[whups] Linking tickets

[Auke Bruinsma]

Chuck Hagenbuch wrote:
> Quoting Auke Bruinsma <air2 at dds.nl>:
>
>   
>> Well I've done the merge tab, it just ask for the number of the ticket
>> the selected ticket should be merged with, but I want this number
>> automaticly filled when the ticket is related to an other ticket. So
>> thats why I suggested this extra field which can contain the id(s) of
>> those related tickets.
>>     
>
> I don't understand. You have to relate the tickets somehow, right? So  
> why not do it by merging them. After a merge all updates would take  
> place to the same ticket, no matter which id was used to get to it. So  
> ... ?
>
> -chuck
>
>   
Yes thats true, but when I scrape a mailbox every mail creates a ticket. 
Now I have 2 possibilities.
When an e-mail is received it can be a reply on an existing ticket or it 
is not. If it is not a reply a new normal ticket is created. But if it 
is a reply there 3 possibilities.
1.      Just create the ticket all the other tickets and don't  do any 
special tricks.
2.      Search for the ticket for which this e-mail is a reply and add 
the contents to that original ticket.
3.      Create a new ticket, but create some link to the original ticket.

The pro's and con's
1.  It's not very automated, so why should I use a computer anyway? :).
2.  It's very automated, but the ticket it finds as being the original, 
can be wrong. And the contents are added to the wrong ticket. If the 
support employee don't notice its bad and if he/she notice its not easy 
to un-merge them. (currently totaly unavailable...)
3. The employee sees its an reply to an existing ticket. He/she looks at 
that ticket, decides its a real reply and merges them.


Option 2 i've intergrated in mail.php. but I would like to make this 
optional so the admin can choose if method 2 or method 3 should be followed.
So thats why I would like some extra information added to the ticket.

An other reason is this:
Sometimes tickets are related, but should not be merged, because its not 
sure they are desrcribing the same problem.
There is this text linking, but imho its not powerfull enough for this 
kind of features. Also if for example an extra table is created with 
just 2 columns to link tickets n<->n its much more flexible for further 
extension of the product.

So thats why I don't see merging alone as a total solution..

Greetings,
Auke

ps. The merge I wrote just pick the content and changes and attachments 
of ticket A and add them to the ticket B. When that was succesfull 
ticket A is removed. No checks for different states or so are done. I 
will try t o make a (clean) patch of it Wednesday and make a ticket of 
it on bugs.horde.org.