5711dff8ba43e3dab5e7a2573ea1b7aad6188761
1 ===================
2 Customising Roundup
3 ===================
5 :Version: $Revision: 1.85 $
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 configuration
56 for the web and e-mail components of roundup's interfaces. As the name
57 suggests, this file is a Python module. This means that any valid python
58 expression may be used in the file. Mostly though, you'll be setting the
59 configuration variables to string values. Python string values must be quoted
60 with either single or double quotes::
62 'this is a string'
63 "this is also a string - use it when you have a 'single quote' in the value"
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 so::
69 'roundup-admin@%s'%MAIL_DOMAIN
71 this will create a string ``'roundup-admin@tracker.domain.example'`` if
72 MAIL_DOMAIN is set to ``'tracker.domain.example'``.
74 You'll also note some values are set to::
76 os.path.join(TRACKER_HOME, 'db')
78 or similar. This creates a new string which holds the path to the "db"
79 directory in the TRACKER_HOME directory. This is just a convenience so if the
80 TRACKER_HOME changes you don't have to edit multiple valoues.
82 The configuration variables available are:
84 **TRACKER_HOME** - ``os.path.split(__file__)[0]``
85 The tracker home directory. The above default code will automatically
86 determine the tracker home for you, so you can just leave it alone.
88 **MAILHOST** - ``'localhost'``
89 The SMTP mail host that roundup will use to send e-mail.
91 **MAILUSER - ``()``
92 If your SMTP mail host requires a username and password for access, then
93 specify them here. eg. ``MAILUSER = ('username', 'password')``
95 **MAILHOST_TLS - ``'no'``
96 If your SMTP mail host provides or requires TLS (Transport Layer
97 Security) then set ``MAILHOST_TLS = 'yes'``
99 **MAILHOST_TLS_KEYFILE - ``''``
100 If you're using TLS, you may also set MAILHOST_TLS_KEYFILE to the name of
101 a PEM formatted file that contains your private key.
103 **MAILHOST_TLS_CERTFILE - ``''``
104 If you're using TLS and have specified a MAILHOST_TLS_KEYFILE, you may
105 also set MAILHOST_TLS_CERTFILE to the name of a PEM formatted certificate
106 chain file.
108 **MAIL_DOMAIN** - ``'tracker.domain.example'``
109 The domain name used for email addresses.
111 **DATABASE** - ``os.path.join(TRACKER_HOME, 'db')``
112 This is the directory that the database is going to be stored in. By default
113 it is in the tracker home.
115 **TEMPLATES** - ``os.path.join(TRACKER_HOME, 'html')``
116 This is the directory that the HTML templates reside in. By default they are
117 in the tracker home.
119 **TRACKER_NAME** - ``'Roundup issue tracker'``
120 A descriptive name for your roundup tracker. This is sent out in e-mails and
121 appears in the heading of CGI pages.
123 **TRACKER_EMAIL** - ``'issue_tracker@%s'%MAIL_DOMAIN``
124 The email address that e-mail sent to roundup should go to. Think of it as the
125 tracker's personal e-mail address.
127 **TRACKER_WEB** - ``'http://tracker.example/cgi-bin/roundup.cgi/bugs/'``
128 The web address that the tracker is viewable at. This will be included in
129 information sent to users of the tracker. The URL **must** include the
130 cgi-bin part or anything else that is required to get to the home page of
131 the tracker. You **must** include a trailing '/' in the URL.
133 **ADMIN_EMAIL** - ``'roundup-admin@%s'%MAIL_DOMAIN``
134 The email address that roundup will complain to if it runs into trouble.
136 **EMAIL_FROM_TAG** - ``''``
137 Additional text to include in the "name" part of the ``From:`` address used
138 in nosy messages. If the sending user is "Foo Bar", the ``From:`` line is
139 usually::
141 "Foo Bar" <issue_tracker@tracker.example>
143 the EMAIL_FROM_TAG goes inside the "Foo Bar" quotes like so::
145 "Foo Bar EMAIL_FROM_TAG" <issue_tracker@tracker.example>
147 **MESSAGES_TO_AUTHOR** - ``'new'``, ``'yes'`` or``'no'``
148 Send nosy messages to the author of the message?
149 If 'new' is used, then the author will only be sent the message when the
150 message creates a new issue. If 'yes' then the author will always be sent
151 a copy of the message they wrote.
153 **ADD_AUTHOR_TO_NOSY** - ``'new'``, ``'yes'`` or ``'no'``
154 Does the author of a message get placed on the nosy list automatically?
155 If ``'new'`` is used, then the author will only be added when a message
156 creates a new issue. If ``'yes'``, then the author will be added on followups
157 too. If ``'no'``, they're never added to the nosy.
159 **ADD_RECIPIENTS_TO_NOSY** - ``'new'``, ``'yes'`` or ``'no'``
160 Do the recipients (To:, Cc:) of a message get placed on the nosy list?
161 If ``'new'`` is used, then the recipients will only be added when a message
162 creates a new issue. If ``'yes'``, then the recipients will be added on
163 followups too. If ``'no'``, they're never added to the nosy.
165 **EMAIL_SIGNATURE_POSITION** - ``'top'``, ``'bottom'`` or ``'none'``
166 Where to place the email signature in messages that Roundup generates.
168 **EMAIL_KEEP_QUOTED_TEXT** - ``'yes'`` or ``'no'``
169 Keep email citations. Citations are the part of e-mail which the sender has
170 quoted in their reply to previous e-mail.
172 **EMAIL_LEAVE_BODY_UNCHANGED** - ``'no'``
173 Preserve the email body as is. Enabiling this will cause the entire message
174 body to be stored, including all citations and signatures. It should be
175 either ``'yes'`` or ``'no'``.
177 **MAIL_DEFAULT_CLASS** - ``'issue'`` or ``''``
178 Default class to use in the mailgw if one isn't supplied in email
179 subjects. To disable, comment out the variable below or leave it blank.
181 The default config.py is given below - as you
182 can see, the MAIL_DOMAIN must be edited before any interaction with the
183 tracker is attempted.::
185 # roundup home is this package's directory
186 TRACKER_HOME=os.path.split(__file__)[0]
188 # The SMTP mail host that roundup will use to send mail
189 MAILHOST = 'localhost'
191 # The domain name used for email addresses.
192 MAIL_DOMAIN = 'your.tracker.email.domain.example'
194 # This is the directory that the database is going to be stored in
195 DATABASE = os.path.join(TRACKER_HOME, 'db')
197 # This is the directory that the HTML templates reside in
198 TEMPLATES = os.path.join(TRACKER_HOME, 'html')
200 # A descriptive name for your roundup tracker
201 TRACKER_NAME = 'Roundup issue tracker'
203 # The email address that mail to roundup should go to
204 TRACKER_EMAIL = 'issue_tracker@%s'%MAIL_DOMAIN
206 # The web address that the tracker is viewable at. This will be included in
207 # information sent to users of the tracker. The URL MUST include the cgi-bin
208 # part or anything else that is required to get to the home page of the
209 # tracker. You MUST include a trailing '/' in the URL.
210 TRACKER_WEB = 'http://tracker.example/cgi-bin/roundup.cgi/bugs/'
212 # The email address that roundup will complain to if it runs into trouble
213 ADMIN_EMAIL = 'roundup-admin@%s'%MAIL_DOMAIN
215 # Additional text to include in the "name" part of the From: address used
216 # in nosy messages. If the sending user is "Foo Bar", the From: line is
217 # usually: "Foo Bar" <issue_tracker@tracker.example>
218 # the EMAIL_FROM_TAG goes inside the "Foo Bar" quotes like so:
219 # "Foo Bar EMAIL_FROM_TAG" <issue_tracker@tracker.example>
220 EMAIL_FROM_TAG = ""
222 # Send nosy messages to the author of the message
223 MESSAGES_TO_AUTHOR = 'no' # either 'yes' or 'no'
225 # Does the author of a message get placed on the nosy list automatically?
226 # If 'new' is used, then the author will only be added when a message
227 # creates a new issue. If 'yes', then the author will be added on followups
228 # too. If 'no', they're never added to the nosy.
229 ADD_AUTHOR_TO_NOSY = 'new' # one of 'yes', 'no', 'new'
231 # Do the recipients (To:, Cc:) of a message get placed on the nosy list?
232 # If 'new' is used, then the recipients will only be added when a message
233 # creates a new issue. If 'yes', then the recipients will be added on followups
234 # too. If 'no', they're never added to the nosy.
235 ADD_RECIPIENTS_TO_NOSY = 'new' # either 'yes', 'no', 'new'
237 # Where to place the email signature
238 EMAIL_SIGNATURE_POSITION = 'bottom' # one of 'top', 'bottom', 'none'
240 # Keep email citations
241 EMAIL_KEEP_QUOTED_TEXT = 'no' # either 'yes' or 'no'
243 # Preserve the email body as is
244 EMAIL_LEAVE_BODY_UNCHANGED = 'no' # either 'yes' or 'no'
246 # Default class to use in the mailgw if one isn't supplied in email
247 # subjects. To disable, comment out the variable below or leave it blank.
248 # Examples:
249 MAIL_DEFAULT_CLASS = 'issue' # use "issue" class by default
250 #MAIL_DEFAULT_CLASS = '' # disable (or just comment the var out)
252 #
253 # SECURITY DEFINITIONS
254 #
255 # define the Roles that a user gets when they register with the tracker
256 # these are a comma-separated string of role names (e.g. 'Admin,User')
257 NEW_WEB_USER_ROLES = 'User'
258 NEW_EMAIL_USER_ROLES = 'User'
260 Tracker Schema
261 ==============
263 Note: if you modify the schema, you'll most likely need to edit the
264 `web interface`_ HTML template files and `detectors`_ to reflect
265 your changes.
267 A tracker schema defines what data is stored in the tracker's database.
268 Schemas are defined using Python code in the ``dbinit.py`` module of your
269 tracker. The "classic" schema looks like this::
271 pri = Class(db, "priority", name=String(), order=String())
272 pri.setkey("name")
274 stat = Class(db, "status", name=String(), order=String())
275 stat.setkey("name")
277 keyword = Class(db, "keyword", name=String())
278 keyword.setkey("name")
280 user = Class(db, "user", username=String(), organisation=String(),
281 password=String(), address=String(), realname=String(), phone=String())
282 user.setkey("username")
284 msg = FileClass(db, "msg", author=Link("user"), summary=String(),
285 date=Date(), recipients=Multilink("user"), files=Multilink("file"))
287 file = FileClass(db, "file", name=String(), type=String())
289 issue = IssueClass(db, "issue", topic=Multilink("keyword"),
290 status=Link("status"), assignedto=Link("user"),
291 priority=Link("priority"))
292 issue.setkey('title')
294 Classes and Properties - creating a new information store
295 ---------------------------------------------------------
297 In the tracker above, we've defined 7 classes of information:
299 priority
300 Defines the possible levels of urgency for issues.
302 status
303 Defines the possible states of processing the issue may be in.
305 keyword
306 Initially empty, will hold keywords useful for searching issues.
308 user
309 Initially holding the "admin" user, will eventually have an entry for all
310 users using roundup.
312 msg
313 Initially empty, will all e-mail messages sent to or generated by
314 roundup.
316 file
317 Initially empty, will all files attached to issues.
319 issue
320 Initially empty, this is where the issue information is stored.
322 We define the "priority" and "status" classes to allow two things: reduction in
323 the amount of information stored on the issue and more powerful, accurate
324 searching of issues by priority and status. By only requiring a link on the
325 issue (which is stored as a single number) we reduce the chance that someone
326 mis-types a priority or status - or simply makes a new one up.
328 Class and Items
329 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
331 A Class defines a particular class (or type) of data that will be stored in the
332 database. A class comprises one or more properties, which given the information
333 about the class items.
334 The actual data entered into the database, using class.create() are called
335 items. They have a special immutable property called id. We sometimes refer to
336 this as the itemid.
338 Properties
339 ~~~~~~~~~~
341 A Class is comprised of one or more properties of the following types:
343 * String properties are for storing arbitrary-length strings.
344 * Password properties are for storing encoded arbitrary-length strings. The
345 default encoding is defined on the roundup.password.Password class.
346 * Date properties store date-and-time stamps. Their values are Timestamp
347 objects.
348 * Number properties store numeric values.
349 * Boolean properties store on/off, yes/no, true/false values.
350 * A Link property refers to a single other item selected from a specified
351 class. The class is part of the property; the value is an integer, the id
352 of the chosen item.
353 * A Multilink property refers to possibly many items in a specified class.
354 The value is a list of integers.
356 FileClass
357 ~~~~~~~~~
359 FileClasses save their "content" attribute off in a separate file from the rest
360 of the database. This reduces the number of large entries in the database,
361 which generally makes databases more efficient, and also allows us to use
362 command-line tools to operate on the files. They are stored in the files sub-
363 directory of the db directory in your tracker.
365 IssueClass
366 ~~~~~~~~~~
368 IssueClasses automatically include the "messages", "files", "nosy", and
369 "superseder" properties.
370 The messages and files properties list the links to the messages and files
371 related to the issue. The nosy property is a list of links to users who wish to
372 be informed of changes to the issue - they get "CC'ed" e-mails when messages
373 are sent to or generated by the issue. The nosy reactor (in the detectors
374 directory) handles this action. The superceder link indicates an issue which
375 has superceded this one.
376 They also have the dynamically generated "creation", "activity" and "creator"
377 properties.
378 The value of the "creation" property is the date when an item was created, and
379 the value of the "activity" property is the date when any property on the item
380 was last edited (equivalently, these are the dates on the first and last
381 records in the item's journal). The "creator" property holds a link to the user
382 that created the issue.
384 setkey(property)
385 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
387 Select a String property of the class to be the key property. The key property
388 muse be unique, and allows references to the items in the class by the content
389 of the key property. That is, we can refer to users by their username, e.g.
390 let's say that there's an issue in roundup, issue 23. There's also a user,
391 richard who happens to be user 2. To assign an issue to him, we could do either
392 of::
394 roundup-admin set issue23 assignedto=2
396 or::
398 roundup-admin set issue23 assignedto=richard
400 Note, the same thing can be done in the web and e-mail interfaces.
402 create(information)
403 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
405 Create an item in the database. This is generally used to create items in the
406 "definitional" classes like "priority" and "status".
409 Examples of adding to your schema
410 ---------------------------------
412 TODO
415 Detectors - adding behaviour to your tracker
416 ============================================
417 .. _detectors:
419 Detectors are initialised every time you open your tracker database, so you're
420 free to add and remove them any time, even after the database is initliased
421 via the "roundup-admin initalise" command.
423 The detectors in your tracker fire before (*auditors*) and after (*reactors*)
424 changes to the contents of your database. They are Python modules that sit in
425 your tracker's ``detectors`` directory. You will have some installed by
426 default - have a look. You can write new detectors or modify the existing
427 ones. The existing detectors installed for you are:
429 **nosyreaction.py**
430 This provides the automatic nosy list maintenance and email sending. The nosy
431 reactor (``nosyreaction``) fires when new messages are added to issues.
432 The nosy auditor (``updatenosy``) fires when issues are changed and figures
433 what changes need to be made to the nosy list (like adding new authors etc)
434 **statusauditor.py**
435 This provides the ``chatty`` auditor which changes the issue status from
436 ``unread`` or ``closed`` to ``chatting`` if new messages appear. It also
437 provides the ``presetunread`` auditor which pre-sets the status to
438 ``unread`` on new items if the status isn't explicitly defined.
440 See the detectors section in the `design document`__ for details of the
441 interface for detectors.
443 __ design.html
445 Sample additional detectors that have been found useful will appear in the
446 ``detectors`` directory of the Roundup distribution:
448 **newissuecopy.py**
449 This detector sends an email to a team address whenever a new issue is
450 created. The address is hard-coded into the detector, so edit it before you
451 use it (look for the text 'team@team.host') or you'll get email errors!
453 The detector code::
455 from roundup import roundupdb
457 def newissuecopy(db, cl, nodeid, oldvalues):
458 ''' Copy a message about new issues to a team address.
459 '''
460 # so use all the messages in the create
461 change_note = cl.generateCreateNote(nodeid)
463 # send a copy to the nosy list
464 for msgid in cl.get(nodeid, 'messages'):
465 try:
466 # note: last arg must be a list
467 cl.send_message(nodeid, msgid, change_note, ['team@team.host'])
468 except roundupdb.MessageSendError, message:
469 raise roundupdb.DetectorError, message
471 def init(db):
472 db.issue.react('create', newissuecopy)
475 Database Content
476 ================
478 Note: if you modify the content of definitional classes, you'll most likely
479 need to edit the tracker `detectors`_ to reflect your changes.
481 Customisation of the special "definitional" classes (eg. status, priority,
482 resolution, ...) may be done either before or after the tracker is
483 initialised. The actual method of doing so is completely different in each
484 case though, so be careful to use the right one.
486 **Changing content before tracker initialisation**
487 Edit the dbinit module in your tracker to alter the items created in using
488 the create() methods.
490 **Changing content after tracker initialisation**
491 As the "admin" user, click on the "class list" link in the web interface
492 to bring up a list of all database classes. Click on the name of the class
493 you wish to change the content of.
495 You may also use the roundup-admin interface's create, set and retire
496 methods to add, alter or remove items from the classes in question.
498 See "`adding a new field to the classic schema`_" for an example that requires
499 database content changes.
502 Access Controls
503 ===============
505 A set of Permissions are built in to the security module by default:
507 - Edit (everything)
508 - View (everything)
510 The default interfaces define:
512 - Web Registration
513 - Web Access
514 - Web Roles
515 - Email Registration
516 - Email Access
518 These are hooked into the default Roles:
520 - Admin (Edit everything, View everything, Web Roles)
521 - User (Web Access, Email Access)
522 - Anonymous (Web Registration, Email Registration)
524 And finally, the "admin" user gets the "Admin" Role, and the "anonymous" user
525 gets the "Anonymous" assigned when the database is initialised on installation.
526 The two default schemas then define:
528 - Edit issue, View issue (both)
529 - Edit file, View file (both)
530 - Edit msg, View msg (both)
531 - Edit support, View support (extended only)
533 and assign those Permissions to the "User" Role. Put together, these settings
534 appear in the ``open()`` function of the tracker ``dbinit.py`` (the following
535 is taken from the "minimal" template ``dbinit.py``)::
537 #
538 # SECURITY SETTINGS
539 #
540 # new permissions for this schema
541 for cl in ('user', ):
542 db.security.addPermission(name="Edit", klass=cl,
543 description="User is allowed to edit "+cl)
544 db.security.addPermission(name="View", klass=cl,
545 description="User is allowed to access "+cl)
547 # and give the regular users access to the web and email interface
548 p = db.security.getPermission('Web Access')
549 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
550 p = db.security.getPermission('Email Access')
551 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
553 # May users view other user information? Comment these lines out
554 # if you don't want them to
555 p = db.security.getPermission('View', 'user')
556 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
558 # Assign the appropriate permissions to the anonymous user's Anonymous
559 # Role. Choices here are:
560 # - Allow anonymous users to register through the web
561 p = db.security.getPermission('Web Registration')
562 db.security.addPermissionToRole('Anonymous', p)
563 # - Allow anonymous (new) users to register through the email gateway
564 p = db.security.getPermission('Email Registration')
565 db.security.addPermissionToRole('Anonymous', p)
568 New User Roles
569 --------------
571 New users are assigned the Roles defined in the config file as:
573 - NEW_WEB_USER_ROLES
574 - NEW_EMAIL_USER_ROLES
577 Changing Access Controls
578 ------------------------
580 You may alter the configuration variables to change the Role that new web or
581 email users get, for example to not give them access to the web interface if
582 they register through email.
584 You may use the ``roundup-admin`` "``security``" command to display the
585 current Role and Permission configuration in your tracker.
587 Adding a new Permission
588 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
590 When adding a new Permission, you will need to:
592 1. add it to your tracker's dbinit so it is created
593 2. enable it for the Roles that should have it (verify with
594 "``roundup-admin security``")
595 3. add it to the relevant HTML interface templates
596 4. add it to the appropriate xxxPermission methods on in your tracker
597 interfaces module
599 Example Scenarios
600 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
602 **automatic registration of users in the e-mail gateway**
603 By giving the "anonymous" user the "Email Registration" Role, any
604 unidentified user will automatically be registered with the tracker (with
605 no password, so they won't be able to log in through the web until an admin
606 sets them a password). Note: this is the default behaviour in the tracker
607 templates that ship with Roundup.
609 **anonymous access through the e-mail gateway**
610 Give the "anonymous" user the "Email Access" and ("Edit", "issue") Roles
611 but not giving them the "Email Registration" Role. This means that when an
612 unknown user sends email into the tracker, they're automatically logged in
613 as "anonymous". Since they don't have the "Email Registration" Role, they
614 won't be automatically registered, but since "anonymous" has permission
615 to use the gateway, they'll still be able to submit issues. Note that the
616 Sender information - their email address - will not be available - they're
617 *anonymous*.
619 **only developers may be assigned issues**
620 Create a new Permission called "Fixer" for the "issue" class. Create a new
621 Role "Developer" which has that Permission, and assign that to the
622 appropriate users. Filter the list of users available in the assignedto
623 list to include only those users. Enforce the Permission with an auditor. See
624 the example `restricting the list of users that are assignable to a task`_.
626 **only managers may sign off issues as complete**
627 Create a new Permission called "Closer" for the "issue" class. Create a new
628 Role "Manager" which has that Permission, and assign that to the appropriate
629 users. In your web interface, only display the "resolved" issue state option
630 when the user has the "Closer" Permissions. Enforce the Permission with
631 an auditor. This is very similar to the previous example, except that the
632 web interface check would look like::
634 <option tal:condition="python:request.user.hasPermission('Closer')"
635 value="resolved">Resolved</option>
637 **don't give users who register through email web access**
638 Create a new Role called "Email User" which has all the Permissions of the
639 normal "User" Role minus the "Web Access" Permission. This will allow users
640 to send in emails to the tracker, but not access the web interface.
642 **let some users edit the details of all users**
643 Create a new Role called "User Admin" which has the Permission for editing
644 users::
646 db.security.addRole(name='User Admin', description='Managing users')
647 p = db.security.getPermission('Edit', 'user')
648 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User Admin', p)
650 and assign the Role to the users who need the permission.
653 Web Interface
654 =============
656 .. contents::
657 :local:
658 :depth: 1
660 The web is provided by the roundup.cgi.client module and is used by
661 roundup.cgi, roundup-server and ZRoundup.
662 In all cases, we determine which tracker is being accessed
663 (the first part of the URL path inside the scope of the CGI handler) and pass
664 control on to the tracker interfaces.Client class - which uses the Client class
665 from roundup.cgi.client - which handles the rest of
666 the access through its main() method. This means that you can do pretty much
667 anything you want as a web interface to your tracker.
669 Repurcussions of changing the tracker schema
670 ---------------------------------------------
672 If you choose to change the `tracker schema`_ you will need to ensure the web
673 interface knows about it:
675 1. Index, item and search pages for the relevant classes may need to have
676 properties added or removed,
677 2. The "page" template may require links to be changed, as might the "home"
678 page's content arguments.
680 How requests are processed
681 --------------------------
683 The basic processing of a web request proceeds as follows:
685 1. figure out who we are, defaulting to the "anonymous" user
686 2. figure out what the request is for - we call this the "context"
687 3. handle any requested action (item edit, search, ...)
688 4. render the template requested by the context, resulting in HTML output
690 In some situations, exceptions occur:
692 - HTTP Redirect (generally raised by an action)
693 - SendFile (generally raised by determine_context)
694 here we serve up a FileClass "content" property
695 - SendStaticFile (generally raised by determine_context)
696 here we serve up a file from the tracker "html" directory
697 - Unauthorised (generally raised by an action)
698 here the action is cancelled, the request is rendered and an error
699 message is displayed indicating that permission was not
700 granted for the action to take place
701 - NotFound (raised wherever it needs to be)
702 this exception percolates up to the CGI interface that called the client
704 Determining web context
705 -----------------------
707 To determine the "context" of a request, we look at the URL and the special
708 request variable ``:template``. The URL path after the tracker identifier
709 is examined. Typical URL paths look like:
711 1. ``/tracker/issue``
712 2. ``/tracker/issue1``
713 3. ``/tracker/_file/style.css``
714 4. ``/cgi-bin/roundup.cgi/tracker/file1``
715 5. ``/cgi-bin/roundup.cgi/tracker/file1/kitten.png``
717 where the "tracker identifier" is "tracker" in the above cases. That means
718 we're looking at "issue", "issue1", "_file/style.css", "file1" and
719 "file1/kitten.png" in the cases above. The path is generally only one
720 entry long - longer paths are handled differently.
722 a. if there is no path, then we are in the "home" context.
723 b. if the path starts with "_file" (as in example 3,
724 "/tracker/_file/style.css"), then the additional path entry,
725 "style.css" specifies the filename of a static file we're to serve up
726 from the tracker "html" directory. Raises a SendStaticFile
727 exception.
728 c. if there is something in the path (as in example 1, "issue"), it identifies
729 the tracker class we're to display.
730 d. if the path is an item designator (as in examples 2 and 4, "issue1" and
731 "file1"), then we're to display a specific item.
732 e. if the path starts with an item designator and is longer than
733 one entry (as in example 5, "file1/kitten.png"), then we're assumed
734 to be handling an item of a
735 FileClass, and the extra path information gives the filename
736 that the client is going to label the download with (ie
737 "file1/kitten.png" is nicer to download than "file1"). This
738 raises a SendFile exception.
740 Both b. and e. stop before we bother to
741 determine the template we're going to use. That's because they
742 don't actually use templates.
744 The template used is specified by the ``:template`` CGI variable,
745 which defaults to:
747 - only classname suplied: "index"
748 - full item designator supplied: "item"
751 Performing actions in web requests
752 ----------------------------------
754 When a user requests a web page, they may optionally also request for an
755 action to take place. As described in `how requests are processed`_, the
756 action is performed before the requested page is generated. Actions are
757 triggered by using a ``:action`` CGI variable, where the value is one of:
759 **login**
760 Attempt to log a user in.
762 **logout**
763 Log the user out - make them "anonymous".
765 **register**
766 Attempt to create a new user based on the contents of the form and then log
767 them in.
769 **edit**
770 Perform an edit of an item in the database. There are some special form
771 elements you may use:
773 :link=designator:property and :multilink=designator:property
774 The value specifies an item designator and the property on that
775 item to add *this* item to as a link or multilink.
776 :note
777 Create a message and attach it to the current item's
778 "messages" property.
779 :file
780 Create a file and attach it to the current item's
781 "files" property. Attach the file to the message created from
782 the :note if it's supplied.
783 :required=property,property,...
784 The named properties are required to be filled in the form.
785 :remove:<propname>=id(s)
786 The ids will be removed from the multilink property. You may have multiple
787 :remove:<propname> form elements for a single <propname>.
788 :add:<propname>=id(s)
789 The ids will be added to the multilink property. You may have multiple
790 :add:<propname> form elements for a single <propname>.
792 **new**
793 Add a new item to the database. You may use the same special form elements
794 as in the "edit" action.
796 **retire**
797 Retire the item in the database.
799 **editCSV**
800 Performs an edit of all of a class' items in one go. See also the
801 *class*.csv templating method which generates the CSV data to be edited, and
802 the "_generic.index" template which uses both of these features.
804 **search**
805 Mangle some of the form variables.
807 Set the form ":filter" variable based on the values of the
808 filter variables - if they're set to anything other than
809 "dontcare" then add them to :filter.
811 Also handle the ":queryname" variable and save off the query to
812 the user's query list.
814 Each of the actions is implemented by a corresponding *actionAction* (where
815 "action" is the name of the action) method on
816 the roundup.cgi.Client class, which also happens to be in your tracker as
817 interfaces.Client. So if you need to define new actions, you may add them
818 there (see `defining new web actions`_).
820 Each action also has a corresponding *actionPermission* (where
821 "action" is the name of the action) method which determines
822 whether the action is permissible given the current user. The base permission
823 checks are:
825 **login**
826 Determine whether the user has permission to log in.
827 Base behaviour is to check the user has "Web Access".
828 **logout**
829 No permission checks are made.
830 **register**
831 Determine whether the user has permission to register
832 Base behaviour is to check the user has "Web Registration".
833 **edit**
834 Determine whether the user has permission to edit this item.
835 Base behaviour is to check the user can edit this class. If we're
836 editing the "user" class, users are allowed to edit their own
837 details. Unless it's the "roles" property, which requires the
838 special Permission "Web Roles".
839 **new**
840 Determine whether the user has permission to create (edit) this item.
841 Base behaviour is to check the user can edit this class. No
842 additional property checks are made. Additionally, new user items
843 may be created if the user has the "Web Registration" Permission.
844 **editCSV**
845 Determine whether the user has permission to edit this class.
846 Base behaviour is to check the user can edit this class.
847 **search**
848 Determine whether the user has permission to search this class.
849 Base behaviour is to check the user can view this class.
852 Default templates
853 -----------------
855 Most customisation of the web view can be done by modifying the templates in
856 the tracker **html** directory. There are several types of files in there:
858 **page**
859 This template usually defines the overall look of your tracker. When you
860 view an issue, it appears inside this template. When you view an index, it
861 also appears inside this template. This template defines a macro called
862 "icing" which is used by almost all other templates as a coating for their
863 content, using its "content" slot. It will also define the "head_title"
864 and "body_title" slots to allow setting of the page title.
865 **home**
866 the default page displayed when no other page is indicated by the user
867 **home.classlist**
868 a special version of the default page that lists the classes in the tracker
869 **classname.item**
870 displays an item of the *classname* class
871 **classname.index**
872 displays a list of *classname* items
873 **classname.search**
874 displays a search page for *classname* items
875 **_generic.index**
876 used to display a list of items where there is no *classname*.index available
877 **_generic.help**
878 used to display a "class help" page where there is no *classname*.help
879 **user.register**
880 a special page just for the user class that renders the registration page
881 **style.css**
882 a static file that is served up as-is
884 Note: Remember that you can create any template extension you want to, so
885 if you just want to play around with the templating for new issues, you can
886 copy the current "issue.item" template to "issue.test", and then access the
887 test template using the ":template" URL argument::
889 http://your.tracker.example/tracker/issue?:template=test
891 and it won't affect your users using the "issue.item" template.
894 How the templates work
895 ----------------------
897 Basic Templating Actions
898 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
900 Roundup's templates consist of special attributes on your template tags.
901 These attributes form the Template Attribute Language, or TAL. The basic tag
902 commands are:
904 **tal:define="variable expression; variable expression; ..."**
905 Define a new variable that is local to this tag and its contents. For
906 example::
908 <html tal:define="title request/description">
909 <head><title tal:content="title"></title></head>
910 </html>
912 In the example, the variable "title" is defined as being the result of the
913 expression "request/description". The tal:content command inside the <html>
914 tag may then use the "title" variable.
916 **tal:condition="expression"**
917 Only keep this tag and its contents if the expression is true. For example::
919 <p tal:condition="python:request.user.hasPermission('View', 'issue')">
920 Display some issue information.
921 </p>
923 In the example, the <p> tag and its contents are only displayed if the
924 user has the View permission for issues. We consider the number zero, a
925 blank string, an empty list, and the built-in variable nothing to be false
926 values. Nearly every other value is true, including non-zero numbers, and
927 strings with anything in them (even spaces!).
929 **tal:repeat="variable expression"**
930 Repeat this tag and its contents for each element of the sequence that the
931 expression returns, defining a new local variable and a special "repeat"
932 variable for each element. For example::
934 <tr tal:repeat="u user/list">
935 <td tal:content="u/id"></td>
936 <td tal:content="u/username"></td>
937 <td tal:content="u/realname"></td>
938 </tr>
940 The example would iterate over the sequence of users returned by
941 "user/list" and define the local variable "u" for each entry.
943 **tal:replace="expression"**
944 Replace this tag with the result of the expression. For example::
946 <span tal:replace="request/user/realname"></span>
948 The example would replace the <span> tag and its contents with the user's
949 realname. If the user's realname was "Bruce" then the resultant output
950 would be "Bruce".
952 **tal:content="expression"**
953 Replace the contents of this tag with the result of the expression. For
954 example::
956 <span tal:content="request/user/realname">user's name appears here</span>
958 The example would replace the contents of the <span> tag with the user's
959 realname. If the user's realname was "Bruce" then the resultant output
960 would be "<span>Bruce</span>".
962 **tal:attributes="attribute expression; attribute expression; ..."**
963 Set attributes on this tag to the results of expressions. For example::
965 <a tal:attributes="href string:user${request/user/id}">My Details</a>
967 In the example, the "href" attribute of the <a> tag is set to the value of
968 the "string:user${request/user/id}" expression, which will be something
969 like "user123".
971 **tal:omit-tag="expression"**
972 Remove this tag (but not its contents) if the expression is true. For
973 example::
975 <span tal:omit-tag="python:1">Hello, world!</span>
977 would result in output of::
979 Hello, world!
981 Note that the commands on a given tag are evaulated in the order above, so
982 *define* comes before *condition*, and so on.
984 Additionally, a tag is defined, tal:block, which is removed from output. Its
985 content is not, but the tag itself is (so don't go using any tal:attributes
986 commands on it). This is useful for making arbitrary blocks of HTML
987 conditional or repeatable (very handy for repeating multiple table rows,
988 which would othewise require an illegal tag placement to effect the repeat).
991 Templating Expressions
992 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
994 The expressions you may use in the attibute values may be one of the following
995 forms:
997 **Path Expressions** - eg. ``item/status/checklist``
998 These are object attribute / item accesses. Roughly speaking, the path
999 ``item/status/checklist`` is broken into parts ``item``, ``status``
1000 and ``checklist``. The ``item`` part is the root of the expression.
1001 We then look for a ``status`` attribute on ``item``, or failing that, a
1002 ``status`` item (as in ``item['status']``). If that
1003 fails, the path expression fails. When we get to the end, the object we're
1004 left with is evaluated to get a string - methods are called, objects are
1005 stringified. Path expressions may have an optional ``path:`` prefix, though
1006 they are the default expression type, so it's not necessary.
1008 If an expression evaluates to ``default`` then the expression is
1009 "cancelled" - whatever HTML already exists in the template will remain
1010 (tag content in the case of tal:content, attributes in the case of
1011 tal:attributes).
1013 If an expression evaluates to ``nothing`` then the target of the expression
1014 is removed (tag content in the case of tal:content, attributes in the case
1015 of tal:attributes and the tag itself in the case of tal:replace).
1017 If an element in the path may not exist, then you can use the ``|``
1018 operator in the expression to provide an alternative. So, the expression
1019 ``request/form/foo/value | default`` would simply leave the current HTML
1020 in place if the "foo" form variable doesn't exist.
1022 You may use the python function ``path``, as in ``path("item/status")``, to
1023 embed path expressions in Python expressions.
1025 **String Expressions** - eg. ``string:hello ${user/name}``
1026 These expressions are simple string interpolations - though they can be just
1027 plain strings with no interpolation if you want. The expression in the
1028 ``${ ... }`` is just a path expression as above.
1030 **Python Expressions** - eg. ``python: 1+1``
1031 These expressions give the full power of Python. All the "root level"
1032 variables are available, so ``python:item.status.checklist()`` would be
1033 equivalent to ``item/status/checklist``, assuming that ``checklist`` is
1034 a method.
1036 Modifiers:
1038 **structure** - eg. ``structure python:msg.content.plain(hyperlink=1)``
1039 The result of expressions are normally *escaped* to be safe for HTML
1040 display (all "<", ">" and "&" are turned into special entities). The
1041 ``structure`` expression modifier turns off this escaping - the result
1042 of the expression is now assumed to be HTML structured text.
1044 **not:** - eg. ``not:python:1=1``
1045 This simply inverts the logical true/false value of another expression.
1048 Template Macros
1049 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1051 Macros are used in Roundup to save us from repeating the same common page
1052 stuctures over and over. The most common (and probably only) macro you'll use
1053 is the "icing" macro defined in the "page" template.
1055 Macros are generated and used inside your templates using special attributes
1056 similar to the `basic templating actions`_. In this case though, the
1057 attributes belong to the Macro Expansion Template Attribute Language, or
1058 METAL. The macro commands are:
1060 **metal:define-macro="macro name"**
1061 Define that the tag and its contents are now a macro that may be inserted
1062 into other templates using the *use-macro* command. For example::
1064 <html metal:define-macro="page">
1065 ...
1066 </html>
1068 defines a macro called "page" using the ``<html>`` tag and its contents.
1069 Once defined, macros are stored on the template they're defined on in the
1070 ``macros`` attribute. You can access them later on through the ``templates``
1071 variable, eg. the most common ``templates/page/macros/icing`` to access the
1072 "page" macro of the "page" template.
1074 **metal:use-macro="path expression"**
1075 Use a macro, which is identified by the path expression (see above). This
1076 will replace the current tag with the identified macro contents. For
1077 example::
1079 <tal:block metal:use-macro="templates/page/macros/icing">
1080 ...
1081 </tal:block>
1083 will replace the tag and its contents with the "page" macro of the "page"
1084 template.
1086 **metal:define-slot="slot name"** and **metal:fill-slot="slot name"**
1087 To define *dynamic* parts of the macro, you define "slots" which may be
1088 filled when the macro is used with a *use-macro* command. For example, the
1089 ``templates/page/macros/icing`` macro defines a slot like so::
1091 <title metal:define-slot="head_title">title goes here</title>
1093 In your *use-macro* command, you may now use a *fill-slot* command like
1094 this::
1096 <title metal:fill-slot="head_title">My Title</title>
1098 where the tag that fills the slot completely replaces the one defined as
1099 the slot in the macro.
1101 Note that you may not mix METAL and TAL commands on the same tag, but TAL
1102 commands may be used freely inside METAL-using tags (so your *fill-slots*
1103 tags may have all manner of TAL inside them).
1106 Information available to templates
1107 ----------------------------------
1109 Note: this is implemented by roundup.cgi.templating.RoundupPageTemplate
1111 The following variables are available to templates.
1113 **context**
1114 The current context. This is either None, a
1115 `hyperdb class wrapper`_ or a `hyperdb item wrapper`_
1116 **request**
1117 Includes information about the current request, including:
1118 - the current index information (``filterspec``, ``filter`` args,
1119 ``properties``, etc) parsed out of the form.
1120 - methods for easy filterspec link generation
1121 - *user*, the current user item as an HTMLItem instance
1122 - *form*
1123 The current CGI form information as a mapping of form argument
1124 name to value
1125 **config**
1126 This variable holds all the values defined in the tracker config.py file
1127 (eg. TRACKER_NAME, etc.)
1128 **db**
1129 The current database, used to access arbitrary database items.
1130 **templates**
1131 Access to all the tracker templates by name. Used mainly in *use-macro*
1132 commands.
1133 **utils**
1134 This variable makes available some utility functions like batching.
1135 **nothing**
1136 This is a special variable - if an expression evaluates to this, then the
1137 tag (in the case of a tal:replace), its contents (in the case of
1138 tal:content) or some attributes (in the case of tal:attributes) will not
1139 appear in the the output. So for example::
1141 <span tal:attributes="class nothing">Hello, World!</span>
1143 would result in::
1145 <span>Hello, World!</span>
1147 **default**
1148 Also a special variable - if an expression evaluates to this, then the
1149 existing HTML in the template will not be replaced or removed, it will
1150 remain. So::
1152 <span tal:replace="default">Hello, World!</span>
1154 would result in::
1156 <span>Hello, World!</span>
1158 The context variable
1159 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1161 The *context* variable is one of three things based on the current context
1162 (see `determining web context`_ for how we figure this out):
1164 1. if we're looking at a "home" page, then it's None
1165 2. if we're looking at a specific hyperdb class, it's a
1166 `hyperdb class wrapper`_.
1167 3. if we're looking at a specific hyperdb item, it's a
1168 `hyperdb item wrapper`_.
1170 If the context is not None, we can access the properties of the class or item.
1171 The only real difference between cases 2 and 3 above are:
1173 1. the properties may have a real value behind them, and this will appear if
1174 the property is displayed through ``context/property`` or
1175 ``context/property/field``.
1176 2. the context's "id" property will be a false value in the second case, but
1177 a real, or true value in the third. Thus we can determine whether we're
1178 looking at a real item from the hyperdb by testing "context/id".
1180 Hyperdb class wrapper
1181 :::::::::::::::::::::
1183 Note: this is implemented by the roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLClass class.
1185 This wrapper object provides access to a hyperb class. It is used primarily
1186 in both index view and new item views, but it's also usable anywhere else that
1187 you wish to access information about a class, or the items of a class, when
1188 you don't have a specific item of that class in mind.
1190 We allow access to properties. There will be no "id" property. The value
1191 accessed through the property will be the current value of the same name from
1192 the CGI form.
1194 There are several methods available on these wrapper objects:
1196 =========== =============================================================
1197 Method Description
1198 =========== =============================================================
1199 properties return a `hyperdb property wrapper`_ for all of this class'
1200 properties.
1201 list lists all of the active (not retired) items in the class.
1202 csv return the items of this class as a chunk of CSV text.
1203 propnames lists the names of the properties of this class.
1204 filter lists of items from this class, filtered and sorted
1205 by the current *request* filterspec/filter/sort/group args
1206 classhelp display a link to a javascript popup containing this class'
1207 "help" template.
1208 submit generate a submit button (and action hidden element)
1209 renderWith render this class with the given template.
1210 history returns 'New node - no history' :)
1211 is_edit_ok is the user allowed to Edit the current class?
1212 is_view_ok is the user allowed to View the current class?
1213 =========== =============================================================
1215 Note that if you have a property of the same name as one of the above methods,
1216 you'll need to access it using a python "item access" expression. For example::
1218 python:context['list']
1220 will access the "list" property, rather than the list method.
1223 Hyperdb item wrapper
1224 ::::::::::::::::::::
1226 Note: this is implemented by the roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLItem class.
1228 This wrapper object provides access to a hyperb item.
1230 We allow access to properties. There will be no "id" property. The value
1231 accessed through the property will be the current value of the same name from
1232 the CGI form.
1234 There are several methods available on these wrapper objects:
1236 =============== =============================================================
1237 Method Description
1238 =============== =============================================================
1239 submit generate a submit button (and action hidden element)
1240 journal return the journal of the current item (**not implemented**)
1241 history render the journal of the current item as HTML
1242 renderQueryForm specific to the "query" class - render the search form for
1243 the query
1244 hasPermission specific to the "user" class - determine whether the user
1245 has a Permission
1246 is_edit_ok is the user allowed to Edit the current item?
1247 is_view_ok is the user allowed to View the current item?
1248 =============== =============================================================
1251 Note that if you have a property of the same name as one of the above methods,
1252 you'll need to access it using a python "item access" expression. For example::
1254 python:context['journal']
1256 will access the "journal" property, rather than the journal method.
1259 Hyperdb property wrapper
1260 ::::::::::::::::::::::::
1262 Note: this is implemented by subclasses roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLProperty
1263 class (HTMLStringProperty, HTMLNumberProperty, and so on).
1265 This wrapper object provides access to a single property of a class. Its
1266 value may be either:
1268 1. if accessed through a `hyperdb item wrapper`_, then it's a value from the
1269 hyperdb
1270 2. if access through a `hyperdb class wrapper`_, then it's a value from the
1271 CGI form
1274 The property wrapper has some useful attributes:
1276 =============== =============================================================
1277 Attribute Description
1278 =============== =============================================================
1279 _name the name of the property
1280 _value the value of the property if any - this is the actual value
1281 retrieved from the hyperdb for this property
1282 =============== =============================================================
1284 There are several methods available on these wrapper objects:
1286 ========= =====================================================================
1287 Method Description
1288 ========= =====================================================================
1289 plain render a "plain" representation of the property. This method may
1290 take two arguments:
1292 escape
1293 If true, escape the text so it is HTML safe (default: no). The
1294 reason this defaults to off is that text is usually escaped
1295 at a later stage by the TAL commands, unless the "structure"
1296 option is used in the template. The following are all equivalent::
1298 <p tal:content="structure python:msg.content.plain(escape=1)" />
1299 <p tal:content="python:msg.content.plain()" />
1300 <p tal:content="msg/content/plain" />
1301 <p tal:content="msg/content" />
1303 Usually you'll only want to use the escape option in a complex
1304 expression.
1306 hyperlink
1307 If true, turn URLs, email addresses and hyperdb item designators
1308 in the text into hyperlinks (default: no). Note that you'll need
1309 to use the "structure" TAL option if you want to use this::
1311 <p tal:content="structure python:msg.content.plain(hyperlink=1)" />
1313 Note also that the text is automatically HTML-escape before the
1314 hyperlinking transformation.
1316 field render an appropriate form edit field for the property - for most
1317 types this is a text entry box, but for Booleans it's a tri-state
1318 yes/no/neither selection.
1319 stext only on String properties - render the value of the
1320 property as StructuredText (requires the StructureText module
1321 to be installed separately)
1322 multiline only on String properties - render a multiline form edit
1323 field for the property
1324 email only on String properties - render the value of the
1325 property as an obscured email address
1326 confirm only on Password properties - render a second form edit field for
1327 the property, used for confirmation that the user typed the
1328 password correctly. Generates a field with name "name:confirm".
1329 now only on Date properties - return the current date as a new property
1330 reldate only on Date properties - render the interval between the
1331 date and now
1332 local only on Date properties - return this date as a new property with
1333 some timezone offset
1334 pretty only on Interval properties - render the interval in a
1335 pretty format (eg. "yesterday")
1336 menu only on Link and Multilink properties - render a form select
1337 list for this property
1338 reverse only on Multilink properties - produce a list of the linked
1339 items in reverse order
1340 ========= =====================================================================
1342 The request variable
1343 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1345 Note: this is implemented by the roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLRequest class.
1347 The request variable is packed with information about the current request.
1349 .. taken from roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLRequest docstring
1351 =========== =================================================================
1352 Variable Holds
1353 =========== =================================================================
1354 form the CGI form as a cgi.FieldStorage
1355 env the CGI environment variables
1356 base the base URL for this tracker
1357 user a HTMLUser instance for this user
1358 classname the current classname (possibly None)
1359 template the current template (suffix, also possibly None)
1360 form the current CGI form variables in a FieldStorage
1361 =========== =================================================================
1363 **Index page specific variables (indexing arguments)**
1365 =========== =================================================================
1366 Variable Holds
1367 =========== =================================================================
1368 columns dictionary of the columns to display in an index page
1369 show a convenience access to columns - request/show/colname will
1370 be true if the columns should be displayed, false otherwise
1371 sort index sort column (direction, column name)
1372 group index grouping property (direction, column name)
1373 filter properties to filter the index on
1374 filterspec values to filter the index on
1375 search_text text to perform a full-text search on for an index
1376 =========== =================================================================
1378 There are several methods available on the request variable:
1380 =============== =============================================================
1381 Method Description
1382 =============== =============================================================
1383 description render a description of the request - handle for the page
1384 title
1385 indexargs_form render the current index args as form elements
1386 indexargs_url render the current index args as a URL
1387 base_javascript render some javascript that is used by other components of
1388 the templating
1389 batch run the current index args through a filter and return a
1390 list of items (see `hyperdb item wrapper`_, and
1391 `batching`_)
1392 =============== =============================================================
1394 The form variable
1395 :::::::::::::::::
1397 The form variable is a little special because it's actually a python
1398 FieldStorage object. That means that you have two ways to access its
1399 contents. For example, to look up the CGI form value for the variable
1400 "name", use the path expression::
1402 request/form/name/value
1404 or the python expression::
1406 python:request.form['name'].value
1408 Note the "item" access used in the python case, and also note the explicit
1409 "value" attribute we have to access. That's because the form variables are
1410 stored as MiniFieldStorages. If there's more than one "name" value in
1411 the form, then the above will break since ``request/form/name`` is actually a
1412 *list* of MiniFieldStorages. So it's best to know beforehand what you're
1413 dealing with.
1416 The db variable
1417 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1419 Note: this is implemented by the roundup.cgi.templating.HTMLDatabase class.
1421 Allows access to all hyperdb classes as attributes of this variable. If you
1422 want access to the "user" class, for example, you would use::
1424 db/user
1425 python:db.user
1427 The access results in a `hyperdb class wrapper`_.
1429 The templates variable
1430 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1432 Note: this is implemented by the roundup.cgi.templating.Templates class.
1434 This variable doesn't have any useful methods defined. It supports being
1435 used in expressions to access the templates, and subsequently the template
1436 macros. You may access the templates using the following path expression::
1438 templates/name
1440 or the python expression::
1442 templates[name]
1444 where "name" is the name of the template you wish to access. The template you
1445 get access to has one useful attribute, "macros". To access a specific macro
1446 (called "macro_name"), use the path expression::
1448 templates/name/macros/macro_name
1450 or the python expression::
1452 templates[name].macros[macro_name]
1455 The utils variable
1456 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1458 Note: this is implemented by the roundup.cgi.templating.TemplatingUtils class,
1459 but it may be extended as described below.
1461 =============== =============================================================
1462 Method Description
1463 =============== =============================================================
1464 Batch return a batch object using the supplied list
1465 =============== =============================================================
1467 You may add additional utility methods by writing them in your tracker
1468 ``interfaces.py`` module's ``TemplatingUtils`` class. See `adding a time log
1469 to your issues`_ for an example. The TemplatingUtils class itself will have a
1470 single attribute, ``client``, which may be used to access the ``client.db``
1471 when you need to perform arbitrary database queries.
1473 Batching
1474 ::::::::
1476 Use Batch to turn a list of items, or item ids of a given class, into a series
1477 of batches. Its usage is::
1479 python:util.Batch(sequence, size, start, end=0, orphan=0, overlap=0)
1481 or, to get the current index batch::
1483 request/batch
1485 The parameters are:
1487 ========= ==================================================================
1488 Parameter Usage
1489 ========= ==================================================================
1490 sequence a list of HTMLItems
1491 size how big to make the sequence.
1492 start where to start (0-indexed) in the sequence.
1493 end where to end (0-indexed) in the sequence.
1494 orphan if the next batch would contain less items than this
1495 value, then it is combined with this batch
1496 overlap the number of items shared between adjacent batches
1497 ========= ==================================================================
1499 All of the parameters are assigned as attributes on the batch object. In
1500 addition, it has several more attributes:
1502 =============== ============================================================
1503 Attribute Description
1504 =============== ============================================================
1505 start indicates the start index of the batch. *Note: unlike the
1506 argument, is a 1-based index (I know, lame)*
1507 first indicates the start index of the batch *as a 0-based
1508 index*
1509 length the actual number of elements in the batch
1510 sequence_length the length of the original, unbatched, sequence.
1511 =============== ============================================================
1513 And several methods:
1515 =============== ============================================================
1516 Method Description
1517 =============== ============================================================
1518 previous returns a new Batch with the previous batch settings
1519 next returns a new Batch with the next batch settings
1520 propchanged detect if the named property changed on the current item
1521 when compared to the last item
1522 =============== ============================================================
1524 An example of batching::
1526 <table class="otherinfo">
1527 <tr><th colspan="4" class="header">Existing Keywords</th></tr>
1528 <tr tal:define="keywords db/keyword/list"
1529 tal:repeat="start python:range(0, len(keywords), 4)">
1530 <td tal:define="batch python:utils.Batch(keywords, 4, start)"
1531 tal:repeat="keyword batch" tal:content="keyword/name">keyword here</td>
1532 </tr>
1533 </table>
1535 ... which will produce a table with four columns containing the items of the
1536 "keyword" class (well, their "name" anyway).
1538 Displaying Properties
1539 ---------------------
1541 Properties appear in the user interface in three contexts: in indices, in
1542 editors, and as search arguments.
1543 For each type of property, there are several display possibilities.
1544 For example, in an index view, a string property may just be
1545 printed as a plain string, but in an editor view, that property may be
1546 displayed in an editable field.
1549 Index Views
1550 -----------
1552 This is one of the class context views. It is also the default view for
1553 classes. The template used is "*classname*.index".
1555 Index View Specifiers
1556 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1558 An index view specifier (URL fragment) looks like this (whitespace has been
1559 added for clarity)::
1561 /issue?status=unread,in-progress,resolved&
1562 topic=security,ui&
1563 :group=+priority&
1564 :sort==activity&
1565 :filters=status,topic&
1566 :columns=title,status,fixer
1568 The index view is determined by two parts of the specifier: the layout part and
1569 the filter part. The layout part consists of the query parameters that begin
1570 with colons, and it determines the way that the properties of selected items
1571 are displayed. The filter part consists of all the other query parameters, and
1572 it determines the criteria by which items are selected for display.
1573 The filter part is interactively manipulated with the form widgets displayed in
1574 the filter section. The layout part is interactively manipulated by clicking on
1575 the column headings in the table.
1577 The filter part selects the union of the sets of items with values matching any
1578 specified Link properties and the intersection of the sets of items with values
1579 matching any specified Multilink properties.
1581 The example specifies an index of "issue" items. Only items with a "status" of
1582 either "unread" or "in-progres" or "resolved" are displayed, and only items
1583 with "topic" values including both "security" and "ui" are displayed. The items
1584 are grouped by priority, arranged in ascending order; and within groups, sorted
1585 by activity, arranged in descending order. The filter section shows filters for
1586 the "status" and "topic" properties, and the table includes columns for the
1587 "title", "status", and "fixer" properties.
1589 Searching Views
1590 ---------------
1592 Note: if you add a new column to the ``:columns`` form variable potentials
1593 then you will need to add the column to the appropriate `index views`_
1594 template so it is actually displayed.
1596 This is one of the class context views. The template used is typically
1597 "*classname*.search". The form on this page should have "search" as its
1598 ``:action`` variable. The "search" action:
1600 - sets up additional filtering, as well as performing indexed text searching
1601 - sets the ``:filter`` variable correctly
1602 - saves the query off if ``:query_name`` is set.
1604 The searching page should lay out any fields that you wish to allow the user
1605 to search one. If your schema contains a large number of properties, you
1606 should be wary of making all of those properties available for searching, as
1607 this can cause confusion. If the additional properties are Strings, consider
1608 having their value indexed, and then they will be searchable using the full
1609 text indexed search. This is both faster, and more useful for the end user.
1611 The two special form values on search pages which are handled by the "search"
1612 action are:
1614 :search_text
1615 Text to perform a search of the text index with. Results from that search
1616 will be used to limit the results of other filters (using an intersection
1617 operation)
1618 :query_name
1619 If supplied, the search parameters (including :search_text) will be saved
1620 off as a the query item and registered against the user's queries property.
1621 Note that the *classic* template schema has this ability, but the *minimal*
1622 template schema does not.
1625 Item Views
1626 ----------
1628 The basic view of a hyperdb item is provided by the "*classname*.item"
1629 template. It generally has three sections; an "editor", a "spool" and a
1630 "history" section.
1633 Editor Section
1634 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1636 The editor section is used to manipulate the item - it may be a
1637 static display if the user doesn't have permission to edit the item.
1639 Here's an example of a basic editor template (this is the default "classic"
1640 template issue item edit form - from the "issue.item" template)::
1642 <table class="form">
1643 <tr>
1644 <th nowrap>Title</th>
1645 <td colspan=3 tal:content="structure python:context.title.field(size=60)">title</td>
1646 </tr>
1648 <tr>
1649 <th nowrap>Priority</th>
1650 <td tal:content="structure context/priority/menu">priority</td>
1651 <th nowrap>Status</th>
1652 <td tal:content="structure context/status/menu">status</td>
1653 </tr>
1655 <tr>
1656 <th nowrap>Superseder</th>
1657 <td>
1658 <span tal:replace="structure python:context.superseder.field(showid=1, size=20)" />
1659 <span tal:replace="structure python:db.issue.classhelp('id,title')" />
1660 <span tal:condition="context/superseder">
1661 <br>View: <span tal:replace="structure python:context.superseder.link(showid=1)" />
1662 </span>
1663 </td>
1664 <th nowrap>Nosy List</th>
1665 <td>
1666 <span tal:replace="structure context/nosy/field" />
1667 <span tal:replace="structure python:db.user.classhelp('username,realname,address,phone')" />
1668 </td>
1669 </tr>
1671 <tr>
1672 <th nowrap>Assigned To</th>
1673 <td tal:content="structure context/assignedto/menu">
1674 assignedto menu
1675 </td>
1676 <td> </td>
1677 <td> </td>
1678 </tr>
1680 <tr>
1681 <th nowrap>Change Note</th>
1682 <td colspan=3>
1683 <textarea name=":note" wrap="hard" rows="5" cols="60"></textarea>
1684 </td>
1685 </tr>
1687 <tr>
1688 <th nowrap>File</th>
1689 <td colspan=3><input type="file" name=":file" size="40"></td>
1690 </tr>
1692 <tr>
1693 <td> </td>
1694 <td colspan=3 tal:content="structure context/submit">
1695 submit button will go here
1696 </td>
1697 </tr>
1698 </table>
1701 When a change is submitted, the system automatically generates a message
1702 describing the changed properties. As shown in the example, the editor
1703 template can use the ":note" and ":file" fields, which are added to the
1704 standard change note message generated by Roundup.
1706 Form values
1707 :::::::::::
1709 We have a number of ways to pull properties out of the form in order to
1710 meet the various needs of:
1712 1. editing the current item (perhaps an issue item)
1713 2. editing information related to the current item (eg. messages or
1714 attached files)
1715 3. creating new information to be linked to the current item (eg. time
1716 spent on an issue)
1718 In the following, ``<bracketed>`` values are variable, ":" may be
1719 one of ":" or "@", and other text "required" is fixed.
1721 Properties are specified as form variables:
1723 ``<propname>``
1724 property on the current context item
1726 ``<designator>:<propname>``
1727 property on the indicated item (for editing related information)
1729 ``<classname>-<N>:<propname>``
1730 property on the Nth new item of classname (generally for creating new
1731 items to attach to the current item)
1733 Once we have determined the "propname", we check to see if it
1734 is one of the special form values:
1736 ``:required``
1737 The named property values must be supplied or a ValueError
1738 will be raised.
1740 ``:remove:<propname>=id(s)``
1741 The ids will be removed from the multilink property.
1743 ``:add:<propname>=id(s)``
1744 The ids will be added to the multilink property.
1746 ``:link:<propname>=<designator>``
1747 Used to add a link to new items created during edit.
1748 These are collected up and returned in all_links. This will
1749 result in an additional linking operation (either Link set or
1750 Multilink append) after the edit/create is done using
1751 all_props in _editnodes. The <propname> on the current item
1752 will be set/appended the id of the newly created item of
1753 class <designator> (where <designator> must be
1754 <classname>-<N>).
1756 Any of the form variables may be prefixed with a classname or
1757 designator.
1759 Two special form values are supported for backwards
1760 compatibility:
1762 ``:note``
1763 create a message (with content, author and date), link
1764 to the context item. This is ALWAYS desginated "msg-1".
1765 ``:file``
1766 create a file, attach to the current item and any
1767 message created by :note. This is ALWAYS designated "file-1".
1770 Spool Section
1771 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1773 The spool section lists related information like the messages and files of
1774 an issue.
1776 TODO
1779 History Section
1780 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1782 The final section displayed is the history of the item - its database journal.
1783 This is generally generated with the template::
1785 <tal:block tal:replace="structure context/history" />
1787 *To be done:*
1789 *The actual history entries of the item may be accessed for manual templating
1790 through the "journal" method of the item*::
1792 <tal:block tal:repeat="entry context/journal">
1793 a journal entry
1794 </tal:block>
1796 *where each journal entry is an HTMLJournalEntry.*
1798 Defining new web actions
1799 ------------------------
1801 You may define new actions to be triggered by the ``:action`` form variable.
1802 These are added to the tracker ``interfaces.py`` as methods on the ``Client``
1803 class.
1805 Adding action methods takes three steps; first you `define the new action
1806 method`_, then you `register the action method`_ with the cgi interface so
1807 it may be triggered by the ``:action`` form variable. Finally you actually
1808 `use the new action`_ in your HTML form.
1810 See "`setting up a "wizard" (or "druid") for controlled adding of issues`_"
1811 for an example.
1813 Define the new action method
1814 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1816 The action methods have the following interface::
1818 def myActionMethod(self):
1819 ''' Perform some action. No return value is required.
1820 '''
1822 The *self* argument is an instance of your tracker ``instance.Client`` class -
1823 thus it's mostly implemented by ``roundup.cgi.Client``. See the docstring of
1824 that class for details of what it can do.
1826 The method will typically check the ``self.form`` variable's contents. It
1827 may then:
1829 - add information to ``self.ok_message`` or ``self.error_message``
1830 - change the ``self.template`` variable to alter what the user will see next
1831 - raise Unauthorised, SendStaticFile, SendFile, NotFound or Redirect
1832 exceptions
1835 Register the action method
1836 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1838 The method is now written, but isn't available to the user until you add it to
1839 the `instance.Client`` class ``actions`` variable, like so::
1841 actions = client.Class.actions + (
1842 ('myaction', 'myActionMethod'),
1843 )
1845 This maps the action name "myaction" to the action method we defined.
1848 Use the new action
1849 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1851 In your HTML form, add a hidden form element like so::
1853 <input type="hidden" name=":action" value="myaction">
1855 where "myaction" is the name you registered in the previous step.
1858 Examples
1859 ========
1861 .. contents::
1862 :local:
1863 :depth: 1
1865 Adding a new field to the classic schema
1866 ----------------------------------------
1868 This example shows how to add a new constrained property (ie. a selection of
1869 distinct values) to your tracker.
1871 Introduction
1872 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
1874 To make the classic schema of roundup useful as a todo tracking system
1875 for a group of systems administrators, it needed an extra data field
1876 per issue: a category.
1878 This would let sysads quickly list all todos in their particular
1879 area of interest without having to do complex queries, and without
1880 relying on the spelling capabilities of other sysads (a losing
1881 proposition at best).
1883 Adding a field to the database
1884 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1886 This is the easiest part of the change. The category would just be a plain
1887 string, nothing fancy. To change what is in the database you need to add
1888 some lines to the ``open()`` function in ``dbinit.py`` under the comment::
1890 # add any additional database schema configuration here
1892 add::
1894 category = Class(db, "category", name=String())
1895 category.setkey("name")
1897 Here we are setting up a chunk of the database which we are calling
1898 "category". It contains a string, which we are refering to as "name" for
1899 lack of a more imaginative title. Then we are setting the key of this chunk
1900 of the database to be that "name". This is equivalent to an index for
1901 database types. This also means that there can only be one category with a
1902 given name.
1904 Adding the above lines allows us to create categories, but they're not tied
1905 to the issues that we are going to be creating. It's just a list of categories
1906 off on its own, which isn't much use. We need to link it in with the issues.
1907 To do that, find the lines in the ``open()`` function in ``dbinit.py`` which
1908 set up the "issue" class, and then add a link to the category::
1910 issue = IssueClass(db, "issue", ... , category=Multilink("category"), ... )
1912 The Multilink() means that each issue can have many categories. If you were
1913 adding something with a more one to one relationship use Link() instead.
1915 That is all you need to do to change the schema. The rest of the effort is
1916 fiddling around so you can actually use the new category.
1918 Populating the new category class
1919 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1921 If you haven't initialised the database with the roundup-admin "initialise"
1922 command, then you can add the following to the tracker ``dbinit.py`` in the
1923 ``init()`` function under the comment::
1925 # add any additional database create steps here - but only if you
1926 # haven't initialised the database with the admin "initialise" command
1928 add::
1930 category = db.getclass('category')
1931 category.create(name="scipy", order="1")
1932 category.create(name="chaco", order="2")
1933 category.create(name="weave", order="3")
1935 If the database is initalised, the you need to use the roundup-admin tool::
1937 % roundup-admin -i <tracker home>
1938 Roundup <version> ready for input.
1939 Type "help" for help.
1940 roundup> create category name=scipy order=1
1941 1
1942 roundup> create category name=chaco order=1
1943 2
1944 roundup> create category name=weave order=1
1945 3
1946 roundup> exit...
1947 There are unsaved changes. Commit them (y/N)? y
1950 Setting up security on the new objects
1951 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1953 By default only the admin user can look at and change objects. This doesn't
1954 suit us, as we want any user to be able to create new categories as
1955 required, and obviously everyone needs to be able to view the categories of
1956 issues for it to be useful.
1958 We therefore need to change the security of the category objects. This is
1959 also done in the ``open()`` function of ``dbinit.py``.
1961 There are currently two loops which set up permissions and then assign them
1962 to various roles. Simply add the new "category" to both lists::
1964 # new permissions for this schema
1965 for cl in 'issue', 'file', 'msg', 'user', 'category':
1966 db.security.addPermission(name="Edit", klass=cl,
1967 description="User is allowed to edit "+cl)
1968 db.security.addPermission(name="View", klass=cl,
1969 description="User is allowed to access "+cl)
1971 # Assign the access and edit permissions for issue, file and message
1972 # to regular users now
1973 for cl in 'issue', 'file', 'msg', 'category':
1974 p = db.security.getPermission('View', cl)
1975 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
1976 p = db.security.getPermission('Edit', cl)
1977 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
1979 So you are in effect doing the following::
1981 db.security.addPermission(name="Edit", klass='category',
1982 description="User is allowed to edit "+'category')
1983 db.security.addPermission(name="View", klass='category',
1984 description="User is allowed to access "+'category')
1986 which is creating two permission types; that of editing and viewing
1987 "category" objects respectively. Then the following lines assign those new
1988 permissions to the "User" role, so that normal users can view and edit
1989 "category" objects::
1991 p = db.security.getPermission('View', 'category')
1992 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
1994 p = db.security.getPermission('Edit', 'category')
1995 db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', p)
1997 This is all the work that needs to be done for the database. It will store
1998 categories, and let users view and edit them. Now on to the interface
1999 stuff.
2001 Changing the web left hand frame
2002 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2004 We need to give the users the ability to create new categories, and the
2005 place to put the link to this functionality is in the left hand function
2006 bar, under the "Issues" area. The file that defines how this area looks is
2007 ``html/page``, which is what we are going to be editing next.
2009 If you look at this file you can see that it contains a lot of "classblock"
2010 sections which are chunks of HTML that will be included or excluded in the
2011 output depending on whether the condition in the classblock is met. Under
2012 the end of the classblock for issue is where we are going to add the
2013 category code::
2015 <p class="classblock"
2016 tal:condition="python:request.user.hasPermission('View', 'category')">
2017 <b>Categories</b><br>
2018 <a tal:condition="python:request.user.hasPermission('Edit', 'category')"
2019 href="category?:template=item">New Category<br></a>
2020 </p>
2022 The first two lines is the classblock definition, which sets up a condition
2023 that only users who have "View" permission to the "category" object will
2024 have this section included in their output. Next comes a plain "Categories"
2025 header in bold. Everyone who can view categories will get that.
2027 Next comes the link to the editing area of categories. This link will only
2028 appear if the condition is matched: that condition being that the user has
2029 "Edit" permissions for the "category" objects. If they do have permission
2030 then they will get a link to another page which will let the user add new
2031 categories.
2033 Note that if you have permission to view but not edit categories then all
2034 you will see is a "Categories" header with nothing underneath it. This is
2035 obviously not very good interface design, but will do for now. I just claim
2036 that it is so I can add more links in this section later on. However to fix
2037 the problem you could change the condition in the classblock statement, so
2038 that only users with "Edit" permission would see the "Categories" stuff.
2040 Setting up a page to edit categories
2041 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2043 We defined code in the previous section which let users with the
2044 appropriate permissions see a link to a page which would let them edit
2045 conditions. Now we have to write that page.
2047 The link was for the item template for the category object. This translates
2048 into the system looking for a file called ``category.item`` in the ``html``
2049 tracker directory. This is the file that we are going to write now.
2051 First we add an info tag in a comment which doesn't affect the outcome
2052 of the code at all but is useful for debugging. If you load a page in a
2053 browser and look at the page source, you can see which sections come
2054 from which files by looking for these comments::
2056 <!-- category.item -->
2058 Next we need to add in the METAL macro stuff so we get the normal page
2059 trappings::
2061 <tal:block metal:use-macro="templates/page/macros/icing">
2062 <title metal:fill-slot="head_title">Category editing</title>
2063 <td class="page-header-top" metal:fill-slot="body_title">
2064 <h2>Category editing</h2>
2065 </td>
2066 <td class="content" metal:fill-slot="content">
2068 Next we need to setup up a standard HTML form, which is the whole
2069 purpose of this file. We link to some handy javascript which sends the form
2070 through only once. This is to stop users hitting the send button
2071 multiple times when they are impatient and thus having the form sent
2072 multiple times::
2074 <form method="POST" onSubmit="return submit_once()"
2075 enctype="multipart/form-data">
2077 Next we define some code which sets up the minimum list of fields that we
2078 require the user to enter. There will be only one field, that of "name", so
2079 they user better put something in it otherwise the whole form is pointless::
2081 <input type="hidden" name=":required" value="name">
2083 To get everything to line up properly we will put everything in a table,
2084 and put a nice big header on it so the user has an idea what is happening::
2086 <table class="form">
2087 <tr><th class="header" colspan=2>Category</th></tr>
2089 Next we need the actual field that the user is going to enter the new
2090 category. The "context.name.field(size=60)" bit tells roundup to generate a
2091 normal HTML field of size 60, and the contents of that field will be the
2092 "name" variable of the current context (which is "category"). The upshot of
2093 this is that when the user types something in to the form, a new category
2094 will be created with that name::
2096 <tr>
2097 <th nowrap>Name</th>
2098 <td tal:content="structure python:context.name.field(size=60)">name</td>
2099 </tr>
2101 Then a submit button so that the user can submit the new category::
2103 <tr>
2104 <td> </td>
2105 <td colspan=3 tal:content="structure context/submit">
2106 submit button will go here
2107 </td>
2108 </tr>
2110 Finally we finish off the tags we used at the start to do the METAL stuff::
2112 </td>
2113 </tal:block>
2115 So putting it all together, and closing the table and form we get::
2117 <!-- category.item -->
2118 <tal:block metal:use-macro="templates/page/macros/icing">
2119 <title metal:fill-slot="head_title">Category editing</title>
2120 <td class="page-header-top" metal:fill-slot="body_title">
2121 <h2>Category editing</h2>
2122 </td>
2123 <td class="content" metal:fill-slot="content">
2124 <form method="POST" onSubmit="return submit_once()"
2125 enctype="multipart/form-data">
2127 <input type="hidden" name=":required" value="name">
2129 <table class="form">
2130 <tr><th class="header" colspan=2>Category</th></tr>
2132 <tr>
2133 <th nowrap>Name</th>
2134 <td tal:content="structure python:context.name.field(size=60)">name</td>
2135 </tr>
2137 <tr>
2138 <td> </td>
2139 <td colspan=3 tal:content="structure context/submit">
2140 submit button will go here
2141 </td>
2142 </tr>
2143 </table>
2144 </form>
2145 </td>
2146 </tal:block>
2148 This is quite a lot to just ask the user one simple question, but
2149 there is a lot of setup for basically one line (the form line) to do
2150 its work. To add another field to "category" would involve one more line
2151 (well maybe a few extra to get the formatting correct).
2153 Adding the category to the issue
2154 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2156 We now have the ability to create issues to our hearts content, but
2157 that is pointless unless we can assign categories to issues. Just like
2158 the ``html/category.item`` file was used to define how to add a new
2159 category, the ``html/issue.item`` is used to define how a new issue is
2160 created.
2162 Just like ``category.issue`` this file defines a form which has a table to lay
2163 things out. It doesn't matter where in the table we add new stuff,
2164 it is entirely up to your sense of aesthetics::
2166 <th nowrap>Category</th>
2167 <td><span tal:replace="structure context/category/field" />
2168 <span tal:replace="structure db/category/classhelp" />
2169 </td>
2171 First we define a nice header so that the user knows what the next section
2172 is, then the middle line does what we are most interested in. This
2173 ``context/category/field`` gets replaced with a field which contains the
2174 category in the current context (the current context being the new issue).
2176 The classhelp lines generate a link (labelled "list") to a popup window
2177 which contains the list of currently known categories.
2179 Searching on categories
2180 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2182 We can add categories, and create issues with categories. The next obvious
2183 thing that we would like to be would be to search issues based on their
2184 category, so that any one working on the web server could look at all
2185 issues in the category "Web" for example.
2187 If you look in the html/page file and look for the "Search Issues" you will
2188 see that it looks something like ``<a href="issue?:template=search">Search
2189 Issues</a>`` which shows us that when you click on "Search Issues" it will
2190 be looking for a ``issue.search`` file to display. So that is indeed the file
2191 that we are going to change.
2193 If you look at this file it should be starting to seem familiar. It is a
2194 simple HTML form using a table to define structure. You can add the new
2195 category search code anywhere you like within that form::
2197 <tr>
2198 <th>Category:</th>
2199 <td>
2200 <select name="category">
2201 <option value="">don't care</option>
2202 <option value="">------------</option>
2203 <option tal:repeat="s db/category/list" tal:attributes="value s/name"
2204 tal:content="s/name">category to filter on</option>
2205 </select>
2206 </td>
2207 <td><input type="checkbox" name=":columns" value="category" checked></td>
2208 <td><input type="radio" name=":sort" value="category"></td>
2209 <td><input type="radio" name=":group" value="category"></td>
2210 </tr>
2212 Most of this is straightforward to anyone who knows HTML. It is just
2213 setting up a select list followed by a checkbox and a couple of radio
2214 buttons.
2216 The ``tal:repeat`` part repeats the tag for every item in the "category"
2217 table and setting "s" to be each category in turn.
2219 The ``tal:attributes`` part is setting up the ``value=`` part of the option tag
2220 to be the name part of "s" which is the current category in the loop.
2222 The ``tal:content`` part is setting the contents of the option tag to be the
2223 name part of "s" again. For objects more complex than category, obviously
2224 you would put an id in the value, and the descriptive part in the content;
2225 but for category they are the same.
2227 Adding category to the default view
2228 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2230 We can now add categories, add issues with categories, and search issues
2231 based on categories. This is everything that we need to do, however there
2232 is some more icing that we would like. I think the category of an issue is
2233 important enough that it should be displayed by default when listing all
2234 the issues.
2236 Unfortunately, this is a bit less obvious than the previous steps. The code
2237 defining how the issues look is in ``html/issue.index``. This is a large table
2238 with a form down the bottom for redisplaying and so forth.
2240 Firstly we need to add an appropriate header to the start of the table::
2242 <th tal:condition="request/show/category">Category</th>
2244 The condition part of this statement is so that if the user has selected
2245 not to see the Category column then they won't.
2247 The rest of the table is a loop which will go through every issue that
2248 matches the display criteria. The loop variable is "i" - which means that
2249 every issue gets assigned to "i" in turn.
2251 The new part of code to display the category will look like this::
2253 <td tal:condition="request/show/category" tal:content="i/category"></td>
2255 The condition is the same as above: only display the condition when the
2256 user hasn't asked for it to be hidden. The next part is to set the content
2257 of the cell to be the category part of "i" - the current issue.
2259 Finally we have to edit ``html/page`` again. This time to tell it that when the
2260 user clicks on "Unnasigned Issues" or "All Issues" that the category should
2261 be displayed. If you scroll down the page file, you can see the links with
2262 lots of options. The option that we are interested in is the ``:columns=`` one
2263 which tells roundup which fields of the issue to display. Simply add
2264 "category" to that list and it all should work.
2267 Adding in state transition control
2268 ----------------------------------
2270 Sometimes tracker admins want to control the states that users may move issues
2271 to.
2273 1. make "status" a required variable. This is achieved by adding the
2274 following to the top of the form in the ``issue.item`` template::
2276 <input type="hidden" name="@required" value="status">
2278 this will force users to select a status.
2280 2. add a Multilink property to the status class::
2282 stat = Class(db, "status", ... , transitions=Multilink('status'), ...)
2284 and then edit the statuses already created either:
2286 a. through the web using the class list -> status class editor, or
2287 b. using the roundup-admin "set" command.
2289 3. add an auditor module ``checktransition.py`` in your tracker's
2290 ``detectors`` directory::
2292 def checktransition(db, cl, nodeid, newvalues):
2293 ''' Check that the desired transition is valid for the "status"
2294 property.
2295 '''
2296 if not newvalues.has_key('status'):
2297 return
2298 current = cl.get(nodeid, 'status')
2299 new = newvalues['status']
2300 if new == current:
2301 return
2302 ok = db.status.get(current, 'transitions')
2303 if new not in ok:
2304 raise ValueError, 'Status not allowed to move from "%s" to "%s"'%(
2305 db.status.get(current, 'name'), db.status.get(new, 'name'))
2307 def init(db):
2308 db.issue.audit('set', checktransition)
2310 4. in the ``issue.item`` template, change the status editing bit from::
2312 <th nowrap>Status</th>
2313 <td tal:content="structure context/status/menu">status</td>
2315 to::
2317 <th nowrap>Status</th>
2318 <td>
2319 <select tal:condition="context/id" name="status">
2320 <tal:block tal:define="ok context/status/transitions"
2321 tal:repeat="state db/status/list">
2322 <option tal:condition="python:state.id in ok"
2323 tal:attributes="value state/id;
2324 selected python:state.id == context.status.id"
2325 tal:content="state/name"></option>
2326 </tal:block>
2327 </select>
2328 <tal:block tal:condition="not:context/id"
2329 tal:replace="structure context/status/menu" />
2330 </td>
2332 which displays only the allowed status to transition to.
2335 Displaying only message summaries in the issue display
2336 ------------------------------------------------------
2338 Alter the issue.item template section for messages to::
2340 <table class="messages" tal:condition="context/messages">
2341 <tr><th colspan=5 class="header">Messages</th></tr>
2342 <tr tal:repeat="msg context/messages">
2343 <td><a tal:attributes="href string:msg${msg/id}"
2344 tal:content="string:msg${msg/id}"></a></td>
2345 <td tal:content="msg/author">author</td>
2346 <td nowrap tal:content="msg/date/pretty">date</td>
2347 <td tal:content="msg/summary">summary</td>
2348 <td>
2349 <a tal:attributes="href string:?:remove:messages=${msg/id}&:action=edit">remove</a>
2350 </td>
2351 </tr>
2352 </table>
2354 Restricting the list of users that are assignable to a task
2355 -----------------------------------------------------------
2357 1. In your tracker's "dbinit.py", create a new Role, say "Developer"::
2359 db.security.addRole(name='Developer', description='A developer')
2361 2. Just after that, create a new Permission, say "Fixer", specific to "issue"::
2363 p = db.security.addPermission(name='Fixer', klass='issue',
2364 description='User is allowed to be assigned to fix issues')
2366 3. Then assign the new Permission to your "Developer" Role::
2368 db.security.addPermissionToRole('Developer', p)
2370 4. In the issue item edit page ("html/issue.item" in your tracker dir), use
2371 the new Permission in restricting the "assignedto" list::
2373 <select name="assignedto">
2374 <option value="-1">- no selection -</option>
2375 <tal:block tal:repeat="user db/user/list">
2376 <option tal:condition="python:user.hasPermission('Fixer', context._classname)"
2377 tal:attributes="value user/id;
2378 selected python:user.id == context.assignedto"
2379 tal:content="user/realname"></option>
2380 </tal:block>
2381 </select>
2383 For extra security, you may wish to set up an auditor to enforce the
2384 Permission requirement (install this as "assignedtoFixer.py" in your tracker
2385 "detectors" directory)::
2387 def assignedtoMustBeFixer(db, cl, nodeid, newvalues):
2388 ''' Ensure the assignedto value in newvalues is a used with the Fixer
2389 Permission
2390 '''
2391 if not newvalues.has_key('assignedto'):
2392 # don't care
2393 return
2395 # get the userid
2396 userid = newvalues['assignedto']
2397 if not db.security.hasPermission('Fixer', userid, cl.classname):
2398 raise ValueError, 'You do not have permission to edit %s'%cl.classname
2400 def init(db):
2401 db.issue.audit('set', assignedtoMustBeFixer)
2402 db.issue.audit('create', assignedtoMustBeFixer)
2404 So now, if the edit attempts to set the assignedto to a user that doesn't have
2405 the "Fixer" Permission, the error will be raised.
2408 Setting up a "wizard" (or "druid") for controlled adding of issues
2409 ------------------------------------------------------------------
2411 1. Set up the page templates you wish to use for data input. My wizard
2412 is going to be a two-step process, first figuring out what category of
2413 issue the user is submitting, and then getting details specific to that
2414 category. The first page includes a table of help, explaining what the
2415 category names mean, and then the core of the form::
2417 <form method="POST" onSubmit="return submit_once()"
2418 enctype="multipart/form-data">
2419 <input type="hidden" name=":template" value="add_page1">
2420 <input type="hidden" name=":action" value="page1submit">
2422 <strong>Category:</strong>
2423 <tal:block tal:replace="structure context/category/menu" />
2424 <input type="submit" value="Continue">
2425 </form>
2427 The next page has the usual issue entry information, with the addition of
2428 the following form fragments::
2430 <form method="POST" onSubmit="return submit_once()"
2431 enctype="multipart/form-data" tal:condition="context/is_edit_ok"
2432 tal:define="cat request/form/category/value">
2434 <input type="hidden" name=":template" value="add_page2">
2435 <input type="hidden" name=":required" value="title">
2436 <input type="hidden" name="category" tal:attributes="value cat">
2438 .
2439 .
2440 .
2441 </form>
2443 Note that later in the form, I test the value of "cat" include form
2444 elements that are appropriate. For example::
2446 <tal:block tal:condition="python:cat in '6 10 13 14 15 16 17'.split()">
2447 <tr>
2448 <th nowrap>Operating System</th>
2449 <td tal:content="structure context/os/field"></td>
2450 </tr>
2451 <tr>
2452 <th nowrap>Web Browser</th>
2453 <td tal:content="structure context/browser/field"></td>
2454 </tr>
2455 </tal:block>
2457 ... the above section will only be displayed if the category is one of 6,
2458 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17.
2460 3. Determine what actions need to be taken between the pages - these are
2461 usually to validate user choices and determine what page is next. Now
2462 encode those actions in methods on the interfaces Client class and insert
2463 hooks to those actions in the "actions" attribute on that class, like so::
2465 actions = client.Client.actions + (
2466 ('page1_submit', 'page1SubmitAction'),
2467 )
2469 def page1SubmitAction(self):
2470 ''' Verify that the user has selected a category, and then move on
2471 to page 2.
2472 '''
2473 category = self.form['category'].value
2474 if category == '-1':
2475 self.error_message.append('You must select a category of report')
2476 return
2477 # everything's ok, move on to the next page
2478 self.template = 'add_page2'
2480 4. Use the usual "new" action as the :action on the final page, and you're
2481 done (the standard context/submit method can do this for you).
2484 Using an external password validation source
2485 --------------------------------------------
2487 We have a centrally-managed password changing system for our users. This
2488 results in a UN*X passwd-style file that we use for verification of users.
2489 Entries in the file consist of ``name:password`` where the password is
2490 encrypted using the standard UN*X ``crypt()`` function (see the ``crypt``
2491 module in your Python distribution). An example entry would be::
2493 admin:aamrgyQfDFSHw
2495 Each user of Roundup must still have their information stored in the Roundup
2496 database - we just use the passwd file to check their password. To do this, we
2497 add the following code to our ``Client`` class in the tracker home
2498 ``interfaces.py`` module::
2500 def verifyPassword(self, userid, password):
2501 # get the user's username
2502 username = self.db.user.get(userid, 'username')
2504 # the passwords are stored in the "passwd.txt" file in the tracker
2505 # home
2506 file = os.path.join(self.db.config.TRACKER_HOME, 'passwd.txt')
2508 # see if we can find a match
2509 for ent in [line.strip().split(':') for line in open(file).readlines()]:
2510 if ent[0] == username:
2511 return crypt.crypt(password, ent[1][:2]) == ent[1]
2513 # user doesn't exist in the file
2514 return 0
2516 What this does is look through the file, line by line, looking for a name that
2517 matches.
2519 We also remove the redundant password fields from the ``user.item`` template.
2522 Adding a "vacation" flag to users for stopping nosy messages
2523 ------------------------------------------------------------
2525 When users go on vacation and set up vacation email bouncing, you'll start to
2526 see a lot of messages come back through Roundup "Fred is on vacation". Not
2527 very useful, and relatively easy to stop.
2529 1. add a "vacation" flag to your users::
2531 user = Class(db, "user",
2532 username=String(), password=Password(),
2533 address=String(), realname=String(),
2534 phone=String(), organisation=String(),
2535 alternate_addresses=String(),
2536 roles=String(), queries=Multilink("query"),
2537 vacation=Boolean())
2539 2. So that users may edit the vacation flags, add something like the
2540 following to your ``user.item`` template::
2542 <tr>
2543 <th>On Vacation</th>
2544 <td tal:content="structure context/vacation/field">vacation</td>
2545 </tr>
2547 3. edit your detector ``nosyreactor.py`` so that the ``nosyreaction()``
2548 consists of::
2550 def nosyreaction(db, cl, nodeid, oldvalues):
2551 # send a copy of all new messages to the nosy list
2552 for msgid in determineNewMessages(cl, nodeid, oldvalues):
2553 try:
2554 users = db.user
2555 messages = db.msg
2557 # figure the recipient ids
2558 sendto = []
2559 r = {}
2560 recipients = messages.get(msgid, 'recipients')
2561 for recipid in messages.get(msgid, 'recipients'):
2562 r[recipid] = 1
2564 # figure the author's id, and indicate they've received the
2565 # message
2566 authid = messages.get(msgid, 'author')
2568 # possibly send the message to the author, as long as they aren't
2569 # anonymous
2570 if (db.config.MESSAGES_TO_AUTHOR == 'yes' and
2571 users.get(authid, 'username') != 'anonymous'):
2572 sendto.append(authid)
2573 r[authid] = 1
2575 # now figure the nosy people who weren't recipients
2576 nosy = cl.get(nodeid, 'nosy')
2577 for nosyid in nosy:
2578 # Don't send nosy mail to the anonymous user (that user
2579 # shouldn't appear in the nosy list, but just in case they
2580 # do...)
2581 if users.get(nosyid, 'username') == 'anonymous':
2582 continue
2583 # make sure they haven't seen the message already
2584 if not r.has_key(nosyid):
2585 # send it to them
2586 sendto.append(nosyid)
2587 recipients.append(nosyid)
2589 # generate a change note
2590 if oldvalues:
2591 note = cl.generateChangeNote(nodeid, oldvalues)
2592 else:
2593 note = cl.generateCreateNote(nodeid)
2595 # we have new recipients
2596 if sendto:
2597 # filter out the people on vacation
2598 sendto = [i for i in sendto if not users.get(i, 'vacation', 0)]
2600 # map userids to addresses
2601 sendto = [users.get(i, 'address') for i in sendto]
2603 # update the message's recipients list
2604 messages.set(msgid, recipients=recipients)
2606 # send the message
2607 cl.send_message(nodeid, msgid, note, sendto)
2608 except roundupdb.MessageSendError, message:
2609 raise roundupdb.DetectorError, message
2611 Note that this is the standard nosy reaction code, with the small addition
2612 of::
2614 # filter out the people on vacation
2615 sendto = [i for i in sendto if not users.get(i, 'vacation', 0)]
2617 which filters out the users that have the vacation flag set to true.
2620 Adding a time log to your issues
2621 --------------------------------
2623 We want to log the dates and amount of time spent working on issues, and be
2624 able to give a summary of the total time spent on a particular issue.
2626 1. Add a new class to your tracker ``dbinit.py``::
2628 # storage for time logging
2629 timelog = Class(db, "timelog", period=Interval())
2631 Note that we automatically get the date of the time log entry creation
2632 through the standard property "creation".
2634 2. Link to the new class from your issue class (again, in ``dbinit.py``)::
2636 issue = IssueClass(db, "issue",
2637 assignedto=Link("user"), topic=Multilink("keyword"),
2638 priority=Link("priority"), status=Link("status"),
2639 times=Multilink("timelog"))
2641 the "times" property is the new link to the "timelog" class.
2643 3. We'll need to let people add in times to the issue, so in the web interface
2644 we'll have a new entry field, just below the change note box::
2646 <tr>
2647 <th nowrap>Time Log</th>
2648 <td colspan=3><input name=":timelog">
2649 (enter as "3y 1m 4d 2:40:02" or parts thereof)
2650 </td>
2651 </tr>
2653 Note that we've made up a new form variable, but since we place a colon ":"
2654 in front of it, it won't clash with any existing property variables. The
2655 names you *can't* use are ``:note``, ``:file``, ``:action``, ``:required``
2656 and ``:template``. These variables are described in the section
2657 `performing actions in web requests`_.
2659 4. We also need to handle this new field in the CGI interface - the way to
2660 do this is through implementing a new form action (see `Setting up a
2661 "wizard" (or "druid") for controlled adding of issues`_ for another example
2662 where we implemented a new CGI form action).
2664 In this case, we'll want our action to:
2666 1. create a new "timelog" entry,
2667 2. fake that the issue's "times" property has been edited, and then
2668 3. call the normal CGI edit action handler.
2670 The code to do this is::
2672 class Client(client.Client):
2673 ''' derives basic CGI implementation from the standard module,
2674 with any specific extensions
2675 '''
2676 actions = client.Client.actions + (
2677 ('edit_with_timelog', 'timelogEditAction'),
2678 ('new_with_timelog', 'timelogEditAction'),
2679 )
2681 def timelogEditAction(self):
2682 ''' Handle the creation of a new time log entry if necessary.
2684 If we create a new entry, fake up a CGI form value for the
2685 altered "times" property of the issue being edited.
2687 Punt to the regular edit action when we're done.
2688 '''
2689 # if there's a timelog value specified, create an entry
2690 if self.form.has_key(':timelog') and \
2691 self.form[':timelog'].value.strip():
2692 period = Interval(self.form[':timelog'].value)
2693 # create it
2694 newid = self.db.timelog.create(period=period)
2696 # if we're editing an existing item, get the old timelog value
2697 if self.nodeid:
2698 l = self.db.issue.get(self.nodeid, 'times')
2699 l.append(newid)
2700 else:
2701 l = [newid]
2703 # now make the fake CGI form values
2704 for entry in l:
2705 self.form.list.append(MiniFieldStorage('times', entry))
2707 # punt to the normal edit action
2708 if self.nodeid:
2709 return self.editItemAction()
2710 else:
2711 return self.newItemAction()
2713 you add this code to your Client class in your tracker's ``interfaces.py``
2714 file. Locate the section that looks like::
2716 class Client:
2717 ''' derives basic CGI implementation from the standard module,
2718 with any specific extensions
2719 '''
2720 pass
2722 and insert this code in place of the ``pass`` statement.
2724 5. You'll also need to modify your ``issue.item`` form submit action so it
2725 calls the time logging action we just created. The current template will
2726 look like this::
2728 <tr>
2729 <td> </td>
2730 <td colspan=3 tal:content="structure context/submit">
2731 submit button will go here
2732 </td>
2733 </tr>
2735 replace it with this::
2737 <tr>
2738 <td> </td>
2739 <td colspan=3>
2740 <tal:block tal:condition="context/id">
2741 <input type="hidden" name=":action" value="edit_with_timelog">
2742 <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit Changes">
2743 </tal:block>
2744 <tal:block tal:condition="not:context/id">
2745 <input type="hidden" name=":action" value="new_with_timelog">
2746 <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit New Issue">
2747 </tal:block>
2748 </td>
2749 </tr>
2751 The important change is setting the action to "edit_with_timelog" for
2752 edit operations (where the item exists) and "new_with_timelog" for
2753 creations operations.
2755 6. We want to display a total of the time log times that have been accumulated
2756 for an issue. To do this, we'll need to actually write some Python code,
2757 since it's beyond the scope of PageTemplates to perform such calculations.
2758 We do this by adding a method to the TemplatingUtils class in our tracker
2759 ``interfaces.py`` module::
2761 class TemplatingUtils:
2762 ''' Methods implemented on this class will be available to HTML
2763 templates through the 'utils' variable.
2764 '''
2765 def totalTimeSpent(self, times):
2766 ''' Call me with a list of timelog items (which have an Interval
2767 "period" property)
2768 '''
2769 total = Interval('')
2770 for time in times:
2771 total += time.period._value
2772 return total
2774 Replace the ``pass`` line as we did in step 4 above with the Client class.
2775 As indicated in the docstrings, we will be able to access the
2776 ``totalTimeSpent`` method via the ``utils`` variable in our templates.
2778 7. Display the time log for an issue::
2780 <table class="otherinfo" tal:condition="context/times">
2781 <tr><th colspan="3" class="header">Time Log
2782 <tal:block tal:replace="python:utils.totalTimeSpent(context.times)" />
2783 </th></tr>
2784 <tr><th>Date</th><th>Period</th><th>Logged By</th></tr>
2785 <tr tal:repeat="time context/times">
2786 <td tal:content="time/creation"></td>
2787 <td tal:content="time/period"></td>
2788 <td tal:content="time/creator"></td>
2789 </tr>
2790 </table>
2792 I put this just above the Messages log in my issue display. Note our use
2793 of the ``totalTimeSpent`` method which will total up the times for the
2794 issue and return a new Interval. That will be automatically displayed in
2795 the template as text like "+ 1y 2:40" (1 year, 2 hours and 40 minutes).
2797 8. If you're using a persistent web server - roundup-server or mod_python for
2798 example - then you'll need to restart that to pick up the code changes.
2799 When that's done, you'll be able to use the new time logging interface.
2801 Using a UN*X passwd file as the user database
2802 ---------------------------------------------
2804 On some systems the primary store of users is the UN*X passwd file. It holds
2805 information on users such as their username, real name, password and primary
2806 user group.
2808 Roundup can use this store as its primary source of user information, but it
2809 needs additional information too - email address(es), roundup Roles, vacation
2810 flags, roundup hyperdb item ids, etc. Also, "retired" users must still exist
2811 in the user database, unlike some passwd files in which the users are removed
2812 when they no longer have access to a system.
2814 To make use of the passwd file, we therefore synchronise between the two user
2815 stores. We also use the passwd file to validate the user logins, as described
2816 in the previous example, `using an external password validation source`_. We
2817 keep the users lists in sync using a fairly simple script that runs once a
2818 day, or several times an hour if more immediate access is needed. In short, it:
2820 1. parses the passwd file, finding usernames, passwords and real names,
2821 2. compares that list to the current roundup user list:
2823 a. entries no longer in the passwd file are *retired*
2824 b. entries with mismatching real names are *updated*
2825 c. entries only exist in the passwd file are *created*
2827 3. send an email to administrators to let them know what's been done.
2829 The retiring and updating are simple operations, requiring only a call to
2830 ``retire()`` or ``set()``. The creation operation requires more information
2831 though - the user's email address and their roundup Roles. We're going to
2832 assume that the user's email address is the same as their login name, so we
2833 just append the domain name to that. The Roles are determined using the
2834 passwd group identifier - mapping their UN*X group to an appropriate set of
2835 Roles.
2837 The script to perform all this, broken up into its main components, is as
2838 follows. Firstly, we import the necessary modules and open the tracker we're
2839 to work on::
2841 import sys, os, smtplib
2842 from roundup import instance, date
2844 # open the tracker
2845 tracker_home = sys.argv[1]
2846 tracker = instance.open(tracker_home)
2848 Next we read in the *passwd* file from the tracker home::
2850 # read in the users
2851 file = os.path.join(tracker_home, 'users.passwd')
2852 users = [x.strip().split(':') for x in open(file).readlines()]
2854 Handle special users (those to ignore in the file, and those who don't appear
2855 in the file)::
2857 # users to not keep ever, pre-load with the users I know aren't
2858 # "real" users
2859 ignore = ['ekmmon', 'bfast', 'csrmail']
2861 # users to keep - pre-load with the roundup-specific users
2862 keep = ['comment_pool', 'network_pool', 'admin', 'dev-team', 'cs_pool',
2863 'anonymous', 'system_pool', 'automated']
2865 Now we map the UN*X group numbers to the Roles that users should have::
2867 roles = {
2868 '501': 'User,Tech', # tech
2869 '502': 'User', # finance
2870 '503': 'User,CSR', # customer service reps
2871 '504': 'User', # sales
2872 '505': 'User', # marketing
2873 }
2875 Now we do all the work. Note that the body of the script (where we have the
2876 tracker database open) is wrapped in a ``try`` / ``finally`` clause, so that
2877 we always close the database cleanly when we're finished. So, we now do all
2878 the work::
2880 # open the database
2881 db = tracker.open('admin')
2882 try:
2883 # store away messages to send to the tracker admins
2884 msg = []
2886 # loop over the users list read in from the passwd file
2887 for user,passw,uid,gid,real,home,shell in users:
2888 if user in ignore:
2889 # this user shouldn't appear in our tracker
2890 continue
2891 keep.append(user)
2892 try:
2893 # see if the user exists in the tracker
2894 uid = db.user.lookup(user)
2896 # yes, they do - now check the real name for correctness
2897 if real != db.user.get(uid, 'realname'):
2898 db.user.set(uid, realname=real)
2899 msg.append('FIX %s - %s'%(user, real))
2900 except KeyError:
2901 # nope, the user doesn't exist
2902 db.user.create(username=user, realname=real,
2903 address='%s@ekit-inc.com'%user, roles=roles[gid])
2904 msg.append('ADD %s - %s (%s)'%(user, real, roles[gid]))
2906 # now check that all the users in the tracker are also in our "keep"
2907 # list - retire those who aren't
2908 for uid in db.user.list():
2909 user = db.user.get(uid, 'username')
2910 if user not in keep:
2911 db.user.retire(uid)
2912 msg.append('RET %s'%user)
2914 # if we did work, then send email to the tracker admins
2915 if msg:
2916 # create the email
2917 msg = '''Subject: %s user database maintenance
2919 %s
2920 '''%(db.config.TRACKER_NAME, '\n'.join(msg))
2922 # send the email
2923 smtp = smtplib.SMTP(db.config.MAILHOST)
2924 addr = db.config.ADMIN_EMAIL
2925 smtp.sendmail(addr, addr, msg)
2927 # now we're done - commit the changes
2928 db.commit()
2929 finally:
2930 # always close the database cleanly
2931 db.close()
2933 And that's it!
2936 Enabling display of either message summaries or the entire messages
2937 -------------------------------------------------------------------
2939 This is pretty simple - all we need to do is copy the code from the example
2940 `displaying only message summaries in the issue display`_ into our template
2941 alongside the summary display, and then introduce a switch that shows either
2942 one or the other. We'll use a new form variable, ``:whole_messages`` to
2943 achieve this::
2945 <table class="messages" tal:condition="context/messages">
2946 <tal:block tal:condition="not:request/form/:whole_messages/value | python:0">
2947 <tr><th colspan=3 class="header">Messages</th>
2948 <th colspan=2 class="header">
2949 <a href="?:whole_messages=yes">show entire messages</a>
2950 </th>
2951 </tr>
2952 <tr tal:repeat="msg context/messages">
2953 <td><a tal:attributes="href string:msg${msg/id}"
2954 tal:content="string:msg${msg/id}"></a></td>
2955 <td tal:content="msg/author">author</td>
2956 <td nowrap tal:content="msg/date/pretty">date</td>
2957 <td tal:content="msg/summary">summary</td>
2958 <td>
2959 <a tal:attributes="href string:?:remove:messages=${msg/id}&:action=edit">remove</a>
2960 </td>
2961 </tr>
2962 </tal:block>
2964 <tal:block tal:condition="request/form/:whole_messages/value | python:0">
2965 <tr><th colspan=2 class="header">Messages</th>
2966 <th class="header"><a href="?:whole_messages=">show only summaries</a></th>
2967 </tr>
2968 <tal:block tal:repeat="msg context/messages">
2969 <tr>
2970 <th tal:content="msg/author">author</th>
2971 <th nowrap tal:content="msg/date/pretty">date</th>
2972 <th style="text-align: right">
2973 (<a tal:attributes="href string:?:remove:messages=${msg/id}&:action=edit">remove</a>)
2974 </th>
2975 </tr>
2976 <tr><td colspan=3 tal:content="msg/content"></td></tr>
2977 </tal:block>
2978 </tal:block>
2979 </table>
2982 Blocking issues that depend on other issues
2983 -------------------------------------------
2985 We needed the ability to mark certain issues as "blockers" - that is,
2986 they can't be resolved until another issue (the blocker) they rely on
2987 is resolved. To achieve this:
2989 1. Create a new property on the issue Class, ``blockers=Multilink("issue")``.
2990 Edit your tracker's dbinit.py file. Where the "issue" class is defined,
2991 something like::
2993 issue = IssueClass(db, "issue",
2994 assignedto=Link("user"), topic=Multilink("keyword"),
2995 priority=Link("priority"), status=Link("status"))
2997 add the blockers entry like so::
2999 issue = IssueClass(db, "issue",
3000 blockers=Multilink("issue"),
3001 assignedto=Link("user"), topic=Multilink("keyword"),
3002 priority=Link("priority"), status=Link("status"))
3004 2. Add the new "blockers" property to the issue.item edit page, using
3005 something like::
3007 <th nowrap>Waiting On</th>
3008 <td>
3009 <span tal:replace="structure python:context.blockers.field(showid=1,
3010 size=20)" />
3011 <span tal:replace="structure python:db.issue.classhelp('id,title')" />
3012 <span tal:condition="context/blockers" tal:repeat="blk context/blockers">
3013 <br>View: <a tal:attributes="href string:issue${blk/id}"
3014 tal:content="blk/id"></a>
3015 </span>
3017 You'll need to fiddle with your item page layout to find an appropriate
3018 place to put it - I'll leave that fun part up to you. Just make sure it
3019 appears in the first table, possibly somewhere near the "superseders"
3020 field.
3022 3. Create a new detector module (attached) which enforces the rules:
3024 - issues may not be resolved if they have blockers
3025 - when a blocker is resolved, it's removed from issues it blocks
3027 The contents of the detector should be something like this::
3029 def blockresolution(db, cl, nodeid, newvalues):
3030 ''' If the issue has blockers, don't allow it to be resolved.
3031 '''
3032 if nodeid is None:
3033 blockers = []
3034 else:
3035 blockers = cl.get(nodeid, 'blockers')
3036 blockers = newvalues.get('blockers', blockers)
3038 # don't do anything if there's no blockers or the status hasn't changed
3039 if not blockers or not newvalues.has_key('status'):
3040 return
3042 # get the resolved state ID
3043 resolved_id = db.status.lookup('resolved')
3045 # format the info
3046 u = db.config.TRACKER_WEB
3047 s = ', '.join(['<a href="%sissue%s">%s</a>'%(u,id,id) for id in blockers])
3048 if len(blockers) == 1:
3049 s = 'issue %s is'%s
3050 else:
3051 s = 'issues %s are'%s
3053 # ok, see if we're trying to resolve
3054 if newvalues['status'] == resolved_id:
3055 raise ValueError, "This issue can't be resolved until %s resolved."%s
3057 def resolveblockers(db, cl, nodeid, newvalues):
3058 ''' When we resolve an issue that's a blocker, remove it from the
3059 blockers list of the issue(s) it blocks.
3060 '''
3061 if not newvalues.has_key('status'):
3062 return
3064 # get the resolved state ID
3065 resolved_id = db.status.lookup('resolved')
3067 # interesting?
3068 if newvalues['status'] != resolved_id:
3069 return
3071 # yes - find all the blocked issues, if any, and remove me from their
3072 # blockers list
3073 issues = cl.find(blockers=nodeid)
3074 for issueid in issues:
3075 blockers = cl.get(issueid, 'blockers')
3076 if nodeid in blockers:
3077 blockers.remove(nodeid)
3078 cl.set(issueid, blockers=blockers)
3081 def init(db):
3082 # might, in an obscure situation, happen in a create
3083 db.issue.audit('create', blockresolution)
3084 db.issue.audit('set', blockresolution)
3086 # can only happen on a set
3087 db.issue.react('set', resolveblockers)
3089 Put the above code in a file called "blockers.py" in your tracker's
3090 "detectors" directory.
3092 4. Finally, and this is an optional step, modify the tracker web page URLs
3093 so they filter out issues with any blockers. You do this by adding an
3094 additional filter on "blockers" for the value "-1". For example, the
3095 existing "Show All" link in the "page" template (in the tracker's
3096 "html" directory) looks like this::
3098 <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>
3100 modify it to add the "blockers" info to the URL (note, both the
3101 ":filter" *and* "blockers" values must be specified)::
3103 <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>
3105 That's it. You should now be able to se blockers on your issues. Note that
3106 if you want to know whether an issue has any other issues dependent on it
3107 (ie. it's in their blockers list) you can look at the journal history
3108 at the bottom of the issue page - look for a "link" event to another
3109 issue's "blockers" property.
3112 -------------------
3114 Back to `Table of Contents`_
3116 .. _`Table of Contents`: index.html
3117 .. _`design documentation`: design.html