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Hmm. Must be Simpsons fans over there at Yahoo.

git to JIRA

A while back at work, we switched to git and decided to re-evaluate ticket trackers as well. We use Trac, but since it didn’t have native git support out of the box (solved now with a plugin), we spent some time looking over the options. The standout contender was JIRA, primarily because it’s already in heavy use by LimeWire on other projects, but also because:

• Damn customizable through the web interface
• Notifications are easy to setup
• Bulk update of issues
• Sub-tasks
• Fine-grained permissions (allowing us to open up submissions to the public someday)

So I spent a lazy afternoon writing a git-to-JIRA post-receive hook that would update issues whenever someone pushed to the canonical repository. It’s built with Ruby, makes use of JIRA’s SOAP API, and works as far as I can tell. In the end, however, we decided to stick with Trac, but perhaps it’ll be of use to someone else. So check it out below and/or get it here.

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
#
# Update JIRA with git commit messages
#
# == Usage ==
#
# To update a JIRA issue, prepend the first line of your git commit 
# message with the issue key and a colon:
#
#     $ git commit -m "GIT-1: Updates something"
#
# A comment will be added to the GIT-1 issue that looks something 
# like:
#
#     Commit: <Hash>
#     Author: Bob Example <bob@example.com>
#     Date: Mon Jul 14 14:00:00 -0400 2008
#
#     GIT-1: Updates something
#
# To change an issue's status, append an action string:
#
#     GIT-1 resolved: Updates something
#     GIT-1 closed: Finishes this
#     GIT-1 reopen: Starting work on this
#
# To update multiple issues, separate them with a comma:
#
#     GIT-1, GIT-2: Adds comments to GIT-1 and GIT-2
#     GIT-1, GIT-2 resolved: Updates GIT-1 and resolves GIT-2
#
# == Installation ==
#
# To get this working, first install a few gems:
#
#     $ gem install soap4r
#
# Now, jira4r, which has to be pulled down from subversion:
#
#     $ svn co http://svn.rubyhaus.org/jira4r/trunk jira4r
#     $ cd jira4r
#     $ gem build jira4r.gemspec
#     $ gem install jira4r-*.gem
#
# And finally, grit, a Ruby git library.  As of today (July 14, 2008),
# the most updated fork is being maintained by Scott Chacon on github.
# For whatever reason, my attempt to install the gem directly wasn't
# working (doesn't appear to be exposed?), so I cloned and installed
# directly:
#
#     $ git clone git://github.com/schacon/grit.git
#     $ cd grit
#     $ gem build grit.gemspec
#     $ gem install grit-*.gem
#
# When the gem gets fixed, it should be a simple:
#
#     $ gem sources --add http://gems.github.com
#     $ gem install schacon-grit
#
# Now just copy/symlink/move an executable copy of this file into your
# .git/hooks directory (be sure not to overwrite an existing hook):
#
#     $ cp jira-post-receive /path/to/repo/.git/hooks/post-receive
#
# And don't forget to update some globals below.  Voila.  You should 
# be in business.
#
# == TODO ==
#
#  * Get status changes with comments working.
#

require "rubygems"
require "jira4r/jira_tool"
require "grit"

# Don't forget to set these.
#
# I'd recommend creating a dedicated user in JIRA to execute these 
# updates.  That user will need permissions to:
#
#  * Browse Projects
#  * Resolve Issues
#  * Close Issues
#  * Add Comments
#
# (I think that's comprehensive.)
JIRA_ADDRESS  = "http://yourserver.com/jira"
JIRA_PROJECT  = "DEMO"
JIRA_USERNAME = "user"
JIRA_PASSWORD = "password"

class JiraPostReceive
  def initialize(old_commit, new_commit, ref)
    @old_commit = old_commit
    @new_commit = new_commit
    @ref = ref

    @repo = Grit::Repo.new(".")
  end

  def jira
    unless @jira
      @jira = Jira4R::JiraTool.new(2, JIRA_ADDRESS)
      @jira.logger = Logger.new("/dev/null")
      @jira.login(JIRA_USERNAME, JIRA_PASSWORD)
    end
    @jira
  end

  def run
    unless issues.empty?
      jira # Sets up access to Jira4R::V2 constants

      issues.each do |issue|
        begin
          send_comment(issue)
          send_new_status(issue) if issue[:new_status]
        rescue
          next
        end
      end
    end
  end

  # Adds a comment to the JIRA issue
  #
  # Unfortunately, all comments originate from the dedicated JIRA 
  # user that's used to post the comment.  It's possible to set a 
  # different author for the comment, but looking one up via email 
  # in JIRA doesn't seem possible without giving the user 
  # administrative rights.
  def send_comment(issue)
    comment = Jira4R::V2::RemoteComment.new
    comment.author = JIRA_USERNAME
    comment.body = generate_comment(issue[:commit])

    jira.addComment(issue[:key], comment)
  end

  def send_new_status(issue)
    status_string = case issue[:new_status]
                    when "resolved" then "Resolve Issue"
                    when "closed"   then "Close Issue"
                    when "reopen"   then "Reopen Issue"
                    end

    if status = jira.getAvailableActions(issue[:key]).
        find { |a| a.name == status_string }
      jira.progressWorkflowAction(issue[:key], status.id.to_s, [])
    end
  end

  def issues
    issues = []
    issued_commits.each do |commit|
      issue_string = commit.short_message.match(/(.*?):/)[1]
      issue_string.split(",").each do |snippet|
        snippet.strip!
        snippet =~ /(#{JIRA_PROJECT}-\d+)\s?(resolved|closed|reopen)?/i
        issues << { :key => $1, :new_status => $2, :commit => commit }
      end
    end
    issues
  end

  def issued_commits
    new_commits.select do |commit|
      commit.short_message =~ /(#{JIRA_PROJECT}-\d+)(.*):/
    end
  end

  # Fetch commits that are new to the repository
  #
  # That super-piped git command makes sure that we only update JIRA 
  # with commits that are new, and haven't been seen in any other 
  # branches.  It's lifted verbatim from the post-receive-email hook 
  # that's shipped in the git repository -- 
  # contrib/hooks/post-receive-email.
  def new_commits
    common_cmd = "git rev-parse --not --branches | " +
                 "grep -v $(git rev-parse #{@ref}) | " +
         "git rev-list --stdin "

    commit_ids = if branch_created?
                   `#{common_cmd} #{@new_commit}`.split
                 elsif branch_updated?
                   `#{common_cmd} #{@old_commit}..#{@new_commit}`.split
                 else
                   []
                 end

    commit_ids.map { |id| @repo.commit(id) }.reverse
  end

  def generate_comment(commit)
    <<-EOS
Commit: #{commit.id}
Author: #{commit.author.name} <#{commit.author.email}>
Date:   #{commit.authored_date}

#{commit.message}
    EOS
  end

  def branch_created?
    @ref =~ /refs\/heads/ && @old_commit =~ /^0+$/
  end

  def branch_updated?
    @ref =~ /refs\/heads/ && @old_commit !~ /^0+$/ && 
              @new_commit !~ /^0+$/
  end
end

old_commit, new_commit, ref = STDIN.gets.split
JiraPostReceive.new(old_commit, new_commit, ref).run

exit 0

Taming the hydra

A while back, we acquired cable television and a DVR, a significant upgrade from Time Warner’s free cable that included a smattering of stations located ten channels above their official slots. Don’t ask.

The fire hose of cable, however, just doesn’t seem worth it – we’re hooked on Jon and Kate Plus 8, Adult Swim and Bravo reality TV, but everything else is a wash. I want a la carte television, and thankfully, the interwebs seemed poised to deliver. While only a fraction of shows currently broadcast online, that number is getting bigger all the time. It won’t be long before nearly every show appears as a download or a stream at the same time that it’s aired on television.

Of course, there’s a hitch. In order to cast a net over as much available content as possible, it’s necessary to drink from many different streams – iTunes, Netflix, Amazon, etc. Each has exclusive content, compelling features and some serious downsides. Searching for a solution that includes as many sources as possible has lead me to one conclusion – a PC running Windows. The other contenders? An Apple TV looks nifty, but that excludes Netflix and Amazon, which offer Windows-only viewers for now. MythTV looks like a great DVR replacement, but it’s inability to play any DRM’d content leaves out nearly all legal sources. Xbox Media Center strikes out for the same reasons.

Thus, it looks like I’ll be building another Windows box soon, but the looming project excites me, bringing the prospect of taming television within reach. This isn’t the simple way, but it should make for good TV.