # customer service reps
3026 '504': 'User', # sales
3027 '505': 'User', # marketing
3028 }
3030 Now we do all the work. Note that the body of the script (where we have
3031 the tracker database open) is wrapped in a ``try`` / ``finally`` clause,
3032 so that we always close the database cleanly when we're finished. So, we
3033 now do all the work::
3035 # open the database
3036 db = tracker.open('admin')
3037 try:
3038 # store away messages to send to the tracker admins
3039 msg = []
3041 # loop over the users list read in from the passwd file
3042 for user,passw,uid,gid,real,home,shell in users:
3043 if user in ignore:
3044 # this user shouldn't appear in our tracker
3045 continue
3046 keep.append(user)
3047 try:
3048 # see if the user exists in the tracker
3049 uid = db.user.lookup(user)
3051 # yes, they do - now check the real name for correctness
3052 if real != db.user.get(uid, 'realname'):
3053 db.user.set(uid, realname=real)
3054 msg.append('FIX %s - %s'%(user, real))
3055 except KeyError:
3056 # nope, the user doesn't exist
3057 db.user.create(username=user, realname=real,
3058 address='%s@ekit-inc.com'%user, roles=roles[gid])
3059 msg.append('ADD %s - %s (%s)'%(user, real, roles[gid]))
3061 # now check that all the users in the tracker are also in our
3062 # "keep" list - retire those who aren't
3063 for uid in db.user.list():
3064 user = db.user.get(uid, 'username')
3065 if user not in keep:
3066 db.user.retire(uid)
3067 msg.append('RET %s'%user)
3069 # if we did work, then send email to the tracker admins
3070 if msg:
3071 # create the email
3072 msg = '''Subject: %s user database maintenance
3074 %s
3075 '''%(db.config.TRACKER_NAME, '\n'.join(msg))
3077 # send the email
3078 smtp = smtplib.SMTP(db.config.MAILHOST)
3079 addr = db.config.ADMIN_EMAIL
3080 smtp.sendmail(addr, addr, msg)
3082 # now we're done - commit the changes
3083 db.commit()
3084 finally:
3085 # always close the database cleanly
3086 db.close()
3088 And that's it!
3091 Enabling display of either message summaries or the entire messages
3092 -------------------------------------------------------------------
3094 This is pretty simple - all we need to do is copy the code from the
3095 example `displaying only message summaries in the issue display`_ into
3096 our template alongside the summary display, and then introduce a switch
3097 that shows either one or the other. We'll use a new form variable,
3098 ``:whole_messages`` to achieve this::
3100 <table class="messages" tal:condition="context/messages">
3101 <tal:block tal:condition="not:request/form/:whole_messages/value | python:0">
3102 <tr><th colspan="3" class="header">Messages</th>
3103 <th colspan="2" class="header">
3104 <a href="?:whole_messages=yes">show entire messages</a>
3105 </th>
3106 </tr>
3107 <tr tal:repeat="msg context/messages">
3108 <td><a tal:attributes="href string:msg${msg/id}"
3109 tal:content="string:msg${msg/id}"></a></td>
3110 <td tal:content="msg/author">author</td>
3111 <td nowrap tal:content="msg/date/pretty">date</td>
3112 <td tal:content="msg/summary">summary</td>
3113 <td>
3114 <a tal:attributes="href string:?:remove:messages=${msg/id}&:action=edit">remove</a>
3115 </td>
3116 </tr>
3117 </tal:block>
3119 <tal:block tal:condition="request/form/:whole_messages/value | python:0">
3120 <tr><th colspan="2" class="header">Messages</th>
3121 <th class="header">
3122 <a href="?:whole_messages=">show only summaries</a>
3123 </th>
3124 </tr>
3125 <tal:block tal:repeat="msg context/messages">
3126 <tr>
3127 <th tal:content="msg/author">author</th>
3128 <th nowrap tal:content="msg/date/pretty">date</th>
3129 <th style="text-align: right">
3130 (<a tal:attributes="href string:?:remove:messages=${msg/id}&:action=edit">remove</a>)
3131 </th>
3132 </tr>
3133 <tr><td colspan="3" tal:content="msg/content"></td></tr>
3134 </tal:block>
3135 </tal:block>
3136 </table>
3139 Blocking issues that depend on other issues
3140 -------------------------------------------
3142 We needed the ability to mark certain issues as "blockers" - that is,
3143 they can't be resolved until another issue (the blocker) they rely on is
3144 resolved. To achieve this:
3146 1. Create a new property on the issue Class,
3147 ``blockers=Multilink("issue")``. Edit your tracker's dbinit.py file.
3148 Where the "issue" class is defined, something like::
3150 issue = IssueClass(db, "issue",
3151 assignedto=Link("user"), topic=Multilink("keyword"),
3152 priority=Link("priority"), status=Link("status"))
3154 add the blockers entry like so::
3156 issue = IssueClass(db, "issue",
3157 blockers=Multilink("issue"),
3158 assignedto=Link("user"), topic=Multilink("keyword"),
3159 priority=Link("priority"), status=Link("status"))
3161 2. Add the new "blockers" property to the issue.item edit page, using
3162 something like::
3164 <th nowrap>Waiting On</th>
3165 <td>
3166 <span tal:replace="structure python:context.blockers.field(showid=1,
3167 size=20)" />
3168 <span tal:replace="structure python:db.issue.classhelp('id,title')" />
3169 <span tal:condition="context/blockers"
3170 tal:repeat="blk context/blockers">
3171 <br>View: <a tal:attributes="href string:issue${blk/id}"
3172 tal:content="blk/id"></a>
3173 </span>
3175 You'll need to fiddle with your item page layout to find an
3176 appropriate place to put it - I'll leave that fun part up to you.
3177 Just make sure it appears in the first table, possibly somewhere near
3178 the "superseders" field.
3180 3. Create a new detector module (attached) which enforces the rules:
3182 - issues may not be resolved if they have blockers
3183 - when a blocker is resolved, it's removed from issues it blocks
3185 The contents of the detector should be something like this::
3187 def blockresolution(db, cl, nodeid, newvalues):
3188 ''' If the issue has blockers, don't allow it to be resolved.
3189 '''
3190 if nodeid is None:
3191 blockers = []
3192 else:
3193 blockers = cl.get(nodeid, 'blockers')
3194 blockers = newvalues.get('blockers', blockers)
3196 # don't do anything if there's no blockers or the status hasn't
3197 # changed
3198 if not blockers or not newvalues.has_key('status'):
3199 return
3201 # get the resolved state ID
3202 resolved_id = db.status.lookup('resolved')
3204 # format the info
3205 u = db.config.TRACKER_WEB
3206 s = ', '.join(['<a href="%sissue%s">%s</a>'%(
3207 u,id,id) for id in blockers])
3208 if len(blockers) == 1:
3209 s = 'issue %s is'%s
3210 else:
3211 s = 'issues %s are'%s
3213 # ok, see if we're trying to resolve
3214 if newvalues['status'] == resolved_id:
3215 raise ValueError, "This issue can't be resolved until %s resolved."%s
3217 def resolveblockers(db, cl, nodeid, newvalues):
3218 ''' When we resolve an issue that's a blocker, remove it from the
3219 blockers list of the issue(s) it blocks.
3220 '''
3221 if not newvalues.has_key('status'):
3222 return
3224 # get the resolved state ID
3225 resolved_id = db.status.lookup('resolved')
3227 # interesting?
3228 if newvalues['status'] != resolved_id:
3229 return
3231 # yes - find all the blocked issues, if any, and remove me from
3232 # their blockers list
3233 issues = cl.find(blockers=nodeid)
3234 for issueid in issues:
3235 blockers = cl.get(issueid, 'blockers')
3236 if nodeid in blockers:
3237 blockers.remove(nodeid)
3238 cl.set(issueid, blockers=blockers)
3241 def init(db):
3242 # might, in an obscure situation, happen in a create
3243 db.issue.audit('create', blockresolution)
3244 db.issue.audit('set', blockresolution)
3246 # can only happen on a set
3247 db.issue.react('set', resolveblockers)
3249 Put the above code in a file called "blockers.py" in your tracker's
3250 "detectors" directory.
3252 4. Finally, and this is an optional step, modify the tracker web page
3253 URLs so they filter out issues with any blockers. You do this by
3254 adding an additional filter on "blockers" for the value "-1". For
3255 example, the existing "Show All" link in the "page" template (in the
3256 tracker's "html" directory) looks like this::
3258 <a href="issue?:sort=-activity&:group=priority&:filter=status&:columns=id,activity,title,creator,assignedto,status&status=-1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7">Show All</a><br>
3260 modify it to add the "blockers" info to the URL (note, both the
3261 ":filter" *and* "blockers" values must be specified)::
3263 <a href="issue?:sort=-activity&:group=priority&:filter=status,blockers&blockers=-1&:columns=id,activity,title,creator,assignedto,status&status=-1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7">Show All</a><br>
3265 That's it. You should now be able to set blockers on your issues. Note
3266 that if you want to know whether an issue has any other issues dependent
3267 on it (i.e. it's in their blockers list) you can look at the journal
3268 history at the bottom of the issue page - look for a "link" event to
3269 another issue's "blockers" property.
3272 -------------------
3274 Back to `Table of Contents`_
3276 .. _`Table of Contents`: index.html
3277 .. _`design documentation`: design.html