Remove outdated htmlbase.py.

[roundup.git] / doc / design.txt

========================================================
Roundup - An Issue-Tracking System for Knowledge Workers
========================================================

:Authors: Ka-Ping Yee (original__), Richard Jones (implementation)

__ spec.html

.. contents::

Introduction
---------------

This document presents a description of the components of the Roundup
system and specifies their interfaces and behaviour in sufficient detail
to guide an implementation. For the philosophy and rationale behind the
Roundup design, see the first-round Software Carpentry submission for
Roundup. This document fleshes out that design as well as specifying
interfaces so that the components can be developed separately.


The Layer Cake
-----------------

Lots of software design documents come with a picture of a cake.
Everybody seems to like them.  I also like cakes (i think they are
tasty).  So I, too, shall include a picture of a cake here::

     ________________________________________________________________
    | E-mail Client |  Web Browser  |  Detector Scripts  |   Shell   |
    |---------------+---------------+--------------------+-----------|
    |  E-mail User  |   Web User    |     Detector       |  Command  | 
    |----------------------------------------------------------------|
    |                    Roundup Database Layer                      |
    |----------------------------------------------------------------|
    |                     Hyperdatabase Layer                        |
    |----------------------------------------------------------------|
    |                        Storage Layer                           |
     ----------------------------------------------------------------

The colourful parts of the cake are part of our system; the faint grey
parts of the cake are external components.

I will now proceed to forgo all table manners and eat from the bottom of
the cake to the top.  You may want to stand back a bit so you don't get
covered in crumbs.


Hyperdatabase
-------------

The lowest-level component to be implemented is the hyperdatabase. The
hyperdatabase is intended to be a flexible data store that can hold
configurable data in records which we call items.

The hyperdatabase is implemented on top of the storage layer, an
external module for storing its data.  The storage layer could be a
third-party RDBMS; for a "batteries-included" distribution, implementing
the hyperdatabase on the standard bsddb module is suggested.

Dates and Date Arithmetic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before we get into the hyperdatabase itself, we need a way of handling
dates.  The hyperdatabase module provides Timestamp objects for
representing date-and-time stamps and Interval objects for representing
date-and-time intervals.

As strings, date-and-time stamps are specified with the date in
international standard format (``yyyy-mm-dd``) joined to the time
(``hh:mm:ss``) by a period "``.``".  Dates in this form can be easily
compared and are fairly readable when printed.  An example of a valid
stamp is "``2000-06-24.13:03:59``". We'll call this the "full date
format".  When Timestamp objects are printed as strings, they appear in
the full date format with the time always given in GMT.  The full date
format is always exactly 19 characters long.

For user input, some partial forms are also permitted: the whole time or
just the seconds may be omitted; and the whole date may be omitted or
just the year may be omitted.  If the time is given, the time is
interpreted in the user's local time zone. The Date constructor takes
care of these conversions. In the following examples, suppose that
``yyyy`` is the current year, ``mm`` is the current month, and ``dd`` is
the current day of the month; and suppose that the user is on Eastern
Standard Time.

-   "2000-04-17" means <Date 2000-04-17.00:00:00>
-   "01-25" means <Date yyyy-01-25.00:00:00>
-   "2000-04-17.03:45" means <Date 2000-04-17.08:45:00>
-   "08-13.22:13" means <Date yyyy-08-14.03:13:00>
-   "11-07.09:32:43" means <Date yyyy-11-07.14:32:43>
-   "14:25" means
-   <Date yyyy-mm-dd.19:25:00>
-   "8:47:11" means
-   <Date yyyy-mm-dd.13:47:11>
-   the special date "." means "right now"


Date intervals are specified using the suffixes "y", "m", and "d".  The
suffix "w" (for "week") means 7 days. Time intervals are specified in
hh:mm:ss format (the seconds may be omitted, but the hours and minutes
may not).

-   "3y" means three years
-   "2y 1m" means two years and one month
-   "1m 25d" means one month and 25 days
-   "2w 3d" means two weeks and three days
-   "1d 2:50" means one day, two hours, and 50 minutes
-   "14:00" means 14 hours
-   "0:04:33" means four minutes and 33 seconds


The Date class should understand simple date expressions of the form
*stamp* ``+`` *interval* and *stamp* ``-`` *interval*. When adding or
subtracting intervals involving months or years, the components are
handled separately.  For example, when evaluating "``2000-06-25 + 1m
10d``", we first add one month to get 2000-07-25, then add 10 days to
get 2000-08-04 (rather than trying to decide whether 1m 10d means 38 or
40 or 41 days).

Here is an outline of the Date and Interval classes::

    class Date:
        def __init__(self, spec, offset):
            """Construct a date given a specification and a time zone
            offset.

            'spec' is a full date or a partial form, with an optional
            added or subtracted interval.  'offset' is the local time
            zone offset from GMT in hours.
            """

        def __add__(self, interval):
            """Add an interval to this date to produce another date."""

        def __sub__(self, interval):
            """Subtract an interval from this date to produce another
            date.
            """

        def __cmp__(self, other):
            """Compare this date to another date."""

        def __str__(self):
            """Return this date as a string in the yyyy-mm-dd.hh:mm:ss
            format.
            """

        def local(self, offset):
            """Return this date as yyyy-mm-dd.hh:mm:ss in a local time
            zone.
            """

    class Interval:
        def __init__(self, spec):
            """Construct an interval given a specification."""

        def __cmp__(self, other):
            """Compare this interval to another interval."""
            
        def __str__(self):
            """Return this interval as a string."""



Here are some examples of how these classes would behave in practice.
For the following examples, assume that we are on Eastern Standard Time
and the current local time is 19:34:02 on 25 June 2000::

    >>> Date(".")
    <Date 2000-06-26.00:34:02>
    >>> _.local(-5)
    "2000-06-25.19:34:02"
    >>> Date(". + 2d")
    <Date 2000-06-28.00:34:02>
    >>> Date("1997-04-17", -5)
    <Date 1997-04-17.00:00:00>
    >>> Date("01-25", -5)
    <Date 2000-01-25.00:00:00>
    >>> Date("08-13.22:13", -5)
    <Date 2000-08-14.03:13:00>
    >>> Date("14:25", -5)
    <Date 2000-06-25.19:25:00>
    >>> Interval("  3w  1  d  2:00")
    <Interval 22d 2:00>
    >>> Date(". + 2d") - Interval("3w")
    <Date 2000-06-07.00:34:02>


Items and Classes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Items contain data in properties.  To Python, these properties are
presented as the key-value pairs of a dictionary. Each item belongs to a
class which defines the names and types of its properties.  The database
permits the creation and modification of classes as well as items.


Identifiers and Designators
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Each item has a numeric identifier which is unique among items in its
class.  The items are numbered sequentially within each class in order
of creation, starting from 1. The designator for an item is a way to
identify an item in the database, and consists of the name of the item's
class concatenated with the item's numeric identifier.

For example, if "spam" and "eggs" are classes, the first item created in
class "spam" has id 1 and designator "spam1". The first item created in
class "eggs" also has id 1 but has the distinct designator "eggs1". Item
designators are conventionally enclosed in square brackets when
mentioned in plain text.  This permits a casual mention of, say,
"[patch37]" in an e-mail message to be turned into an active hyperlink.


Property Names and Types
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Property names must begin with a letter.

A property may be one of five basic types:

- String properties are for storing arbitrary-length strings.

- Boolean properties are for storing true/false, or yes/no values.

- Number properties are for storing numeric values.

- Date properties store date-and-time stamps. Their values are Timestamp
  objects.

- A Link property refers to a single other item selected from a
  specified class.  The class is part of the property; the value is an
  integer, the id of the chosen item.

- A Multilink property refers to possibly many items in a specified
  class.  The value is a list of integers.

*None* is also a permitted value for any of these property types.  An
attempt to store None into a Multilink property stores an empty list.

A property that is not specified will return as None from a *get*
operation.


Hyperdb Interface Specification
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TODO: replace the Interface Specifications with links to the pydoc

The hyperdb module provides property objects to designate the different
kinds of properties.  These objects are used when specifying what
properties belong in classes::

    class String:
        def __init__(self, indexme='no'):
            """An object designating a String property."""

    class Boolean:
        def __init__(self):
            """An object designating a Boolean property."""

    class Number:
        def __init__(self):
            """An object designating a Number property."""

    class Date:
        def __init__(self):
            """An object designating a Date property."""

    class Link:
        def __init__(self, classname, do_journal='yes'):
            """An object designating a Link property that links to
            items in a specified class.

            If the do_journal argument is not 'yes' then changes to
            the property are not journalled in the linked item.
            """

    class Multilink:
        def __init__(self, classname, do_journal='yes'):
            """An object designating a Multilink property that links
            to items in a specified class.

            If the do_journal argument is not 'yes' then changes to
            the property are not journalled in the linked item(s).
            """


Here is the interface provided by the hyperdatabase::

    class Database:
        """A database for storing records containing flexible data
        types.
        """

        def __init__(self, config, journaltag=None):
            """Open a hyperdatabase given a specifier to some storage.

            The 'storagelocator' is obtained from config.DATABASE. The
            meaning of 'storagelocator' depends on the particular
            implementation of the hyperdatabase.  It could be a file
            name, a directory path, a socket descriptor for a connection
            to a database over the network, etc.

            The 'journaltag' is a token that will be attached to the
            journal entries for any edits done on the database.  If
            'journaltag' is None, the database is opened in read-only
            mode: the Class.create(), Class.set(), Class.retire(), and
            Class.restore() methods are disabled.
            """

        def __getattr__(self, classname):
            """A convenient way of calling self.getclass(classname)."""

        def getclasses(self):
            """Return a list of the names of all existing classes."""

        def getclass(self, classname):
            """Get the Class object representing a particular class.

            If 'classname' is not a valid class name, a KeyError is
            raised.
            """

    class Class:
        """The handle to a particular class of items in a hyperdatabase.
        """

        def __init__(self, db, classname, **properties):
            """Create a new class with a given name and property
            specification.

            'classname' must not collide with the name of an existing
            class, or a ValueError is raised.  The keyword arguments in
            'properties' must map names to property objects, or a
            TypeError is raised.

            A proxied reference to the database is available as the
            'db' attribute on instances. For example, in
            'IssueClass.send_message', the following is used to lookup
            users, messages and files::

                users = self.db.user
                messages = self.db.msg
                files = self.db.file
            """

        # Editing items:

        def create(self, **propvalues):
            """Create a new item of this class and return its id.

            The keyword arguments in 'propvalues' map property names to
            values. The values of arguments must be acceptable for the
            types of their corresponding properties or a TypeError is
            raised.  If this class has a key property, it must be
            present and its value must not collide with other key
            strings or a ValueError is raised.  Any other properties on
            this class that are missing from the 'propvalues' dictionary
            are set to None.  If an id in a link or multilink property
            does not refer to a valid item, an IndexError is raised.
            """

        def get(self, itemid, propname):
            """Get the value of a property on an existing item of this
            class.

            'itemid' must be the id of an existing item of this class or
            an IndexError is raised.  'propname' must be the name of a
            property of this class or a KeyError is raised.
            """

        def set(self, itemid, **propvalues):
            """Modify a property on an existing item of this class.
            
            'itemid' must be the id of an existing item of this class or
            an IndexError is raised.  Each key in 'propvalues' must be
            the name of a property of this class or a KeyError is
            raised.  All values in 'propvalues' must be acceptable types
            for their corresponding properties or a TypeError is raised.
            If the value of the key property is set, it must not collide
            with other key strings or a ValueError is raised.  If the
            value of a Link or Multilink property contains an invalid
            item id, a ValueError is raised.
            """

        def retire(self, itemid):
            """Retire an item.
            
            The properties on the item remain available from the get()
            method, and the item's id is never reused.  Retired items
            are not returned by the find(), list(), or lookup() methods,
            and other items may reuse the values of their key
            properties.
            """

        def restore(self, nodeid):
        '''Restore a retired node.

        Make node available for all operations like it was before
        retirement.
        '''

        def history(self, itemid):
            """Retrieve the journal of edits on a particular item.

            'itemid' must be the id of an existing item of this class or
            an IndexError is raised.

            The returned list contains tuples of the form

                (date, tag, action, params)

            'date' is a Timestamp object specifying the time of the
            change and 'tag' is the journaltag specified when the
            database was opened. 'action' may be:

                'create' or 'set' -- 'params' is a dictionary of
                    property values
                'link' or 'unlink' -- 'params' is (classname, itemid,
                    propname)
                'retire' -- 'params' is None
            """

        # Locating items:

        def setkey(self, propname):
            """Select a String property of this class to be the key
            property.

            'propname' must be the name of a String property of this
            class or None, or a TypeError is raised.  The values of the
            key property on all existing items must be unique or a
            ValueError is raised.
            """

        def getkey(self):
            """Return the name of the key property for this class or
            None.
            """

        def lookup(self, keyvalue):
            """Locate a particular item by its key property and return
            its id.

            If this class has no key property, a TypeError is raised.
            If the 'keyvalue' matches one of the values for the key
            property among the items in this class, the matching item's
            id is returned; otherwise a KeyError is raised.
            """

        def find(self, propname, itemid):
            """Get the ids of items in this class which link to the
            given items.

            'propspec' consists of keyword args propname={itemid:1,}
            'propname' must be the name of a property in this class, or
            a KeyError is raised.  That property must be a Link or
            Multilink property, or a TypeError is raised.

            Any item in this class whose 'propname' property links to
            any of the itemids will be returned. Used by the full text
            indexing, which knows that "foo" occurs in msg1, msg3 and
            file7, so we have hits on these issues:

                db.issue.find(messages={'1':1,'3':1}, files={'7':1})
            """

        def filter(self, search_matches, filterspec, sort, group):
            """ Return a list of the ids of the active items in this
            class that match the 'filter' spec, sorted by the group spec
            and then the sort spec.
            """

        def list(self):
            """Return a list of the ids of the active items in this
            class.
            """

        def count(self):
            """Get the number of items in this class.

            If the returned integer is 'numitems', the ids of all the
            items in this class run from 1 to numitems, and numitems+1
            will be the id of the next item to be created in this class.
            """

        # Manipulating properties:

        def getprops(self):
            """Return a dictionary mapping property names to property
            objects.
            """

        def addprop(self, **properties):
            """Add properties to this class.

            The keyword arguments in 'properties' must map names to
            property objects, or a TypeError is raised.  None of the
            keys in 'properties' may collide with the names of existing
            properties, or a ValueError is raised before any properties
            have been added.
            """

        def getitem(self, itemid, cache=1):
            """ Return a Item convenience wrapper for the item.

            'itemid' must be the id of an existing item of this class or
            an IndexError is raised.

            'cache' indicates whether the transaction cache should be
            queried for the item. If the item has been modified and you
            need to determine what its values prior to modification are,
            you need to set cache=0.
            """

    class Item:
        """ A convenience wrapper for the given item. It provides a
        mapping interface to a single item's properties
        """

Hyperdatabase Implementations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hyperdatabase implementations exist to create the interface described in
the `hyperdb interface specification`_ over an existing storage
mechanism. Examples are relational databases, \*dbm key-value databases,
and so on.

Several implementations are provided - they belong in the
``roundup.backends`` package.


Application Example
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is an example of how the hyperdatabase module would work in
practice::

    >>> import hyperdb
    >>> db = hyperdb.Database("foo.db", "ping")
    >>> db
    <hyperdb.Database "foo.db" opened by "ping">
    >>> hyperdb.Class(db, "status", name=hyperdb.String())
    <hyperdb.Class "status">
    >>> _.setkey("name")
    >>> db.status.create(name="unread")
    1
    >>> db.status.create(name="in-progress")
    2
    >>> db.status.create(name="testing")
    3
    >>> db.status.create(name="resolved")
    4
    >>> db.status.count()
    4
    >>> db.status.list()
    [1, 2, 3, 4]
    >>> db.status.lookup("in-progress")
    2
    >>> db.status.retire(3)
    >>> db.status.list()
    [1, 2, 4]
    >>> hyperdb.Class(db, "issue", title=hyperdb.String(), status=hyperdb.Link("status"))
    <hyperdb.Class "issue">
    >>> db.issue.create(title="spam", status=1)
    1
    >>> db.issue.create(title="eggs", status=2)
    2
    >>> db.issue.create(title="ham", status=4)
    3
    >>> db.issue.create(title="arguments", status=2)
    4
    >>> db.issue.create(title="abuse", status=1)
    5
    >>> hyperdb.Class(db, "user", username=hyperdb.Key(),
    ... password=hyperdb.String())
    <hyperdb.Class "user">
    >>> db.issue.addprop(fixer=hyperdb.Link("user"))
    >>> db.issue.getprops()
    {"title": <hyperdb.String>, "status": <hyperdb.Link to "status">,
     "user": <hyperdb.Link to "user">}
    >>> db.issue.set(5, status=2)
    >>> db.issue.get(5, "status")
    2
    >>> db.status.get(2, "name")
    "in-progress"
    >>> db.issue.get(5, "title")
    "abuse"
    >>> db.issue.find("status", db.status.lookup("in-progress"))
    [2, 4, 5]
    >>> db.issue.history(5)
    [(<Date 2000-06-28.19:09:43>, "ping", "create", {"title": "abuse",
    "status": 1}),
     (<Date 2000-06-28.19:11:04>, "ping", "set", {"status": 2})]
    >>> db.status.history(1)
    [(<Date 2000-06-28.19:09:43>, "ping", "link", ("issue", 5, "status")),
     (<Date 2000-06-28.19:11:04>, "ping", "unlink", ("issue", 5, "status"))]
    >>> db.status.history(2)
    [(<Date 2000-06-28.19:11:04>, "ping", "link", ("issue", 5, "status"))]


For the purposes of journalling, when a Multilink property is set to a
new list of items, the hyperdatabase compares the old list to the new
list. The journal records "unlink" events for all the items that appear
in the old list but not the new list, and "link" events for all the
items that appear in the new list but not in the old list.


Roundup Database
----------------

The Roundup database layer is implemented on top of the hyperdatabase
and mediates calls to the database. Some of the classes in the Roundup
database are considered issue classes. The Roundup database layer adds
detectors and user items, and on issues it provides mail spools, nosy
lists, and superseders.


Reserved Classes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Internal to this layer we reserve three special classes of items that
are not issues.

Users
"""""

Users are stored in the hyperdatabase as items of class "user".  The
"user" class has the definition::

    hyperdb.Class(db, "user", username=hyperdb.String(),
                              password=hyperdb.String(),
                              address=hyperdb.String())
    db.user.setkey("username")

Messages
""""""""

E-mail messages are represented by hyperdatabase items of class "msg".
The actual text content of the messages is stored in separate files.
(There's no advantage to be gained by stuffing them into the
hyperdatabase, and if messages are stored in ordinary text files, they
can be grepped from the command line.)  The text of a message is saved
in a file named after the message item designator (e.g. "msg23") for the
sake of the command interface (see below).  Attachments are stored
separately and associated with "file" items. The "msg" class has the
definition::

    hyperdb.Class(db, "msg", author=hyperdb.Link("user"),
                             recipients=hyperdb.Multilink("user"),
                             date=hyperdb.Date(),
                             summary=hyperdb.String(),
                             files=hyperdb.Multilink("file"))

The "author" property indicates the author of the message (a "user" item
must exist in the hyperdatabase for any messages that are stored in the
system). The "summary" property contains a summary of the message for
display in a message index.


Files
"""""

Submitted files are represented by hyperdatabase items of class "file".
Like e-mail messages, the file content is stored in files outside the
database, named after the file item designator (e.g. "file17"). The
"file" class has the definition::

    hyperdb.Class(db, "file", user=hyperdb.Link("user"),
                              name=hyperdb.String(),
                              type=hyperdb.String())

The "user" property indicates the user who submitted the file, the
"name" property holds the original name of the file, and the "type"
property holds the MIME type of the file as received.


Issue Classes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All issues have the following standard properties:

=========== ==========================
Property    Definition
=========== ==========================
title       hyperdb.String()
messages    hyperdb.Multilink("msg")
files       hyperdb.Multilink("file")
nosy        hyperdb.Multilink("user")
superseder  hyperdb.Multilink("issue")
=========== ==========================

Also, two Date properties named "creation" and "activity" are fabricated
by the Roundup database layer.  By "fabricated" we mean that no such
properties are actually stored in the hyperdatabase, but when properties
on issues are requested, the "creation" and "activity" properties are
made available. The value of the "creation" property is the date when an
issue was created, and the value of the "activity" property is the date
when any property on the issue was last edited (equivalently, these are
the dates on the first and last records in the issue's journal).


Roundupdb Interface Specification
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The interface to a Roundup database delegates most method calls to the
hyperdatabase, except for the following changes and additional methods::

    class Database:
        def getuid(self):
            """Return the id of the "user" item associated with the user
            that owns this connection to the hyperdatabase."""

    class Class:
        # Overridden methods:

        def create(self, **propvalues):
        def set(self, **propvalues):
        def retire(self, itemid):
            """These operations trigger detectors and can be vetoed.
            Attempts to modify the "creation" or "activity" properties
            cause a KeyError.
            """

        # New methods:

        def audit(self, event, detector):
        def react(self, event, detector):
            """Register a detector (see below for more details)."""

    class IssueClass(Class):
        # Overridden methods:

        def __init__(self, db, classname, **properties):
            """The newly-created class automatically includes the
            "messages", "files", "nosy", and "superseder" properties.
            If the 'properties' dictionary attempts to specify any of
            these properties or a "creation" or "activity" property, a
            ValueError is raised."""

        def get(self, itemid, propname):
        def getprops(self):
            """In addition to the actual properties on the item, these
            methods provide the "creation" and "activity" properties."""

        # New methods:

        def addmessage(self, itemid, summary, text):
            """Add a message to an issue's mail spool.

            A new "msg" item is constructed using the current date, the
            user that owns the database connection as the author, and
            the specified summary text.  The "files" and "recipients"
            fields are left empty.  The given text is saved as the body
            of the message and the item is appended to the "messages"
            field of the specified issue.
            """

        def nosymessage(self, itemid, msgid):
            """Send a message to the members of an issue's nosy list.

            The message is sent only to users on the nosy list who are
            not already on the "recipients" list for the message.  These
            users are then added to the message's "recipients" list.
            """


Default Schema
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The default schema included with Roundup turns it into a typical
software bug tracker.  The database is set up like this::

    pri = Class(db, "priority", name=hyperdb.String(),
                order=hyperdb.String())
    pri.setkey("name")
    pri.create(name="critical", order="1")
    pri.create(name="urgent", order="2")
    pri.create(name="bug", order="3")
    pri.create(name="feature", order="4")
    pri.create(name="wish", order="5")

    stat = Class(db, "status", name=hyperdb.String(),
                 order=hyperdb.String())
    stat.setkey("name")
    stat.create(name="unread", order="1")
    stat.create(name="deferred", order="2")
    stat.create(name="chatting", order="3")
    stat.create(name="need-eg", order="4")
    stat.create(name="in-progress", order="5")
    stat.create(name="testing", order="6")
    stat.create(name="done-cbb", order="7")
    stat.create(name="resolved", order="8")

    Class(db, "keyword", name=hyperdb.String())

    Class(db, "issue", fixer=hyperdb.Multilink("user"),
                       topic=hyperdb.Multilink("keyword"),
                       priority=hyperdb.Link("priority"),
                       status=hyperdb.Link("status"))

(The "order" property hasn't been explained yet.  It gets used by the
Web user interface for sorting.)

The above isn't as pretty-looking as the schema specification in the
first-stage submission, but it could be made just as easy with the
addition of a convenience function like Choice for setting up the
"priority" and "status" classes::

    def Choice(name, *options):
        cl = Class(db, name, name=hyperdb.String(),
                   order=hyperdb.String())
        for i in range(len(options)):
            cl.create(name=option[i], order=i)
        return hyperdb.Link(name)


Detector Interface
------------------

Detectors are Python functions that are triggered on certain kinds of
events.  The definitions of the functions live in Python modules placed
in a directory set aside for this purpose.  Importing the Roundup
database module also imports all the modules in this directory, and the
``init()`` function of each module is called when a database is opened
to provide it a chance to register its detectors.

There are two kinds of detectors:

1. an auditor is triggered just before modifying an item
2. a reactor is triggered just after an item has been modified

When the Roundup database is about to perform a ``create()``, ``set()``,
``retire()``, or ``restore`` operation, it first calls any *auditors*
that have been registered for that operation on that class. Any auditor
may raise a *Reject* exception to abort the operation.

If none of the auditors raises an exception, the database proceeds to
carry out the operation.  After it's done, it then calls all of the
*reactors* that have been registered for the operation.


Detector Interface Specification
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ``audit()`` and ``react()`` methods register detectors on a given
class of items::

    class Class:
        def audit(self, event, detector):
            """Register an auditor on this class.

            'event' should be one of "create", "set", "retire", or
            "restore". 'detector' should be a function accepting four
            arguments.
            """

        def react(self, event, detector):
            """Register a reactor on this class.

            'event' should be one of "create", "set", "retire", or
            "restore". 'detector' should be a function accepting four
            arguments.
            """

Auditors are called with the arguments::

    audit(db, cl, itemid, newdata)

where ``db`` is the database, ``cl`` is an instance of Class or
IssueClass within the database, and ``newdata`` is a dictionary mapping
property names to values.

For a ``create()`` operation, the ``itemid`` argument is None and
newdata contains all of the initial property values with which the item
is about to be created.

For a ``set()`` operation, newdata contains only the names and values of
properties that are about to be changed.

For a ``retire()`` or ``restore()`` operation, newdata is None.

Reactors are called with the arguments::

    react(db, cl, itemid, olddata)

where ``db`` is the database, ``cl`` is an instance of Class or
IssueClass within the database, and ``olddata`` is a dictionary mapping
property names to values.

For a ``create()`` operation, the ``itemid`` argument is the id of the
newly-created item and ``olddata`` is None.

For a ``set()`` operation, ``olddata`` contains the names and previous
values of properties that were changed.

For a ``retire()`` or ``restore()`` operation, ``itemid`` is the id of
the retired or restored item and ``olddata`` is None.


Detector Example
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is an example of detectors written for a hypothetical
project-management application, where users can signal approval of a
project by adding themselves to an "approvals" list, and a project
proceeds when it has three approvals::

    # Permit users only to add themselves to the "approvals" list.

    def check_approvals(db, cl, id, newdata):
        if newdata.has_key("approvals"):
            if cl.get(id, "status") == db.status.lookup("approved"):
                raise Reject, "You can't modify the approvals list " \
                    "for a project that has already been approved."
            old = cl.get(id, "approvals")
            new = newdata["approvals"]
            for uid in old:
                if uid not in new and uid != db.getuid():
                    raise Reject, "You can't remove other users from " \
                        "the approvals list; you can only remove " \
                        "yourself."
            for uid in new:
                if uid not in old and uid != db.getuid():
                    raise Reject, "You can't add other users to the " \
                        "approvals list; you can only add yourself."

    # When three people have approved a project, change its status from
    # "pending" to "approved".

    def approve_project(db, cl, id, olddata):
        if (olddata.has_key("approvals") and 
            len(cl.get(id, "approvals")) == 3):
            if cl.get(id, "status") == db.status.lookup("pending"):
                cl.set(id, status=db.status.lookup("approved"))

    def init(db):
        db.project.audit("set", check_approval)
        db.project.react("set", approve_project)

Here is another example of a detector that can allow or prevent the
creation of new items.  In this scenario, patches for a software project
are submitted by sending in e-mail with an attached file, and we want to
ensure that there are text/plain attachments on the message.  The
maintainer of the package can then apply the patch by setting its status
to "applied"::

    # Only accept attempts to create new patches that come with patch
    # files.

    def check_new_patch(db, cl, id, newdata):
        if not newdata["files"]:
            raise Reject, "You can't submit a new patch without " \
                          "attaching a patch file."
        for fileid in newdata["files"]:
            if db.file.get(fileid, "type") != "text/plain":
                raise Reject, "Submitted patch files must be " \
                              "text/plain."

    # When the status is changed from "approved" to "applied", apply the
    # patch.

    def apply_patch(db, cl, id, olddata):
        if (cl.get(id, "status") == db.status.lookup("applied") and 
            olddata["status"] == db.status.lookup("approved")):
            # ...apply the patch...

    def init(db):
        db.patch.audit("create", check_new_patch)
        db.patch.react("set", apply_patch)


Command Interface
-----------------

The command interface is a very simple and minimal interface, intended
only for quick searches and checks from the shell prompt. (Anything more
interesting can simply be written in Python using the Roundup database
module.)


Command Interface Specification
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A single command, roundup, provides basic access to the hyperdatabase
from the command line::

    roundup-admin help
    roundup-admin get [-list] designator[, designator,...] propname
    roundup-admin set designator[, designator,...] propname=value ...
    roundup-admin find [-list] classname propname=value ...

See ``roundup-admin help commands`` for a complete list of commands.

Property values are represented as strings in command arguments and in
the printed results:

- Strings are, well, strings.

- Numbers are displayed the same as strings.

- Booleans are displayed as 'Yes' or 'No'.

- Date values are printed in the full date format in the local time
  zone, and accepted in the full format or any of the partial formats
  explained above.

- Link values are printed as item designators.  When given as an
  argument, item designators and key strings are both accepted.

- Multilink values are printed as lists of item designators joined by
  commas.  When given as an argument, item designators and key strings
  are both accepted; an empty string, a single item, or a list of items
  joined by commas is accepted.

When multiple items are specified to the roundup get or roundup set
commands, the specified properties are retrieved or set on all the
listed items.

When multiple results are returned by the roundup get or roundup find
commands, they are printed one per line (default) or joined by commas
(with the -list) option.


Usage Example
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To find all messages regarding in-progress issues that contain the word
"spam", for example, you could execute the following command from the
directory where the database dumps its files::

    shell% for issue in `roundup find issue status=in-progress`; do
    > grep -l spam `roundup get $issue messages`
    > done
    msg23
    msg49
    msg50
    msg61
    shell%

Or, using the -list option, this can be written as a single command::

    shell% grep -l spam `roundup get \
        \`roundup find -list issue status=in-progress\` messages`
    msg23
    msg49
    msg50
    msg61
    shell%
    

E-mail User Interface
---------------------

The Roundup system must be assigned an e-mail address at which to
receive mail.  Messages should be piped to the Roundup mail-handling
script by the mail delivery system (e.g. using an alias beginning with
"|" for sendmail).


Message Processing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Incoming messages are examined for multiple parts. In a multipart/mixed
message or part, each subpart is extracted and examined.  In a
multipart/alternative message or part, we look for a text/plain subpart
and ignore the other parts.  The text/plain subparts are assembled to
form the textual body of the message, to be stored in the file
associated with a "msg" class item. Any parts of other types are each
stored in separate files and given "file" class items that are linked to
the "msg" item.

The "summary" property on message items is taken from the first
non-quoting section in the message body. The message body is divided
into sections by blank lines. Sections where the second and all
subsequent lines begin with a ">" or "|" character are considered
"quoting sections".  The first line of the first non-quoting section
becomes the summary of the message.

All of the addresses in the To: and Cc: headers of the incoming message
are looked up among the user items, and the corresponding users are
placed in the "recipients" property on the new "msg" item.  The address
in the From: header similarly determines the "author" property of the
new "msg" item. The default handling for addresses that don't have
corresponding users is to create new users with no passwords and a
username equal to the address.  (The web interface does not permit
logins for users with no passwords.)  If we prefer to reject mail from
outside sources, we can simply register an auditor on the "user" class
that prevents the creation of user items with no passwords.

The subject line of the incoming message is examined to determine
whether the message is an attempt to create a new issue or to discuss an
existing issue.  A designator enclosed in square brackets is sought as
the first thing on the subject line (after skipping any "Fwd:" or "Re:"
prefixes).

If an issue designator (class name and id number) is found there, the
newly created "msg" item is added to the "messages" property for that
issue, and any new "file" items are added to the "files" property for
the issue.

If just an issue class name is found there, we attempt to create a new
issue of that class with its "messages" property initialized to contain
the new "msg" item and its "files" property initialized to contain any
new "file" items.

Both cases may trigger detectors (in the first case we are calling the
set() method to add the message to the issue's spool; in the second case
we are calling the create() method to create a new item).  If an auditor
raises an exception, the original message is bounced back to the sender
with the explanatory message given in the exception.


Nosy Lists
~~~~~~~~~~

A standard detector is provided that watches for additions to the
"messages" property.  When a new message is added, the detector sends it
to all the users on the "nosy" list for the issue that are not already
on the "recipients" list of the message.  Those users are then appended
to the "recipients" property on the message, so multiple copies of a
message are never sent to the same user.  The journal recorded by the
hyperdatabase on the "recipients" property then provides a log of when
the message was sent to whom.


Setting Properties
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The e-mail interface also provides a simple way to set properties on
issues.  At the end of the subject line, ``propname=value`` pairs can be
specified in square brackets, using the same conventions as for the
roundup ``set`` shell command.


Web User Interface
------------------

The web interface is provided by a CGI script that can be run under any
web server.  A simple web server can easily be built on the standard
CGIHTTPServer module, and should also be included in the distribution
for quick out-of-the-box deployment.

The user interface is constructed from a number of template files
containing mostly HTML.  Among the HTML tags in templates are
interspersed some nonstandard tags, which we use as placeholders to be
replaced by properties and their values.


Views and View Specifiers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are two main kinds of views: *index* views and *issue* views. An
index view displays a list of issues of a particular class, optionally
sorted and filtered as requested.  An issue view presents the properties
of a particular issue for editing and displays the message spool for the
issue.

A view specifier is a string that specifies all the options needed to
construct a particular view. It goes after the URL to the Roundup CGI
script or the web server to form the complete URL to a view.  When the
result of selecting a link or submitting a form takes the user to a new
view, the Web browser should be redirected to a canonical location
containing a complete view specifier so that the view can be bookmarked.


Displaying Properties
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Properties appear in the user interface in three contexts: in indices,
in editors, and as search filters.  For each type of property, there are
several display possibilities.  For example, in an index view, a string
property may just be printed as a plain string, but in an editor view,
that property should be displayed in an editable field.

The display of a property is handled by functions in the
``cgi.templating`` module.

Displayer functions are triggered by ``tal:content`` or ``tal:replace``
tag attributes in templates.  The value of the attribute provides an
expression for calling the displayer function. For example, the
occurrence of::

    tal:content="context/status/plain"

in a template triggers a call to::
    
    context['status'].plain()

where the context would be an item of the "issue" class.  The displayer
functions can accept extra arguments to further specify details about
the widgets that should be generated.

Some of the standard displayer functions include:

========= ==============================================================
Function  Description
========= ==============================================================
plain     display a String property directly;
          display a Date property in a specified time zone with an
          option to omit the time from the date stamp; for a Link or
          Multilink property, display the key strings of the linked
          items (or the ids if the linked class has no key property)
field     display a property like the plain displayer above, but in a
          text field to be edited
menu      for a Link property, display a menu of the available choices
========= ==============================================================

See the `customisation`_ documentation for the complete list.


Index Views
~~~~~~~~~~~

An index view contains two sections: a filter section and an index
section. The filter section provides some widgets for selecting which
issues appear in the index.  The index section is a table of issues.


Index View Specifiers
"""""""""""""""""""""

An index view specifier looks like this (whitespace has been added for
clarity)::

    /issue?status=unread,in-progress,resolved&
        topic=security,ui&
        :group=priority&
        :sort=-activity&
        :filters=status,topic&
        :columns=title,status,fixer


The index view is determined by two parts of the specifier: the layout
part and the filter part. The layout part consists of the query
parameters that begin with colons, and it determines the way that the
properties of selected items are displayed. The filter part consists of
all the other query parameters, and it determines the criteria by which
items are selected for display.

The filter part is interactively manipulated with the form widgets
displayed in the filter section.  The layout part is interactively
manipulated by clicking on the column headings in the table.

The filter part selects the union of the sets of issues with values
matching any specified Link properties and the intersection of the sets
of issues with values matching any specified Multilink properties.

The example specifies an index of "issue" items. Only issues with a
"status" of either "unread" or "in-progres" or "resolved" are displayed,
and only issues with "topic" values including both "security" and "ui"
are displayed.  The issues are grouped by priority, arranged in
ascending order; and within groups, sorted by activity, arranged in
descending order.  The filter section shows filters for the "status" and
"topic" properties, and the table includes columns for the "title",
"status", and "fixer" properties.

Associated with each issue class is a default layout specifier.  The
layout specifier in the above example is the default layout to be
provided with the default bug-tracker schema described above in section
4.4.

Index Section
"""""""""""""

The template for an index section describes one row of the index table.
Fragments protected by a ``tal:condition="request/show/<property>"`` are
included or omitted depending on whether the view specifier requests a
column for a particular property. The table cells are filled by the
``tal:content="context/<property>"`` directive, which displays the value
of the property.

Here's a simple example of an index template::

    <tr>
      <td tal:condition="request/show/title"
          tal:content="contex/title"></td>
      <td tal:condition="request/show/status"
          tal:content="contex/status"></td>
      <td tal:condition="request/show/fixer"
          tal:content="contex/fixer"></td>
    </tr>

Sorting
"""""""

String and Date values are sorted in the natural way. Link properties
are sorted according to the value of the "order" property on the linked
items if it is present; or otherwise on the key string of the linked
items; or finally on the item ids.  Multilink properties are sorted
according to how many links are present.

Issue Views
~~~~~~~~~~~

An issue view contains an editor section and a spool section. At the top
of an issue view, links to superseding and superseded issues are always
displayed.

Issue View Specifiers
"""""""""""""""""""""

An issue view specifier is simply the issue's designator::

    /patch23


Editor Section
""""""""""""""

The editor section is generated from a template containing
``tal:content="context/<property>/<widget>"`` directives to insert the
appropriate widgets for editing properties.

Here's an example of a basic editor template::

    <table>
    <tr>
        <td colspan=2
            tal:content="python:context.title.field(size='60')"></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td tal:content="context/fixer/field"></td>
        <td tal:content="context/status/menu"></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td tal:content="context/nosy/field"></td>
        <td tal:content="context/priority/menu"></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td colspan=2>
          <textarea name=":note" rows=5 cols=60></textarea>
        </td>
    </tr>
    </table>

As shown in the example, the editor template can also include a ":note"
field, which is a text area for entering a note to go along with a
change.

When a change is submitted, the system automatically generates a message
describing the changed properties. The message displays all of the
property values on the issue and indicates which ones have changed. An
example of such a message might be this::

    title: Polly Parrot is dead
    priority: critical
    status: unread -> in-progress
    fixer: (none)
    keywords: parrot,plumage,perch,nailed,dead

If a note is given in the ":note" field, the note is appended to the
description.  The message is then added to the issue's message spool
(thus triggering the standard detector to react by sending out this
message to the nosy list).


Spool Section
"""""""""""""

The spool section lists messages in the issue's "messages" property.
The index of messages displays the "date", "author", and "summary"
properties on the message items, and selecting a message takes you to
its content.

Access Control
--------------

At each point that requires an action to be performed, the security
mechanisms are asked if the current user has permission. This permission
is defined as a Permission.

Individual assignment of Permission to user is unwieldy. The concept of
a Role, which encompasses several Permissions and may be assigned to
many Users, is quite well developed in many projects. Roundup will take
this path, and allow the multiple assignment of Roles to Users, and
multiple Permissions to Roles. These definitions are not persistent -
they're defined when the application initialises.

There will be two levels of Permission. The Class level permissions
define logical permissions associated with all items of a particular
class (or all classes). The Item level permissions define logical
permissions associated with specific items by way of their user-linked
properties.


Access Control Interface Specification
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The security module defines::

    class Permission:
        ''' Defines a Permission with the attributes
            - name
            - description
            - klass (optional)

            The klass may be unset, indicating that this permission is
            not locked to a particular hyperdb class. There may be
            multiple Permissions for the same name for different
            classes.
        '''

    class Role:
        ''' Defines a Role with the attributes
            - name
            - description
            - permissions
        '''

    class Security:
        def __init__(self, db):
            ''' Initialise the permission and role stores, and add in
                the base roles (for admin user).
            '''

        def getPermission(self, permission, classname=None):
            ''' Find the Permission matching the name and for the class,
                if the classname is specified.

                Raise ValueError if there is no exact match.
            '''

        def hasPermission(self, permission, userid, classname=None):
            ''' Look through all the Roles, and hence Permissions, and
                see if "permission" is there for the specified
                classname.
            '''

        def hasItemPermission(self, classname, itemid, **propspec):
            ''' Check the named properties of the given item to see if
                the userid appears in them. If it does, then the user is
                granted this permission check.

                'propspec' consists of a set of properties and values
                that must be present on the given item for access to be
                granted.

                If a property is a Link, the value must match the
                property value. If a property is a Multilink, the value
                must appear in the Multilink list.
            '''

        def addPermission(self, **propspec):
            ''' Create a new Permission with the properties defined in
                'propspec'
            '''

        def addRole(self, **propspec):
            ''' Create a new Role with the properties defined in
                'propspec'
            '''

        def addPermissionToRole(self, rolename, permission):
            ''' Add the permission to the role's permission list.

                'rolename' is the name of the role to add permission to.
            '''

Modules such as ``cgi/client.py`` and ``mailgw.py`` define their own
permissions like so (this example is ``cgi/client.py``)::

    def initialiseSecurity(security):
        ''' Create some Permissions and Roles on the security object

            This function is directly invoked by
            security.Security.__init__() as a part of the Security
            object instantiation.
        '''
        p = security.addPermission(name="Web Registration",
            description="Anonymous users may register through the web")
        security.addToRole('Anonymous', p)

Detectors may also define roles in their init() function::

    def init(db):
        # register an auditor that checks that a user has the "May
        # Resolve" Permission before allowing them to set an issue
        # status to "resolved"
        db.issue.audit('set', checkresolvedok)
        p = db.security.addPermission(name="May Resolve", klass="issue")
        security.addToRole('Manager', p)

The tracker dbinit module then has in ``open()``::

    # open the database - it must be modified to init the Security class
    # from security.py as db.security
    db = Database(config, name)

    # add some extra permissions and associate them with roles
    ei = db.security.addPermission(name="Edit", klass="issue",
                    description="User is allowed to edit issues")
    db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', ei)
    ai = db.security.addPermission(name="View", klass="issue",
                    description="User is allowed to access issues")
    db.security.addPermissionToRole('User', ai)

In the dbinit ``init()``::

    # create the two default users
    user.create(username="admin", password=Password(adminpw),
                address=config.ADMIN_EMAIL, roles='Admin')
    user.create(username="anonymous", roles='Anonymous')

Then in the code that matters, calls to ``hasPermission`` and
``hasItemPermission`` are made to determine if the user has permission
to perform some action::

    if db.security.hasPermission('issue', 'Edit', userid):
        # all ok

    if db.security.hasItemPermission('issue', itemid,
                                     assignedto=userid):
        # all ok

Code in the core will make use of these methods, as should code in
auditors in custom templates. The HTML templating may access the access
controls through the *user* attribute of the *request* variable. It
exposes a ``hasPermission()`` method::

  tal:condition="python:request.user.hasPermission('Edit', 'issue')"

or, if the *context* is *issue*, then the following is the same::

  tal:condition="python:request.user.hasPermission('Edit')"


Authentication of Users
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Users must be authenticated correctly for the above controls to work.
This is not done in the current mail gateway at all. Use of digital
signing of messages could alleviate this problem.

The exact mechanism of registering the digital signature should be
flexible, with perhaps a level of trust. Users who supply their
signature through their first message into the tracker should be at a
lower level of trust to those who supply their signature to an admin for
submission to their user details.


Anonymous Users
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The "anonymous" user must always exist, and defines the access
permissions for anonymous users. Unknown users accessing Roundup through
the web or email interfaces will be logged in as the "anonymous" user.


Use Cases
~~~~~~~~~

public - end users can submit bugs, request new features, request
    support
    The Users would be given the default "User" Role which gives "View"
    and "Edit" Permission to the "issue" class.
developer - developers can fix bugs, implement new features, provide
    support
    A new Role "Developer" is created with the Permission "Fixer" which
    is checked for in custom auditors that see whether the issue is
    being resolved with a particular resolution ("fixed", "implemented",
    "supported") and allows that resolution only if the permission is
    available.
manager - approvers/managers can approve new features and signoff bug
    fixes
    A new Role "Manager" is created with the Permission "Signoff" which
    is checked for in custom auditors that see whether the issue status
    is being changed similar to the developer example. admin -
    administrators can add users and set user's roles The existing Role
    "Admin" has the Permissions "Edit" for all classes (including
    "user") and "Web Roles" which allow the desired actions.
system - automated request handlers running various report/escalation
    scripts
    A combination of existing and new Roles, Permissions and auditors
    could be used here.
privacy - issues that are only visible to some users
    A new property is added to the issue which marks the user or group
    of users who are allowed to view and edit the issue. An auditor will
    check for edit access, and the template user object can check for
    view access.


Deployment Scenarios
--------------------

The design described above should be general enough to permit the use of
Roundup for bug tracking, managing projects, managing patches, or
holding discussions.  By using items of multiple types, one could deploy
a system that maintains requirement specifications, catalogs bugs, and
manages submitted patches, where patches could be linked to the bugs and
requirements they address.


Acknowledgements
----------------

My thanks are due to Christy Heyl for reviewing and contributing
suggestions to this paper and motivating me to get it done, and to Jesse
Vincent, Mark Miller, Christopher Simons, Jeff Dunmall, Wayne Gramlich,
and Dean Tribble for their assistance with the first-round submission.


Changes to this document
------------------------

- Added Boolean and Number types
- Added section Hyperdatabase Implementations
- "Item" has been renamed to "Issue" to account for the more specific
  nature of the Class.
- New Templating
- Access Controls

------------------

Back to `Table of Contents`_

.. _`Table of Contents`: index.html
.. _customisation: customizing.html