Roundup 0.8.1 review

License: Python License File size: 0K Developer: Richard Jones

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Roundup is a simple-to-use and -install issue-tracking system with command-line, web and e-mail interfaces.

It is based on the winning design from Ka-Ping Yee in the Software Carpentry "Track" design competition.

Here are some key features of "Roundup":
simple to install

installation (including web interface) takes about 30 minutes
instant-gratification python demo.py :)
two templates included in the distribution for you to base your tracker on
play with the demo, customise it and then use it as the template for your production tracker
requires no additional support software - python (2.3+) is enough to get you going
easy to set up higher-performance storage backends like sqlite, metakit, mysql and postgresql

simple to use

accessible through the web, email, command-line or Python programs
may be used to track bugs, features, user feedback, sales opportunities, milestones, ...
automatically keeps a full history of changes to issues with configurable verbosity and easy access to information about who created or last modified any item in the database
issues have their own mini mailing list (nosy list)
users may sign themselves up, there may be automatic signup for incoming email and users may handle their own password reset requests

highly configurable

web interface HTML is fully editable
database schema is also fully editable (only the "user" class is required) with a full set of data types (including dates and many-to-many relations) across all storages available
customised automatic auditors and reactors may be written that perform actions before and after changes are made to entries in the database, or may veto the creation or modification of items int he database
samples are provided for all manner of configuration changes and customisations

fast, scalable

with the sqlite, metakit, mysql and postgresql backends, roundup is also fast and scalable, easily handling thousands of issues and users with decent response times
database indexes are automatically added for those backends that support them (sqlite, metakit, mysql and postgresql)
indexed text searching giving fast responses to searches across all messages and indexed string properties

documented

documentation exists for installation, upgrading, maintenance, users and customisation

web interface

fully editable interfaces for listing and display of items
extendable to include wizards, parent/meta bug displays, ...
differentiates between anonymous, known and admin users
may be set up to require login, and may also only allow admin users to register new users
authentication of user registration and user-driven password resetting using email and one time keys
may be run through CGI as a normal cgi script, as a stand-alone web server, or through Zope
searching may be performed using many constraints, including a full-text search of messages attached to issues
file attachments (added through the web or email) are served up with the correct content-type and filename
email change messages generated by roundup appear to be sent by the person who made the change, but responses will go back through the nosy list by default
flexible access control built around Permissions and Roles with assigned Permissions
generates valid HTML4 or XHTML
detects concurrent user changes
saving and editing of user-defined queries which may optionally be shared with other users

mail interface

may be set up using sendmail-like delivery alias, POP polling or mailbox polling
may auto-register users who send in mail and aren't known to roundup
nosy list configuration controls how people are added and when messages are sent to the list
auto-filing of "unformatted" messages into a particular class
e-mail attachments are handled sanely, being attached to the issue they're intended for, and forwarded on to the nosy list
sane handling of content-type and content-encoding of messages (text/plain preferred in all situations)
email packages that display threading will show issue messages correctly threaded
users may send in messages from multiple addresses and be associated with the same roundup username
built-in security features like TLS and APOP

command-line

may be used to interactively manage roundup databases
may be scripted using standard shell scripting
roundup's API may also be used by other Python programs - a sample is provided that runs once a day and emails people their assigned issues
a variety of sample shell scripts are provided (weekly reports, issue generation, ...)