Issue Tracking Systems

5Atlassian NetBeans Connector

NetBeans IDE is Java-based development environment. Nowadays, when a developer works on a project which uses, for example, JIRA for issue tracking, he or she must constantly switch between the development environment and browser, where tickets are opened for processing.
The goal of this work should be the development of a plug-in for NetBeans IDE, which would make work with Atlassian JIRA easier and faster, same like it is provided by Eclipse or IntelliJ IDE connectors mentioned in the previous chapter.
However as was already mentioned Atlassian provides a variety of advanced web-oriented applications for software development. So I have decided not to create just another one-product-only tool, but to co-operate with Atlassian developers and start the development of more complex plug-in, like is their IntelliJ Connector.

5.1Specification & Design

Figure : Atlassian NetBeans Connector components

Atlassian Connector Commons library

Due to its tight coupling with IDEA it was impossible to simple port IntelliJ Connector to NetBeans Platform. So together with Atlassian developers we have started to separate application logic from IntelliJ Connector to separate library, and result is Atlassian Connector Commons.
This library currently provides following functionality:

• 
  Storage of all connection and configuration details. For persistance are used local XML files.
  

• 
  Working with Atlassian Bamboo, Crucible and FishEye through REST web services.
  

Also this library is not finished yet. As I have already mentioned – the original IntelliJ Connector is very tightly coupled with IntelliJ IDEA IDE, so separating application logic is very complicated. However in it’s current version 2.3.0 it is already stable and usable.

JIRA Connector library

As Atlassian is not satisfied with JIRAs webservice interface, they are currently working on new one. This lead us to decision not to include into Atlassian Connector Commons library, but instead of that to make separate library used just for connecting JIRA.
When making this library I have decided for using SOAP protocol, as it is used also by original IntelliJ Connector.

Atlassian NetBeans Module

As Atlassian Connector Commons and JIRA Connector contain application logic, this module contains presentation layer of whole application. In release 1.0 only JIRA UI is available (as it was primary goal of this thesis), providing following services within NetBeans IDE:

1. 
   JIRA UI (for Issue tracking & Request management)
   

• 
  View a filtered list of issues;
  
• 
  Create a new JIRA issue;
  
• 
  Comment on a JIRA issue and viewing comments;
  
• 
  Create a changelist from a JIRA issue;
  
• 
  Log work on a JIRA issue;
  
• 
  View a JIRA issue in an IDE output tool window;
  
• 
  View stack traces from a JIRA issue and click through to the relevant source file;
  
• 
  Assign an issue to yourself or another user;
  
• 
  Perform workflow actions on a selected issue.
  

UI packages for other Atlassian applications are under development. In the end they should enable to perform following use-cases within NetBeans IDE:

2. 
   Configuration Manager
   

• 
  Create, read, update, and delete connection details for multiple JIRA, Bamboo, Crucible, FishEye servers;
  
• 
  Test connection.
  

3. 
   Bamboo UI (for Continuos integration)
   

• 
  Receive notifications of failed builds;
  
• 
  Re-run a build;
  
• 
  Open the Bamboo build details in an IDE output tool window;
  
• 
  View a Bamboo build log;
  
• 
  View failed tests and stack traces;
  
• 
  Click a link in a stack trace to go directly to the code that failed;
  
• 
  Re-run a failed test;
  
• 
  View changed files;
  
• 
  Compare the build version of a file with your local version;
  
• 
  Compare the build version of a file with the previous repository version;
  
• 
  Open the repository version of a file in your IDE editor;
  
• 
  Comment on a Bamboo build;
  
• 
  Label a Bamboo build.
  

4. 
   Crucible UI (for Code review)
   

• 
  Receive notifications of new and updated reviews;
  
• 
  View your filtered reviews within IDE;
  
• 
  View the review details and comments in an IDE output tool window;
  
• 
  Create a review;
  
• 
  View the source code that is under review;
  
• 
  View the diff;
  
• 
  Add a review comment;
  
• 
  Add a review comment on a source code line;
  
• 
  Move to the commented code in the source view;
  
• 
  Add a changelist to an existing review;
  
• 
  Move a review through its workflow;
  
• 
  Complete a review.
  

5. 
   FishEye UI (for Source control systems repository management)
   

• 
  Open a file in IDE by supplying its FishEye URL;
  
• 
  Open a source file in FishEye's web interface;
  

There are also mentioned JIRA Planning Board UI, Task Board UI and Chart Board UI. This is basically about the idea of making open source and free version of JIRA GreenHopper plug-in.

5.2Deployment & Configuration

Deployment of the module

1. 
   Download current deployment ZIP package.
   
2. 
   Extract it into some temporary directory.
   
3. 
   Open NetBeans IDE.
   
4. 
   Select “Tools -> Plugins” from menu.
   
5. 
   Select “Downloaded” tab and push “Add plugins…” button.
   
6. 
   Select all provided NBM files and push Open button.
   
7. 
   Modules will be installed.
   

Configuring servers

1. 
   Select “Tools -> Options” from menu.
   
2. 
   Select “Atlassian Connector” tab.
   
3. 
   Push “Add server” button and provide connection details.