Changes between Version 4 and Version 5 of TracWorkflow


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Timestamp:
01/28/15 17:06:11 (10 years ago)
Author:
trac
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  • TracWorkflow

    v4 v5  
    11= The Trac Ticket Workflow System =
     2[[PageOutline(2-5,Contents,pullout)]]
    23[[TracGuideToc]]
    3 
    44The Trac ticket system provides a configurable workflow.
    55
     
    77=== Environments upgraded from 0.10 ===
    88When you run `trac-admin <env> upgrade`, your `trac.ini` will be modified to include a `[ticket-workflow]` section.
    9 The workflow configured in this case is the original workflow, so that ticket actions will behave like they did in 0.10.
    10 
    11 Graphically, that looks like this:
     9The workflow configured in this case is the original workflow, so that ticket actions will behave like they did in 0.10:
    1210
    1311{{{#!Workflow width=500 height=240
     
    2927}}}
    3028
    31 There are some significant "warts" in this; such as accepting a ticket sets it to 'assigned' state, and assigning a ticket sets it to 'new' state.  Perfectly obvious, right?
    32 So you will probably want to migrate to "basic" workflow; [trac:source:trunk/contrib/workflow/migrate_original_to_basic.py contrib/workflow/migrate_original_to_basic.py] may be helpful.
     29There are some significant caveats in this, such as accepting a ticket sets it to 'assigned' state, and assigning a ticket sets it to 'new' state. So you will probably want to migrate to "basic" workflow, see contrib/workflow/migrate_original_to_basic.py.
    3330
    3431=== Environments created with 0.11 ===
    35 When a new environment is created, a default workflow is configured in your trac.ini.  This workflow is the basic workflow (described in `basic-workflow.ini`), which is somewhat different from the workflow of the 0.10 releases.
    36 
    37 Graphically, it looks like this:
     32When a new environment is created, a default workflow is configured in your trac.ini. This workflow is the basic workflow, such as specified in `basic-workflow.ini`, which is somewhat different from the workflow of the 0.10 releases:
    3833
    3934{{{#!Workflow width=700 height=300
     
    5752== Additional Ticket Workflows ==
    5853
    59 There are several example workflows provided in the Trac source tree; look in [trac:source:trunk/contrib/workflow contrib/workflow] for `.ini` config sections.  One of those may be a good match for what you want. They can be pasted into the `[ticket-workflow]` section of your `trac.ini` file. However if you have existing tickets then there may be issues if those tickets have states that are not in the new workflow.
     54There are example workflows provided in the Trac source tree, see [trac:source:trunk/contrib/workflow contrib/workflow] for `.ini` config sections. One of those may be a good match for what you want. They can be pasted into the `[ticket-workflow]` section of your `trac.ini` file. However, if you have existing tickets then there may be issues if those tickets have states that are not in the new workflow.
    6055
    6156Here are some [trac:WorkFlow/Examples diagrams] of the above examples.
     
    8277 - ''actionname''`.set_owner` may optionally be set to a comma delimited list of users that will be used to populate the select, or a single user.
    8378- **set_owner_to_self** -- Sets the owner to the logged in user.
    84 - **del_resolution** -- Clears the resolution field
     79- **del_resolution** -- Clears the resolution field.
    8580- **set_resolution** -- Sets the resolution to the selected value.
    8681 - ''actionname''`.set_resolution` may optionally be set to a comma delimited list or a single value. Example:
     
    9388}}}
    9489- **leave_status** -- Displays "leave as <current status>" and makes no change to the ticket.
    95 '''Note:''' Specifying conflicting operations (such as `set_owner` and `del_owner`) has unspecified results.
    96 
    97 In this example, we see the `.name` attribute used.  The action here is `resolve_accepted`, but it will be presented to the user as `resolve`.
     90- **reset_workflow** -- Resets the status of tickets that are in states no longer defined.
     91'''Note:''' Specifying conflicting operations, such as `set_owner` and `del_owner`, has unspecified results.
     92
     93In this example, we see the `.name` attribute used. The action here is `resolve_accepted`, but it will be presented to the user as `resolve`.
    9894
    9995{{{#!ini
     
    104100}}}
    105101
    106 For actions that should be available in all states, `*` may be used in place of the state.  The obvious example is the `leave` action:
    107 {{{#!ini
    108 leave = * -> *
    109 leave.operations = leave_status
    110 leave.default = 1
    111 }}}
    112 This also shows the use of the `.default` attribute.  This value is expected to be an integer, and the order in which the actions are displayed is determined by this value.  The action with the highest `.default` value is listed first, and is selected by default.  The rest of the actions are listed in order of decreasing `.default` values.
    113 If not specified for an action, `.default` is 0.  The value may be negative.
    114 
    115 There are a couple of hard-coded constraints to the workflow.  In particular, tickets are created with status `new`, and tickets are expected to have a `closed` state.  Further, the default reports/queries treat any state other than `closed` as an open state.
     102For actions that should be available in all states, `*` may be used in place of the state. The obvious example is the `leave` action:
     103{{{#!ini
     104leave = * -> *
     105leave.operations = leave_status
     106leave.default = 1
     107}}}
     108This also shows the use of the `.default` attribute. This value is expected to be an integer, and the order in which the actions are displayed is determined by this value. The action with the highest `.default` value is listed first, and is selected by default. The rest of the actions are listed in order of decreasing `.default` values.
     109If not specified for an action, `.default` is 0. The value may be negative.
     110
     111There are a couple of hard-coded constraints to the workflow. In particular, tickets are created with status `new`, and tickets are expected to have a `closed` state. Further, the default reports/queries treat any state other than `closed` as an open state.
     112
     113The special `_reset` action is added by default for tickets that are in states that are no longer defined. This allows tickets to be individually "repaired" after the workflow is changed, although it's recommended that the administrator perform the action by batch modifying the affected tickets. By default the `_reset` action is available to users with the `TICKET_ADMIN` permission and reset tickets are put in the //new// state. The default `_reset` action is equivalent to the following `[ticket-workflow]` action definition:
     114{{{#!ini
     115_reset = -> new
     116_reset.name = reset
     117_reset.operations = reset_workflow
     118_reset.permissions = TICKET_ADMIN
     119_reset.default = 0
     120}}}
     121
     122Since [trac:milestone:1.0.3] the `_reset` action can be customized by redefining the implicit action. For example, to allow anyone with `TICKET_MODIFY` to perform the `_reset` action, the workflow action would need to be defined:
     123{{{#!ini
     124_reset = -> new
     125_reset.name = reset
     126_reset.operations = reset_workflow
     127_reset.permissions = TICKET_MODIFY
     128_reset.default = 0
     129}}}
     130
     131== Workflow Visualization
    116132
    117133Workflows can be visualized by rendering them on the wiki using the [WikiMacros#Workflow-macro Workflow macro].
    118134
    119 Workflows can also be visualized using the `contrib/workflow/workflow_parser.py` script.  The script outputs `.dot` files that [http://www.graphviz.org GraphViz] understands. The script can be used as follows (your install path may be different):
     135Workflows can also be visualized using the `contrib/workflow/workflow_parser.py` script. The script outputs `.dot` files that [http://www.graphviz.org GraphViz] understands. The script can be used as follows (your install path may be different):
    120136{{{#!sh
    121137cd /var/local/trac_devel/contrib/workflow/
    122138sudo ./showworkflow /srv/trac/PlannerSuite/conf/trac.ini
    123139}}}
    124 And then open up the resulting `trac.pdf` file created by the script (it will be in the same directory as the `trac.ini` file).
    125 
    126 After you have changed a workflow, you need to restart apache for the changes to take effect. This is important, because the changes will still show up when you run your script, but all the old workflow steps will still be there until the server is restarted.
     140And then open up the resulting `trac.pdf` file created by the script. It will be in the same directory as the `trac.ini` file.
     141
     142After you have changed a workflow, you need to restart your webserver for the changes to take effect.
    127143
    128144== Example: Adding optional Testing with Workflow ==
    129145
    130 By adding the following to your [ticket-workflow] section of trac.ini you get optional testing.  When the ticket is in new, accepted or needs_work status you can choose to submit it for testing.  When it's in the testing status the user gets the option to reject it and send it back to needs_work, or pass the testing and send it along to closed.  If they accept it then it gets automatically marked as closed and the resolution is set to fixed. Since all the old work flow remains, a ticket can skip this entire section.
     146By adding the following to your [ticket-workflow] section of trac.ini you get optional testing. When the ticket has status `new`, `accepted` or `needs_work`, you can choose to submit it for testing.  When it's in the testing status the user gets the option to reject it and send it back to `needs_work`, or pass the testing and send it along to `closed`. If they accept it, then it is automatically marked as `closed` and the resolution is set to `fixed`. Since all the old work flow remains, a ticket can skip this entire section.
    131147
    132148{{{#!ini
     
    213229== Example: Limit the resolution options for a new ticket ==
    214230
    215 The above `resolve_new` operation allows you to set the possible resolutions for a new ticket.  By modifying the existing resolve action and removing the new status from before the `->` we then get two resolve actions. One with limited resolutions for new tickets, and then the regular one once a ticket is accepted.
     231The above `resolve_new` operation allows you to set the possible resolutions for a new ticket. By modifying the existing resolve action and removing the new status from before the `->` we then get two resolve actions. One with limited resolutions for new tickets, and then the regular one once a ticket is accepted.
    216232
    217233{{{#!ini
     
    229245== Advanced Ticket Workflow Customization ==
    230246
    231 If the customization above is not extensive enough for your needs, you can extend the workflow using plugins.  These plugins can provide additional operations for the workflow (like code_review), or implement side-effects for an action (such as triggering a build) that may not be merely simple state changes.  Look at [trac:source:trunk/sample-plugins/workflow sample-plugins/workflow] for a few simple examples to get started.
     247If the customizations above do not meet your needs, you can extend the workflow with plugins. Plugins can provide additional operations for the workflow, like code_review, or implement side-effects for an action, such as triggering a build, that may not be merely simple state changes. Look at [trac:source:trunk/sample-plugins/workflow sample-plugins/workflow] for a few examples to get started.
    232248
    233249But if even that is not enough, you can disable the !ConfigurableTicketWorkflow component and create a plugin that completely replaces it.
     
    235251== Adding Workflow States to Milestone Progress Bars ==
    236252
    237 If you add additional states to your workflow, you may want to customize your milestone progress bars as well.  See [TracIni#milestone-groups-section TracIni].
     253If you add additional states to your workflow, you may want to customize your milestone progress bars as well. See [TracIni#milestone-groups-section TracIni].
    238254
    239255== Ideas for next steps ==
    240256
    241 New enhancement ideas for the workflow system should be filed as enhancement tickets against the `ticket system` component.  You can also document ideas on the [trac:TracIdeas/TracWorkflow TracIdeas/TracWorkflow] page.  Also look at the [http://trac-hacks.org/wiki/AdvancedTicketWorkflowPlugin AdvancedTicketWorkflowPlugin] as it provides experimental operations.
     257New enhancement ideas for the workflow system should be filed as enhancement tickets against the `ticket system` component.  You can also document ideas on the [trac:TracIdeas/TracWorkflow TracIdeas/TracWorkflow] page. Also look at the [http://trac-hacks.org/wiki/AdvancedTicketWorkflowPlugin AdvancedTicketWorkflowPlugin] as it provides experimental operations.