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App-bif-0.1.0_28
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/ bif

NAME

bif - distributed project management tool

VERSION

0.1.0_28 (2014-09-23)

SYNOPSIS

  bif COMMAND [...]

STATUS

Although functional, bif is still under active development. Documentation and tests are incomplete, and the database schema changes regularly. DO NOT USE BIF FOR REAL DATA!

DESCRIPTION

Bif is a project management tool with a command-line interface. It helps you track tasks, issues and bugs using a local database, exchanging updates with remote databases on demand. The tool has several features of interest to distributed project teams:

Offline Operation

Many bif actions work offline; you can create and update tasks and issues while disconnected from the network.

Inter-project Cooperation

Bif issues (and tasks) can be linked with (or copied to) multiple projects, mirroring the inter-project relationships that exist in the real world.

This document is the bif manual and includes design background, terminology, general usage and a tutorial. Those who are impatient to get started may prefer to begin with one of the following:

bif-doc

The table of contents for all bif documentation.

bif-doc-intro

A very quick hands-on introduction to bif.

bif-doc-faq

A list of common questions and answers.

Reference documents for bif commands have titles like bif-command-name.

Design Background

Communication is a core component of project management. For decentralized projects up to a certain scale, email often fulfills the communication requirements. Tasks, issues, feature requests and the like can exist in multiple inboxes as shared conversation topics. Unfortunately, email on its own provides no solution for managing the various types of structured meta-data (status, priority, due-date, etc) that we may want to assign and query throughout a project's lifetime.

Managing structured data is exactly what relational databases are designed for, and bif takes advantage of SQLite for this purpose. A database schema helps ensure the integrity of the data, and relevant and insightful queries can be created using the full power of SQL. In addition, SQLite gives us fulltime local reporting and data modification - a wonderful independence from the network when we need it.

However a database on its own is not a decentralized communication tool. Database implementations generally do not have a built-in functionality for the efficient exchange of updates. Distributed Version Control Systems (DVCS) on the other hand do provide a useful information exchange model, but the techniques of mapping textual differences to tree structures unfortunately don't translate well to row-based relational data sets.

Bif therefore is an attempt at applying some DVCS princples to a standard Create, Retrieve, Update and Delete (CRUD) database application. The end goal is a distributed communication system that carries both conversations and structured meta-data. The finer details of the advantages and trade-offs with regards the bif design can be found in bif-doc-design(3) and bif-doc-faq(3).

Terminology

Repository

A bif repository is simply a configuration file and an SQLite database inside a directory named .bif. All bif commands find the "current" repository by searching upwards through the file-system for such a directory. The database contains the history, status and relationships of a set of topics. The terms repository and database are often used interchangeably.

Topic

Topic is is a catch-all term for any task, issue, bug or feature etc which has a conversation (the history) plus associated meta data (status). Topics are identified by an integer ID which is unique to the local repository. Some topic types (issues for example) can be associated with multiple projects in which case they have multiple IDs and multiple status values.

Project

A project is also considered a topic, but one that comes with some extra functionality. The key property of a project is that it is a container for grouping together other topics and the status they can have. Multiple projects can be managed within a repository, and can be defined hierarchically. Projects are identified by their path name (which includes the parent's path), an at symbol "@" and their hub name.

Hub

A bif hub is conceptually synonymous with a project organisation. It consists of one or more repositories that act as synchronisation points for exchanging project activities. Hub repositories are usually located on remote servers and accessed through a ssh(1) tunnel. A hub can be referred to by its globally unique name (typically an organisation's domain name) after it has been registered with the local repository.

Command Structure

Bif commands are structured where possible the same way an English speaker describes actions - verb followed by subject. For example:

    bif list topics
    bif update issue 34

The top level bif commands are as follows:

    drop            remove an item from the database
    init            initialize a new repository in .bif
    list            list various things in the database
    log             review change history and comments
    new             create a new topic
    pull            import something from elsewhere
    push            export something to somewhere else
    show            summarize the current status of a topic
    signup          sign up with a hub provider
    sql             run an SQL command against the database
    sync            exchange updates with a hub
    update          update or comment a topic
    upgrade         upgrade a repository

In addition, a couple of useful aliases are created by default:

    ls    # list topics --status open --project-status run
    lsi   # list identities
    lsp   # list projects define plan run
    lss   # list topics --status stalled --project-status run

Global Options

The following options are common to all commands:

--debug, -D

Turn on debugging statements, which are included in the stdout stream.

--help, -h

Print a full usage message and exit. Some arguments and options are only shown when this option is used; a normal usage/error message may keep some rarely used options hidden.

--no-pager

Do not pipe a command's output to a pager.

--user-repo

Run commands against the user repository instead of the current repository.

Command Interaction

Input

Some arguments and options not supplied on the command line are prompted for. An editor based on the $EDITOR or $VISUAL environment variables may also be invoked for certain types of input.

Output

Normal output is printed to stdout or sometimes paged with less(1) when stdout is connected to a terminal. Error messages are sent to stderr.

Connectivity

The only commands that (may) involve network communication are pull, push, and sync. Everything else is a local action.

Exit Status

An exit value of zero indicates success.

TUTORIAL

Initialization

Bif commands that make changes to a repository need to know your identity. Bif stores your name and email address in a special user repository which will be created the first time you run bif-init.

    #!sh
    bif init
    # Initialising repository: $HOME/.bifu (v323)
    # Creating "self" identity:
    #   Name: [Your Name] 
    #   Contact Method: [email] 
    #   Contact Email: [your@email.adddr] 
    # Identity created: 1
    # Initialising repository: $PWD/.bif (v323)
    # Importing identity from $HOME/.bifu

An initialized repository always starts out empty - there is no bif equivalent of the git-clone command.

You generally do not have to remember the location of a repository as it is automatically discovered when you are working in a subdirectory.

Scenario 1 - Standalone Project Management

The first scenario we present is for an individual wanting to keep track of their personal activities.

    + - - - - - - - - - -+
    ' Local Repository   '
    '                    '
    ' +----------------+ '
    ' |     issues     | '
    ' +----------------+ '
    ' +----------------+ '
    ' |    projects    | '
    ' +----------------+ '
    ' +----------------+ '
    ' |     tasks      | '
    ' +----------------+ '
    '                    '
    + - - - - - - - - - -+

Creating Projects

The bif-new-project command asks for a project path (like a name for identification), a title, and an initial comment. That information can be given on the command line if desired, otherwise it will be prompted for.

    #!sh
    bif new project

    # Path: [] todo
    # Title: [] Things to do
    # An editor is invoked for the comment

Projects can be nested by defining them with a parent path and a "/":

    #!sh
    bif new project

    # Path: [] todo/today
    # Title: [] Things to do today
    # An editor is invoked for the comment

Apart from visual organisation, the main impact of having nested projects is that child projects are included when importing or exporting them to hubs. Also, child projects will not be displayed in list commands if the parent project will not be displayed.

A project has three different types of status associated with it. Project status is for the status of the project itself. Task and issue status is obviously for the status of tasks and issues associated with the project. New projects can be created using different status templates, given specific initial status, or copied/forked from other projects.

Creating Tasks and Issues

Tasks and issues are created similarly to projects, with a summary and a comment. As they exist only in the context of a project they may also require a project path if more than one project exists in the repository.

    #!sh
    bif new task

    # Project: [todo] todo/today
    # Title: Take out the rubbish
    # editor invoked - describe the task in more detail

A task or an issue, like a project, is created with the default status for that type according to the project. An different initial status can be set with the --status option:

    #!sh
    bif new issue --status needinfo

    # Project: [todo] todo/today
    # Title: Don't feel like taking out the rubbish
    # editor invoked - describe the task in more detail

A comment can be provided directly with the --message option if desired instead of having the editor invoked.

Template Projects

Do you have repeatable projects?

Retrieving Information

Tasks and issues can be viewed, commented on and updated with the appropriate commands:

Updating Topics

You can add comments to a topic with the bif-update command.

    bif update ID [--message MESSAGE]

If the --message option is not used an editor will be invoked. A second argument can also be used to change the status of the topic, and a --title option can be used to modify the topic summary.

    bif update ID [STATUS] [--title TITLE]

Comments on a topic can also be nested. That is, you can use bif-reply to respond to a previous update (or a previous reply).

    bif reply UPDATE_ID [--message MESSAGE]

The UPDATE_ID argument is actually a full ID.UPDATE_ID value that you see with the bif-log command. bif-reply cannot modify a topic's status or title.

Editing

There is no mechanism for editing available in bif at this time. Be as wild in your comments as you like, but as with the rest of the internet, once your changes have been shared, you most likely can't alter them or take them back. First rule of commenting is: take a deep breath first.

Deletion

Of course, even after taking a deep breath you may anyway make a change to your repository that you didn't mean to. You are not alone; this happens to all of us. As long as you have not already synchronised your changes with a hub, they can be removed[1].

The bif-drop command can be used to remove a particular comment, or an entire topic.

[1] There is nothing magical or otherwise to stop you from dropping any change. However you will find that as soon as you re-synchronise with a hub that has those changes they will return to haunt you like the undead.

Scenario 2 - Reporting Issues Upstream

The above scenario only uses local operations. However the real value of bif comes from its collaboration capabilities with others via the internet. The second scenario presents the situation where a user has an issue they want to report to a project team.

    + - - - - - - - - - -+     +- - - - - - - +
    ' Local Repository   '     ' Remote Hub   '
    '                    '     '              '
    ' +----------------+ '     ' +----------+ '
    ' |     issue      | ' --> ' | project  | '
    ' +----------------+ '     ' +----------+ '
    '                    '     '              '
    + - - - - - - - - - -+     +- - - - - - - +

Signing up with a provider

As previously mentioned, a remote repository known as a hub is the mechanism for exchanging updates with others. You can either self host a hub on a server you control, or you can use a commercial provider. Regardless of who is hosting, the communication with the server is via ssh, for which you will want your own ssh keypair.

Read the ssh-keygen(1) manpage for how to create a keypair, and ssh-copy-id(1) for how to transfer the public key to your own server. Commercial providers will probably use another method (such as the bifhub(1) tool) for transfering the public key during their signup process.

Registering With A Hub

The reason for registering with a hub is to obtain the list of projects hosted there.

    #!sh
    bif pull hub my.org@provider.com

By default the my.org part of the provider address can be used as the hub name in other commands. To view the list of projects we give the hub alias to the bif-list-projects command:

    #!sh
    bif list projects my.org

Registering a project brings in a shallow copy - only the project and its status types are visible. The local user can create issues against this project just as if the project was local.

Synchronising & Reviewing Updates

Updates such as new topics or updates to existing topics are not exchanged until you run the bif-sync command.

    bif sync

What is useful after a bif-sync call is to review what updates were transfered from the hub to the local repository. The bif-log command (an alias for bif-log-repo does just that.

    #!sh
    bif log repo

Scenario 3 - Project Team

Project team members probably want to know about every issue and task in a project.

    + - - - - - - +     + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+
    ' Local       '     ' Remote                             '
    '             '     '                                    '
    ' +---------+ '     ' +--------+     +----------+        '
    ' |  issue  | ' --- ' | issues | --- | projects | ---+   '
    ' +---------+ '     ' +--------+     +----------+    |   '
    '             '     '                                |   '
    '             '     + - - - - - - - - - - - - - -    |   '
    '   |         '                        |         '   |   '
    '   |         '                        |         '   |   '
    '   |         '                        |         '   |   '
    ' +---------+ '                        |         '   |   '
    ' | project | '------------------------+         '   |   '
    ' +---------+ '                                  '   |   '
    '   |         '                                  '   |   '
    '   |         '                                  '   |   '
    '   |         '                                  '   |   '
    '             '     + - - - - - - - - - - - - - -    |   '
    '             '     '                                |   '
    ' +---------+ '     ' +--------+                     |   '
    ' |  task   | ' --- ' | tasks  | --------------------+   '
    ' +---------+ '     ' +--------+                         '
    '             '     '                                    '
    + - - - - - - +     + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+

Importing Projects

A developer must also sign up and register a hub as described previously. They can then import an entire project into their local repository using the bif-pull-project command.

    #!sh
    bif pull project devel@bifax.org

Importing a project is a one-time activity. Updates to a project that occur after an import have occured are exchanged with the bif-sync command. Any new issues or tasks added to the project anywhere will now synchronise locally. Likewise, any topics added locally will be distributed to the hub.

The nice thing about pulling projects is that you only get the data that you want to see locally. As time goes on and projects are created and then completed, their relevance becomes less and less. New team members are not forced to download the entire project history to work on the current project.

Inter-Project Issue Collaboration

There are occasions when an issue reported in a project is also, or perhaps only in the domain of another project. Bif therefore has the ability to fork/copy/move individual issues.

The bif-push-issue command is the way to manually ask another project for support on a particular issue. The bif-push-issue command asks for (or can be given) an update message the same way that a bif-update command does:

    #!sh
    bif push issue 13 todo2 \
        --action fork \
        --message "also present in todo v2"

The --action option determines the relationship between the issue and its old and new projects. Note that this command is still local - the change will be propagated during the next bif-sync call.

As was mentioned in the introduction, issue status is tracked on a per-project basis. This means one project can consider the issue solved and another project can still consider the issue to be blocking. When an issue is pushed somewhere it therefore gains an extra topic ID, and can show up in multiple times in the output of the bif-list-topics command. The bif-show-issue command reveals the details:

    #!sh
    bif show issue 13

Task Collaboration?!?

It does not make sense to distribute tasks across projects the same way issues can be. A single task cannot have multiple status: it is either done or it is not, regardless of which projects are interested in the outcome.

There are however reasons for migrating tasks from one project to another. The obvious one is simply that they can be defined (by accident or circumstance) in the wrong place. The default bif-push-task action therefore results in a move.

Alternatively the --action copy option to bif-push-task does what it says on the label, which can be useful if you have a template task in a project that you regularly want to use in other projects. Once again however, bif-new-project probably has more interesting mechanisms for copying template-style projects.

Synchronising Updates

Even after you have imported or exported a project, updates will not be exchanged until you run the bif-sync command.

    bif sync [ID] [HUB]

By default all topics will be synchronised to all relevant hubs, but you can limit that as desired.

    #!sh
    bif sync unstable   # ignore all other projects

[TODO: describe the merge algorithm for meta data]

Scenario 4 - Project Manager

Exporting Projects

How did a project get up to a hub in the first place? Well the inverse of bif-pull-project is bif-push-project. To mirror the todo project from the local repository to the bifax.org hub for example we would run the following:

    #!sh
    bif push project todo bifax.org

As with importing, exporting a project is a one-off activity; further updates are exchanged with the bif-sync command.

Making New Releases

Consider what happens when a software team makes a new stable release from their development version. This is effectively an internal fork - a new project that kicks off as the first project continues along the same path. At the time of the fork both projects will have exactly the same set of issues. From that point on the issue status may diverge based on project activities, but the issues they have in common have themselves not inherently changed.

The --dup option to the bif-new-project command lets us deal with the above situation, which specifies an existing project from which to copy the project title and status names from. We can also specify that issues should be copied, moved, or forked with the --copy-issues, --move-issues and --fork-issues options, each of which takes a status argument and can be called multiple times.

    #!sh
    bif new project v2 \
        --dup devel \
        --fork-issues open,stalled \
        --move-issues closed

There are similar copy/move options for tasks. In contrast to a copy, comments made on forked issues in one project will propagate to other projects, as if there was only a single issue, which is in fact the case.

Inter-hub Collaboration

There are times when an issue may be reported to one organisation, but should actually be resolved by a different organisation. This situation is often encountered by operating system distributors and also occurs when software has external dependencies. To address this bif makes it possible (under certain conditions) to collaborate on an issue across multiple hubs. [to be implemented]

Hub Administration

Bif is also used to create and manage hub repositories hosted by a hub provider. However to keep this document focused on local repository operations the documentation for hub management is maintained separately in bifhub.

Repository Administration

New versions of bif will necessarily require changes to the database structure, and possibly the data itself. The bif-upgrade command exists to advance the database status to match that required by the bif software version. It is safe (but pointless) to run bif-upgrade when the versions already match. When and how this command is run should be described in the release notes of newer versions of bif.

One other command which is more about the repository than project management is bif-sql. This is more of a developer or debugging aide for querying the database directly. This is needed as the bif software architecture prevents the SQLite command-line tool sqlite3 from working for some statements.

FILES

$HOME/.bifu/db.sqlite3

User repository datatbase.

$HOME/.bifu/config

User configuration file.

$PWD/.bif/config

Curent repository configuration file.

$PWD/.bif/db.sqlite3

Current repository database.

SEE ALSO

bifhub(1), bifsync(1)

SUPPORT

Bif is community supported software, and the community expects (and should offer) respectful communication with all of its members.

Website:

http://bifax.org/bif/

Code Repository:

git://bifax.org/bif.git/

Issue Tracker:

Doesn't exit yet.

Mailing List:

Subscribe via http://www.freelists.org/list/bif-devel and then send mail to <bif-devel@freelists.org>.

If you have an issue with bif please first make the effort to read the documentation and/or search for an answer to your issue in the internet. If you are still stuck send us a message as if you were answering the following questions:

  • What does bif show VERSION print?

  • What are goal you trying to achieve?

  • What commands are you running?

  • What (output) did you expect (to see)?

  • What (output) actually occured?

We will most likely need to ask for more information from you. You can possibly speed things along by already running your commands with the --debug flag turned on.

AUTHOR

Mark Lawrence <nomad@null.net>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright 2013-2014 Mark Lawrence <nomad@null.net>

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.