[whups] Whups - Turba Integration

Gary Weinreb gweinreb@rocksolidsystems.com
Tue Oct 29 17:20:20 2002


Last week on the whups list I mentioned that I was looking at some ways of 
pulling Company names from Turba to use as "Clients" in whups_modules, for 
use in the context of Project management.  I spent some time yesterday 
playing around with this idea, and I learned some things, and I'd like some 
guidance towards a solution that you folks would find useful...

First off:  Is this the preferred list-posting method, posting to 
question-related module(s) list(s), or should I post to 'dev', or both/all?

Second, is this something that folks are interested in?  I posted some 
general whups modification ideas last week, and I was, in general, 
encouraged to dialogue, so now I am getting more specific.

To summarize my perspective, the whups_module is the top-level data element 
of the whups hierarchy, "Module" (or, assumably, "software program"), in 
whups_modules in "Bugs" context.  I am creating a "Projects" context for 
whups, and am using whups_modules for "Clientname",  Additionally, Hermes 
already pulls its Client:Job from whups_modules, so that streamlines the 
time & billing aspect, and I am also looking at pulling Hermes' Jobtype 
from Whups..

The whups_modules table stores some module specific data for the whups 
program, that I don't want to store in turba, so I don't want to do away 
with it, I just want to create a streamlined, intuitive, methodology for 
designating that certain Addressbook entries are "Clients" for inclusion in 
Project Management - Billing.  Also, it would be nice to use a pointer back 
to Turba from Whups, to include Clients in an "external" notification cycle 
within Whups, without maintaining duplicate contact data.

So, I've been experimenting with the Turba - List mechanism, though I'm 
about a week out on CVS.  I figured I'd hang this out here, and then update 
my installation while waiting for some feedback...  I am assuming that 
Turba_List is being fleshed out, and will eventually have maintenance 
facilities, i.e. the ability to easily add & remove entries from specific 
lists through the Turba interface...

It seems like the best way of designating that some contacts are Clients, 
while maintaining Turba backend autonomy, is to have a preference for 
Whups, specifiying that integration between the two is desired, and then 
have hooks in Whups to maintain concurrency between a specific, maybe 
programmatically created, Turba-List: a Project_Clients list, and the 
whups_modules table.    The hooks would reach from whups back towards the 
designated Turba_list, to maintain records in whups_tables based on the 
Turba_list, and add/remove entries from the Turba list if added/removed in 
whups_modules.  (Delete only if there are no "unresolved" projects...)

What do ya'll think?  I think that this is probably a good "first" mod for 
me, if 1) ya'll think it is an acceptable addition, and 2) some of you more 
experienced Horde coders will kindly provide me with feedback as I work 
through it...

Regards,
Gary Weinreb