I'm using TWikiForms with WebTopicEditTemplate to create a BugTracking? Twiki Web. there are a few problems..

1. Variables do not get expanded in forms (very usefull for select)
2. the edit textbox still appears (i want ot replace it with only the form edit)
3. the definition of the form from WebTopicEditTemplate is copied to all the new topics that it is used to create. this produces a cunfusing duplication...
   • when i removed it from the newTopic, it still comes from the WebTopicEditTemplate - which is a good

(and others that i will fill in as i remember

I will send you guys my changes within the next week - i need to get a BugTracking? system together first, and then i will do a diff.

-- SvenDowideit - 19 Sep 2001

Hello Sven,
attentivly I'm reading this artical. I try to do build up a trackingsystem too. So it would be nice if you can give me further informations due to this case. Especially the problem with the variables which do not get expanded in the forms. Have you some reference URL's where such a system is implementated.

Special Thanks

Jörg Ludwig

---

Let me address each of these issues separately.

1. Variables not expanding in form
   • This can be achieved by adding the code in FormValuesFromSearch
2. Only want form to display
   • You can create or change the edit.tmpl template (in TWiki/templates) so that the edit textbox is invisible. Alternatively, you could create a skin that is called when you create a new bug.
   • As an aside: IMHO, it's a good idea to keep the free form text for a bug tracking system. This is a good place to keep notes, descriptions, sign off, etc. I assume that your rationale for removing it is to ensure that everything is categorized. You can achieve similar results in free form text and extract them using regular expressions. For example, if you wanted to extract the notes, you could use:
     

$pattern(.*(NOTES_START.*?NOTES_END).*)
assuming that you used the delimiters NOTES_START and NOTES_END. You'd probably use something a little more user friendly in real life.

1. Template used for all new topics not desired effect
   • To achieve what you're trying to accomplish, don't use the WebTopicEditTemplate. Instead, create a new topic, say, SvensBugTopicTemplate or whatever your prefer.
   • Attach your form to SvensBugTopicTemplate and set any defaults that you like in that topic. (For example, I'd recommend putting in a date format in the date fields so that everyone is prompted to enter it in the same way)
   • Create an input field and then call SvensBugTopicTemplate from there.

New Bug:

This is the code that generated the box above:

<form action="%SCRIPTURLPATH%/edit%SCRIPTSUFFIX%/%WEB%/">
New Bug: <br />
<input type="text" name="topic" size="32" />
<input type="hidden" name="templatetopic" value="SvensBugTopicTemplate" />
<input type="submit" value="Log new bug" />
</form>

Hope that helps.

-- CoreyFruitman - 01 Apr 2002