~launchpad-pqm/launchpad/devel

Question Workflow

=================

The status of a question changes based on the action done by users on

it. To demonstrate the workflow, we will use the existing question #2 on

the Firefox product which was filed by 'Sample Person'.

    # We will use one browser objects for the owner, and one for the user

    # providing support, 'No Privileges Person' here.

    >>> owner_browser = setupBrowser(auth='Basic test@canonical.com:test')

    >>> support_browser = setupBrowser(

    ...     auth='Basic no-priv@canonical.com:test')

    # Define some utility functions to retrieve easily the last comment

    # added and the status of the question.

    >>> def find_request_status(contents):

    ...     print extract_text(

    ...         find_tag_by_id(contents, 'question-status'))

    >>> def  find_last_comment(contents):

    ...     soup = find_main_content(contents)

    ...     return soup.fetch('div', 'boardCommentBody')[-1]

    >>> def print_last_comment(contents):

    ...     print extract_text(find_last_comment(contents))

Logging In

----------

To participate in a question, the user must be logged in.

    >>> anon_browser.open('http://launchpad.dev/firefox/+question/2')

    >>> print anon_browser.contents

    <!DOCTYPE...

    ...

    To post a message you must <a href="+login">log in</a>.

    ...

Requesting for More Information

-------------------------------

It's not unusual that the original message of a question is terse and

quite vague. In these cases, to help the user, some more information

will be required.

No Privileges Person visits the question. He see the heading 'Can you

help with this problem?'. The problem is not clear, he needs more

information. To request for more information from the question owner, No

Privileges Person enters his question in the 'Message' field and clicks

on the 'Add Information Request' button.

    >>> support_browser.open(

    ...     'http://launchpad.dev/firefox/+question/2')

    >>> content = find_tag_by_id(

    ...     support_browser.contents, 'can-you-help-with-this-problem')

    >>> print content.h2.renderContents()

    Can you help with this problem?

    >>> print extract_text(

    ...     find_tag_by_id(support_browser.contents, 'horizontal-menu'))

    Link existing bug

    Create bug report

    Link to a FAQ

    Create a new FAQ

    >>> support_browser.getControl('Message').value = (

    ...     "Can you provide an example of an URL displaying the problem?")

    >>> support_browser.getControl('Add Information Request').click()

The message was added to the question and its status was changed to

'Needs information':

    >>> find_request_status(support_browser.contents)

    Status: Needs information

    >>> print_last_comment(support_browser.contents)

    Can you provide an example of an URL displaying the problem?

Of course, if you don't add a message, clicking on the button will give

you an error.

    >>> support_browser.getControl('Add Information Request').click()

    >>> soup = find_main_content(support_browser.contents)

    >>> print soup.first('div', 'message').renderContents()

    Please enter a message.

Adding a Comment

----------------

A comment can be added at any point without altering the status. The

user simply enters the comment in the 'Message' box and clicks the 'Just

Add a Comment' button.

    >>> support_browser.getControl('Message').value = (

    ...     "I forgot to mention, in the meantime here is a workaround...")

    >>> support_browser.getControl('Just Add a Comment').click()

This appends the comment to the question and it doesn't change its

status:

    >>> print find_request_status(support_browser.contents)

    Status: Needs information ...

    >>> print_last_comment(support_browser.contents)

    I forgot to mention, in the meantime here is a workaround...

Answering with More Information

-------------------------------

When the question is in the 'Needs information' state, it means that the

question owner should come back and provide more information. He can do

so by entering the reply in the 'Message' box and clicking on the "I'm

Providing More Information" button. Note that the question owner cannot

see the 'Can you help with this problem?' heading because it is not

relevant to his tasks.

    >>> owner_browser.open(

    ...     'http://launchpad.dev/firefox/+question/2')

    >>> content = find_tag_by_id(

    ...     owner_browser.contents, 'can-you-help-with-this-problem')

    >>> content is None

    True

    >>> owner_browser.getControl('Message').value = (

    ...     "The following SVG doesn't display properly:\n"

    ...     "http://www.w3.org/2001/08/rdfweb/rdfweb-chaals-and-dan.svg")

    >>> owner_browser.getControl("I'm Providing More Information").click()

Once the owner replied with the, hopefully, requested information, the

status is changed to Open and his answer appended to the question

discussion.

    >>> print find_request_status(owner_browser.contents)

    Status: Open ...

    >>> print_last_comment(owner_browser.contents)

    The following SVG doesn't display properly:

    http://www.w3.org/2001/08/rdfweb/rdfweb-chaals-and-dan.svg

Giving an Answer

----------------

Once the question is clarified, it is easier for a user to give an

answer. This is done by entering the answer in the 'Message' box and

clicking the 'Propose Answer' button.

    >>> support_browser.open(

    ...     'http://launchpad.dev/firefox/+question/2')

    >>> support_browser.getControl('Message').value = (

    ...     "New version of the firefox package are available with SVG "

    ...     "support enabled. You can use apt-get or adept to upgrade.")

    >>> support_browser.getControl('Propose Answer').click()

This moves the the question to the Answered state and adds the answer to

the end of the discussion:

    >>> print find_request_status(support_browser.contents)

    Status: Answered ...

    >>> print_last_comment(support_browser.contents)

    New version of the firefox package are available with SVG support

    enabled. You can use apt-get or adept to upgrade.

Confirming an Answer

--------------------

When the owner comes back on the question page, he will now see a new

'This Solved My Problem' button near the answer.

    >>> owner_browser.open(

    ...     'http://launchpad.dev/firefox/+question/2')

    >>> soup = find_main_content(owner_browser.contents)

    >>> soup.fetch('div', 'boardComment')[-1].first('input', type='submit')

    <input type="submit" name="field.actions.confirm"

     value="This Solved My Problem" />

(Note although we have three comments on the question, that's the only

one that has this button. Only answers have this button.)

There is also a hint below the form to the question owner about using

the 'This Solved My Problem' button.

    >>> answer_button_paragraph = find_tag_by_id(

    ...     owner_browser.contents, 'answer-button-hint')

    >>> print extract_text(answer_button_paragraph)

    To confirm an answer, use the 'This Solved My Problem' button located at

    the bottom of the answer.

Clicking that button will confirm that the answer solved the problem.

    >>> owner_browser.getControl('This Solved My Problem').click()

This changes the status of the question to 'Solved' and mark 'No

Privileges Person' as the solver.

    >>> print find_request_status(owner_browser.contents)

    Status: Solved ...

Since no message can be provided when that button is clicked. A default

confirmation message was appended to the question discussion:

    >>> print_last_comment(owner_browser.contents)

    Thanks No Privileges Person, that solved my question.

The confirmed answer is also highlighted.

    >>> soup = find_main_content(owner_browser.contents)

    >>> bestAnswer = soup.fetch('div', 'boardComment')[-2]

    >>> print bestAnswer.first('img')

    <img src="/@@/favourite-yes" ... title="Marked as best answer" />

    >>> print soup.first(

    ...     'div', 'boardCommentBody highlighted').renderContents()

    <p>New version of the firefox package are available with SVG support

    enabled. You can use apt-get or adept to upgrade.</p>

The History link should now show up.

    >>> print extract_text(

    ...     find_tag_by_id(support_browser.contents, 'horizontal-menu'))

    History

    Link existing bug

    Create bug report

    Link to a FAQ

    Create a new FAQ

Adding another Comment

----------------------

When the question is Solved, it is still possible to add comments to it.

The user simply enters the comment in the 'Message' box and clicks the

'Just Add a Comment' button.

    >>> owner_browser.getControl('Message').value = (

    ...     "The example now displays correctly. Thanks.")

    >>> owner_browser.getControl('Just Add a Comment').click()

This appends the comment to the question and it doesn't change its

status:

    >>> print find_request_status(owner_browser.contents)

    Status: Solved ...

    >>> print_last_comment(owner_browser.contents)

    The example now displays correctly. Thanks.

Reopening

---------

It can happen that, altough the owner confirmed the question was solved,

the original problem reappears. In this case, he can reopen the question

by entering a new message and clicking the "I Still Need an Answer"

button.

    >>> owner_browser.getControl('Message').value = (

    ...     "Actually, there are still SVGs that do not display correctly. "

    ...     "For example, the following\n"

    ...     "http://people.w3.org/maxf/ChessGML/immortal.svg doesn't display "

    ...     "correctly.")

    >>> owner_browser.getControl("I Still Need an Answer").click()

This appends the new information to the question discussion and changes

its status back to 'Open'.

    >>> print find_request_status(owner_browser.contents)

    Status: Open ...

    >>> print_last_comment(owner_browser.contents)

    Actually, there are still SVGs that do not display correctly.

    For example, the following

    http://people.w3.org/maxf/ChessGML/immortal.svg doesn't

    display correctly.

This also removes the highlighting from the previous answer and sets the

answerer back to None.

    >>> soup = find_main_content(owner_browser.contents)

    >>> bestAnswer = soup.fetch('div', 'boardComment')[-4]

    >>> bestAnswer.first('strong') is None

    True

    >>> bestAnswer.first('div', 'boardCommentBody')

    <div class="boardCommentBody" itemprop="commentText"><p>New version

    of the firefox package

    are available with SVG support enabled. You can use apt-get or adept to

    upgrade.</p></div>

In addition, this creates a reopening record that is displayed in the

reopening portlet.

    >>> print extract_text(

    ...     find_tag_by_id(owner_browser.contents, 'portlet-reopenings'))

    This question was reopened ... Sample Person

Self-Answer

-----------

The owner can also gives the solution to his own question. He simply has

to enter his solution in the 'Message' box and click the 'Problem

Solved' button.

    >>> owner_browser.getControl('Message').value = (

    ...     "OK, this example requires some SVG features that will only be "

    ...     "available in Firefox 2.0.")

    >>> owner_browser.getControl("Problem Solved").click()

This appends the message to the question and sets its status to

'Solved', and the answerer as the owner. We do not however mark a

message as the "Best answer".

    >>> find_request_status(owner_browser.contents)

    Status: Solved ...

    >>> soup = find_tag_by_id(owner_browser.contents, 'portlet-details')

    >>> soup = find_main_content(owner_browser.contents)

    >>> bestAnswer = soup.first('img', {'title': 'Marked as best answer'})

    >>> None == bestAnswer

    True

A message is displayed to the user confirming that the question is

solved and suggesting that the user choose an answer that helped the

question owner to solve the his problem.

    >>> for message in soup.findAll('div', 'informational message'):

    ...     print extract_text(message)

    Your question is solved. If a particular message helped you solve the

    problem, use the 'This solved my problem' button.

If the user chooses a best answer, the author of that answer is

attributed as the answerer.

    >>> owner_browser.getControl('This Solved My Problem').click()

    >>> find_request_status(owner_browser.contents)

    Status: Solved ...

The answer's message is also highlighted as the best answer.

    >>> soup = find_main_content(owner_browser.contents)

    >>> bestAnswer = soup.find('img', {'title' : 'Marked as best answer'})

    >>> print bestAnswer

    <img src="/@@/favourite-yes" ... title="Marked as best answer" />

    >>> answerer = bestAnswer.parent.find('a')

    >>> print extract_text(answerer)

    No Privileges Person (no-priv)

    >>> message = soup.find(

    ...     'div', 'boardCommentBody highlighted')

    >>> print message

    <div class="boardCommentBody highlighted"

    itemprop="commentText"><p>New version of the firefox package are

    available with SVG support enabled. You can use apt-get or adept to

    upgrade.</p></div>

    >>> print extract_text(message)

    New version of the firefox package are available with SVG support

    enabled. You can use apt-get or adept to upgrade.

History

=======

The history of the question is available on the 'History' page.

    >>> anon_browser.open(

    ...     'http://launchpad.dev/firefox/+question/2')

    >>> anon_browser.getLink('History').click()

    >>> print anon_browser.title

    History of question #2...

It lists all the actions performed through workflow on the question:

    >>> soup = find_main_content(anon_browser.contents)

    >>> action_listing = soup.first('table', 'listing')

    >>> for header in action_listing.fetch('th'):

    ...     print header.renderContents()

    When

    Who

    Action

    New State

    >>> for row in action_listing.first('tbody').fetch('tr'):

    ...     cells = row.fetch('td')

    ...     who = extract_text(cells[1].first('a'))

    ...     action = cells[2].renderContents()

    ...     new_status = cells[3].renderContents()

    ...     print who.lstrip(' '), action, new_status

    No Privileges Person Request for more information Needs information

    No Privileges Person Comment Needs information

    Sample Person        Give more information        Open

    No Privileges Person Answer                       Answered

    Sample Person        Confirm                      Solved

    Sample Person        Comment                      Solved

    Sample Person        Reopen                       Open

    Sample Person        Confirm                      Solved

    Sample Person        Confirm                      Solved

Solving a question without an answer

------------------------------------

The user that asks a questions may solve the question before another

user can submit an answer. Without any answer messages, the user does

not see a notification to choose a 'This solved my problem' button.

Carlos has an open question that no one has submitted an answer for. He

is able to solve the problem on his own, and submits the solution for

other users with similar problems. He does not see a notice about

choosing an answer that helped him solve his problem.

    >>> carlos_browser = setupBrowser(auth='Basic carlos@canonical.com:test')

    >>> carlos_browser.open('http://launchpad.dev/firefox/+question/12')

    >>> print find_request_status(carlos_browser.contents)

    Status: Open ...

    >>> answer_button_paragraph = find_tag_by_id(

    ...     carlos_browser.contents, 'answer-button-hint')

    >>> answer_button_paragraph is None

    True

    >>> carlos_browser.getControl('Message').value = (

    ...     "There is a bug in that version. SMP is fine after upgrading.")

    >>> carlos_browser.getControl("Problem Solved").click()

    >>> print find_request_status(carlos_browser.contents)

    Status: Solved ...

    >>> content = find_main_content(carlos_browser.contents)

    >>> messages = content.findAll('div', 'informational message')

    >>> messages

    []

Asking a separate question

--------------------------

A user that is new to Answers is not familiar with the workflow. He may

have a problem of his own, and has discovered an existing question. We

want him to ask his own question instead of intruding into the workflow

of existing questions.

No Privileges Person (a different user from the one above) discovers the

Firefox question. The solution does not work, but he thinks he has a

similar problem so he asks his own question.

    >>> user_browser.open('http://launchpad.dev/firefox/+question/2')

    >>> content = find_main_content(user_browser.contents)

    >>> print content.find(id='can-you-help-with-this-problem')

    None

    >>> user_browser.getLink('Ask a question').click()

    >>> print user_browser.title

    Ask a question about...