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Integrating Bazaar with bug trackers
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====================================
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Bazaar has a facility that allows you to associate a commit with a bug
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in the project's bug tracker. Other tools (or hooks) can then use this
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information to generate hyperlinks between the commit and the bug, or to
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automatically mark the bug closed in the branches that contain the commit.
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Associating commits and bugs
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----------------------------
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When you make a commit, you can associate it with a bug by using the
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``--fixes`` option of ``commit``. For example::
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$ bzr commit --fixes lp:12345 -m "Properly close the connection"
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This records metadata in Bazaar linking the commit with bug 12345 in
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Launchpad. If you use a different bug tracker, it can be given its own
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tracker code (instead of ``lp``) and used instead. For details on how
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to configure this, refer to `Bug Tracker Settings`_ in the Bazaar
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.. _Bug Tracker Settings: ../user-reference/bzr_man.html#bug-tracker-settings
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Metadata recording vs bug tracker updating
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------------------------------------------
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Recording metadata about bugs fixed at commit time is only
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one of the features needed for complete bug tracker integration.
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As Bazaar is a distributed VCS, users may be offline while committing
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so accessing the bug tracker itself at that time may not be possible.
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Instead, it is recommended that a hook be installed to update
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the bug tracker when changes are pushed to a central location
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appropriate for your project's workflow.
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Note: This second processing stage is part of the integration provided
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by Launchpad when it scans external or hosted branches.
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This method of associating revisions and bugs does have some limitations. The
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first is that the association can only be made at commit time. This means that
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if you forget to make the association when you commit, or the bug is reported
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after you fix it, you generally cannot go back and add the link later.
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Related to this is the fact that the association is immutable. If a bug is
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marked as fixed by one commit but that revision does not fully solve the
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bug, or there is a later regression, you cannot go back and remove the link.
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Of course, ``bzr uncommit`` can always be used to undo the last commit in
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order to make it again with the correct options. This is commonly done
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to correct a bad commit message and it equally applies to correcting
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metadata recorded (via ``--fixes`` for example) on the last commit.
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Note: ``uncommit`` is best done before incorrect revisions become public.