/ 
RT-Extension-MandatoryOnTransition-0.24
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/ RT::Extension::MandatoryOnTransition

NAME

RT-Extension-MandatoryOnTransition - Require core fields and ticket custom fields on status transitions

RT VERSION

Works with RT 4.4, 5.0

RT 4.0 and 4.2 are now end-of-life, so compatibility with newer versions of this extension is unknown.

Also works with RTIR 5.0.3 and later

DESCRIPTION

This RT extension enforces that certain fields have values before tickets are explicitly moved to or from specified statuses. If you list custom fields which must have a value before a ticket is resolved, those custom fields will automatically show up on the "Resolve" page. The reply/comment won't be allowed until a value is provided.

See the configuration example under "INSTALLATION".

Supported fields

This extension only enforces mandatory-ness on defined status transitions. It also supports defining mandatory fields when transitioning a ticket from one queue to another.

Basics

Currently the following are supported:

Content

Requires an update message (reply/comment text) before the transition.

TimeWorked

Requires the ticket has a non-zero amount of Time Worked recorded already or that time worked will be recorded with the current reply/comment in the Worked field on the update page.

TimeTaken

Requires that the Worked field on the update page is non-zero.

A larger set of basic fields may be supported in future releases. If you'd like to see additional fields added, please email your request to the bug address at the bottom of this documentation.

Custom fields

Ticket custom fields of all types are supported.

CAVEATS

Custom field validation (Input must match [Mandatory])

The custom fields enforced by this extension are validated by the standard RT rules. If you've set Validation patterns for your custom fields, those will be checked before mandatory-ness is checked. Setting a CFs Validation to (?#Mandatory). will not magically make it enforced by this extension.

Not all pages where you can change status are supported

SelfService, for example. See "TODO" for others.

On 4.0, Basics and Jumbo are not supported because they do not have the needed code, which is present in 4.2.

Multiple-entry CFs do not play well with must_be and must_not_be

The must_be and must_not_be configurations are currently not well-defined for multiply-valued CFs. At current, only their first value is validated against the configured whitelist or blacklist.

INSTALLATION

perl Makefile.PL
make
make install

May need root permissions

Edit your /opt/rt5/etc/RT_SiteConfig.pm

If you are using RT 4.2 or greater, add this line:

Plugin('RT::Extension::MandatoryOnTransition');

For RT 4.0, add this line:

Set(@Plugins, qw(RT::Extension::MandatoryOnTransition));

or add RT::Extension::MandatoryOnTransition to your existing @Plugins line.

Clear your mason cache
rm -rf /opt/rt5/var/mason_data/obj
Restart your webserver

If running with RTIR, the Plugin line for RTIR must come first in your configuration as shown below.

Plugin('RT::IR');
Plugin('RT::Extension::MandatoryOnTransition');

CONFIGURATION

To define which fields should be mandatory on certain status changes (either globally or in a specific queue) use the %MandatoryOnTransition config option. This option takes the generic form of:

Set( %MandatoryOnTransition,
    'QueueName' => {
        'from -> to' => [ 'BasicField', 'CF.MyField', 'CustomRole.MyRole' ],
    },
);

from and to are expected to be valid status names. from may also be * which will apply to any status and also tickets about to be created with status to. If you need to express rules that apply only on ticket creation and not on updates, you can use the special from value of '__CREATE__'. For example,

Set( %MandatoryOnTransition,
    'MyQueue' => {
        '__CREATE__ -> new' => [ 'CF.MyField1' ],
        '* -> open' => [ 'CF.MyField2', 'CF.MyField3' ],
    },
);

would require CF.MyField1 on ticket creation and CF.MyField2 and CF.MyField3 on any other transition to open. The to status for CREATE rules must be a valid create status in the lifecycle.

The fallback for queues without specific rules is specified with '*' where the queue name would normally be.

Requiring Any Value

Below is an example which requires 1) time worked and filling in a custom field named Resolution before resolving tickets in the Helpdesk queue and 2) a Category selection before resolving tickets in every other queue.

Set( %MandatoryOnTransition,
    Helpdesk => {
        '* -> resolved'      => ['TimeWorked', 'CF.Resolution', 'CustomRole.Analyst'],
    },
    '*' => {
        '* -> resolved' => ['CF.Category'],
    },
);

The transition syntax is similar to that found in RT's Lifecycles. See perldoc /opt/rt5/etc/RT_Config.pm.

Requiring role values

You can require any core or custom role on a RT::Ticket object, below is an example of requiring a custom role "customer" be set on transition from open and the owner also be set for the ticket on transition from a status of open.

Set( %MandatoryOnTransition,
    'General' => {
        '* -> resolved' => ['CustomRole.customer', 'Owner'],
    },
);

Role Membership in a Group

Roles can require the members of the role to also be a member of a group before satisfying to mandatory condition. Below we require that the Owner role be set and that the member it is set to is a member of the group 'SupportReps' or 'Admins'.

Set( %MandatoryOnTransition,
    'General' => {
        'open -> *' => ['Owner'],
        'Owner' => { transition => 'open -> *', group => ['SupportReps', 'Admins'] },
    }
);

Restrictions on Queue Transitions

The default behavior for MandatoryOnTransition operates on status transitions, so a change from new to open or from open to resolved. It also supports making fields mandatory when transitioning from one queue to another. To define fields that are required when changing the queue for a ticket, add an entry to the configuration like this:

Set( %MandatoryOnTransition,
    Helpdesk => {
        'Engineering' => ['CF.Category'],
    },
);

The key is the destination queue and the values are the mandatory fields. In this case, before a user can move a ticket from the Helpdesk queue to the Engineering queue, they must provide a value for Category, possibly something like "bug" or "feature request".

Note that this configuration makes the most sense if the custom fields are applied to both queues. Otherwise the users on the destination queue won't be able to see the required values.

Requiring or Restricting Specific Values

Sometimes you want to restrict a transition if a field has a specific value (maybe a ticket can't be resolved if System Status = down) or require a specific value to to allow a transition (ticket can't be resolved unless a problem was fixed). To enforce specific values, you can add the following:

Set( %MandatoryOnTransition,
    Helpdesk => {
        '* -> resolved' => ['TimeWorked', 'CF.Resolution', 'CF.System Status'],
        'CF.Resolution' => { transition => '* -> resolved', must_be => ['fixed', 'not an issue'] },
        'CF.System Status' => { transition => '* -> resolved', must_not_be => ['reduced', 'down']}
    },
);

This will then enforce both that the value is set and that it either has one of the required values on the configured transition or does not have one of the restricted values.

Note that you need to specify the transition the rule applies to since a given queue configuration could have multiple transition rules.

$ShowAllCustomFieldsOnMandatoryUpdate

By default, this extension shows only the mandatory fields on the update page to make it easy for users to fill them out when completing an action. If you would like to show all custom fields rather than just the mandatory ones, use this configuration option. You can set it like this:

Set($ShowAllCustomFieldsOnMandatoryUpdate, 1);

IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS

If you're just using this module on your own RT instance, you should stop reading now. You don't need to know about the implementation details unless you're writing a patch against this extension.

Package variables

@CORE_SUPPORTED

The core (basic) fields supported by the extension. Anything else configured but not in this list is stripped.

@CORE_TICKET

The core (basic) fields which should be called as methods on ticket objects to check for current values.

%CORE_FOR_UPDATE

A mapping which translates core fields into their form input names. For example, Content is submitted as UpdateContent. All fields must be mapped, even if they are named exactly as listed in @CORE_SUPPORTED. A supported field which doesn't appear in the mapping is skipped, the implication being that it isn't available during update.

If your core field is called different things on Update.html and Modify.html you will need to modify the Modify.html/Default callback so the the extension knows what field to use. Look at TimeWorked vs UpdateTimeWorked for an example.

%CORE_FOR_CREATE

A mapping similar to %CORE_FOR_UPDATE but consulted during ticket creation. The same rules and restrictions apply.

If you're looking to add support for other core fields, you'll need to push into @CORE_SUPPORTED and possibly @CORE_TICKET. You'll also need to add a pair to %CORE_FOR_UPDATE and/or %CORE_FOR_CREATE.

Methods

RequiredFields

Returns three array refs of required fields for the described status transition. The first is core fields, the second is CF names, the third is roles. Returns empty array refs on error or if nothing is required.

A fourth returned parameter is a hashref of must-have values for custom fields.

The fifth parameter is a hashref of groups a role member must be in.

Takes a paramhash with the keys Ticket, Queue, From, and To. Ticket should be an object. Queue should be a name. From and To should be statuses. If you specify Ticket, only To is otherwise necessary. If you omit Ticket, From, To, and Queue are all necessary.

The first transition found in the order below is used:

from -> to
*    -> to
from -> *

CheckMandatoryFields

Pulls core and custom mandatory fields from the configuration and checks that they have a value set before transitioning to the requested status.

Accepts a paramhash of values: ARGSRef => Reference to Mason ARGS Ticket => ticket object being updated Queue => Queue object for the queue in which a new ticket is being created From => Ticket status transitioning from To => Ticket status transitioning to

Works for both create, where no ticket exists yet, and update on an existing ticket. ARGSRef is required for both.

For create, you must also pass Queue, From, and To. In this case, the From status should be the special flag value of '__CREATE__'.

Update requires only Ticket and To since From can be fetched from the ticket object.

Config

Takes a queue name. Returns a hashref for the given queue (possibly using the fallback rules) which contains keys of transitions and values of arrayrefs of fields.

You shouldn't need to use this directly.

TODO

Enforcement on Create
index.html / QuickCreate    - Not yet implemented.
SelfService                 - Not yet implemented.
Enforcement on other update pages
SelfService - can't do it without patches to <form> POST + additional callbacks
Full Validation of Configuration
Check that all CFs are actually CFs applied to the indicated queues (or global). Also
validate additional CF's with "must" configuration are defined in a transition.
Allow empty values in "must" configuration
When defining a list of "must be" or "must not be" values, there may be use cases where
an empty value could be valid. Provide a way to specify and allow this.

AUTHOR

Best Practical Solutions, LLC <modules@bestpractical.com>

BUGS

All bugs should be reported via email to

L<bug-RT-Extension-MandatoryOnTransition@rt.cpan.org|mailto:bug-RT-Extension-MandatoryOnTransition@rt.cpan.org>

or via the web at

L<rt.cpan.org|http://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=RT-Extension-MandatoryOnTransition>.

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

This software is Copyright (c) 2012-2024 by Best Pracical Solutions, LLC.

This is free software, licensed under:

The GNU General Public License, Version 2, June 1991