Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Save more on your purchases! discount-offer-chevron-icon
Savings automatically calculated. No voucher code required.
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Newsletter Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
timer SALE ENDS IN
0 Days
:
00 Hours
:
00 Minutes
:
00 Seconds
Redmine Plugin Extension and Development
Redmine Plugin Extension and Development

Redmine Plugin Extension and Development: If you'd like to customize Redmine to meet your own precise project management needs, this is the ideal guide to understanding and realizing the full potential of plugins. Full of real-world examples and clear instructions.

eBook
$17.98 $19.99
Paperback
$32.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Redeem a companion digital copy on all Print orders
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Redmine Plugin Extension and Development

Chapter 2. Extending Redmine Using Hooks

Redmine, at its core, is a project management and issue tracking system. Its developers have invested a lot of time and energy into building an extremely robust solution that rivals even proprietary competitors, but we occasionally find ourselves wishing we could perform a certain task or see a piece of information differently.

Thankfully, Redmine was designed with extensibility in mind. Not only is there a plugin system in place to allow custom functionality to be implemented, but core features can be extended using a system of hooks and callbacks.

In this chapter, we will dive into the various classifications of hooks and how our plugin can leverage them to add new functionality to existing Redmine systems and components.

We will cover the following topics in this chapter:

  • An introduction to what a hook is

  • What types of hooks exist and where they can be used

  • An example view hook implementation

Understanding hooks


A hook is essentially just a listener for which we've registered a callback function. These callback functions expect a single parameter: a hash that provides some context to the function. The contents of the hash depend on what type of hook is being evaluated.

There are four basic categories of hooks available in Redmine:

  • View hooks

  • Controller hooks

  • Model hooks

  • Helper hooks

For view and controller hooks, the context hash contains the following fields as well as data specific to the hook being used:

  • :project: This is the current project

  • :request: This contains the current web request instance

  • :controller: This contains the current controller instance

  • :hook_caller: This holds the object that called the hook

Note

The full list of available hooks is maintained at http://www.redmine.org/projects/redmine/wiki/Hooks_List.

To quickly build the hook list for the version of Redmine you have installed, run the following commands:

cd /path/to/redmine/app
grep -r call_hook *

By doing this from...

View hooks


The primary use of hooks in Redmine is to inject functionality into an existing view.

A view hook is executed while the HTML code of a view is being rendered.

View hooks are likely to be the most frequently used type of hook by plugin authors. Through these hooks, we can add functionality from our plugins to existing Redmine views and partials.

As an example, let's add the ability to associate knowledgebase articles with an issue. We'll implement this in a similar fashion to how issues can be associated with each other.

In order to display this association, we will extend the relevant issue views using view hooks. To accomplish this, the first step is to create a class that extends Redmine::Hook::ViewListener:

module RedmineKnowledgebase
  class Hooks < Redmine::Hook::ViewListener
    render_on :view_issues_show_description_bottom,
              :partial => 'redmine_knowledgebase/hooks/view_issues_show_description_bottom'
  end
end

This file will be saved to our plugin's lib folder...

Controller hooks


Controller hooks allow custom functionality to be injected into an existing process. A normal use-case for this type of hook is to perform some custom validation on the context object provided to the callback.

In /path/to/redmine/app/models/issue.rb, there is a hook registered for controller_issues_edit_before_save. In order to take advantage of this hook, we would have to provide our own callback function. This can be done as follows:

module Knowledgebase
  module Hooks
    class ControllerIssuesEditBeforeSaveHook < Redmine::Hook::ViewListener
      def controller_issues_edit_before_save(context={})
        if context[:params] && context[:params][:issue]
          if User.current.allowed_to?(:assign_article_to_issue, context[:issue].project)
            if context[:params][:issue][:article_id].present?
              article = KbArticle.find_by_id(context[:params][:issue][:article_id])
              if article.category.project == context[:issue].project
       ...

Model hooks


These hooks are used even less frequently than controller hooks but are being included here for completeness.

Model extension is better handled through the use of new methods or encapsulation of existing methods by means of the alias_method_chain pattern. For a summary of alias_method_chain see http://stackoverflow.com/a/3697391.

A common use-case for model hooks is the :model_project_copy_before_save hook as this can be used to replicate content from our plugin that belonged to a specific project if that project is copied:

module RedmineKnowledgebase
  class Hooks < Redmine::Hook::ViewListener
    def model_project_copy_before_save(context = {})
      source = context[:source_project]
      destination = context[:destination_project]

      if source.module_enabled?(:redmine_knowledgebase)
        # TODO: clone all categories
        # TODO: clone all articles
        # TODO: ensure cloned articles refer to cloned categories 
      end
    end
  end
end

The actual implementation...

Helper hooks


According to the official Redmine hooks list, there is only a single helper hook currently available (http://www.redmine.org/projects/redmine/wiki/Hooks_List#Helper-hooks). The :helper_issues_show_details_after_setting hook is called when journal details are being rendered in an issue and can be used to override the label and value that is passed to the journal entry.

A sample view hook implementation


We will be glossing over a lot of implementation details as they are out of the scope for this book, but the full code will be available on the GitHub repository at https://github.com/alexbevi/redmine_knowledgebase.

Identifying the callback

We've determined that our plugin will be hooking into the existing issue tracking system in order to allow users to attach knowledgebase articles.

The desired functionality is the same as the Subtasks functionality that already exists, so we will model our hook after that.

Our first step is to determine which hook best suits our needs. In order to add additional functionality to the existing issues#show view, we will choose the :view_issues_show_description_bottom hook as it allows us to insert a partial just below the standard issue details form, as indicated in the following screenshot:

With the desired view hook identified, we need to define a listener class and tie that into our plugin initialization code.

Integrating the...

Summary


There are a number of different types of hooks available within Redmine, but the odds are that most use-cases we'll encounter will call for view hooks.

In this chapter, we were introduced to the various types of hooks Redmine provides as well as some sample implementations of each. We also implemented a basic view hook, from which we gained a better understanding of the hook implementation and integration process.

In the next chapter, we will cover the permission registration process in detail and will discuss how plugin permissions are administered and enforced.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Malaysia

Standard delivery 10 - 13 business days

$8.95

Premium delivery 5 - 8 business days

$45.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Mar 19, 2014
Length: 114 pages
Edition :
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783288748
Languages :
Tools :

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Redeem a companion digital copy on all Print orders
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Malaysia

Standard delivery 10 - 13 business days

$8.95

Premium delivery 5 - 8 business days

$45.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Publication date : Mar 19, 2014
Length: 114 pages
Edition :
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783288748
Languages :
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$19.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$199.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$279.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total $ 136.97
Redmine Cookbook
$48.99
Mastering Redmine Second Edition
$54.99
Redmine Plugin Extension and Development
$32.99
Total $ 136.97 Stars icon

Table of Contents

8 Chapters
Introduction to Redmine Plugins Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Extending Redmine Using Hooks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Permissions and Security Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Attaching Files to Models Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Making Models Searchable Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Interacting with the Activity Stream Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Plugin Settings Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Testing Your Plugin Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.5
(2 Ratings)
5 star 50%
4 star 50%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Liz and Josh Jul 23, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Quick SummaryThis book highlights the authors perspective on building a plugin from his experiences building the Knowlegebase plugin for Redmine. It covers he basics as well as some of the interesting aspects you’ll likely need like hooking into Redmine itself and working with permissions along with several other aspects you may or may not need (e.g. file attachments, integrating with the activity stream, modifying views, etc.). The end of the book wraps up with a quick overview of writing tests, although it’s more overview than something as comprehensive as the other parts of the book.Who this Book Works Well ForThis book is well written for most beginning audiences. It doesn't have extra fluff and get’s straight to the point. It’s concise almost like a cookbook, but still reads well if you like casual perusal. Basically anyone wanting to build a Redmine plugin will probably get something out of it.What This Book Isn'tThis is not a book to take a beginner to Redmine and Ruby into developing Redmine plugins without some effort. You won’t get by very easily if you don’t have a basic knowledge of Ruby and preferably of Rails. You will likely have to pull information from other sources or stumble around yourself a bit. That said it’s something manageable as the concepts and ideas underlying everything are pretty easy to figure out, and the book does seem to take you gently through the Rails aspects.If you are looking for a book in this niche of development and/or are developing a new Redmine plugin this is a great one to have at hand. It’ll save a bunch of time and effort sieving various documentation especially for some of the nuances you run into with normal plugin development.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Eduardo Yáñez Parareda Aug 19, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
I'm the creator of SpentTime Plugin for Redmine> along other private plugins I've written for the company I work at, so I know a bit about Redmine's plugins.The book is very easy and fast to read, with a plain and direct language that tries to explain every aspect of Redmine's plugin development. The book is short,so you shouldn't expect most of it, so don't expect learning anthing about Redmine or Ruby on Rails because it isn't the goal of the book. It seems obvious butthis is not a book for novices on Ruby on Rails applications, you must know how this apps works to develop extensions for Redmine because you'll have to knowhow Redmine works as well."The good things of the book"There are several good things in this book, first of all the direct and plain language. The book is thought as a large tutorial from the beginning to the end.You could do a new plugin step by step. And it explains the most important parts of Redmine's plugins as hooks, permissions & security or how to do new modelssearchables. The explanation of hooks is the most important part of the book, very worthwhile to read.Also I like the permissions & security section and the importance the author gives to the testing side of the development. In this last section you'll findvaluables ideas about testing and continuous integration (CI) tools like Travis (CI)."The bad parts of the book2Also this book have some bad things... although not too bad. First of all it tries to explain the development of plugins using as example another plugin (KnowledgeBase),but you must refer to GitHub repository to see the code examples, so you need a browser if you want to see the code. That is not very important for all people, butI think sometimes is good to have the code in the book so you don't need to browse any page.Another missing aspect about plugins is the internazionalization. The book covers basic aspects of the development like 'Bundle' that are common to every Ruby onRails application, so treating things as internazionalization is a must too... I know it because most of the contributions to my public plugin has been translations...although it's very easy to do, it should have been covered in the book."Conclusion""Redmine Plugin Extension and Development" is a very good book for everyone that wants to write extensions for Redmine. After reading this book I planned some changeson the plugins I've wrote because I've learned very interesting things from it. You can read it in less than a week in your spare time, so it isn't a lost time.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is the digital copy I get with my Print order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

When you buy any Print edition of our Books, you can redeem (for free) the eBook edition of the Print Book you’ve purchased. This gives you instant access to your book when you make an order via PDF, EPUB or our online Reader experience.

What is the delivery time and cost of print book? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela
What is custom duty/charge? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customs duty are charges levied on goods when they cross international borders. It is a tax that is imposed on imported goods. These duties are charged by special authorities and bodies created by local governments and are meant to protect local industries, economies, and businesses.

Do I have to pay customs charges for the print book order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The orders shipped to the countries that are listed under EU27 will not bear custom charges. They are paid by Packt as part of the order.

List of EU27 countries: www.gov.uk/eu-eea:

A custom duty or localized taxes may be applicable on the shipment and would be charged by the recipient country outside of the EU27 which should be paid by the customer and these duties are not included in the shipping charges been charged on the order.

How do I know my custom duty charges? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The amount of duty payable varies greatly depending on the imported goods, the country of origin and several other factors like the total invoice amount or dimensions like weight, and other such criteria applicable in your country.

For example:

  • If you live in Mexico, and the declared value of your ordered items is over $ 50, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 19% which will be $ 9.50 to the courier service.
  • Whereas if you live in Turkey, and the declared value of your ordered items is over € 22, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 18% which will be € 3.96 to the courier service.
How can I cancel my order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Cancellation Policy for Published Printed Books:

You can cancel any order within 1 hour of placing the order. Simply contact customercare@packt.com with your order details or payment transaction id. If your order has already started the shipment process, we will do our best to stop it. However, if it is already on the way to you then when you receive it, you can contact us at customercare@packt.com using the returns and refund process.

Please understand that Packt Publishing cannot provide refunds or cancel any order except for the cases described in our Return Policy (i.e. Packt Publishing agrees to replace your printed book because it arrives damaged or material defect in book), Packt Publishing will not accept returns.

What is your returns and refunds policy? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Return Policy:

We want you to be happy with your purchase from Packtpub.com. We will not hassle you with returning print books to us. If the print book you receive from us is incorrect, damaged, doesn't work or is unacceptably late, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com with the order number and issue details as explained below:

  1. If you ordered (eBook, Video or Print Book) incorrectly or accidentally, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com within one hour of placing the order and we will replace/refund you the item cost.
  2. Sadly, if your eBook or Video file is faulty or a fault occurs during the eBook or Video being made available to you, i.e. during download then you should contact Customer Relations Team within 14 days of purchase on customercare@packt.com who will be able to resolve this issue for you.
  3. You will have a choice of replacement or refund of the problem items.(damaged, defective or incorrect)
  4. Once Customer Care Team confirms that you will be refunded, you should receive the refund within 10 to 12 working days.
  5. If you are only requesting a refund of one book from a multiple order, then we will refund you the appropriate single item.
  6. Where the items were shipped under a free shipping offer, there will be no shipping costs to refund.

On the off chance your printed book arrives damaged, with book material defect, contact our Customer Relation Team on customercare@packt.com within 14 days of receipt of the book with appropriate evidence of damage and we will work with you to secure a replacement copy, if necessary. Please note that each printed book you order from us is individually made by Packt's professional book-printing partner which is on a print-on-demand basis.

What tax is charged? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Currently, no tax is charged on the purchase of any print book (subject to change based on the laws and regulations). A localized VAT fee is charged only to our European and UK customers on eBooks, Video and subscriptions that they buy. GST is charged to Indian customers for eBooks and video purchases.

What payment methods can I use? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

You can pay with the following card types:

  1. Visa Debit
  2. Visa Credit
  3. MasterCard
  4. PayPal
What is the delivery time and cost of print books? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela