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[roundup.git] / doc / user_guide.txt

==========
User Guide
==========

:Version: $Revision: 1.3 $

.. contents::

Command Line Tool
-----------------

Usage: ``roundup-admin [-i instance home] [-u login] [-c] <command> <arguments>``

Options:

-i          instance home specify the issue tracker "home directory" to administer
-u          the ``user[:password]`` to use for commands
-c          when outputting lists of data, comma-separate them

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Command Help                                                                |
+=============+===============================================================+
|commit       |Usage: commit                                                  |
|             |The changes made during an interactive session are not         |
|             |automatically written to the database - they must be committed |
|             |using this command.                                            |
|             |                                                               |
|             |One-off commands on the command-line are automatically         |
|             |committed if they are successful.                              |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|create       |Usage: create classname property=value ...                     |
|             |This creates a new entry of the given class using the property |
|             |name=value arguments provided on the command line after the    |
|             |"create" command.                                              |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|display      |Usage: display designator                                      |
|             |This lists the properties and their associated values for the  |
|             |given node.                                                    |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|export       |Usage: export class[,class] destination dir                    |
|             |This action exports the current data from the database into    |
|             |tab-separated-value files that are placed in the nominated     |
|             |destination                                                    |
|             |directory. The journals are not exported.                      |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|find         |Usage: find classname propname=value ...                       |
|             |Find the nodes of the given class with a given link property   |
|             |value. The                                                     |
|             |value may be either the nodeid of the linked node, or its key  |
|             |value.                                                         |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|get          |Usage: get property designator[,designator]*                   |
|             |Retrieves the property value of the nodes specified by the     |
|             |designators.                                                   |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|help         |Usage: help topic                                              |
|             |commands  -- list commands                                     |
|             |x -- help specific to a command                                |
|             |initopts  -- init command options                              |
|             |all       -- all available help                                |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|history      |Usage: history designator                                      |
|             |Lists the journal entries for the node identified by the       |
|             |designator.                                                    |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|import       |Usage: import class file                                       |
|             |The file must define the same properties as the class          |
|             |(including having                                              |
|             |a "header" line with those property names.) The new nodes are  |
|             |added to                                                       |
|             |the existing database - if you want to create a new database   |
|             |using the                                                      |
|             |imported data, then create a new database (or, tediously,      |
|             |retire all                                                     |
|             |the old data.)                                                 |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|initialise   |Usage: initialise [template [backend [admin password]]]        |
|             |The command will prompt for the instance home directory (if not|
|             |supplied                                                       |
|             |through INSTANCE HOME or the -i option. The template, backend  |
|             |and admin                                                      |
|             |password may be specified on the command-line as arguments, in |
|             |that                                                           |
|             |order.                                                         |
|             |                                                               |
|             |See also initopts help.                                        |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|list         |Usage: list classname [property]                               |
|             |Lists all instances of the given class. If the property is not |
|             |specified, the  "label" property is used. The label property is|
|             |tried                                                          |
|             |in order: the key, "name", "title" and then the first property,|
|             |alphabetically.                                                |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|retire       |Usage: retire designator[,designator]*                         |
|             |This action indicates that a particular node is not to be      |
|             |retrieved by                                                   |
|             |the list or find commands, and its key value may be re-used.   |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|rollback     |Usage: rollback                                                |
|             |The changes made during an interactive session are not         |
|             |automatically written to the database - they must be committed |
|             |manually. This command undoes all those changes, so a commit   |
|             |immediately after would make no changes to the database.       |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|set          |Usage: set designator[,designator]* propname=value ...         |
|             |Sets the property to the value for all designators given.      |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|specification|Usage: specification classname                                 |
|             |This lists the properties for a given class.                   |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|table        |Usage: table classname [property[,property]*]                  |
|             |Lists all instances of the given class. If the properties are  |
|             |not                                                            |
|             |specified, all properties are displayed. By default, the column|
|             |widths                                                         |
|             |are the width of the property names. The width may be          |
|             |explicitly defined                                             |
|             |by defining the property as "name:width". For example::        |
|             |                                                               |
|             |  roundup> table priority id,name:10                           |
|             |  Id Name                                                      |
|             |  1  fatal-bug                                                 |
|             |  2  bug                                                       |
|             |  3  usability                                                 |
|             |  4  feature                                                   |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+


All commands (except help) require an instance specifier. This is just the path to
the roundup instance you're working with. A roundup instance is where roundup
keeps the database and configuration file that defines an issue tracker. It may be
thought of as the issue tracker's "home directory". It may be specified in the
environment variable ``ROUNDUP_INSTANCE`` or on the command line as "``-i instance``".

A designator is a classname and a nodeid concatenated, eg. bug1, user10, ...
Property values are represented as strings in command arguments and in the printed
results:

- Strings are, well, strings.
- Password values will display as their encoded value.
- Date values are printed in the full date format in the local time zone,
  and accepted in the full format or any of the partial formats explained
  below.::
  
    Input of...        Means...
    "2000-04-17.03:45" 2000-04-17.08:45:00
    "2000-04-17"       2000-04-17.00:00:00
    "01-25"            yyyy-01-25.00:00:00
    "08-13.22:13"      yyyy-08-14.03:13:00
    "11-07.09:32:43"   yyyy-11-07.14:32:43
    "14:25"            yyyy-mm-dd.19:25:00
    "8:47:11"          yyyy-mm-dd.13:47:11
    "."                "right now"
    
- Link values are printed as node designators. When given as an argument,
  node designators and key strings are both accepted.
- Multilink values are printed as lists of node designators joined by
  commas. When given as an argument, node designators and key strings are
  both accepted; an empty string, a single node, or a list of nodes joined
  by commas is accepted.
  
When multiple nodes are specified to the roundup get or roundup set commands, the
specified properties are retrieved or set on all the listed nodes.  When multiple
results are returned by the roundup get or roundup find commands, they are printed
one per line (default) or joined by commas (with the "``-c``" option).

Where the command changes data, a login name/password is required. The login may
be specified as either "``name``" or "``name:password``".

- ``ROUNDUP_LOGIN`` environment variable
- the "``-u``" command-line option

If either the name or password is not supplied, they are obtained from the
command-line.


Web Interface
-------------

Index views may be modified by the following arguments:

+-----------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| :sort     | sort by prop name, optionally preceeded with '-'             |
|           | to give descending or nothing for ascending sorting.         |
+-----------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| :group    | group by prop name, optionally preceeded with '-' or         |
|           | to sort in descending or nothing for ascending order.        |
+-----------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| :filter   | selects which props should be displayed in the filter        |
|           | section. Default is all.                                     |
+-----------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| :columns  | selects the columns that should be displayed.                |
|           | Default is all.                                              |
+-----------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| propname  | selects the values the node properties given by propname     |
|           | must have (very basic search/filter).                        |
+-----------+--------------------------------------------------------------+

Not sure what to put in here...

E-Mail Gateway
--------------

Performing Actions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The subject line of the incoming message is examined to determine whether the
message is an attempt to create a new item or to discuss an existing item. 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 item designator (class name and id number) is found there, the newly
created "msg" node is added to the "messages" property for that item, and any
new "file" nodes are added to the "files" property for the item.
If just an item class name is found there, we attempt to create a new item of
that class with its "messages" property initialized to contain the new "msg"
node and its "files" property initialized to contain any new "file" nodes.

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

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

Message content
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Incoming messages are examined for multiple parts:

* In a multipart/mixed message or part, each subpart is extracted and
  examined. 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
  node. Any parts of other types are each stored in separate files and
  given "file" class nodes that are linked to the "msg" node.
* In a multipart/alternative message or part, we look for a text/plain
  subpart and ignore the other parts.

Message summary
:::::::::::::::

The "summary" property on message nodes 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.

Address handling
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of the addresses in the To: and Cc: headers of the incoming message are
looked up among the user nodes, and the corresponding users are placed in the
"recipients" property on the new "msg" node. The address in the From: header
similarly determines the "author" property of the new "msg" node. 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 nodes with no passwords.

Triggers
~~~~~~~~

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

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 item that are not already on the "recipients" list
of the message. Those users are then appended to the "recipients" property on
the message, so multiple copies of a message are never sent to the same user.
The journal recorded by the hyperdatabase on the "recipients" property then
provides a log of when the message was sent to whom.


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

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