We are trying to get our developers to adopt PDSOE and the Roundtable plugin, but we are running in to some issues with the way eclipse is project based and the the desktop version of RTB is not. With the desktop one could have multiple developers assigned to a task and each developer had access to the programs in that task in their own RTB desktop (provided the task folder was on a shared drive). We do this for code review purposes, its easy to add the code reviewer to the task so they can open the task on their own RTB desktop and compare the task programs with the repository versions of programs. With eclipse being project based and needing the project resources in the project folder, adding another developer to the RTB task and them having access to the project resources from their own project doesn't work.
Long story short does anyone have any clever ways to share tasks/resources in the RTB plugin or at least give easy access to the task's resources so comparing with the repository possible?
Thx,
Blake
Hi.
Task Groups may be a way to achieve your goal. A Task Group is a group of one or more Tasks. A Task Group also has a physical directory associated with it as well.
When a WIP Object has a share-status of Group, a copy exists in both the local Task directory and the Group directory. The user can refresh the contents of the Group directory at any time my right-clicking the WIP Object and selecting 'Share'. However, it was designed to facilitate testing of changes prior to check-in and not necessarily code reviews so it may fall short.
Another option would be to have the Eclipse Workspace (and projects) on a network share. I know that there are some performance considerations there though with OpenEdge and its tooling process.
Jeff,
I've looked at using Task Groups, the problem is the reviewer has no easy way to get the Task Group versions into their own workspace so they can compare those versions with the repository versions. The only way I've found for the reviewer to get the modified versions is for the developer to change the task's share status to central and the reviewer change it back to task in their own workspace.
Putting the Eclipse Workspace on a network share would allow another user to have access to it, but only one user at a time or is there another mechanism to share an Eclipse Workspace or Project?
Yes, the Task Group feature is not the best for code review but I'm not sure you have to jump through the hoops as you describe. I'll take a look at it later today and see if a better approach reveals itself to me.
With regards to the Eclipse Workspace on a network share.. I wasn't implying to share the the Eclipse Workspace. I was just suggesting that if it were on a share (along with the projects inside it), another developer would have access to the contents of the project (because it is on a network share). I'm not saying that's a great idea.. just brainstorming.
What about the Manager field on the task?
Who ever is assigned as the Manager on a task can see these tasks in RTB Task view in Eclipse. Some of our Team Leader use this for reviewing tasks.
Marin
I agree its not a good idea to put Eclipse Workspace on a network share! We put our Eclipse Workspace on our local drive but put the project folders on a network share. I have an event hook in the plugin that will set the task path to the project/task folder when creating a task. This works when the reviewer uses the desktop since it doesn't care about the project.
Thanks for looking into it for me.
I believe that would still require the Manager to have the project resources available in their Eclipse Workspace. It probably works great for the desktop version.
Hi.
"I have an event hook in the plugin that will set the task path to the project/task folder when creating a task."
As of 11.5.1, that is the default behavior.
Release 11.5.1 - November 2015
•Ensure that r-code is deleted from Task directory after Share-Status change.
•Ensure that Task Directory property is set to project Task directory.
•Correct invalid thread access error.
Nice, we are scheduled to update to RTB 11.5.2 this month.
I think the r-code not being deleted was mine. :)
Currently on 11.5.0
Blake, when the code is ready for review by others on the Task, can you just change the share-status to 'Central'? Changing the share-status will not compile but will make the code available for review. Or, another option is to use the 'Public' share-status which does something similar but keeps the code in the Task for editing as well.
Just thinking out loud for now..
Thx Jeff. Quiet or Loud, thinking is always good. Yes that does make it available, however that doesn't get the code into the reviewers Eclipse Workspace, unless the reviewer changes the share status back to task. Without having it in his own Eclipse Workspace, there is no easy way of comparing the code with the RTB repository versions.
Maybe a new feature, a share status of Review which would put the code to a folder, like a group task, and allow the reviewer to get a copy of the code onto his Eclipse Workspace from the context menu like "add to lab". ;)
Hi Blake.
It doesn't have to be physically in their Eclipse Workspace to review the changes. Once it is 'Central', they just chose right-click and choose 'Compare with Previous Version' to open it in the Eclipse compare editor. Or, is there some particular reason it needs to be in the reviewers project for review?
With the 'Shelf' feature we are working on, there will be more possibilities. Hang tight. :)
Hey, I didn't think about using the Versions View, that might be a nice work around if the RTB Builder was turned off so the code didn't get compiled. Tell us more about the Shelf feature!!!
Hi.
It's not just in the Versions view. You can right-click the Workspace Object (or the Object in the Task view) and choose 'Compare with Previous' (see screen shot).
The builder will not run when opening for Compare.
I can't tell you about the Shelf just yet, but hang tight. :)