[p4] Perforce, P4DTI, and Bugzilla - Paul Mitchell - com.perforce.perforce-user

3 messages in com.perforce.perforce-user[p4] Perforce, P4DTI, and Bugzilla

From	Sent On	Attachments
Gareth Rees	13 Jul 2001 06:05
Paul Mitchell	13 Jul 2001 07:10
Bruce Edge	13 Jul 2001 08:07

Subject:	[p4] Perforce, P4DTI, and Bugzilla
From:	Paul Mitchell (pmit...@ati.com)
Date:	07/13/2001 07:10:16 AM
List:	com.perforce.perforce-user

We have installed Bugzilla and P4DTI here, and are currently in the process of determining if they meet our needs for defect tracking. Our limited experience agrees with everything that Gareth has stated here with the exception of #2. I would predict that someone with "the unfortunate displeasure of being 2 years from a BSCS" will take more like a month to get the combination of Bugzilla and P4DTI working together (lets say 1 month +- 2 weeks). In fact, depending on the exact level of your understanding of unix system administration-like tasks (make, gcc, install scripts etc.) it could take you significantly longer than that. How much perl, python, (my)SQL do you know? We found ourselves doing *some* work in each of these areas.

That said, I don't want to come off as negative about the actual system (Bugzilla/P4DTI). Once they are setup and working it is very slick. I like alot of things about the way the system is structured, and it seems very natural to have developers closing bugs via perforce instead of going into perforce to make the actual change and then going into the bug tracker to close the bug. It is pretty amazing that Ravenbrook has done this for free, and I for one appreciate it.

Good luck,

-Paul

-----Original Message----- From: Gareth Rees [mailto:gdr at ravenbrook.com] Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 9:06 AM To: Dave Gough Cc: perforce-user at perforce.com Subject: Re: [p4] Perforce, P4DTI, and Bugzilla

At 08:26 -0400 2001-07-13, Dave Gough wrote:

Kicking around Perforce in the early deployment stages, it's been decided that while it's got all we need CM wise, it's change request functions aren't up to snuff. (Something about security relating to Jobs, who can do what to them, and the ever-present fear that Someone might Do Something that they aren't Cleared to Do.) As a result, I've been asked to go out there and investigate other CR/Defect tracking systems to use in conjunction with Perforce.

P4DTI is a natural idea, and Bugzilla's cost make it pretty attractive. I am unsure just how it will assuage the fears of our SQE/CM engineer, but it's built to handle the kind of operations that have been asked for.

To come to the point, can anyone out there give me an idea of how much of a headache Bugzilla & Perforce are to get working together, ongoing maintenance, and thoughts in general on Change Request/Defect Tracking within Perforce? I know that P4DTI is acknowledge in working with Bugzilla and TeamTracker. Please keep in mind when replying that I have the unfortunate displeasure of being 2 years from a BSCS and am far closer to a BS Psychology, and that the server in question is SuSE Linux based.

Here are my opinions:

1. Workflow

Before committing to Bugzilla you need to evaluate it carefully. Unlike some defect trackers, Bugzilla has a fixed workflow. If the workflow isn't a good fit with your development process then you're going to have a lot of frustrations. I suggest installing it and running through your development procedure with a range of sample defects.

2. Installation burden

I suggest scheduling a day to install Bugzilla and the P4DTI and at least a day to test the integrated system.

3. Maintenance burden

Our experience at Ravenbrook is that once Bugzilla and the P4DTI are set up they need very little maintenance.

4. Workflow enforcement

The P4DTI is designed to enforce the defect tracker's constraints. When a user changes a job in Perforce, P4DTI checks to see if the change would have been allowed in the defect tracker. If not, it sets the job back to how it was, and e-mails the user to explain why the change was disallowed. See <http://www.ravenbrook.com/project/p4dti/version/1.1/design/workflow-enforce ment/>.

Please contact me directly if you need more detailed advice about the P4DTI.