Anonymous Email Retrieval allows bug creation from a common mailbox.
You designate a separate POP email account, which collects emails for
your FIT system. This account is continually scanned for bug creation
and then appropriate notification.
Creating Bugs
A set of rules is used to interpret the email (i.e.: specific subject)
and then determine how to enter the bug into the system. This feature
provides the ability for FIT to poll and manage a common mailbox, creating
and updating issues as required.
Depending on the mail rule matching the mail, the originator of the
email could be emailed a message ("We have received your email, and it
will be responded to shortly, ..."). The email would contain a ticket
# (the bugId appended with a random security #). For example, a notification's
subject would be in the following format:
"Bug #17 Updated By cjustus (cjustus->pworthing,Open,1,"Demo needs updating")
[ID-17-1108148515696]"
The contents of the initial email would become an issue within the system,
with properties (priority, project, area, environment, assigned to, etc.)
defined by the mail rule. Any attachments in the email would become attachments
within the bug. If the email was sent in an HTML format, it would be converted
to plain text.
Updating Bugs
After a user receives a notification, in order to update the bug they
would respond directly to the originator (by either replying to the notification
or in a new message, as long as the ticket # is included in the subject,
e.g. "[ID-17-1108148515696]" in the example above). This response would
be appended to the bug's history, and would also be parsed for instructions
to update the bug's fields. For example, including
Status:Ready For Retest
Priority:4
customString:Testing update by email
in the body of the message would update the bug's status and priority
to the provided values. The third line updates the "customString" custom
field. Other system fields (regular and custom) can be updated in this
manner as well
Random Notes:
- This feature can be particularly complex - mail rules are based on regular
expressions, which can be confusing at first. Therefore, we have outlined
a few simple examples.
- Testing will require a dedicated email address to have FBT retrieve
mail from.
- Testing should not be done from a personal email account because it
will extract all emails sent to this account. - Emails that do not match
any rules are simply discarded. You may wish to create a catchall in case
messages are incorrectly sent.
Mail Rule Notes:
A series of mail must be created. Mail rules are processed in an order
defined by the user. When a mail rule matches an incoming message, no
additional rules are compared. Mail rules are based on mail headers and
regular expressions. Full documentation for regular expressions can be
found here.
We also support binary operations and bracketing of rules:
Examples of common regular expressions:
Scan for all emails from terry@alceatech.com:
Regular Expression:
Scan for all emails mentioning the word Order:
Regular Expression:
Scan for all emails from Terry containing the text "Order":
Regular Expression:
Create a "Catch-All" rule to catch everything:
Regular Expression:
Mail Management Setup Tutorial
Step 1: Create a return message that will be sent to the
user.
"Admin Menu -> Anonymous Email Retrieval ->Return Messages"
In the "Message Name" field, enter a symbolic name for the return message
(Ex: OrderResponse)
In the "Message" field, enter the contents of the message to be sent to
the user (Ex: Thanks for your email, we are processing it …)
Step 2: Create your mail rule(s)
"Admin Menu -> Anonymous Email Retrieval -> Mail Rules"
In the "Mail Rule Name" field, enter a symbolic/meaningful name for
the rules. (Ex: Order)
In the "Regular Expression" field, you would enter a regular expression
for the mail rule. (Ex: "Subject: .*order.*" [without the quotes])
The remaining fields apply to how to handle emails that match the regular
expression.
Project, Area, Environment, and Priority.
Select an Assignment Type:
There are 2 assignment types: Simple - Assign issues to a single individual
or Complex - for assigning issues to multiple users based on various algorithms.
Common options:
Round-Robin: Assign first bug to A, Assign second to B, Assign third
to C, and then repeat (forth to A, fifth to B, etc…)
Load-Balance: Examine number of open issues assigned to A, B, and
C - whoever is least busy gets the next bug.
Simple: Assign to a single user.
Select a Return Message - This is the message to be sent to the originator
of the issue. Do no choose any return message if you do not wish to send
the originator an automated response. In our example, we would choose
"OrderResponse".
Step 3: Configure your mailbox
"Admin Menu -> Anonymous Email Retrieval -> Mail Server Administration"
A mail processing configuration screen - configuration of a POP account,
password, and server, possibly additional info (time between polling).
Use the "Submit and Test" button the first time to see that FIT is able
to connect correctly to your mailbox.
