Using Trac Using Trac

Here is very basic Trac usage

This simple tutorial covers basic operations with our project tracker

#1. Adding a Ticket

This way you can report bugs, request enhancements and add tasks to developers.
  1. Login into Trac.
  2. Go to New Ticket
  3. Fill in Ticket info:
    • Summary - the bug title
    • Priority - ticket priority.
    • Component - which part of CMS this bug affects (Global means everything, other parts are self-descriptive).
    • Type - type of the bug (security is a security flaw, defect is a regular bug, enhancement is something to improve, project is a major complex improvement, task is a part of project.
    • Milestone - a release name in which this bug will have been fixed.
    • Version - in which latest release the bug was found.
    • Description - put verbose bug description here. Don't forget to tell where the bug is seen, when it appears, what is displayed on screen, what files are affected (if you know). Use formatting.
    • I have files to attach to this ticket check this box if you want to attach some file.
  4. Hit the Create Ticket button.

#2. Browsing Tickets

Active tickets are tickets which haven't been completed yet. You can start browsing them like this:
  1. Go to Active Tickets.
  2. Tickets are sorted by their Priority and Type. See other colums also.
  3. Choose a ticket and click its title.
  4. Read the ticket description and comments.
  5. If you want to add a comment, enter it in Comment box and then press Submit changes. You can also attach files there.
You can also browse active tickets by version or by milestone. There are other kinds of reports available.

#2.1. Getting details about a specific Cotonti version

If you want to know, what tickets were closed in a specific version, you can do it by using a custom query including milestone name, e.g.:
http://trac.cotonti.com/query?group=status&milestone=Genoa+0.6.6
Change Genoa+0.6.6 for the milestone you are interested in it, e.g. Siena+0.7.0.

#3. Browsing Source

SVN repository browser is very useful if you want to learn the code structure or some specific information about the code and changes applied to it. Besides files and directories you will see modification dates, revision numbers, authors and their comments. Source code is highlighted too.

There are a few top-level folders:
  • branches - contains genoa branch and folders for plugin and skin developers, etc:
    • langpacks - can be used by translators to create language packs in groups
    • plugins - is used to develop optional plugins
    • skins - is used to develop optional skins
    • {minor branch} - minor (stable) branch is maintained in the subfolder of branches folder, the name is the same as branch name, e.g. genoa
  • releases - stable releases kept for history
  • trunk - here the next generation of Cotonti lives
File browsing itself won't be a problem for you, so we'll cover some more advanced tasks.

#3.1. Downloading files from SVN

For example, if you'd like to download latest trunk copy as ZIP, you should enter the trunk folder and click Zip Archive button under Download in other formats label. You can download a package with any other folder the same way.

#3.2. Viewing changes in files

You can easily compare two revisions by using View Changes feature of the Trac Browser.

Enter the directory where you want to track changes, for example trunk. Then click the View Changes... button below. From: points to the path and initial revision you'll be comparing from, for example you can get revision number of your Cotonti setup in the Admin panel next to the version, e.g. 0.6.5(r1041). To: points to the path (usually the same as From) and final revision containing the latest changes you are interested, this is usually the latest revision available which is filled in automatically. Then click View Changes and enjoy the colored diff with line numbers.

#4. Watching the Progress

If you'd like to know what's going on in Cotonti development, the Timeline is what you need. All important events in Trac are logged there. You will see latest tickets that have been added or closed, latest revision commits, milestones completed and so on.

The Roadmap displays progress bars for milestones. It also has deadlines, but these are changed if impossible to meet. You can browse closed, active and total tickets for the milestones if you are interested.


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