/ 
RT-Extension-TicketLocking-0.11
River stage zero No dependents
/ RT::Extension::TicketLocking

NAME

RT::Extension::TicketLocking - Enables users to place advisory locks on tickets

DESCRIPTION

Locks can be of several different types. Current types are:

hard (manual) lock

A lock can be initiated manually by clicking the "Lock" link on one of the pages for the ticket. However, hard locks are available only to users who can ModifyTicket.

take lock

This is only applicable within RTIR. See "RTIR" section below.

auto lock

A lock is created whenever a user performs an action on a ticket that takes multiple steps if a hard lock is not already in place for that ticket.

An auto lock is removed once the user is done with whatever he was doing on the page (e.g., when he clicks "Save Changes" on the Edit page). It is also removed if the Unlock link is clicked from a page that generated an auto lock.

Auto-lock is set for the following actions in RT:

- Comment
- Reply
- Resolve

RTIR's user may find list of actions below.

Locks are advisory: if a ticket is locked by one user, other users will be given a notification (in red) that another user has locked the ticket, with the locking user's name and how long he has had it locked for, but they will still be allowed to edit and submit changes on the ticket.

When a user locks a ticket (auto lock or hard lock), they are given a notification informing them of their lock and how long they have had the ticket locked (in some other color - currently green).

Removing locks

Locks will remain in place until:

  • The user is done editing/replying/etc. (for auto locks, if there is no hard lock on the ticket)

  • A lock can be removed manually by clicking the "Unlock" link on one of the pages for the ticket. This removes any type of lock.

  • The user logs out

  • A configurable expiry period has elapsed (if the $LockExpiry config variable has been set to a value greater than zero)

When a user unlocks a ticket (auto unlock or hard unlock), they are given a notification informing them that their lock has been removed, and how long they had the ticket locked for.

Merging tickets

When a locked ticket (hard or take lock) is merged into another ticket, the ticket being merged into will get the lock type of the ticket being merged from. This lock shift is conditional upon priority, as usual - if the merged from ticket has a lock of a lower priority than the merged-to ticket, the merged-to ticket will retain its lock. If the merged-to ticket is locked by a different user, that user will retain the lock. Basically, the merged-to ticket will retain its lock if it is higher priority than the lock on the ticket being merged from.

RTIR

Within RTIR auto locks are applied for the following actions:

- Edit
- Split
- Merge
- Advanced
- Reply
- Resolve
- Reject
- Comment
- Remove

As well, there is special type of lock implemented in RTIR. When a user clicks the "Take" link for an RTIR Incident ticket, a Take lock is added. This lock will only be removed when the IR is linked to a new or existing Incident. If RTIR is not installed, this type will not be available.

CONFIGURATION

LockExpiry option

In the config you can set LockExpiry option to a number of seconds, the longest time a lock can remain without being automatically removed, for example:

Set( $LockExpiry, 5*60 ); # lock expires after five minutes

If you don't wish to have your locks automatically expire, simply set $LockExpiry to a false (zero or undef) value.

Allowing users to use 'MyLocks' portlet

The extension comes with a portlet users can place on thier home page RT's or RTIR's. Using this portlet user can easily jump to locked tickets, remove particular lock or all locks at once.

If you want the MyLocks portlet to be available then you have to place it in the list of allowed components.

For RT:

Set($HomepageComponents, [qw(
    MyLocks 
    ... list of another portlets ...
)]);

People can then choose to add the portlet to their homepage in Preferences -> 'RT at a glance'.

If you are running RTIR, and want the portlet to be available from the RTIR home page, you will need to do something similar to set the RTIR_HomepageComponents array in your config file, like this:

Set(@RTIR_HomepageComponents, qw(
    MyLocks
    ... list of another portlets ...
));

People can then choose to add the portlet to their homepage in Preferences -> 'RTIR Home'.

IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS

Each type is associated with a priority. Current priorities are as follows, from highest priority to lowest: - Hard - Take (when applicable) - Auto

This allow us to store only one lock record with higher priority.

AUTHOR

Turner Hayes <thayes@bestpractical.com>