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[[Category:Mylyn]]
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= Task List =
= Introduction =
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For '''tutorials and articles on using Mylyn''' refer to the [http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn/publications/index.php Publications page]. The role of this document is to provide up-to-date documentation on a listing of the key Mylyn features and is not intended as a tutorial, and to allow users to contribute additional documentation.
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Use the Task List to view and manage your tasks. If the task list view is not visible, you can open it by navigating to Window -> Show View -> Other... -> Mylyn -> Task List. The Task List contains both "Local Tasks" and shared repository tasks that are stored in a task repository such as Bugzilla or Trac. Local tasks are typically contained in categories, which you can create by right-clicking on the task list and selecting New -> Category. Repository tasks are contained in special categories that represent queries.
  
Mylyn is a task-focused interface for Eclipse that makes working with very large workspaces as easy as working with small ones. Mylyn extends Eclipse with mechanisms for keeping track of the tasks that you work on. A task is defined as any unit of work that you want to recall or share with others, such as a bug reported by a user or a note to yourself about improving a feature. You can store tasks locally in your workspace, or they can come from one or more task repositories. To connect to a task repository, you must have a connector that supports that repository. (A task repository is a bug/ticket/issue tracker such as Bugzilla, Trac, or JIRA).
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[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-List-Categorized1.png]]
  
Once your tasks are integrated, Mylyn monitors your work activity on those tasks to identify information relevant to the task-at-hand.  Mylyn monitors Eclipse and captures your interaction in a task context. System artifacts such as files, types, methods, and fields get assigned a degree-of-interest based on how recently and frequently you interact with them.  This results in uninteresting elements being filtered from view within Eclipse, allowing you to focus on on what is important.  From this, Mylyn creates a task context, which is the set of all artifacts related to your task. These can include methods you have edited, APIs you have referred to, and documents you have browsed. Mylyn uses this task context to focus the Eclipse UI on interesting information, hide what's uninteresting, and automatically find what's related. Having the information you need to get your work done at your fingertips improves your productivity by reducing the time you spend searching, scrolling, and navigating. By making task context explicit, Mylyn also facilitates multitasking, planning, reusing past efforts, and sharing expertise.
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At the top of the Task List, you will find the following buttons and features:
  
== Tips ==
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* '''New Task''' - Create a new local or repository task.
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* '''Synchronize''' - Update repository tasks with changes from the server.
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* '''Task Presentation''' - Toggle between Scheduled and Categorized presentations.
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* '''Focus on Workweek''' - See only tasks scheduled for this week.
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* '''Find''' - search for a task by typing in words from the task summary, or specify specific fields to query.  See [[#Finding_Tasks | Finding Tasks]] for details.
 +
* '''Working set indicator''' - Indicates the currently active working set. Use the black arrow on the left to change the working set.
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* '''Current task indicator''' - Indicates the currently active task. Use the black arrow on the left to re-activate a recently active task.
  
* If a task is stuck with outgoing changes or a mid-air collision occurrs use the Synchronize action or ''Mark -> Clear Outgoing''.
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== Finding Tasks ==
* The ''Task List'' can be restored via its view menu -> ''Restore Tasks from History...''
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* If a task change set disappears or is missing items, toggle the ''Incoming/Outgoing'' mode of the ''Syncrhonize'' view.
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* When checking out a new project, deactivate the active task. Otherwise all newly created files will become interesting.
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== Shortcuts ==
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The task list can be filtered by providing a phrase to match against the task summary.  The phrase must appear in the summary of a task for the task to be visible when a filter is applied. The task list filter operates by searching on a locally-maintained index of the tasks in your task list. (In rare cases, it may be necessary to manually refresh the search index by selecting "Refresh Search Index" from the task list menu.)
<b>&nbsp;Task List view</b>
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<ul>
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<li><code>Ctrl+C</code>: copy taks/query URL and description</li>
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<li><code>Ctrl+F</code>: find</li>
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<li><code>Insert</code>: new personal task</li>
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<li><code>F5</code>: synchronize selected</li>
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<li>When dragging URLs to the Task List: in Mozilla/Firefox just drag, in Internet Explorer <code>Ctrl+drag</code></li>
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</ul>
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<b>&nbsp;General</b>
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<ul>
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<li><code>Alt+click</code> or <code>Alt+RightArrow</code>: show all children of an element in a focused view, then click to select. Hold down alt to keep drilling in, click on whitespace in view to show all root elements.</li>
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<li><code>Ctrl+Shift+Alt+RightArrow</code> Quick Context View</li>
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<li><code>Ctrl+F9</code>: activate task dialog</li>
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<li><code>Ctrl+Shift+F9</code>: deactivate task</li>
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<li><code>Ctrl+F12</code>: open task dialog</li>
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<li><code>Ctrl+Shift+F12</code>: open repository task dialog</li>
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</ul>
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<b>&nbsp;Interest manipulation</b>
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<ul>
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<li><code>Ctrl+Shift+Up</code>: mark as landmark</li>
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<li><code>Ctrl+Shift+Down</code>: mark less interesting</li>
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</ul>
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<b>&nbsp;Useful Eclipse shortcuts</b>
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<ul>
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<li><code>Alt+Shift+Q, K</code>: show ''Task List'' view</li>
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<li><code>Ctrl+F10</code>: invoke view menu or ruler menu in editor</li>
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</ul>
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== UI Legend ==
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*Search for task summary or task id by entering the value. For example, <tt>NullPointerException</tt> or <tt>12345</tt>.
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*Search for other task fields such as description or assignee by prefixing them with the field name.  For example <tt>description:NullPointerException</tt> will search in the task description rather than the summary.  Content assist can be used to provide a list of common field names, and will provide a list of known user names when searching on user fields. 
 +
[[Image:Task-list-index-reporter.png]]
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*Search for date ranges by qualifying the range. For example, show tasks that were created in the <tt>(past week)</tt>.
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[[Image:Task-list-index-content-assist.png]]
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*Search for an exact phrase by enclosing it in double-quotes. For example, <tt>description:"user experience"</tt>.
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*Search for partial words by using the "*" wildcard. For example, <tt>exc*tion</tt> matches both "exclamation" and "exception".
  
Open the live ''UI Legend'' via ''Task List -> view menu -> Show UI Legend''
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=== Available Fields ===
  
[[Image:mylyn-ui-legend.gif]]
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Available fields can be found by using content assist in the search field.  The following fields are available for search with most repositories:
 +
;content
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:match against any of summary, description, comments and other long text fields
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;summary
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:the task summary
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;description
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:match against the task description
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;person
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:match against any person field, such as reporter, assignee, watcher, etc.
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;task_key
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:match against the task or bug id
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;attachment
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:match against attachment names
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;assignee
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:match against the assignee of the task
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;reporter
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:match against the reporter of the task
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;product
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:match against the product of the task
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;component
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:match against the component of the task
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;creation_date
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:match against the date when the task was created
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;completion_date
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:match against the date when the task was completed
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;due_date
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:match against the date when the task is due
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;modification_date
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:match against the date when the task was last modified
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;status
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:match against the status
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;resolution
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:match against the resolution
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;severity
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:match against the severity
  
== External Resources ==
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Some fields listed above may not be available depending on the repository and connector.
  
Getting Started
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=== Search Operators ===
* http://eclipse.org/mylyn/start
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* http://eclipse.org/mylyn/presentations
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* http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Mylyn_FAQ
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Instructional blog posts (feel free to add your own)
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The Task List provides logical operators. For example, <tt>NPE AND Display</tt>. Note that unlike other search phrases, '''search operators are case-sensitive'''; otherwise, the words are treated as part of the search phrase.
* [http://acer-rubrum.blogspot.com/2008/05/using-redmine-with-mylyn-eclipse-plugin.html Using Mylyn with Redmine] (2008-05-10)
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* http://blog.vazexqi.com/articles/2008/02/02/session-restore-sort-of-in-eclipse-with-mylyn (2008-02)
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* Using Mylyn with Google Code: http://www.jroller.com/alexRuiz/entry/using_mylyn_with_google_code (2007-08)
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* XPlanner Connector overview: http://www.jroller.com/robwilliams/entry/first_look_xplanner_connector_for (2007-07)
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* Filing bugs with the Bugzilla connector: http://www.peterfriese.de/index.php/2007/07/02/reporting-bugs-has-never-been-easier/ (2007-07)
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* Overview: http://rbtech.blogspot.com/2007/05/eclipse-mylar-wow.html (2007-05)
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= Installation =
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;AND
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:Searches for tasks that contain both words.
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;OR
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:Searches for tasks that contain at least one word.
  
Also see the [[Mylyn/FAQ#Installation_Troubleshooting | Installation FAQ]]
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== Task List Presentation ==
  
To install Mylyn, you need to
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The task list supports several ways to present tasks. You can toggle between the following modes by using the "Task Presentation" button in the toolbar.
* [http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ Download and install Eclipse 3.2 or 3.3]
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* '''Categorized''' - View tasks grouped by their category
* [[#Platform requirements | Ensure you meet the platform requirements]]
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[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-List-Presentation-Select-Categorized.png]]
* [[#Download | Download Mylyn]]
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After you have installed Mylyn, there are a few more configuration steps that you might wish to do:
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* [[#Configuration|Configuration]] for workspace setup recommendations
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* [[#Keyboard mappings on Linux|Keyboard mappings on Linux]] shows how to set up some useful key bindings.
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* [[#Task List backup and restore|Task List backup and restore]] shows how to set up where backup files will be saved.
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== Project Structure ==
 
  
The Mylyn project is structured into the following update sites and distributions.  Mylyn extensions are split into two different categories.  ''Connectors'' extend Mylyn to different task management systems.  ''Bridges'' focus the artifacts that you work with when you active a task.
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* '''Scheduled''' - View tasks grouped by the "''scheduled'' date"
 +
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-List-Presentation-Select-Scheduled.png]]
  
=== Main ===
 
  
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In either presentation, you can toggle the "Focus on Workweek" button. In this mode, only the following tasks will be visible:
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* Tasks scheduled for this week.
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* Overdue tasks.
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* Tasks with unread changes from your task repository.
  
The main Mylyn update site features are mature components that are supported by the Mylyn project committers and distributed as part of the [http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ Eclipse Downloads]. 
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== Icon Legend and Color Coding ==
  
Features:
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See the legend below to interpret the icons and color coding in the task list. You can view this legend by selecting "Show UI Legend" from the menu that appears when you click the white down arrow next to the minimize button in the top right corner of the Task List view.
* '''Task List (Required)''': provides the Task List view and other task management features.
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* '''Focused UI (Recommended)''': provides the ability to focus the Eclipse UI on the task-at-hand
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Integration:
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[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-UI-Legend.png]]
* '''Connector: Bugzilla''': trask repository integration for the Bugzilla bug tracker
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* '''Bridge: Eclipse IDE''': focus for IDE features such as the navigator and marker views
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* '''Bridge: Java Development''': focus for the Package Explorer and Java editor
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* '''Bridge: Plug-in Development''': focus for PDE artifacts
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* '''Bridge: Team Support''': automatic change set management
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=== Extras ===
 
  
Mature components that are supported by community contributions. You must add the [http://eclipse.org/mylyn/downloads Extras site] in order to install these components.
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== Creating New Tasks ==
  
Integration:
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[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-New-Task1.png]]
* '''Connector: Trac''': task repository integratino for Trac
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* '''Connector: JIRA''': task repository integration for Atlassian's JIRA issue tracker
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=== Incubator ===
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You can create new tasks by clicking on the "New Task" button in the Task List's toolbar. This will open the "New Task" dialog and prompt you to select a repository. There are two main types of tasks, local tasks and repository tasks.
  
Incubator components vary in maturity level and are supported by the component leads. 
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=== Local Tasks ===
  
Features:
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Use local tasks if you do not have a shared task repository or if you would like to create a private, personal task that is local to your workspace. To create a local task, select '''Local Task''' and "Finish" from the New Task dialog.
* '''UI Usage Reporting''': mature component for viewing Eclipse usage statistics
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* '''UI Experiements''': user interface tweaks, not recommended for daily use
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Integration:
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[[Image:Feature-Guide-3.0-Local-Task1.png]]
* '''Connector: Web Templates''': mature component with templates for connecting to web-based issue trackers, advanced user interface
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* '''Connector: XPlanner''': maturing component for connecting to the XPlanner agile project management tool
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== Releases==
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You can then provide the following details about the task.
  
The best and most stable release to use is always the latest. This goes for milestone releases (e.g. 2.0M1) which will often have bug fixes and other improvements over final release versions (e.g. 1.0.1). The "milestone" tag only refers to the fact that the API for that release is still stabilizing. Our policy is not to destabilize, so any Mylyn build that you install should be stable, including development builds. The UI of development builds can fluctuate.
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* '''Task Description - Your task is called "New Task" by default. Replace this with a brief task description.
 +
* '''Priority''' - Set the priority of your task. This will affect the task's icon and order in the task list.  
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* '''Status''' - Set your task to "complete" or "incomplete". In your task list, completed tasks have a strikethrough font and will appear lower in the list.
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* '''URL''' - You can associate a URL with this task.  
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** "Retrieve Task Description from URL" button - Set the task description to the title of the associated URL (page)
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** "Open with Web Browser" button - Open the URL in the integrated web browser
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* '''Scheduled For''' - Set the date when you will work on this task. Tasks scheduled for today or a date in the past will appear in blue in your task list. Tasks scheduled for future days will appear in black. If your task list is in focused mode, only tasks for the current week will be visible (unless they have unread changes).
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* '''Due''' - Set the date when your task must be completed. Overdue tasks and tasks due today will appear in red in your task list.
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* '''Estimated Hours''' - Estimate the number of hours it will take to complete this task.
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* '''Active''' - Displays the total time that you have worked on this task. Time is only recorded when this task is active and you are actively interacting with the system.
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* '''Notes''' - Record your personal notes about this task.
  
'''Schedule'''
 
  
* Weekly builds: available every Wednesday and on-demand
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=== Repository Tasks ===
* Release builds: see the [[Galileo]] release schedule
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'''Weekly/Integration Builds'''
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Create a new repository task when you would like to share information about the task with your team using a task repository such as Bugzilla or JIRA. To create a new repository task, click on the "New Task" button in the Task List's toolbar. You can then select the repository where you would like to create a task. If you don't see your team's task repository, you will need to configure it in the task repositories view. Once you have selected a repository, click "Next". If you are connecting to a Bugzilla repository, select a "Product" as a top-level category for your task and click "Finish".
  
Integration builds are released weekly and should be used by all Mylyn contributors not self-hosting from CVS [http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Mylyn_Contributor_Reference#Self-hosting straight from CVS].
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[[Image:Feature-Guide-3.0-Repository-Task1.png]]
  
* Eclipse '''3.5''': latest milestone release is fully supported (e.g., 3.4M1)
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A new task editor will appear. If you are using Bugzilla, you can enter the following information:
* Eclipse '''3.4''': latest release is fully supported (e.g., 3.4.1)
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* Eclipse '''3.3''': latest release is fully supported (e.g., 3.3.2)
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* Eclipse '''3.2''': not suported, use Mylyn 2.0.0 (reached end-of-life)
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'''Task List and Context Store Compatibility'''
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Required
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* '''Description''' - Enter a brief task description in the text box at the top (this box does not have a label).
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* '''Component''' - Specify a "Component" to further categorize this task within the previously selected "Product".
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* '''Description''' - Describe the task in detail.
  
The Task List and Context Store are compatible across all currently-supported Eclipse versions.  This means that you can use the same .mylyn data in both Eclipse 3.2 and 3.3. For Mylyn versions that have reached their end-of-life we specify the update path so that the contents of the .mylyn folder are updated. This is listed in the "Update notes" on top of the [http://eclipse.org/mylyn/new New & Noteworthy].
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Optional
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* You can specify additional information about your tasks in the "Attributes" section.
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* '''Personal Planning''' - You can enter information in this section that will be local to your workspace and '''not''' available on your team's task repository. See "Local Tasks" for more information about the personal planning fields.
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* '''Assigned to''' - Specify who should work on the task. Type the first several characters of the person's email address, and then press ctrl+space to select the address from a list. A task can be assigned to only one person at a time.
 +
* '''Add CC''' - Add the addresses of people who should be notified of changes to this task. You can add multiple addresses, separated by a comma, e.g. (mik.kersten@tasktop.com, steffen.pingel@tasktop.com).
  
'''Task context compatibility'''
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When finished, click "Submit" to add your new task to your team's shared task repository.
  
Task contexts can be shared with any previous released version of Mylyn.  Note that if elements have been renamed they may not appear as interesting when the context is activated.
 
  
== Download ==
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== Creating new Queries ==
  
For supported platforms and known limitations please see the [http://eclipse.org/mylyn/dl.php Mylyn download page].
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[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-New-Query-Combined.png]]
  
The recommended way to install Mylyn is from inside Eclipse:
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Once you have configured your team's task repository, you can use Queries to add tasks to your task list.
# Select ''Help->Software Updates->Find and Install''.
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# Select ''Search for new features to install'' and select ''Next''.
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# Select ''New Remote Site''.
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# Enter "Mylyn" for the name and insert the download site given on the [http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn/dl.php Mylyn downloads page].  The URL should end up as something similar to <code>http://download.eclipse.org/tools/mylyn/update/eX.Y.</code> where X.Y is the Eclipse release number.
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## Eclipse 3.2: <code>http://download.eclipse.org/tools/mylyn/update/e3.2</code>
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## Eclipse 3.3: <code>http://download.eclipse.org/tools/mylyn/update/e3.3</code>
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## Eclipse 3.4: <code>http://download.eclipse.org/tools/mylyn/update/e3.4</code> (probably)
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# Select ''OK''.
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# Make sure there is a check in the ''Mylyn'' box, and select ''Finish''.
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# Put a check in the box next to ''Mylyn''.  If you don't mind downloading some stuff you don't need, go ahead and select ''Next''.  Otherwise, expand the ''Mylyn'' line (by clicking on the disclosure triangle) and select what you want.  We recommend downloading the ''Task List'', the ''Focused UI'', and connectors appropriate to the bug repository that you use -- Bugzilla, Trac, or Jira.  (Note that to download Jira, you need both the core and the connector.)  You can download Mylyn without a bug repository, but it won't be as interesting an experience. If you download the Focused UI you will want to also choose the Bridge appropraite to the content you work with. Most developers will want to include all bridges provided.
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# Read the license agreements, accept or decline as appropriate, and either select ''Next'' (if you accept) or ''Cancel'' (if you do not accept). 
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# You will see a list of features and where to install them.  If the default installation directory is fine, select ''Finish''.
+
+
'''Optional Extras'''
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There are optional Mylyn extras available at a separate update site: http://download.eclipse.org/tools/mylyn/update/extras. This update site includes projects still in incubation. As of writing this update site includes the JIRA Connector, the Generic Issue Tracker Connector, and UI Usage Reporting facility.
+
  
'''Errors you might get during the download process:'''
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* If the Task List is not visible, navigate to ''Window -> Show View -> Other -> Mylyn -> Task List''
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* Right-click on the Task List and select "New -> Query..."
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* Select the repository whose tasks you would like to download and click "Next".
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* If you are prompted to select a query type, select "Create query using form" and click "Next".
 +
* Complete the form to define which tasks will be downloaded as part of this query, and then click "Finish". You can provide values for only as many parameters as necessary to filter the query results.
  
*'''Network connection problems encountered during search''' means that Eclipse couldn't find the location you entered.  This might be because you copied something incorrectly (watch for extra characters -- even extra spaces can cause errors), or because the site went down. You might be able to see if the site is down by copying the URL into your Web browser.
+
If you are using the Bugzilla connector, you can specify the following parameters by default. The parameters for most other connectors will be similar.
  
*'''Update manager failure''' means that Eclipse could not access the update site, or that it got confused about the configuration state of your Eclipse. First try updating again to see if the update site is accessible.
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* '''Query Title''' - Label that appears in your task list.
 +
* '''Summary''' - Specify words that must appear in the summary of tasks matched by this query.
 +
* '''Comment''' - Words that must appear in the comments of matching tasks.
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* '''Email''' - Specify all or part of an email address. This address is used together with the following options:
 +
** '''Owner''' - The specified email must match the person who the task is assigned to
 +
** '''Reporter''' - The specified email must match the person who created the task
 +
** '''CC''' - The person with the specified email address must be CC'd on the task
 +
** '''Commenter''' - The person with the specified email address must have commented on the task
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** You can choose from the following options to specify how the email address will be matched:
 +
*** '''substring''' - Only a part of the specified address must match
 +
*** '''exact''' - The specified email address must match exactly
 +
*** '''regexp''' - The email address must match the specified regular expression
 +
*** '''notregexp''' - The email address must NOT match the specified regular expression
 +
* '''Email 2''' - You can use this parameter to specify another email address to further restrict the results
 +
* '''Keywords''' - Click the "Select..." button to specify a keyword that must be associated with matching tasks
 +
* '''Product, Component, Version, ...''' - Optionally select parameters to restrict the results to a particular product, version, etc.
 +
* '''Update Attributes from Repository''' - Click this to refresh the available parameters if the project structure on the task respository has changed recently.
 +
* '''Changed in:''' - Only tasks modified within the specified number of days will appear in the query results
  
*If you are trying to update the JIRA connector you can also try de-selecting that feature in case the Tigris.org update site is not accessible.  Using use ''Search for new features..'' when installing can help to avoid this problem.  If that does not work see the [[#Configuration| feature configuration troubleshooting]] below.
 
  
*You will probably get a warning that '''the feature is unsigned'''.  If you trust that hackers have not befouled the Mylyn plug-in, select ''Install All''.
+
== Scheduling ==
  
*You will get a dialog box asking if you would like to restart Eclipse. We recommend that you select ''Yes''.  <!-- If you are running Eclipse from the command line, it might be worthwhile to start it once with  (@@@? true?) eclipse -clean -->
+
Two kinds of dates for scheduling are provided.
  
== Platform requirements==
+
'''Scheduled Date'''
 +
* A soft date used for personal scheduling that can be easily deferred as priorities change. The scheduled date is the date you plan to start working on the task.
 +
* When a task reaches its scheduled date it will turn blue, indicating that the task should be activated and worked on today.
 +
* Scheduled dates are private to your local workspace
  
Mylyn requires the '''Java 5''' virtual machine. To check the version of the Java virtual machine that Eclipse was launched with to to ''Help -> About Eclipse SDK -> Configuration Details'' and verify that the java.vm.version is 1.5.
+
'''Due Date'''
 +
* A hard date when the task must be completed. This is often related to external constraints such as deadlines.
 +
* If you are using a shared task repository, due dates become an attribute of the shared task and will be visible to other team members.
 +
* A task with a due date has a small clock overlay that is blue before the due date and red after.
  
Mac users should refer to the last comment on [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=116347#c4 bug 1163477] for instructions on how to change the 1.4 default.
+
== Synchronization ==
  
* If you do not have Java 5, you can download it from [http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp Sun's web site].
+
Repository tasks and queries are synchronized to reflect the latest changes on the server.  
* If you have more than one VM, you need to specify that Eclipse should use the JDK1.5 VM. 
+
Tasks are synchronized the following ways:
  
<b>We do [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=140955 not recommend] using JDK 1.6 on Eclipse 3.1.</b> (It works fine with Eclipse 3.2 or 3.3.) To use JDK 1.6 on Eclipse 3.1, you must add the following line to your config.ini file:
+
* '''Automatic Synchronization.''' By default, tasks will be synchronized with the repository every 20 minutes. Automatic synchronization can be disabled via the ''Synchronize Automatically'' option in the view menu (e.g. when working with intermittently available connectivity). The synchronization interval can be changed via ''Preferences -> Mylyn -> Task List''.
  
    org.osgi.framework.executionenvironment=OSGi/Minimum-1.0,OSGi/Minimum-1.1,JRE-1.1,J2SE-1.2,
+
* '''On Task Open.''' Tasks are synchronized automatically in the background when a task editor is opened.
    J2SE-1.3,J2SE-1.4,J2SE-1.5,JavaSE-1.6
+
  
<b> Linux and JVM issues</b>
+
* '''Manually.''' Individual tasks and queries can be synchronized manually by right-clicking on them in the Task List and selecting "Synchronize", or via the toolbar button. Clicking the toolbar button will synchronize all queries in your task list.
  
For those experiencing unstable performance with Linux using the Sun JVM, download the [http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/java/jdk/linux/download.html IBM JVM], which will require you to register with IBM prior to download.
+
<br>
 +
'''Disconnected Mode'''<br>
 +
A task repository can be put into Disconnected mode via the right-click menu in the ''Task Repositories'' view. This can be useful if the task repository is not currently in use (e.g. you are no longer engaged with the project, or the repository is no longer available). The offline support will ensure that you can still access tasks that you have worked with via their offline copies, and the Disconnected mode will ensure that synchronization warnings do not appear. Note that it is not necessary to turn off synchronization or work in Disconnected Mode when working offline.
  
 +
== Incoming Changes ==
  
'''In Unix''', set the environment variable <code>JAVA_HOME</code> to the root of the JDK1.5 installation and/or set the <code>PATH</code> variable to put the JDK1.5 executable directory before any other VM executable directories.  For example, under <code>bash</code> in Unix:
+
A blue arrow to the left of a task indicates that the task has changed in the shared repository. Double-click the task to view it in the task editor. Changes to the task will be highlighted in blue.
  
export JAVA_HOME="''(location of JDK1.5 root)''"
+
To quickly review the differences since the task was last read, hover over the task in the Task List to view a summary in a tooltip. You can also press F4 to display a tooltip. You may also wish to view the task list in "Focus on Workweek" mode, which will filter out tasks without incoming changes that are not scheduled or due this week. You can toggle "Focus on Workweek" using a button in the Task List's toolbar.
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
+
  
== Installing on Linux ==
 
  
=== Browser issues ===
 
  
Mylyn uses the Standard Widget Toolkit Browser, and users have experienced problems with the SWT Browser on Linux.  This is not a Mylyn specific problem and also occurrs if you try to use Eclipse's Browser view.  There are two options:
+
== Reviewing Tasks ==
* Follow the instructions below to get the browser properly configured
+
* Disable the ''Browser'' tab showing up on tasks via ''Preferences -> Mylyn -> Task List''
+
  
When the Browser is not properly configured exceptions such such as "Could not create Browser page: No more handles (<code>java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: ...</code>)" will appear when attempting to open tasks. See [http://www.eclipse.org/swt/faq.php#browserlinux the SWT Browser guide] for which browsers will work.   
+
The task list has been carefully designed to support quickly reviewing tasks. Task reviewing is best done by configuring a query to show the tasks that you want to review. Once the tasks are displayed in the Task List they can be reviewed one at a time by scrolling through them using the keyboard up/down arrows. The task tooltip should provide enough detail to do a review and will display information relevant to the currently selected task.   
  
[http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/ Seamonkey] is reported to work well. Just install and then point MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME to /usr/lib/seamonkey. (read below for example of setting this variable)
+
To edit the selected task press the enter key, use Ctrl+Enter to open the task in the background. To quickly jump to the next unread task hold down the Alt-key when pressing up or down. To mark a task as read while navigating use Alt+shift+up/down. When reviewing tasks in this way, it is best to avoid mouse-based and gesture-based scrolling.
  
To test to see if your browser is properly configured, select ''Window -> Show View -> Other -> General -> Internal Web Browser'', then try to bring up a web page.
 
  
 +
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-List-Tooltip.png]]
  
* A quick work-around is to disable the internal browser pages in Mylyn editors. To do this: ''Window -> Preferences -> Mylyn -> Tasks -> Disable Internal Browser''.
+
== Task Progress Indicators ==
*Before testing the browser support in Mylyn, you must first ensure that the Eclipse internal browser is correctly configured. To test to see if your browser is properly configured, select ''Window -> Show View -> Other -> General -> Internal Web Browser'', then try to bring up a web page.
+
*'''Notice''': You must use the GTK2 version of Mozilla for internal browser integration.
+
*'''Notice''': The internal browser does not correctly support HTTPS.  See [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=80033 bug 80033].
+
  
 +
'''Weekly progress'''<br>
 +
When in ''Focus on Workweek'' mode (right-most toolbar button), the Task List will show a progress bar that indicates progress on the tasks scheduled for the current week. Each task that is scheduled for the week but not yet completed adds to the bar. A task completed by you adds to the green progress in the bar. Deferring a task to a future week will also add to the apparent progress because it will remove the task from the current week. Mousing over the bar will indicate details about your progress, such as the number of tasks and hours completed. To avoid the need for manual estimation by default every task is estimated for 1 hour, but if you have longer or shorter running tasks that week you can adjust the estimate in the task editor's ''Planning'' page to ensure that the progress bar is accurate.
  
Mylyn Task Management features makes use of Eclipse's internal browser, which may require additional install steps listed belowYou also have the option of disabling Mylyn's use of the internal browser via ''Preferences -> Mylyn -> Tasks''.
+
Note that when in ''Focus on Workweek'' mode the ''Task List'' will show each of the tasks scheduled for this weekHowever, overdue tasks and those with incoming changes will also show, making the number of tasks visible not be a reliable indicator of progress on the tasks planned for the week.
  
The following steps have been verified on Fedora Core 5, and OpenSuSE 10.1.
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Weekly-Progress.png]]
# Run Mozilla '''(not Firefox)''' to confirm that it works.
+
# Confirm the location of your Mozilla install (ex: <code>/usr/lib/mozilla-1.7.12</code>)
+
# Set necessary environment variables in <code><home_directory>/.bashrc</code>, adding the following 3 lines
+
  
    MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME=/usr/lib/mozilla-1.7.12
+
<br>
    LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME
+
'''Category Progress'''<br>
    export MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+
You can hover over categories in the task list to display a tooltip that displays a summary of complete and incomplete tasks.
  
For Debian Etch and newer use the following MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME:
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Category-Progress.png]]
  
    MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME=/usr/lib/iceape
+
== Task List Settings and Operations ==
  
:4. Log out and log in again (or type "<code>source .bashrc</code>" at the prompt)
+
Click the small white arrow in the top right of the Task List view to access the following settings:
:5. Start Eclipse and test the internal web browser
+
* '''Go Up to Root''' - Return to the normal presentation after previously selecting "Go Into" to see only the tasks in a particular category.
 +
* '''Sort''' - Open a dialog to set the sort order for the task list. This option is only available when the task list is not in "Focus on Workweek" mode.
 +
* '''Filter priority lower than''' - Hide tasks with a priority less than the priority you select. This option is only availabe when the task list is not in "Focus on Workweek" mode.
 +
* '''Filter completed tasks''' - Hide local and repository tasks that are in a completed state.
 +
* '''Search Repository''' - Opens a dialog to search for repository tasks. Search results will appear in a separate search results view.
 +
* '''Restore Tasks from History''' - Opens a dialog for restoring lost tasks.
 +
* '''Synchronize Changed''' - Updates the task list with any changes on the task repository.
 +
* '''Synchronize Automatically''' - When checked, the task list will update from the task repository on an interval specified in Window -> Preferences -> Tasks -> Synchronization
 +
* '''Show UI Legend''' - Displays a legend explaining icons and color-coding.
 +
* '''Focus on Workweek''' - Displays only tasks that are scheduled for this week, overdue, or have unread changes.
 +
* '''Link with Editor''' - Automatically selects the task corresponding to the active task editor.
 +
* '''Preferences''' - Access additional Task List preferences.
  
If you are getting exceptions indicating missing libraries, check that the paths are accurate and that you have the libraries required. For example, on our test box a library was still missing after these steps. The <code>libstdc++.so.5</code> was being reported as missing. To solve this problem, find an <code>rpm</code> online that will install the missing legacy library. In our case we found necessary <code>rpm</code> (<code>compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-47.fc4.i386.rpm</code>) on [http://rpmfind.net/ rpmfind.net] using their search facility.  See also: [http://www.eclipse.org/swt/faq.php Standard Widget Toolkit FAQ]
+
<br>
 +
Right-clicking in the task list provides access to the following operations
 +
* '''New...''' - Create new categories, queries, and tasks.
 +
* '''Open with Browser''' - Open the task in a web browser tab rather than the rich editor.
 +
* '''Schedule for''' - Set the soft date when you intend to work on the task.
 +
* '''Mark as''' - Mark a task as read or unread as you would an email message.
 +
* '''Copy Details''' - Places the task summary and html link in the clipboard so you can paste it into an email, document, etc.
 +
* '''Delete''' - Deletes local tasks. For repository tasks, the all downloaded data and local task information will be cleared but the task will re-appear if it still matches a query.
 +
* '''Rename''' - Rename a task.
 +
* '''Go into''' (queries only) - Show only the tasks in the selected category.
 +
* '''Import and Export''' - Access functionality for importing and exporting task data.
 +
* '''Repository''' (queries only) - Update repository settings
 +
* '''Synchronize''' - Update the selected tasks or queries from the shared task repository
 +
* '''Properties''' - Edit the settings for a repository query
  
'''Memory consumption problem with internal browser on Linux-GTK'''
+
=  Task Repositories =
  
If you are experiencing abnormal memory consumption upon launching the internal browser (or opening repository tasks), try shutting down eclipse, renaming/moving your <code>~/.mozilla/eclipse</code> folder and relaunching eclipse. (see [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=173782 bug#172782])
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Add-Task-Repository.png]]
  
=== Recommended GTK Setup for KDE ===
 
  
The recommended GTK theme to use for KDE (and KDE based distributions like Kubuntu) is the
+
Use the Task Repositories view to configure Mylyn to connect to your team's shared task repository (bug or issue tracker):
"Human" theme. (Possibly, this is also a good recommendation for GNOME. GNOME users, please comment.)
+
  
With Debian based distributions (e.g. Ubuntu), this theme can be installed with
+
* Open the task repositories view by navigating to ''Window -> Show View -> Other -> Mylyn -> Task Repositories''
 +
* Click the "Add Task Repository" button located in the view's toolbar.
 +
* Select the type of repository you wish to connect to and click "Next". If you don't see your repository type, you will need to install the appropriate connector.
 +
* Enter the repository's address and your login credentials. After filling in these details, press the ''Validate'' button to ensure the repository exists and your login credentials are valid. Once the settings validate, Click Finish. Note that the settings will vary somewhat depending on the type of repository that you are connecting to. The screenshot shows the settings fore connecting to a Bugzilla repository.
 +
* You should now see the new repository in the ''Task Repositories'' view.
 +
* Now that you have created a repository, you may add queries to the Task List.
  
  aptitude install human-theme
+
= Task Editor =
  
The appearance of GTK applications is controlled by the KDE System Settings / Control Center
+
The task editor allows you to view and edit the tasks in your task list. Double-click on a task in your task list to open the editor. The features of the task editor will vary depending on whether it is a local task or a shared repository task. For shared repository tasks, there are some differences depending on the type of repository (and corresponding connector) that you are using (link: connectors).  
in the section "Appearance".
+
  
;GTK Styles and Fonts: GTK Styles: Select "Use another style [Human]"
+
== Repository Task Details ==
  
;Colors: At bottom: [x] Apply colors to non-KDE applications
 
  
These changes are applied to these two GTK configuration files, respectively:
 
  
* <tt>$HOME/.gtkrc-2.0-kde</tt>
+
In this section, we describe the task editor for shared bugs in a Bugzilla repository. Task editors for other repository types such as JIRA offer similar functionality.
* <tt>$HOME/.kde/share/config/gtkrc-2.0</tt>
+
  
'''Solving issues with KDE environment variable settings'''
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-Editor-Top.png]]
  
Most of the [[#Known_UI_issues_with_KDE | known UI issues below]] are due to a broken environment variable setting. The environment variable <tt>GTK2_RC_FILES</tt> contains a search path to find the GTK configuration files to be used by the GTK application and can be checked with
+
'''Editor toolbar buttons'''
 +
* '''Synchronize Incoming Changes''' - Updates the local copy of the task to reflect any changes on the server.
 +
* '''Create a new subtask''' - Creates a new task that will be considered a prerequisite to completing the current task. Subtasks appear nested under their parent task in the task list. In Bugzilla terminology, the subtask "Blocks" the parent task and the subtask's ID will appear in the "Blocks:" field of the parent task.
 +
* '''History''' - Displays the task's change history in an internal browser using the web interface.
 +
* '''Open with Web Browser''' - Displays the web interface for the task in an internal web browser.
 +
* '''Find''' - Find text in comments, description, summary and private notes.
 +
* '''Activate''' - Toggles the activation and deactivation of the task.
  
  env | grep GTK2_RC_FILES
+
'''Attributes'''
 +
Use the Attributes section to add or update structured information about the task.
  
The correct setting is obtained by
+
'''Team Planning'''
 +
The Team Planning section contains time-related information about the task that will be shared with your team. You can use the '''Due''' field to set a due date for your task. On the due date, the task will appear in red in your task list.
  
  export GTK2_RC_FILES=$HOME/.gtkrc-2.0-kde:$HOME/.kde/share/config/gtkrc-2.0 ''# Bourne shell''
 
  setenv GTK2_RC_FILES $HOME/.gtkrc-2.0-kde:$HOME/.kde/share/config/gtkrc-2.0 ''# C shell''
 
  
'''Important note:''' The used environment setting seems to differ depending on the way KDE starts
+
'''Attachments'''
the application: from Konsole, using "Run Command...", using a desktop icon etc. Please use this simple script to check the different ways:
+
You can attach a file to this task so that a copy will be uploaded to your task repository and become available to anyone who can access the task.
  
  #!/bin/bash
+
To attach a file
  env | grep GTK2_RC_FILES >/tmp/GTK2_RC_FILES.env
+
* click the "Attach..." button, which will open a wizard.
 +
* Select from one of the following:
 +
** '''File''' - Uploads a file from your system. Click "Browse" on the right to select the file.
 +
** '''Clipboard''' -
 +
** '''Workspace''' - Uploads a file from your workspace. Select the file from the box below.
 +
* Click next to enter attachment details:
 +
** '''Description''' - Provide a brief description of the file. This description will appear in the attachment list in the task editor.
 +
** '''Comment''' - Provide a comment about the file. This comment will appear in the comments section of the task editor.
 +
** '''Content Type''' - Optionally specify a content type for the file
 +
** '''Patch''' - Check this if the attachment is a source code patch file
 +
** '''Attach Context''' - Check this if you would also like to attach the context of your task. This context describes the resources that are most relevant to the task. If you attach a context, others can download it and focus the UI on the same resources that are relevant to you.
 +
** Click "Next" to preview your file. If your file is an image, a preview of the file will appear.
 +
** Click "Finish" to upload the file to the task repository. Files are uploaded without the need to click "submit" at the bottom of the task editor.
  
and look at the resulting output in <tt>/tmp</tt>.
 
  
Consider filing a bug against the distribution showing this inconsistent behaviour.
+
'''Duplicate Detection'''
 +
When submitting bug reports, you can avoid duplicates by clicking the "Search" button. This will search the repository for a stack trace that matches a stack trace in the task's Description field. The results of the duplicate detection show up in the Search view. If a match is found, you can open it and comment instead of creating a new bug report.
  
'''Known UI issues with KDE'''
+
'''Comments'''
 +
Use this section to add new comments about the task and view all previous comments. Comments you have read previously are folded. You can expand and re-read individual comments or click the "+" at the top right to expand all comments.
  
There a couple of bugs related to UI features not working in specific Linux distributions:
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-Editor-Bottom.png]]
  
* [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=176716 176716: Task colors are not displayed]
+
'''Actions'''
* [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=173928 173928: Task acivate button does not work under linux]
+
Use this section to change the task's status or reassign the task to another person.  
 +
* '''Attach Context''' - Uploads information about the resources that you have interacted with to the server. The context will appear in the attachments list so that others can download it and focus their UI on the resources that you found relevant for this task.
 +
* '''Submit''' - Submits all local changes to the task to your team's shared task repository.
  
Debian 3.1 (sarge) with KDE and standard X11 installation (XFree86) works fine for all three issues.
 
  
Debian testing (etch) with KDE and new X11 installation (X.Org) has issues with the color display (bug 176716 and 135928), but the Task Activate button works.
+
'''People'''
 +
This section shows the people who are collaborating on the task.
 +
* '''Assigned to''' - This is the person who is responsible for completing the task
 +
* '''Reporter''' - This person created the task
 +
* '''QA Contact''' -
 +
* '''Add CC''' - Use this box to add new people to the "CC" list. People on the "CC" list will be notified of any changes to this task. To add a new person, type the start of their email address and then press ctrl+space to complete the address using content assist. You can add several addresses, separated with a comma.
 +
* '''CC''' - This box shows the people who are currently on the "CC" list. To remove a person, simply select their email address so that it is highlighted and click "Submit". You can hold down ctrl to select multiple people.
  
Kubuntu Dapper 6.06 with KDE and X.Org triggers all above issues. An upgrade to Edgy enables Task Color display and the date picker selection. To get the Task Activation button working you have to use Edgy and Eclipse 3.3M5eh (or newer).
+
== Context ==
  
Kubuntu Gutsy 7.10 has issues with the color display (bug 176716). A workaround is to change the GTK-Style to "Human".
+
The context tab allows you to manage the context of resources associated with the task. You can view the context tab by selecting it in the lower left of the editor window.
More details and another solution in the comments of bug 176716.
+
  
== Installing on MacOS ==
+
'''Elements'''<br>
 +
This section lists the resources that are part of the task's context. Because the number of elements may be large, you can adjust the level of detail using the slider at the top of the ''Actions'' section. Sliding the control all the way to the left will show you all elements in your task context. As you slide to the right, only the elements with a high level of interest will be displayed. You can manually remove elements from your task context by right-clicking and selecting "Remove From Context". You may choose to view all elements and prune irrelevant items in this way before attaching the context to the task so that others can download it.
  
If you see errors like the following it may be due to Xerces missing from the Mac JDK so you may need to add it to your default classpath. Please refer to and comment on [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=144287 bug 144287] if you see this problem.
+
'''Actions'''<br>
 +
* '''Element Detail Slider''' - Adjusts the minimum level of interest required for an element to be displayed in the ''Elements'' section.
 +
* '''Attach Context''' - Attaches the context to the task so that it is available for download from the shared task repository. The context consists of the elements shown on the right.
 +
* '''Retrieve Context''' - Replaces the current task context with one that is attached to the task in the shared task repository.
 +
* '''Copy Context to...''' - Copy the task context to another task. That task will then have the same context as the current task.
 +
* '''Clear Context.''' - Removes all context information from the task.
  
    Could not create Bugzilla editor input
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Context-Tab.png]]
    java.io.IOException: SAX2 driver class org.apache.xerces.parsers.SAXParser not found
+
  
To ensure that you are using the 1.5 VM refer to the last comment on [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=116347#c4 bug 1163477] for instructions on how to change the 1.4 default.
+
== Planning ==
  
== Rich Task List Install ==
+
Use the planning tab to access local information about the task that is private to your workspace. You can view the planning tab by selecting it in the lower left of the editor window. This tab contains a large area where you can enter personal notes about the task. See the local task section for more information about fields in the Personal Planning section.
  
Mylyn's Task Management features can be used purely as a rich client to supported bug/task/issue trackers, and do not require the programming facilities of the full Eclipse SDK.
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Planning-Tab.png]]
  
For example, to use Mylyn as a rich client for Bugzilla:
+
= Task-Focused Interface =
* Install the [http://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/downloads/drops/R-3.2-200606291905/index.php Eclipse 3.2 Platform Runtime] binary (e.g. for [http://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/downloads/drops/R-3.2-200606291905/download.php?dropFile=eclipse-platform-3.2-win32.zip  Windows], [http://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/downloads/drops/R-3.2-200606291905/download.php?dropFile=eclipse-platform-3.2-linux-gtk.tar.gz Linux x86/GTK 2], [http://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/downloads/drops/R-3.2-200606291905/download.php?dropFile=eclipse-platform-3.2-macosx-carbon.tar.gz Mac OSX]).
+
* Use the update site listed on [http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn/dl.php Mylyn download page] for installing the Task List and Bugzilla Connector.  Note that Mylyn requires Java 5.
+
  
== Starting Mylyn for the first time ==
+
The task-focused interface is oriented around tasks and offers several ways to focus the interface on only what is relevant for the currently active task.
Once everything has been installed, upon restarting, you will see a dialog box titled ''Mylyn Recommended Preferences''.  It's probably best to accept the defaults unless you are already familiar with Mylyn.
+
  
Mylyn introduces a number of views to the Eclipse workbench that can be found via Window->Show View->Other, under the ''Mylyn'' category.
+
== Focusing Navigator Views ==
  
= Configuration =
+
You can focus navigator views (e.g. Package Explorer, Project Explorer, Navigator) by toggling the "Focus on Active Task" button in the toolbar. When focused, the view will show only the resources that are "interesting" for the currently active task.
After you have installed Mylyn, there are a number of things that you can configure to make your experience even richer.
+
  
== Eclipse settings ==
+
[[Image:Feature-Guide-3.0-Package-Explorer-Focused.png]]
Recommendations for workspace configuration when using Mylyn:
+
* '''Package Explorer'''
+
** Use flat layout in the Package Explorer (local pull down -> ''Layout -> Flat'' or ''Package Presentation -> Flat'').
+
** Leave the ''General -> Appearance -> Label Decorations -> Java Type Indicator'' off.  The type is visible under the Java file when Mylyn is applied making such additional information redundant.
+
* '''Editors'''
+
** Turn comment folding on to reduce clutter when using auto folding (''Preferences -> Java -> Editor -> Folding'').
+
* '''Views'''
+
** Outline: can keep closed for Java development, since the Package Explorer and folded signatures should provide enough context, and the in-place Outline <code>Ctrl+O</code> can be used when needed.
+
* '''Team'''
+
** Set ''Synchronize'' view to ''Change Sets'' mode (on 3.2: third toolbar button: select ''Change Sets'';  on 3.1: toggle toolbar button: ''Show Change Sets'')
+
** Use graphical CVS decorators only (''Preferences -> Team -> CVS -> Label Decorations -> Text Decorations'' -> clear all but ''Project''; ''Icon Decorations'' -> enable all).  This helps reduce visual clutter.
+
  
== Query setup ==
+
== Alt+Click Navigation / Show Filtered Children ==
  
While there are many ways to set up queries (e.g. by component, by milestone) we recommend the following as a starting point. For each repository, create:
+
To navigate to a new resource that is not a part of the active task's context, you can toggle "Focus on Active Task" off, browse to the resource, and then click "Focus on Active Task" again to see only relevant resources. A more efficient way to add new resources is to use Alt+Click navigation (clicking the mouse while holding the Alt key) or click the [+] icon that appears to the right of a tree node when the mouse hovers over it.
  
# One query for all tasks assigned to you.  This should include all closed/resolved tasks in order to prevent resolved tasks from dropping into the "Archive" containerThere is no performance problem with having thousands of resolved tasks in your Task List.
+
When a view is in Focused mode, you can click the [+] icon to the right of a node, or Alt+Click the node, to temporarily show all of its children.   
# All tasks assigned to each person that you work with closely. This can include peers or people you manage and makes it easier to collaborate.
+
* Once an element that was previously not interesting is selected with the mouse, it becomes interesting and the other child elements will disappear. The clicked element is now a part of the task's context.
# All tasks that you are CC'd on.  To this you can additionally add tasks that you have commented on and created/reportedThis will prevent you from needing to rely on email notifications, since it captures all tasks of interestFor example, with this this configruation you can turn off Bugzilla email notifications or have them automatically categorized/filed out of yor email inbox.
+
* You can drill down multiple levels of filtered nodes by clicking the [+] icon to the right of each node you want to unfilter. Note that trying to expand the node in other ways (e.g. clicking the triangle to the left of the node) will not show its filtered children - clicking anywhere in the view (other than a [+] icon) will hide all filtered children again.
 +
* Alt can be held down while clicking to drill down from a top-level element to a deeply nested element that is to be added to the task context.
 +
* Multiple Alt+Clicks are supported so that you can add several elements to the task context. As soon as a normal click is made, uninteresting elements will disappear.
 +
* Ctrl+Clicks (i.e. disjoint selections, use Command key on Mac) are also supported and will cause each element clicked to become interestingThe first normal click will cause uninteresting elements to disappearNote that Ctrl+clicked elements will become interesting (turn from gray to black) but only the most recently-clicked one will be selected while Alt is held down.
  
Depending on how you set up (1) and (2), you may want to limit (3) to certain components in order to avoid tasks showing up in multiple containers.
+
[[Image:Show_filtered_children.png]]
  
== Workspace setup ==
+
== Focusing Editors ==
  
The following is an example of how to set up your Eclipse to work with a single workspace in a way where you can use Mylyn to focus you on your task while using ''Working Sets'' to maintain only a single workspace while keeping project/product boundaries clear.
+
Some editors such as the Java editor support focusing. Clicking the Focus button in the toolbar will fold all declarations that are not part of the active task context.
* Create a ''Working Set'' for each project/product that you have checked out.
+
** NOTE: we recommend not overlapping your working sets, e.g. having ProjectFoo in both WorkingSetA and WorkingSetB.  Doing so will cause the project to show twice when the Focus filter is on.
+
* Set the ''Package Explorer'' to show ''Working Sets'' as the top-level elements.
+
* Set the ''Problems'' view to filter out warnings from any ''Working Sets'' that you do not contribute to.
+
* Set the ''File Search'' scope to only include ''Working Sets'' that you contribute to.
+
  
When using working sets, the second drop down arrow (Task Activation History) will reveal task activation history for the currenlty selected working set. Choosing a different working set will then only reveal tasks previously activated while the that working set was active. To see the aggregate of all previously active tasks in the task activation history drop down you need to select "Show All" from the work set selection drop down.
+
[[Image:Feature-Guide-3.0-Focused-Editor.png]]
  
 +
== Task-focused Ordering ==
  
== UI Settings ==
+
When a task is active, elements that are interesting are displayed more prominently. For example, when you open the Java Open Type dialog (Ctrl+Shift+T), types that are interesting for the active task are shown first. Similarly, when you use ctrl+space to autocomplete a method name in a Java source file, methods that are in the task context are displayed at the top.
  
This section is evolving, please consider adding your own UI settings.
+
== Working Set Integration ==
  
* Landmark background color: ''Window -> Preferences -> General -> Editors -> Text Editors -> Annotations'', then select ''Landmark'' and use the ''Color'' chooser.
+
When Focus is applied to a navigator view, the working sets filter for that navigator view will be disabled. This ensures that you see all interesting elements when working on a task that spans working sets. To enforce visibility of only elements within one working set, do the following:
* Text colors and fonts: ''Window -> Preferences -> General -> Appearance -> Colors and Fonts'', then select the corresponding category and kind.
+
* Set the view to show working sets as top-level elements.
 
+
* Use the ''Go Into'' action on the popup menu of the working set node in the view to scope the view down to just the working set.
== Spell checking ==
+
 
+
On Eclipse versions earlier than 3.3, the spell checking must be set up manually.  Spell checking is supported in the task editor for local tasks and for connectors that support rich editing (e.g. Bugzilla, Trac).
+
* To install spell checking for editors that support it you need to enable the preference in ''General -> Editors -> Text Editors -> Spelling''.
+
* You also need to install a dictionary, some instructions are [http://www.javalobby.org/java/forums/t17453.html here]. A word list is available [[http://wordlist.sourceforge.net/ here]] as well.
+
 
+
[[Image:mylar-spell-checking-preference.gif]]
+
 
+
 
+
== Key Mappings ==
+
 
+
If default key mappings aren't working, try doing the following to reset them:
+
* ''Window -> Reset Perspective''
+
* ''Then: Window -> Preferences -> Keys -> Restore Defaults''
+
 
+
'''Linux'''
+
 
+
If you are running Mylyn on X-Windows, for example on Linux, FreeBSD, AIX and HP-UX, some keyboard bindings may not work by default.
+
 
+
If the <code>Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Arrow Up</code> shortcut for ''Mark as Landmark'' does not work do the following:
+
* ''Menu Bar -> Desktop -> Control Centre -> Keyboard Shortcuts -> Move one workspace up, Move one workspace down'': disable both.
+
 
+
If <code>Alt+Click</code> quick unfiltering does not work try one of the following:
+
* Hold down the <code>Windows</code> key while holding <code>Alt</code>, if available (ironic, but unsurprisingly this key is not usually mapped on Linux).
+
* Disable the <code>Alt+drag to move</code> functionality:
+
GNOME Desktop
+
# Open a terminal and run <code>gconf-editor</code>
+
# Go into: <code>/apps/metacity/general</code>
+
# Edit the <code>mouse_button_modifier</code> field. Setting it to nothing disables it. You can use <Super> to set it to the windows key.
+
# Exit <code>gconf-editor</code>.
+
KDE Desktop
+
# Run the ''KDE Control Center''.
+
# Go to the ''Desktop/Window Behavior'' panel and select the ''Window Actions'' tab.
+
# Down in the ''Inner Window, Titlebar & Frame'' area, change the ''Modifier Key'' option from <code>Alt</code> to <code>Meta</code>.
+
 
+
Reconfiguring Eclipse to use the <code>Meta</code> or <code>Win</code> key instead is not possible due to the Eclipse bug
+
[https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=55236 55236: Please support SWT.MOD4 on platforms other than the Mac]. Consider voting on that bug if you feel that should be possible.
+
 
+
Also, see [[Mylyn_Tips_and_Tricks#Keyboard_Shortcuts| keyboard shortcuts]].
+
 
+
== System Properties ==
+
 
+
The system properties below can used to change the behavior of Mylyn. To set a property pass it on the command line when starting Eclipse:
+
<code>eclipse -vmargs -Dorg.eclipse.mylyn.property=value</code>.
+
 
+
{|
+
|System Property || Mylyn Version || Default || Description
+
|-
+
|<code>org.eclipse.mylyn.activateTask</code>
+
|3.1
+
|<code>true</code>
+
|<code>false</code> Disable task activation on startup.
+
|-
+
|<code>org.eclipse.mylyn.linkProviderTimeout</code>
+
|3.1
+
|5000
+
|Number of milli-seconds before link providers are timed out. Set to -1 to disable link providers timing out.
+
|}
+
 
+
= Task List =
+
 
+
== Icon Legend ==
+
 
+
Please see the [http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn/tips Tips & Tricks page].
+
 
+
Open the UI Legend via the Task List view menu button located next to minimize button in top right corner of Task List view)
+
 
+
== Task Creation ==
+
 
+
There are several ways to create new tasks:
+
* ''Task List'' toolbar item
+
* ''Task List'' context menu, which contains a new ''Local Task'' action that will create local tasks without briging up repository selection.  Shortcut is the Ins key, if available.
+
* ''File -> New'' or Alt+Shift+N, T (note that you may need to reset your perspective to have ''Task'' and ''Query'' automatically appear in the Alt+Shift+N menu).
+
 
+
== Incoming Changes ==
+
 
+
A blue arrow indicates that a task has changed in the repository. To quickly review the differences since the task was last read hover over the task or press F4 to display a tooltip.
+
 
+
To filter the task list to incoming changes and tasks scheduled for this week use the Focus on Workweek button in the toolbar. Another way to quickly find tasks with incoming changes is to use Alt+down in the Task List which jumps to the next task with an incoming change.
+
 
+
In addition the UI Experiments feature that is part of the Mylyn incubator contributes a task list presentation that only shows tasks with incoming changes.
+
 
+
== Scheduling ==
+
 
+
Mylyn provides two kinds of dates for scheduling.
+
 
+
''Scheduled Date''
+
* A soft date intended for personal scheduling and can be easily deferred as priorities change. Intended to be the date that you plan to start working on the task.
+
* Once a task hits its start date it will turn red, indicating that the task should be activated and worked on.
+
* If you schedule a task for ''Today'' it will turn blue instead of red and be scheduled for the end of your workday, as specified in ''Preferences -> Task List''.  This is to help avoid needing to reschedule tasks throughout the workday.  At the end of the workday tasks will turn red.
+
* When you schedule a task for "today" it will be scheduled for the
+
 
+
''Due Date''
+
* A hard date he date that the task has to be completed by.  This is hard date and often related to external constraints such as deadlines.
+
* If shared task repositories or calendaring tools are used due dates are synchronized in order to be visible to other team members.
+
* A task with a due date has a small clock overlay that is blue before the date and red after.
+
 
+
== Weekly Progress ==
+
 
+
When in ''Focus on Workweek'' mode (right-most toolbar button), the Task List will show a JUnit-style progress bar which indicates progress on the tasks scheduled for that week.  Each task that is scheduled for the week but not yet completed adds to the bar.  A task completed by you adds to the green progress in the bar.  Deferring a task to a future week will also add to the apparent progress because it will remove the task from the current week.  Mousing over the bar will indicate details about your progress, such as the number of tasks and hours completed.  To avoid the need for manual estimation by default every task is estimated for 1 hour, but if you have longer or shorter running tasks that week you can adjust the estimate in the task editor's ''Planning'' page to ensure that the progress bar is accurate. 
+
 
+
Note that when in ''Focus on Workweek'' mode the ''Task List'' will show each of the tasks scheduled for this week.  However, overdue tasks and those with incoming changes will also show, making the number of tasks visible not be a reliable indicator of progress on the tasks planned for the week.
+
 
+
[[Image:Weekly-progress.gif]]
+
 
+
== Progress for Categories ==
+
 
+
Categories show progress for the number of completed tasks. 
+
 
+
[[Image:Progress-categories.gif]]
+
 
+
== Incoming Changes ==
+
 
+
All comments added since your last reading of a repository task will be automatically expanded when a task with incoming changes is opened.  Incoming changes are retrieved with the background synchronization to avoid waiting for the server when opening.  Note that a background synchronization is still kicked off upon opening in case changes came in since the last scheduled synchronization.  Repository tasks can be explicitly marked as read or unread.
+
 
+
[[Image:Incoming-changes.gif]]
+
 
+
== Task Repository Integration ==
+
 
+
Task repositories are easy to add, and can be named via the ''Task Repositories'' view.  An icon decoration indicates the repository type.  A task repository can be associated with a project, enabling it to be used for actions such as resolving bug hyperlinks.  '''Note:''' you do not need to associate all of your projects with repositories after updating, since you will be prompted to do this when the associate is needed.
+
 
+
[[Image:Task-repository-integration.gif]]
+
 
+
After the Task Repository has been setup and associated with a project, you need to create a new query against that repository to pull down the task list.
+
 
+
See [http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-mylyn1/#repositories Task-focused programming with Mylyn, Part 1], Querying a repository.
+
  
 
== Open Task dialog ==
 
== Open Task dialog ==
  
An ''Open Type'' style dialog is available for opening tasks (<code>Ctrl+F12</code>) and for activating tasks (<code>Ctrl+F9</code>). The list is initially populated by recently active tasks.  The active task can also be deactivated via <code>Ctrl+Shift+F9</code>.  This can be used as a keyboard-only alternative for multi-tasking without the ''Task List'' view visible.  These actions appear in the ''Navigate'' menu.
+
An ''Open Type'' style dialog is available for opening tasks (<code>Ctrl+F12</code>) and for activating tasks (<code>Ctrl+F9</code>). The list is initially populated by recently active tasks.  The active task can also be deactivated via <code>Ctrl+Shift+F9</code>.  This can be used as a keyboard-only alternative for multi-tasking without the ''Task List'' view visible.  These actions appear in the ''Navigate'' menu.
  
[[Image:Open-task-dialog.gif]]
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Open-Task.png]]
  
== Open Repository Task dialog ==
+
== Task Hyperlinking ==
 +
In the task editor, comments that include text of the form bug#123 or task#123 or bug 123 will be hyperlinked.  Ctrl+clicking on this text will open the task or bug in the rich task editor.
  
For tasks not available on ''Task List'' view, there is a ''Open Repository Task'' dialog (<code>Ctrl+Shift+F12</code>). On this case, the task can be opened by informing its ID and repository. This way the task will be retrieved from repository without being added to task list.
+
To support hyperlinks within other text editors such as code or .txt files, the project that contains the file must be associated with a particular task repository. This is configured by right-clicking on the project and navigating to "Properties" > "Task Repository" and selecting the task repository used when working with this project.
  
Optionally, you can add the remote task to task list, by checking the ''Add to Task List category'' option and informing the category where it will be inserted.
+
== Reporting Bugs from the Error Log ==
 
+
Multiple tasks can be added simultaneously by informing a sequence of IDs, separated by commas, e.g. "1,2,3".
+
 
+
== Repository task attachments ==
+
 
+
Repository task attachments (supported by the Bugzilla and Trac connectors) can be attached via drag-and-drop from both within the Eclipse workspace and from outside, and from text selections, which will invoke the attachment wizard. Attachments can be opened with a browser or corresponding editor.
+
 
+
[[Image:Repository-task-attachments.gif]]
+
 
+
== Hyperlinking ==
+
In the task editor, comments that include text of the form bug#123 or task#123 or bug 123 will be hyperlinked. In order to support hyperlinks within other text editors such as code or txt files, the project that contains the file must be associated with a particular task repository. To do this, right click on the project > Properties > Task Repository and select the task repository used when working with this project. Then in the editors such as the java source editor or the default text editor, enter a reference such as bug#123. Ctrl+clicking on this text will open the bug in the rich editor.
+
 
+
== Task List backup and restore ==
+
 
+
'''Where does Mylyn keep the task list?'''
+
 
+
By default Mylyn keeps your task list in <workspace>/.mylyn/tasklist.xml.zip.  You can change this in the Mylyn Task List preferences (''Window -> Preferences -> Mylyn -> Task List -> Task Data'').
+
 
+
'''Where does Mylyn keep the task list backups?'''
+
 
+
By default, Mylyn keeps the task list backups in the <code><workspace>/.mylyn/backup</code> folder.
+
The location of this file, as well as backup scheduling, can be changed in ''Preferences -> Mylyn -> Tasks'' in the ''Task Data -> Backup'' section.
+
 
+
'''How do I restore my task list from a backup?'''
+
 
+
Task and context data can be restored from a backup snapshot zip file via  ''File -> Import -> Mylyn Task Data''.  By default backup snapshots are taken daily and kept for 30 days.
+
 
+
[[Image:Tasklist-restore.gif]]
+
 
+
'''Can I create manual backups?'''
+
 
+
Yes. Use ''File -> Import/Export ->  Mylyn Task Data''. 
+
 
+
[[Image:mylar-tasklist-backup.gif]]
+
 
+
'''Note:'''  uninstalling a connector will cause all of the queries and tasks of that kind to disappear from the Task List, but if you reinstall that connector they will reappear.
+
 
+
'''If the Task List is blank''', either Mylyn failed to install or update, or there was a problem reading the Task List.  By default Mylyn keeps your Task List in <code><workspace>/.mylyn/tasklist.xml</code>.  If you move workspaces, and have not changed the Mylyn data directory via the ''Task List'' preference page, the new location will be used when Eclipse restarts (hit ''Restore Defaults'' on that page to copy tasks back to the default location).  If your tasks disappear due to to a bug you can check the <code>.mylyn</code> folder for a <code>tasklist-backup.xml</code> file, which will contain the previously-saved list.
+
 
+
== Report Bugs from Error Log ==
+
  
 
Bugs can created directly from events in the ''Error Log'' view.  This will create a new repository task editor with the summary and description populated with the error event's details.  If the Connector you are using does not have a rich editor, the event details will be placed into the clipboard so that you can paste them into the web-based editor that will be opened automatically.
 
Bugs can created directly from events in the ''Error Log'' view.  This will create a new repository task editor with the summary and description populated with the error event's details.  If the Connector you are using does not have a rich editor, the event details will be placed into the clipboard so that you can paste them into the web-based editor that will be opened automatically.
  
[[Image:Report-bugs-error-log.gif]]
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Error-Log.png]]
  
== Automatic Duplicate Detection ==
+
= Team Support =
  
The ''Search for Duplicates'' button on the ''New Repository Task'' editor encourages and facilitates finding similar bug reports before creating a new one.  Potential duplicates are displayed in the Search view which can be used to open a bug and comment or vote if a duplicate is found.  The current duplicate detection mechanism uses stack traces, either automatically inserted by the ''Report as Bug'' mechanism, or manually pasted into the ''Description'' area. All descriptions and comments of bugs on the corresponding repository are included in the search.
+
The task-focused interface provides several ways to improve your work flow when working with a source code repository such as CVS or Subversion. CVS support is available out-of-the-box and task-focused interface integration for Subversion is available via the Subclipse or Subversive plugins.
  
[[Image:Automatic-duplicate-detection.gif]]
+
== Task-focused Change Sets ==
  
== Submitting Contexts ==
+
When working with a source code repository, you can commit or update only the resources that are in the context of a particular task. This helps you work on several tasks concurrently and avoid polluting your workspace with changes that are not relevant to the current task.
  
When submitting comments, contexts can be attached by selecting the corresponding check-box in the ''Actions'' section.
+
To enable this functionality, locate the "Synchronize" view. If the view is not visible, you can open it by navigating to Window -> Show View -> Other... -> Team -> Synchronize. Next, click the small black arrow next to "Show File System Resources" in the Synchronize view toolbar and select "Change Sets". Note that change sets are not currently supported in the EGit connector.
  
[[Image:Submitting-contexts.gif]]
+
You can now synchronize resources in your workspace as usual (e.g. by right-clicking on a resource in the navigator and selecting "Team" -> "Synchronize with Repository". Your resources will now be grouped by change sets corresponding to tasks. Expanding the task shows individual resources. Changed resources that are not a part of any task context will appear under the root of the Synchronize view. If needed missing resources can be added to the task context Change Set via the Synchronize View by right+clicking the resource and selecting "Add to" and then selecting the corresponding task. Select "no set" to remove a resource from a change set.
  
== Keybindings ==
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Change-Sets.png]]
  
{|
+
You can use buttons in the toolbar of the Synchronize view to change modes as follows:
| F2 || rename
+
* '''Incoming Mode''' - See only updates to be retrieved from the server
|-
+
* '''Outgoing Mode''' - See only your local changes to be committed to the server
| F4 || show tooltip
+
* '''Incoming/Outgoing Mode''' - See both incoming and outgoing changes
|-
+
| F5 || synchronize
+
|-
+
| Alt + Down || go to next unread
+
|-
+
| Alt + Up || go to previous unread
+
|-
+
| Alt + Shift + R || mark as read
+
|-
+
| Alt + Shift + U || mark as unread
+
|-
+
| Esc || hide tooltip
+
|-
+
| Enter || open task
+
|-
+
| Insert || new local task
+
|-
+
| Ctrl+C || Copy details
+
|-
+
| Ctrl+F || Find
+
|}
+
  
= Task Repositories =
+
Right-clicking a Change Set provides access to the following operations:
  
== Opening a Repository Task ==
+
* '''Add to Task Context''' - Adds all changed files to the active task context, see [[#Working with Patches]] for more information
 +
* '''Open Corresponding Task''' - Opens the task associated with the Change Set in the Task Editor
  
The recommended way to access repository tasks is with ''Queries''.  For example, you can add a query for every task assigned to you and every task that you are CC'd on.  However, sometimes you may know a particular task key or ID, and want to access it without creating or modifying a query. 
+
== Automatic Commit Messages ==
  
The quickest way to do this is to enter the task's key into the ''Find'' box in the ''Task List''.  You will immediately see whether this task is already in your ''Task List''.  If not, click the ''Search repository for key or or summary, and then simply hit <code>Enter</code> once the Search dialog comes up.
+
When using task-focused change sets as described above, commit messages are automatically be generated based on the task whose resources are being commited. By default, the commit message includes information such as the task ID, description, and URL. To change the template for these commit messages, navigate to Window -> Preferences -> Tasks -> Team.
  
[[Image:MylynSearchById.png]]
+
Note that for EGit, Task-focused Change Sets are not supported, however the commit message will be populated based on your currently active task.
  
The <code>Ctrl+Shift+F12</code> shortcut can also be used to invoke this action, and will additionally inspect the contents of the clipboard to look for a task key/ID to populate the Task Search dialog with (e.g., if you copied they key from an email message).  The <code>Ctrl+F12</code> Open Task dialog also provides a link to the Task Search page.  Note that off a task is selected in the active editor or the Task List, the repository in the Search dialog will be now automatically set to the corresponding repository, otherwise the previous repository will be used.
+
== Working with Patches ==
  
There other common ways of getting a particular repository task into your Task List are:
+
When applying patches, the preferred scenario is to have a task context attached to the task along with the patch. Since this is not always feasible, Mylyn provides an action in the popup menu of the ''Synchronize'' view that supports adding changed elements to the task context.
 +
 +
# Activate the task containing the patch.
 +
# Apply the patch. If you are using automatic change sets, this will cause the change set created by Mylyn to contain the outoing changes. If it doesn't you can use the ''Add to'' action on the popup menu to add the elements to the corresponding change set.
 +
# Invoke the ''Add to Task Context'' action on the change set node, causing all of the changed files to be added to the task context. You can also invoke this action on a selection one or more elements (e.g. files) in the view.
  
* Drag the URL of the task into the ''Task List''. Note that you need to hold down <code>Ctrl</code> if dragging from Internet Explorer.
+
[[Image:Feature-Reference-3.0-Add-To-Context.png]]
  
* Search for the task and use the popup menu in the ''Search'' view or on the task editor after opening.  Note that you can also create a ''Task List'' query from a search via the ''Search'' view.
 
  
== Synchronization ==
 
  
Repository tasks and queries are synchronized in order to reflect the latest changes.  These changes are decorated with an incoming arrow, shown in the tooltip for the task, and highlighted in the task editor when opened.  All tasks changed on the server are synchronized, not just those that match queries.  Note that Mylyn does not have an explicit offline mode and does not require that you turn off synchronization when working offline.
 
  
Tasks are synchronized the following ways:
+
= Shortcuts =
  
* Automatically: by default tasks will be incrementally synchronized with the repository every 20 minutes.  Automatic synchronization can be disabled via the ''Synchronize Automatically'' option in the view menu (e.g. when working with intermittently available connectivity).  The synchronization interval can be changed via ''Preferences -> Mylyn -> Task List''. 
+
<b>&nbsp;Task List view</b>
 +
<ul>
 +
<li>F2: rename</li>
 +
<li>F4: show tooltip</li>
 +
<li>F5: synchronize selected</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Down: go to next unread</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Up: go to previous unread</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Shift + C: mark complete (local tasks only)</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Shift + I: mark incomplete (local tasks only)</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Shift + R: mark as read</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Shift + U: mark as unread</li>
 +
<li>Esc: hide tooltip</li>
 +
<li>Enter: open task</li>
 +
<li>Insert: new local task</li>
 +
<li>Shift + Insert: new sub task</li>
 +
<li>Alt + N (Mac only): new local task</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Shift + N (Mac only): new sub task</li>
 +
<li>Ctrl+C: Copy details</li>
 +
<li>Ctrl+F: Find</li>
 +
<li>When dragging URLs to the Task List: in Mozilla/Firefox just drag, in Internet Explorer <code>Ctrl+drag</code></li>
 +
</ul>
  
* On open: tasks are synchronized automatically in the background when a task editor is opened.
+
<b>&nbsp;Task Editor</b>
  
* Manually: tasks can be synchronized manually via the Synchronize actions on ''Task List'' elements or via the toolbar.
+
<ul>
 +
<li>Ctrl+F: Find text in comments, description, summary and private notes</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Shift + C: mark complete (local tasks only)</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Shift + I: mark incomplete (local tasks only)</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Shift + R: mark as read</li>
 +
<li>Alt + Shift + U: mark as unread</li>
 +
</ul>
  
''Disconnected mode''
+
<b>&nbsp;General</b>
 +
<ul>
 +
<li><code>Alt+click</code> or <code>Alt+RightArrow</code>: show all children of an element in a focused view, then click to select. Hold down alt to keep drilling in, click on whitespace in view to show all root elements.</li>
 +
<li><code>Ctrl+Shift+Alt+RightArrow</code> Quick Context View</li>
 +
<li><code>Ctrl+F9</code>: activate task dialog</li>
 +
<li><code>Ctrl+Shift+F9</code>: deactivate task</li>
 +
<li><code>Ctrl+F12</code>: open task dialog</li>
 +
<li><code>Ctrl+Shift+F12</code>: open repository task dialog</li>
 +
</ul>
  
A task repository can be put into Disconnected mode via the popup menu in the ''Task Repositories'' view.  This can be useful if the task repository is not being used any more (e.g. no longer engaged with the project), or is no longer available (e.g. no longer available online).  Mylyn's offline support will ensure that you can still access tasks that you have worked with via their offline copies, and the Disconnected mode will ensure that synchronization warnings do not appear.
+
<b>&nbsp;Interest manipulation</b>
 +
<ul>
 +
<li><code>Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Up</code>: mark as landmark</li>
 +
<li><code>Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Down</code>: mark less interesting</li>
 +
</ul>
  
=== Synchronizing All Tasks ===
+
<b>&nbsp;Useful Eclipse shortcuts</b>
 +
<ul>
 +
<li><code>Alt+Shift+Q, K</code>: show ''Task List'' view</li>
 +
<li><code>Ctrl+F10</code>: invoke view menu or ruler menu in editor</li>
 +
</ul>
  
If properties of a repository change that are not picked up by automatic synchronization, e.g. the user get assigned additional privileges in the repository, it can be desirable to do a manual synchronization. Since Mylyn 2.2 the popup menu in the ''Task Repositories'' view has an entry ''Synchronize All Tasks'' to refresh cached information for all tasks in the task list for that repository.
+
= Preferences =
  
= Task-Focused UI =
+
You can access the following Mylyn preference pages by navigating to Window -> Preferences -> Tasks.
  
== Alt+Click navigation ==
+
== Tasks ==
  
When a view is in Focused mode, you can Alt+Click a node in order to temporarily show all of it's children.
+
* '''Synchronization''' - Set how often queries in your task list should update from your task repository. The default is 20 minutes.
* Once an element that was not interesting is selected with the mouse, the uninteresting elements will disappear.
+
* '''Scheduling''' - Set the day when your week begins. This is used to determine whether tasks should appear as scheduled for this week.
* Alt+Right Arrow can be used instead of Alt+Click, but still requires a mouse selection of an element in order for the uninteresting elements to disappear.
+
* '''Task Editing''' - Select whether tasks should be opened in the rich editor or an integrated browser window displaying the web interface for the task.
* Alt+Click can be held down when drilling down from a top-level element, e.g. navigating from a project element with everything filtered right down to a method declaration.
+
<br>
* Multiple Alt+Clicks are supported, but as soon as a normal click is made uninteresting elements will disappear.
+
Click "Advanced" to reveal the following additional settings.
* Ctrl+clicks (i.e. disjoint selections, use Command key on Mac) are also supported and will cause each element clicked to become interesting. The first non Ctrl+click will cause uninteresting elements to disappear. Note that Ctrl+clicked element will become interesting (turn from gray to black) but only the most recently-clicked one will be selected while Alt is held down.
+
* '''Task Timing''' - When a task is active, the time spent working on the task is recorded. If you check "Enable inactivity timeouts", time will not be accumulated while you are not actively working. You can set the number of minutes after which time will stop being accumulated toward the active task.
 +
* '''Task Data''' - Specify the location where your task list and task context data is stored.
  
== Automatically toggle focus on navigator views ==
+
== Context ==
  
For navigator views (''Package Explorer'', ''Project Explorer'' and ''Navigator'') the ''Apply Mylyn'' button can be set to automatically toggle on with task activation and off with task deactivation.  Note that the context-related preferences (including this one) are in ''Preferences -> Mylyn -> Context.''
+
Use the following checkboxes to set your preferences for the task-focused interface.
  
[[Image:Auto-appy-mylar.gif]]
+
* '''Auto focus navigator view on task activation''' - Automatically toggle "Focus on Active Task" on when activating a task in navigation views such as the Package Explorer.
 +
* '''Auto expand tree views when focused''' - When toggling "Focus on Active Task", automatically expand trees so that all interesting elements are visible.
 +
* '''Manage open editors to match task context''' - When checked, activating a task will automatically open editors corresponding to the most interesting files in the task context. When deactivating a task, all editors will automatically close. While a task is active, files that become less interesting will automatically close as you work.
 +
* '''Remove file from context when editor is closed''' - When this option is checked, closing an editor will be considered an indication that you not interested in the corresponding file. Therefore, files you close will be removed from the task context. If you tend to close editors for files that you may want to return to, try unchecking this setting.
 +
* '''Open last used perspective on task activation''' - When this option is checked, activating a task will automatically switch to the perspective that was in use when the task was last active.
  
== Working Set integration ==
+
== Resources ==
  
When Focus is applied to a navigator view the working sets filter for that navigator view will be disabled, ensuring that you see elements when working on elements that span working sets.  In order to force only elements within one working set to show do the following:
+
Use this preference page to add or remove resources that should not be included in the context of a task. Typically, excluded files are hidden backup or lock files that are not intented to be opened directly by the user of an application.
* Set the view to show working sets as top-level elements.
+
* Use the ''Go Into'' action on the popup menu of the working set node in the view to scope the view down to just the working set.
+
  
== Focus the Java Browsing Perspective views ==
+
== Breakpoints ==
  
The leftmost toolbar button visible in the image below will toggle focus on the ''Packages'', ''Types'' and ''Members'' views of the ''Java Browsing Perspective''.
+
Use this preference page to enable breakpoints in context.
  
[[Image:Mylar-java-browsing.gif]]
+
* '''Include breakpoints in task context (Experimental)''' - When this option is checked, each task will have its own set of breakpoints which will be shared when you attach context to the task. Breakpoints created while a task is active will be removed from the workspace on task deactivation and restored the next time the task is activated. This feature has the following limitations (tracked on [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=428378 bug 428378]):
 +
** Breakpoints in closed projects are deleted from the context on task activation and cannot be recovered.
 +
** Breakpoints stored in context will not have their locations updated as the code changes, so they may be restored at the wrong location.
  
= Team Support =
+
== Team ==
  
== Configuring the Synchronize view for change sets ==
+
* '''Automatically create and manage with task context''' - Enables automatic change set management. Change sets will be created automatically so that you can commit or update only resources that are in a task's context.
 +
* '''Commit Message Template''' - Set the values that will appear in commit messages that are automatically generated when committing resources associated with a task.
  
There are two modes for Eclipse's Change Sets support: the '''models''' mode (Eclipse 3.2 and later) and the '''standard''' mode.  These modes are unrelated to Mylyn and apply to both Mylyn's automated Change Sets and the ones you can created manually in Eclipse.  Note that not all tools may support both modes.  The instructions below are for the CVS support included with Mylyn.  Refer to the Mylyn integration documentation for your source control plug-in for additional instructions for Mylyn change set integration, if available. 
 
  
The ''models'' mode is toggled via ''Synchronize View -> Preferences -> CVS -> Allow Models to participate in synchronizations''.  The Eclipse UI for ''Change Sets'' is not obvious so consider the following guidelines if you are having problems with it.
 
* Subclipse users: note that Subclipse 1.2.3 and later functions as if in the models mode described below, so the additional configuration step is not needed.
 
 
If you are using the '''standard''' mode, ''Change Sets'' toolbar button will only appear if the ''Synchronize'' view is in ''Incoming'' or ''Outgoing'' mode, not in the combined ''Incoming/Outgoing'' mode.  This button must be pressed in order for change sets to appear.  For working with CVS two modes are indistinguishable beyond this limitation.  Subclipse only supports the standard mode.  If you '''switch modes''' you must re-create your synchronization via the ''Synchronize...'' button available from the first toolbar button on the ''Synchronize'' view.
 
 
[[Image:mylar-changesets-subclipse.gif]]
 
 
If you are using the '''models''' mode, which is '''recommended''' if available for your team provider, you will notice that the Mylyn Active Change Sets work show up with a decoration in the lower-right corner, and that you can view both incoming and outgoing change sets at the same time. 
 
<!--However, note that there is a refresh problem with this mode ([https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=142395 bug 142395]).  To work around it, if a Change Set you expect is missing or if you get a "There are no more Incoming/Outgoing changes" message in the view on startup, toggle the third toolbar button between ''All Models'' and ''Change Sets''.  If that doesn't resolve it activate and deactivate the current task.-->
 
* '''Note:''' if you have enabled the ''models'' mode, but do not see the overlay icon visible in the screenshot below, it is because you are using an old non-models based synchronization.  Old synchronizations are not updated automatically when you switch modes so you must create a new one.
 
 
[[Image:mylar-changesets-model-based.gif]]
 
 
== Automatic change sets ==
 
 
Operations such as '''committing''', '''updating''', and '''patch creation''' can all be performed on Mylyn's automatically managed ''Change Sets''.  <code>Right+click</code> the change set node to get the corresponding ''Team'' menu.  Changed resources that are not a part of any task context will appear under the root of the ''Synchronize'' view.  If needed missing resources can be added to the task context ''Change Set'' via the ''Synchronize'' View by <code>right+clicking</code> the resource and selecting ''Add to'' and then selecting the corresponding task.
 
 
== Automatic commit messages ==
 
 
Mylyn will automatically generate commit messages for you when you use its Change Set support.  To modify the template go to ''Window -> Preferences -> Mylyn -> Team -> Commit Comment Templates''.
 
 
[[Image:mylar-commit-tempates.gif]]
 
 
== Working with patches ==
 
 
When applying patches, the preferred scenario is to have a task context attached to the task along with the patch.  Since this is not always feasible, Mylyn provides an action in the popup menu of the ''Synchronize'' view that supports adding changed elements to the task context. 
 
# Activate the task containing the patch.
 
# Apply the patch.  If yo uare using automatic change sets, this will cause the change set created by Mylyn to contain the outoing changes.  If it doesn't you can use the ''Add to'' action on the popup menu to add the elements to the corresponding change set.
 
# Invoke the ''Add to Task Context'' action on the change set node, causing all of the changed files to be added to the task context.  You can also invoke this action on a selection one or more elements (e.g. files) in the view.
 
 
[[Image:synchronize-view-add.gif]]
 
  
 
= Task Repository Connectors =
 
= Task Repository Connectors =
 
Mylyn allows you to collaborate on tasks via a shared task repository, also known as bug tracking systems.  In order to collaborate, you need to have a '''Connector''' to your particular repository.
 
Mylyn allows you to collaborate on tasks via a shared task repository, also known as bug tracking systems.  In order to collaborate, you need to have a '''Connector''' to your particular repository.
  
Presently [[#Bugzilla_Connector|Bugzilla]], [[#JIRA_Connector|JIRA]], and [[#Trac_Connector|Trac]] are supported. To connect to unsupported repositories, see [[#Generic_Web_Repository_Connector| Generic Web Repository Connectors]]. '''Also''', be sure to  [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=anywordssubstr&short_desc=%5Bconnector%5D&product=Mylyn&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0= vote for your favourite Connector] to see it supported earlier, or [http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn/bugs.php create a new bug] if your issue tracker is not listed.
+
See [[Mylyn/Extensions|Mylyn Extensions]] for a list of available connectors.
  
 
== Bugzilla Connector ==
 
== Bugzilla Connector ==
  
Once Mylyn is installed there are a few steps involved to get up and running.
+
* See the [[Mylyn/Bugzilla_Connector| Bugzilla Connector]] wiki page.
* To access tasks (reports/issues) on a repository such as Bugzilla you must first set up a ''Task Repository''
+
* See [[Mylyn/FAQ#Bugzilla_Connector| Bugzilla Connector Troubleshooting]].
** Navigate to ''Window -> Show View -> Other -> Mylyn -> Task Repositories'' to open the ''Task Repositories'' view. Task Repositories view can also be launched via the Task List view menu.
+
** Launch the add repository wizard by pressing the add repository button located in the view's toolbar [[Image:Mylar-add-repository.png]].
+
** The first page of this wizard asks for the type of repository you wish to connect to (if you have installed multiple connectors). Select ''Bugzilla'' for example and press the ''Next'' button.
+
** On the second page you can enter the repository's address and your login credentials. After filling in these details, press the ''Validate'' button to ensure the repository exists and your login credentials are valid. Once the settings validate you can finish the wizard. The repository you added will be shown in the ''Task Repositories'' view.
+
[[Image:Mylar-repository-configuration.jpg|Repository Configuration]]
+
* Once the repository has been created, you may add queries to the Task List.
+
** In the ''Task List'' view right click anywhere in the list pane and select ''New Query'' from the context menu.
+
** Choose the repository you added in the previous steps.
+
** Enter query title and search criteria and then press ''Finish''.
+
** A query with the title you gave will appear in the Task List and will synchronize with the remote repository. If the query has hits they will appear within the query folder you've created.
+
** Double click to open a hit. Double click on the query to edit the query parameters.
+
** Click on the lightly shaded button (left of task icon) in the Task List to activate the task. Click again to deactivate.
+
 
+
See also [[Mylyn/FAQ#Bugzilla_Connector| Bugzilla Connector Troubleshooting]].
+
 
+
 
+
=== Bugzilla Tasks ===
+
 
+
* If the Bugzilla task's severity is "major", "blocker", or "critical", the task icon in the Task List will be decorated with a red dot.
+
* If the Bugzilla task's severity is "enhancement" the task icon in the Task List will be decorated with a green triangle.
+
* Tasks will be colored green in the task list if they were resolved today and are owned by you. Unfortuantely Bugzilla does not have a notion of a completion date so we simply check the last comment timestamp and assume it to be the completion date (see {{bug|215342}}).
+
 
+
=== Tips for server administrators ===
+
 
+
Mylyn periodically checks config.cgi to retrieve the repository configuration.
+
On Eclipse.org this resulted in heavy CPU Load for the regeneration and a big surge in band width use.
+
* This configuration seldom changes so can be cached and served from a file instead of being regenerated every time.  While the size of this file tends to be small when hosting less than a dozen projects, it can be large on repositories holding large numbers of projects, e.g. 900K on bugs.eclipse.org.
+
* Generated bugzilla output contains a lot of unnecessary whitespace which can be trimmed before caching. For bugs.eclipse.org this reduces the file to about <em>660K</em>.
+
* The remaining file contains a lot of redundancy so can be gzipped for further reduction.  On bugs.eclipse.org this leaves about ''28K'', a considerable saving.
+
 
+
Mylyn has been modified to accept gzip encoding on all requests, and will do content negotiation. See [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=205708 bug 205708].
+
 
+
'''To add caching for your Bugzilla repository:'''
+
* Change the name of config.cgi to config-stock.cgi and get the caching code in a new config.cgi.
+
* The current version of this caching config.cgi script is hosted at:
+
  via CVS: :pserver:anonymous@dev.eclipse.org:/cvsroot/technology/org.eclipse.phoenix/infra-scripts/bugzilla/
+
  or: http://dev.eclipse.org/viewcvs/index.cgi/org.eclipse.phoenix/infra-scripts/bugzilla/?root=Technology_Project
+
* Modifications on this script are followed on [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=205416 bug 205416]
+
  
 
== Trac Connector ==
 
== Trac Connector ==
The Trac connector offers two access methods:
 
 
* '''Trac 0.9 and later''': In this mode the standard Trac web interface is used for repository access. Tickets may be created and edited through a web browser.
 
* '''XML-RPC Plugin''' (Trac trunk): This requires the latest revision (1175) of the [http://trac-hacks.org/wiki/XmlRpcPlugin XmlRpcPlugin] for Trac to be enabled for the accessed repository. The XmlRpcPlugin provides a remote interface to the Trac repository and is distributed separately from Trac (see [http://trac.edgewall.org/ticket/217 #217]). Currently, Trac and the XmlRpcPlugin need to be installed from source. See these [http://trac-hacks.org/wiki/XmlRpcPlugin#Installation install instructions] for requirements and documentation.
 
 
The Trac connector integrates Trac queries into the Task List. If you do not know your Trac repository version use the ''Automatic'' setting and click ''Validate Settings''.
 
 
 
'''New Task Editor'''
 
 
A rich editor for creating new Trac tasks is available for repositories that use XML-RPC (see the  [http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Mylyn_FAQ FAQ] for XML-RPC configuration instructions).
 
 
[[Image:Trac-editor-new.gif]]
 
 
 
'''Rich Editor, Attachments and Offline support'''
 
 
The Trac connector supports the rich task editor.  Attributes and comments can be viewed and edited offline, synchronization is done in the background, and attachments can be posted and retrieved. 
 
 
Task Context attachments are supported via the context menu actions in the Task List.  This support requires the Trac XML-RPC plug-in to be enabled and the integration will fall back to the web mode if it is not, (see:  [http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Mylyn_FAQ#Trac_Connector_troubleshooting Trac Connector troubleshooting]).
 
 
[[Image:Trac-editor.gif]]
 
 
== JIRA Connector ==
 
 
See [http://confluence.atlassian.com/display/JIRAEXT/Mylyn this page] for install instructions and additional screen shots. Note that the Mylyn JIRA connector requires at least JIRA version 3.3.3 and SOAP/RPC services have to be enabled on the server.
 
 
<b>Rich Editor</b>
 
 
The JIRA connector provides a rich editor, offline editing, and change notifications.
 
 
[[Image:Jira-editor.gif]]
 
 
<b>Search Integration</b>
 
 
Searching through JIRA repositories is integrated with the ''Search'' dialog.
 
 
[[Image:Jira-search.gif]]
 
 
<b>Query</b>
 
  
The JIRA query dialog has been streamlined into a single page.  Date range queries are now supported.
+
See [[Mylyn/FAQ#Trac_Connector|Trac Connector Troubleshooting]].
  
[[Image:Jira-query.gif]]
 
  
See also [[Mylyn_FAQ#JIRA_Connector_troubleshooting|JIRA Connector Troubleshooting]].
 
  
== Generic Web Repository Connector ==
+
== Generic Web Templates Connector ==
  
The generic web repository connector is NOT part of the default Mylyn install. You can install it from a separate extras update site. See [http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn/downloads/ Mylyn download page] for more details.
+
The generic web repository connector is NOT part of the default Mylyn install. You can install it from the incubator update site. See [http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn/downloads/ Mylyn download page] for more details.
  
 
The web connector allow to retrieve tasks from repositories that don't have rich connectors, but can show list of tasks on the web UI. Out of the box connector provides configuration templates for the following issue tracking systems:
 
The web connector allow to retrieve tasks from repositories that don't have rich connectors, but can show list of tasks on the web UI. Out of the box connector provides configuration templates for the following issue tracking systems:
Line 815: Line 612:
 
The parameters used for configuring project properties are typically substituted into the URLs used to access the repository. Substitution and matching rules can be edited under the ''Advanced Configuration'' section on both the ''Repository Settings'' page and the ''Edit Query'' page.
 
The parameters used for configuring project properties are typically substituted into the URLs used to access the repository. Substitution and matching rules can be edited under the ''Advanced Configuration'' section on both the ''Repository Settings'' page and the ''Edit Query'' page.
  
See [[Mylyn/FAQ#Generic_Web_Repository_Connector|FAQ]] for the troubleshooting tips.
+
See [[Mylyn/FAQ#Web_Templates_Connector|FAQ]] for the troubleshooting tips.
  
 
'''For example''', consider the configuration steps for GlassFish project at <code>java.net</code>:
 
'''For example''', consider the configuration steps for GlassFish project at <code>java.net</code>:
Line 847: Line 644:
 
[[Image:Generic-web-repository-settings.gif]]
 
[[Image:Generic-web-repository-settings.gif]]
  
== XPlanner Connector ==
+
[[Category:Draft Documentation]]
 
+
The XPlanner connector is currently in the Experimental state.  It supports XPlanner version .7.
+
 
+
'''Query'''
+
 
+
XPlanner Connector supports creating queries from your XPlanner repository.  You can select to create a query for your own in progress tasks (the default), or select projects or iterations or user stories from a list.  You can also select ones assigned to you, or all.  Currently you can choose to group the results by tasks or user stories.  If you group the results by tasks, this will result in a single query with the applicable tasks underneath it.  If you choose to group the results by user stories, this will result in multiple queries added to the task list, each one corresponding to a user story, with the applicable tasks underneath it:
+
 
+
[[Image:XPlannerQuery.jpg]]
+
 
+
'''Task Editor'''
+
 
+
A rich editor for editing XPlanner tasks is available.  It currently doesn't support all of the attributes you can change in XPlanner itself, but allows you to modify the basic ones necessary for XP development -- e.g. summary, description, estimated time. The attributes section of the editor displays an XPlanner-like view of the meaningful attributes, some of which are not editable.
+
 
+
[[Image:XPlannerTaskEditor.gif]]
+
 
+
 
+
'''User Story Editor'''
+
 
+
If you open an XPlanner element by id, using the "Open Repository Task by Key/ID" dialog, and that id is a user story id, you will see the read-only user story editor.  This editor is just useful for seeing the major details of a user story -- no items in it can be changed, since there is no really good mapping between a user story and a Mylyn task.
+
 
+
[[Image:XPlannerUserStoryEditor.gif]]
+
 
+
= Integration with other tools =
+
 
+
See the '''[[Mylyn Extensions]]''' page for a listing of integration downloads.
+
 
+
Mylyn relies on [[Mylyn Architecture|Bridges]] to integrate the context model with the structure and UI features of domain-specific tools. To create a Bridge, see [[Mylyn_Integrator_Reference#Creating_Bridges| Creating Bridges]].
+
 
+
The core set of Bridges supports the Eclipse SDK (i.e. has bridges for Java, JUnit, PDE, Ant and Resources).  The Resources Bridge enables a basic level of interoperability with other tools that use files (e.g. <code>.php, .cpp</code>), and enables Mylyn filtering to work for generic views that show those files (i.e. the ''Project Explorer'', ''Navigator'') and any corresponding markers (i.e. the ''Problems'' and ''Tasks'' views).  This is only the most basic context model integration, and does not offer the benefits of a specialized structure bridge, such as making declarations part of the context and providing ''Active Search'' facilities.  Without a Bridge Mylyn cannot be applied to tool-specific views. 
+
 
+
'''If you would like to see support for a particular tool''', first do a search of the open bridge requests and [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=anywordssubstr&short_desc=%5Bbridge%5D&product=Mylyn&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0= vote for the corresponding bug] if your tool is there, or [http://www.eclipse.org/mylyn/bugs.php create a new bug].  Also consider adding your experiences to the [[Mylyn_FAQ#Integration_with_other_tools | "Integration..."]] section of the Mylyn FAQ.
+
 
+
== Using Mylyn with WTP ==
+
 
+
Context modeling works at the file level, noting the limitation of [https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=144882 bug 144882: interest filter fails on WTP Dynamic Web Project]
+
 
+
== External builders ==
+
 
+
If an external builder (e.g. Maven, pydev, or other Ant-based builders) is producing output files that are being automatically added to your context because they are not being marked "derived" as with Eclipse-based builders.  You may note that such files are always show as interesting when they are generated or updated and can not be filtered away, since Mylyn expects all files that have changed as part of the task context to have interest.
+
 
+
In this case you can explicitly exclude these files from being added to the task context the ''Preferences -> Mylyn -> Resources'' page.  For example, if the output folder of the builder is "target", you could set this the following way.  Similarly, you could add a filter for "*.pyc" to exclude all files generated with that extension.
+
 
+
Source code generators can be considered analogous since they produce intermediate files.  However, if you want to inspect the results of the source code generation after it is done you can avoid setting the exclusion.  Note that if a large number of files was generated not all generated files may be unfiltered.
+
 
+
[[Image:mylar-resource-exclusion.gif]]
+

Revision as of 13:00, 25 August 2015

Task List

Use the Task List to view and manage your tasks. If the task list view is not visible, you can open it by navigating to Window -> Show View -> Other... -> Mylyn -> Task List. The Task List contains both "Local Tasks" and shared repository tasks that are stored in a task repository such as Bugzilla or Trac. Local tasks are typically contained in categories, which you can create by right-clicking on the task list and selecting New -> Category. Repository tasks are contained in special categories that represent queries.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-List-Categorized1.png

At the top of the Task List, you will find the following buttons and features:

  • New Task - Create a new local or repository task.
  • Synchronize - Update repository tasks with changes from the server.
  • Task Presentation - Toggle between Scheduled and Categorized presentations.
  • Focus on Workweek - See only tasks scheduled for this week.
  • Find - search for a task by typing in words from the task summary, or specify specific fields to query. See Finding Tasks for details.
  • Working set indicator - Indicates the currently active working set. Use the black arrow on the left to change the working set.
  • Current task indicator - Indicates the currently active task. Use the black arrow on the left to re-activate a recently active task.

Finding Tasks

The task list can be filtered by providing a phrase to match against the task summary. The phrase must appear in the summary of a task for the task to be visible when a filter is applied. The task list filter operates by searching on a locally-maintained index of the tasks in your task list. (In rare cases, it may be necessary to manually refresh the search index by selecting "Refresh Search Index" from the task list menu.)

  • Search for task summary or task id by entering the value. For example, NullPointerException or 12345.
  • Search for other task fields such as description or assignee by prefixing them with the field name. For example description:NullPointerException will search in the task description rather than the summary. Content assist can be used to provide a list of common field names, and will provide a list of known user names when searching on user fields.

Task-list-index-reporter.png

  • Search for date ranges by qualifying the range. For example, show tasks that were created in the (past week).

Task-list-index-content-assist.png

  • Search for an exact phrase by enclosing it in double-quotes. For example, description:"user experience".
  • Search for partial words by using the "*" wildcard. For example, exc*tion matches both "exclamation" and "exception".

Available Fields

Available fields can be found by using content assist in the search field. The following fields are available for search with most repositories:

content
match against any of summary, description, comments and other long text fields
summary
the task summary
description
match against the task description
person
match against any person field, such as reporter, assignee, watcher, etc.
task_key
match against the task or bug id
attachment
match against attachment names
assignee
match against the assignee of the task
reporter
match against the reporter of the task
product
match against the product of the task
component
match against the component of the task
creation_date
match against the date when the task was created
completion_date
match against the date when the task was completed
due_date
match against the date when the task is due
modification_date
match against the date when the task was last modified
status
match against the status
resolution
match against the resolution
severity
match against the severity

Some fields listed above may not be available depending on the repository and connector.

Search Operators

The Task List provides logical operators. For example, NPE AND Display. Note that unlike other search phrases, search operators are case-sensitive; otherwise, the words are treated as part of the search phrase.

AND
Searches for tasks that contain both words.
OR
Searches for tasks that contain at least one word.

Task List Presentation

The task list supports several ways to present tasks. You can toggle between the following modes by using the "Task Presentation" button in the toolbar.

  • Categorized - View tasks grouped by their category

Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-List-Presentation-Select-Categorized.png


  • Scheduled - View tasks grouped by the "scheduled date"

Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-List-Presentation-Select-Scheduled.png


In either presentation, you can toggle the "Focus on Workweek" button. In this mode, only the following tasks will be visible:

  • Tasks scheduled for this week.
  • Overdue tasks.
  • Tasks with unread changes from your task repository.

Icon Legend and Color Coding

See the legend below to interpret the icons and color coding in the task list. You can view this legend by selecting "Show UI Legend" from the menu that appears when you click the white down arrow next to the minimize button in the top right corner of the Task List view.

Feature-Reference-3.0-UI-Legend.png


Creating New Tasks

Feature-Reference-3.0-New-Task1.png

You can create new tasks by clicking on the "New Task" button in the Task List's toolbar. This will open the "New Task" dialog and prompt you to select a repository. There are two main types of tasks, local tasks and repository tasks.

Local Tasks

Use local tasks if you do not have a shared task repository or if you would like to create a private, personal task that is local to your workspace. To create a local task, select Local Task and "Finish" from the New Task dialog.

Feature-Guide-3.0-Local-Task1.png

You can then provide the following details about the task.

  • Task Description - Your task is called "New Task" by default. Replace this with a brief task description.
  • Priority - Set the priority of your task. This will affect the task's icon and order in the task list.
  • Status - Set your task to "complete" or "incomplete". In your task list, completed tasks have a strikethrough font and will appear lower in the list.
  • URL - You can associate a URL with this task.
    • "Retrieve Task Description from URL" button - Set the task description to the title of the associated URL (page)
    • "Open with Web Browser" button - Open the URL in the integrated web browser
  • Scheduled For - Set the date when you will work on this task. Tasks scheduled for today or a date in the past will appear in blue in your task list. Tasks scheduled for future days will appear in black. If your task list is in focused mode, only tasks for the current week will be visible (unless they have unread changes).
  • Due - Set the date when your task must be completed. Overdue tasks and tasks due today will appear in red in your task list.
  • Estimated Hours - Estimate the number of hours it will take to complete this task.
  • Active - Displays the total time that you have worked on this task. Time is only recorded when this task is active and you are actively interacting with the system.
  • Notes - Record your personal notes about this task.


Repository Tasks

Create a new repository task when you would like to share information about the task with your team using a task repository such as Bugzilla or JIRA. To create a new repository task, click on the "New Task" button in the Task List's toolbar. You can then select the repository where you would like to create a task. If you don't see your team's task repository, you will need to configure it in the task repositories view. Once you have selected a repository, click "Next". If you are connecting to a Bugzilla repository, select a "Product" as a top-level category for your task and click "Finish".

Feature-Guide-3.0-Repository-Task1.png

A new task editor will appear. If you are using Bugzilla, you can enter the following information:

Required

  • Description - Enter a brief task description in the text box at the top (this box does not have a label).
  • Component - Specify a "Component" to further categorize this task within the previously selected "Product".
  • Description - Describe the task in detail.

Optional

  • You can specify additional information about your tasks in the "Attributes" section.
  • Personal Planning - You can enter information in this section that will be local to your workspace and not available on your team's task repository. See "Local Tasks" for more information about the personal planning fields.
  • Assigned to - Specify who should work on the task. Type the first several characters of the person's email address, and then press ctrl+space to select the address from a list. A task can be assigned to only one person at a time.
  • Add CC - Add the addresses of people who should be notified of changes to this task. You can add multiple addresses, separated by a comma, e.g. (mik.kersten@tasktop.com, steffen.pingel@tasktop.com).

When finished, click "Submit" to add your new task to your team's shared task repository.


Creating new Queries

Feature-Reference-3.0-New-Query-Combined.png

Once you have configured your team's task repository, you can use Queries to add tasks to your task list.

  • If the Task List is not visible, navigate to Window -> Show View -> Other -> Mylyn -> Task List
  • Right-click on the Task List and select "New -> Query..."
  • Select the repository whose tasks you would like to download and click "Next".
  • If you are prompted to select a query type, select "Create query using form" and click "Next".
  • Complete the form to define which tasks will be downloaded as part of this query, and then click "Finish". You can provide values for only as many parameters as necessary to filter the query results.

If you are using the Bugzilla connector, you can specify the following parameters by default. The parameters for most other connectors will be similar.

  • Query Title - Label that appears in your task list.
  • Summary - Specify words that must appear in the summary of tasks matched by this query.
  • Comment - Words that must appear in the comments of matching tasks.
  • Email - Specify all or part of an email address. This address is used together with the following options:
    • Owner - The specified email must match the person who the task is assigned to
    • Reporter - The specified email must match the person who created the task
    • CC - The person with the specified email address must be CC'd on the task
    • Commenter - The person with the specified email address must have commented on the task
    • You can choose from the following options to specify how the email address will be matched:
      • substring - Only a part of the specified address must match
      • exact - The specified email address must match exactly
      • regexp - The email address must match the specified regular expression
      • notregexp - The email address must NOT match the specified regular expression
  • Email 2 - You can use this parameter to specify another email address to further restrict the results
  • Keywords - Click the "Select..." button to specify a keyword that must be associated with matching tasks
  • Product, Component, Version, ... - Optionally select parameters to restrict the results to a particular product, version, etc.
  • Update Attributes from Repository - Click this to refresh the available parameters if the project structure on the task respository has changed recently.
  • Changed in: - Only tasks modified within the specified number of days will appear in the query results


Scheduling

Two kinds of dates for scheduling are provided.

Scheduled Date

  • A soft date used for personal scheduling that can be easily deferred as priorities change. The scheduled date is the date you plan to start working on the task.
  • When a task reaches its scheduled date it will turn blue, indicating that the task should be activated and worked on today.
  • Scheduled dates are private to your local workspace

Due Date

  • A hard date when the task must be completed. This is often related to external constraints such as deadlines.
  • If you are using a shared task repository, due dates become an attribute of the shared task and will be visible to other team members.
  • A task with a due date has a small clock overlay that is blue before the due date and red after.

Synchronization

Repository tasks and queries are synchronized to reflect the latest changes on the server. Tasks are synchronized the following ways:

  • Automatic Synchronization. By default, tasks will be synchronized with the repository every 20 minutes. Automatic synchronization can be disabled via the Synchronize Automatically option in the view menu (e.g. when working with intermittently available connectivity). The synchronization interval can be changed via Preferences -> Mylyn -> Task List.
  • On Task Open. Tasks are synchronized automatically in the background when a task editor is opened.
  • Manually. Individual tasks and queries can be synchronized manually by right-clicking on them in the Task List and selecting "Synchronize", or via the toolbar button. Clicking the toolbar button will synchronize all queries in your task list.


Disconnected Mode
A task repository can be put into Disconnected mode via the right-click menu in the Task Repositories view. This can be useful if the task repository is not currently in use (e.g. you are no longer engaged with the project, or the repository is no longer available). The offline support will ensure that you can still access tasks that you have worked with via their offline copies, and the Disconnected mode will ensure that synchronization warnings do not appear. Note that it is not necessary to turn off synchronization or work in Disconnected Mode when working offline.

Incoming Changes

A blue arrow to the left of a task indicates that the task has changed in the shared repository. Double-click the task to view it in the task editor. Changes to the task will be highlighted in blue.

To quickly review the differences since the task was last read, hover over the task in the Task List to view a summary in a tooltip. You can also press F4 to display a tooltip. You may also wish to view the task list in "Focus on Workweek" mode, which will filter out tasks without incoming changes that are not scheduled or due this week. You can toggle "Focus on Workweek" using a button in the Task List's toolbar.


Reviewing Tasks

The task list has been carefully designed to support quickly reviewing tasks. Task reviewing is best done by configuring a query to show the tasks that you want to review. Once the tasks are displayed in the Task List they can be reviewed one at a time by scrolling through them using the keyboard up/down arrows. The task tooltip should provide enough detail to do a review and will display information relevant to the currently selected task.

To edit the selected task press the enter key, use Ctrl+Enter to open the task in the background. To quickly jump to the next unread task hold down the Alt-key when pressing up or down. To mark a task as read while navigating use Alt+shift+up/down. When reviewing tasks in this way, it is best to avoid mouse-based and gesture-based scrolling.


Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-List-Tooltip.png

Task Progress Indicators

Weekly progress
When in Focus on Workweek mode (right-most toolbar button), the Task List will show a progress bar that indicates progress on the tasks scheduled for the current week. Each task that is scheduled for the week but not yet completed adds to the bar. A task completed by you adds to the green progress in the bar. Deferring a task to a future week will also add to the apparent progress because it will remove the task from the current week. Mousing over the bar will indicate details about your progress, such as the number of tasks and hours completed. To avoid the need for manual estimation by default every task is estimated for 1 hour, but if you have longer or shorter running tasks that week you can adjust the estimate in the task editor's Planning page to ensure that the progress bar is accurate.

Note that when in Focus on Workweek mode the Task List will show each of the tasks scheduled for this week. However, overdue tasks and those with incoming changes will also show, making the number of tasks visible not be a reliable indicator of progress on the tasks planned for the week.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Weekly-Progress.png


Category Progress
You can hover over categories in the task list to display a tooltip that displays a summary of complete and incomplete tasks.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Category-Progress.png

Task List Settings and Operations

Click the small white arrow in the top right of the Task List view to access the following settings:

  • Go Up to Root - Return to the normal presentation after previously selecting "Go Into" to see only the tasks in a particular category.
  • Sort - Open a dialog to set the sort order for the task list. This option is only available when the task list is not in "Focus on Workweek" mode.
  • Filter priority lower than - Hide tasks with a priority less than the priority you select. This option is only availabe when the task list is not in "Focus on Workweek" mode.
  • Filter completed tasks - Hide local and repository tasks that are in a completed state.
  • Search Repository - Opens a dialog to search for repository tasks. Search results will appear in a separate search results view.
  • Restore Tasks from History - Opens a dialog for restoring lost tasks.
  • Synchronize Changed - Updates the task list with any changes on the task repository.
  • Synchronize Automatically - When checked, the task list will update from the task repository on an interval specified in Window -> Preferences -> Tasks -> Synchronization
  • Show UI Legend - Displays a legend explaining icons and color-coding.
  • Focus on Workweek - Displays only tasks that are scheduled for this week, overdue, or have unread changes.
  • Link with Editor - Automatically selects the task corresponding to the active task editor.
  • Preferences - Access additional Task List preferences.


Right-clicking in the task list provides access to the following operations

  • New... - Create new categories, queries, and tasks.
  • Open with Browser - Open the task in a web browser tab rather than the rich editor.
  • Schedule for - Set the soft date when you intend to work on the task.
  • Mark as - Mark a task as read or unread as you would an email message.
  • Copy Details - Places the task summary and html link in the clipboard so you can paste it into an email, document, etc.
  • Delete - Deletes local tasks. For repository tasks, the all downloaded data and local task information will be cleared but the task will re-appear if it still matches a query.
  • Rename - Rename a task.
  • Go into (queries only) - Show only the tasks in the selected category.
  • Import and Export - Access functionality for importing and exporting task data.
  • Repository (queries only) - Update repository settings
  • Synchronize - Update the selected tasks or queries from the shared task repository
  • Properties - Edit the settings for a repository query

Task Repositories

Feature-Reference-3.0-Add-Task-Repository.png


Use the Task Repositories view to configure Mylyn to connect to your team's shared task repository (bug or issue tracker):

  • Open the task repositories view by navigating to Window -> Show View -> Other -> Mylyn -> Task Repositories
  • Click the "Add Task Repository" button located in the view's toolbar.
  • Select the type of repository you wish to connect to and click "Next". If you don't see your repository type, you will need to install the appropriate connector.
  • Enter the repository's address and your login credentials. After filling in these details, press the Validate button to ensure the repository exists and your login credentials are valid. Once the settings validate, Click Finish. Note that the settings will vary somewhat depending on the type of repository that you are connecting to. The screenshot shows the settings fore connecting to a Bugzilla repository.
  • You should now see the new repository in the Task Repositories view.
  • Now that you have created a repository, you may add queries to the Task List.

Task Editor

The task editor allows you to view and edit the tasks in your task list. Double-click on a task in your task list to open the editor. The features of the task editor will vary depending on whether it is a local task or a shared repository task. For shared repository tasks, there are some differences depending on the type of repository (and corresponding connector) that you are using (link: connectors).

Repository Task Details

In this section, we describe the task editor for shared bugs in a Bugzilla repository. Task editors for other repository types such as JIRA offer similar functionality.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-Editor-Top.png

Editor toolbar buttons

  • Synchronize Incoming Changes - Updates the local copy of the task to reflect any changes on the server.
  • Create a new subtask - Creates a new task that will be considered a prerequisite to completing the current task. Subtasks appear nested under their parent task in the task list. In Bugzilla terminology, the subtask "Blocks" the parent task and the subtask's ID will appear in the "Blocks:" field of the parent task.
  • History - Displays the task's change history in an internal browser using the web interface.
  • Open with Web Browser - Displays the web interface for the task in an internal web browser.
  • Find - Find text in comments, description, summary and private notes.
  • Activate - Toggles the activation and deactivation of the task.

Attributes Use the Attributes section to add or update structured information about the task.

Team Planning The Team Planning section contains time-related information about the task that will be shared with your team. You can use the Due field to set a due date for your task. On the due date, the task will appear in red in your task list.


Attachments You can attach a file to this task so that a copy will be uploaded to your task repository and become available to anyone who can access the task.

To attach a file

  • click the "Attach..." button, which will open a wizard.
  • Select from one of the following:
    • File - Uploads a file from your system. Click "Browse" on the right to select the file.
    • Clipboard -
    • Workspace - Uploads a file from your workspace. Select the file from the box below.
  • Click next to enter attachment details:
    • Description - Provide a brief description of the file. This description will appear in the attachment list in the task editor.
    • Comment - Provide a comment about the file. This comment will appear in the comments section of the task editor.
    • Content Type - Optionally specify a content type for the file
    • Patch - Check this if the attachment is a source code patch file
    • Attach Context - Check this if you would also like to attach the context of your task. This context describes the resources that are most relevant to the task. If you attach a context, others can download it and focus the UI on the same resources that are relevant to you.
    • Click "Next" to preview your file. If your file is an image, a preview of the file will appear.
    • Click "Finish" to upload the file to the task repository. Files are uploaded without the need to click "submit" at the bottom of the task editor.


Duplicate Detection When submitting bug reports, you can avoid duplicates by clicking the "Search" button. This will search the repository for a stack trace that matches a stack trace in the task's Description field. The results of the duplicate detection show up in the Search view. If a match is found, you can open it and comment instead of creating a new bug report.

Comments Use this section to add new comments about the task and view all previous comments. Comments you have read previously are folded. You can expand and re-read individual comments or click the "+" at the top right to expand all comments.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Task-Editor-Bottom.png

Actions Use this section to change the task's status or reassign the task to another person.

  • Attach Context - Uploads information about the resources that you have interacted with to the server. The context will appear in the attachments list so that others can download it and focus their UI on the resources that you found relevant for this task.
  • Submit - Submits all local changes to the task to your team's shared task repository.


People This section shows the people who are collaborating on the task.

  • Assigned to - This is the person who is responsible for completing the task
  • Reporter - This person created the task
  • QA Contact -
  • Add CC - Use this box to add new people to the "CC" list. People on the "CC" list will be notified of any changes to this task. To add a new person, type the start of their email address and then press ctrl+space to complete the address using content assist. You can add several addresses, separated with a comma.
  • CC - This box shows the people who are currently on the "CC" list. To remove a person, simply select their email address so that it is highlighted and click "Submit". You can hold down ctrl to select multiple people.

Context

The context tab allows you to manage the context of resources associated with the task. You can view the context tab by selecting it in the lower left of the editor window.

Elements
This section lists the resources that are part of the task's context. Because the number of elements may be large, you can adjust the level of detail using the slider at the top of the Actions section. Sliding the control all the way to the left will show you all elements in your task context. As you slide to the right, only the elements with a high level of interest will be displayed. You can manually remove elements from your task context by right-clicking and selecting "Remove From Context". You may choose to view all elements and prune irrelevant items in this way before attaching the context to the task so that others can download it.

Actions

  • Element Detail Slider - Adjusts the minimum level of interest required for an element to be displayed in the Elements section.
  • Attach Context - Attaches the context to the task so that it is available for download from the shared task repository. The context consists of the elements shown on the right.
  • Retrieve Context - Replaces the current task context with one that is attached to the task in the shared task repository.
  • Copy Context to... - Copy the task context to another task. That task will then have the same context as the current task.
  • Clear Context. - Removes all context information from the task.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Context-Tab.png

Planning

Use the planning tab to access local information about the task that is private to your workspace. You can view the planning tab by selecting it in the lower left of the editor window. This tab contains a large area where you can enter personal notes about the task. See the local task section for more information about fields in the Personal Planning section.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Planning-Tab.png

Task-Focused Interface

The task-focused interface is oriented around tasks and offers several ways to focus the interface on only what is relevant for the currently active task.

Focusing Navigator Views

You can focus navigator views (e.g. Package Explorer, Project Explorer, Navigator) by toggling the "Focus on Active Task" button in the toolbar. When focused, the view will show only the resources that are "interesting" for the currently active task.

Feature-Guide-3.0-Package-Explorer-Focused.png

Alt+Click Navigation / Show Filtered Children

To navigate to a new resource that is not a part of the active task's context, you can toggle "Focus on Active Task" off, browse to the resource, and then click "Focus on Active Task" again to see only relevant resources. A more efficient way to add new resources is to use Alt+Click navigation (clicking the mouse while holding the Alt key) or click the [+] icon that appears to the right of a tree node when the mouse hovers over it.

When a view is in Focused mode, you can click the [+] icon to the right of a node, or Alt+Click the node, to temporarily show all of its children.

  • Once an element that was previously not interesting is selected with the mouse, it becomes interesting and the other child elements will disappear. The clicked element is now a part of the task's context.
  • You can drill down multiple levels of filtered nodes by clicking the [+] icon to the right of each node you want to unfilter. Note that trying to expand the node in other ways (e.g. clicking the triangle to the left of the node) will not show its filtered children - clicking anywhere in the view (other than a [+] icon) will hide all filtered children again.
  • Alt can be held down while clicking to drill down from a top-level element to a deeply nested element that is to be added to the task context.
  • Multiple Alt+Clicks are supported so that you can add several elements to the task context. As soon as a normal click is made, uninteresting elements will disappear.
  • Ctrl+Clicks (i.e. disjoint selections, use Command key on Mac) are also supported and will cause each element clicked to become interesting. The first normal click will cause uninteresting elements to disappear. Note that Ctrl+clicked elements will become interesting (turn from gray to black) but only the most recently-clicked one will be selected while Alt is held down.

Show filtered children.png

Focusing Editors

Some editors such as the Java editor support focusing. Clicking the Focus button in the toolbar will fold all declarations that are not part of the active task context.

Feature-Guide-3.0-Focused-Editor.png

Task-focused Ordering

When a task is active, elements that are interesting are displayed more prominently. For example, when you open the Java Open Type dialog (Ctrl+Shift+T), types that are interesting for the active task are shown first. Similarly, when you use ctrl+space to autocomplete a method name in a Java source file, methods that are in the task context are displayed at the top.

Working Set Integration

When Focus is applied to a navigator view, the working sets filter for that navigator view will be disabled. This ensures that you see all interesting elements when working on a task that spans working sets. To enforce visibility of only elements within one working set, do the following:

  • Set the view to show working sets as top-level elements.
  • Use the Go Into action on the popup menu of the working set node in the view to scope the view down to just the working set.

Open Task dialog

An Open Type style dialog is available for opening tasks (Ctrl+F12) and for activating tasks (Ctrl+F9). The list is initially populated by recently active tasks. The active task can also be deactivated via Ctrl+Shift+F9. This can be used as a keyboard-only alternative for multi-tasking without the Task List view visible. These actions appear in the Navigate menu.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Open-Task.png

Task Hyperlinking

In the task editor, comments that include text of the form bug#123 or task#123 or bug 123 will be hyperlinked. Ctrl+clicking on this text will open the task or bug in the rich task editor.

To support hyperlinks within other text editors such as code or .txt files, the project that contains the file must be associated with a particular task repository. This is configured by right-clicking on the project and navigating to "Properties" > "Task Repository" and selecting the task repository used when working with this project.

Reporting Bugs from the Error Log

Bugs can created directly from events in the Error Log view. This will create a new repository task editor with the summary and description populated with the error event's details. If the Connector you are using does not have a rich editor, the event details will be placed into the clipboard so that you can paste them into the web-based editor that will be opened automatically.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Error-Log.png

Team Support

The task-focused interface provides several ways to improve your work flow when working with a source code repository such as CVS or Subversion. CVS support is available out-of-the-box and task-focused interface integration for Subversion is available via the Subclipse or Subversive plugins.

Task-focused Change Sets

When working with a source code repository, you can commit or update only the resources that are in the context of a particular task. This helps you work on several tasks concurrently and avoid polluting your workspace with changes that are not relevant to the current task.

To enable this functionality, locate the "Synchronize" view. If the view is not visible, you can open it by navigating to Window -> Show View -> Other... -> Team -> Synchronize. Next, click the small black arrow next to "Show File System Resources" in the Synchronize view toolbar and select "Change Sets". Note that change sets are not currently supported in the EGit connector.

You can now synchronize resources in your workspace as usual (e.g. by right-clicking on a resource in the navigator and selecting "Team" -> "Synchronize with Repository". Your resources will now be grouped by change sets corresponding to tasks. Expanding the task shows individual resources. Changed resources that are not a part of any task context will appear under the root of the Synchronize view. If needed missing resources can be added to the task context Change Set via the Synchronize View by right+clicking the resource and selecting "Add to" and then selecting the corresponding task. Select "no set" to remove a resource from a change set.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Change-Sets.png

You can use buttons in the toolbar of the Synchronize view to change modes as follows:

  • Incoming Mode - See only updates to be retrieved from the server
  • Outgoing Mode - See only your local changes to be committed to the server
  • Incoming/Outgoing Mode - See both incoming and outgoing changes

Right-clicking a Change Set provides access to the following operations:

  • Add to Task Context - Adds all changed files to the active task context, see #Working with Patches for more information
  • Open Corresponding Task - Opens the task associated with the Change Set in the Task Editor

Automatic Commit Messages

When using task-focused change sets as described above, commit messages are automatically be generated based on the task whose resources are being commited. By default, the commit message includes information such as the task ID, description, and URL. To change the template for these commit messages, navigate to Window -> Preferences -> Tasks -> Team.

Note that for EGit, Task-focused Change Sets are not supported, however the commit message will be populated based on your currently active task.

Working with Patches

When applying patches, the preferred scenario is to have a task context attached to the task along with the patch. Since this is not always feasible, Mylyn provides an action in the popup menu of the Synchronize view that supports adding changed elements to the task context.

  1. Activate the task containing the patch.
  2. Apply the patch. If you are using automatic change sets, this will cause the change set created by Mylyn to contain the outoing changes. If it doesn't you can use the Add to action on the popup menu to add the elements to the corresponding change set.
  3. Invoke the Add to Task Context action on the change set node, causing all of the changed files to be added to the task context. You can also invoke this action on a selection one or more elements (e.g. files) in the view.

Feature-Reference-3.0-Add-To-Context.png



Shortcuts

 Task List view

  • F2: rename
  • F4: show tooltip
  • F5: synchronize selected
  • Alt + Down: go to next unread
  • Alt + Up: go to previous unread
  • Alt + Shift + C: mark complete (local tasks only)
  • Alt + Shift + I: mark incomplete (local tasks only)
  • Alt + Shift + R: mark as read
  • Alt + Shift + U: mark as unread
  • Esc: hide tooltip
  • Enter: open task
  • Insert: new local task
  • Shift + Insert: new sub task
  • Alt + N (Mac only): new local task
  • Alt + Shift + N (Mac only): new sub task
  • Ctrl+C: Copy details
  • Ctrl+F: Find
  • When dragging URLs to the Task List: in Mozilla/Firefox just drag, in Internet Explorer Ctrl+drag

 Task Editor

  • Ctrl+F: Find text in comments, description, summary and private notes
  • Alt + Shift + C: mark complete (local tasks only)
  • Alt + Shift + I: mark incomplete (local tasks only)
  • Alt + Shift + R: mark as read
  • Alt + Shift + U: mark as unread

 General

  • Alt+click or Alt+RightArrow: show all children of an element in a focused view, then click to select. Hold down alt to keep drilling in, click on whitespace in view to show all root elements.
  • Ctrl+Shift+Alt+RightArrow Quick Context View
  • Ctrl+F9: activate task dialog
  • Ctrl+Shift+F9: deactivate task
  • Ctrl+F12: open task dialog
  • Ctrl+Shift+F12: open repository task dialog

 Interest manipulation

  • Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Up: mark as landmark
  • Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Down: mark less interesting

 Useful Eclipse shortcuts

  • Alt+Shift+Q, K: show Task List view
  • Ctrl+F10: invoke view menu or ruler menu in editor

Preferences

You can access the following Mylyn preference pages by navigating to Window -> Preferences -> Tasks.

Tasks

  • Synchronization - Set how often queries in your task list should update from your task repository. The default is 20 minutes.
  • Scheduling - Set the day when your week begins. This is used to determine whether tasks should appear as scheduled for this week.
  • Task Editing - Select whether tasks should be opened in the rich editor or an integrated browser window displaying the web interface for the task.


Click "Advanced" to reveal the following additional settings.

  • Task Timing - When a task is active, the time spent working on the task is recorded. If you check "Enable inactivity timeouts", time will not be accumulated while you are not actively working. You can set the number of minutes after which time will stop being accumulated toward the active task.
  • Task Data - Specify the location where your task list and task context data is stored.

Context

Use the following checkboxes to set your preferences for the task-focused interface.

  • Auto focus navigator view on task activation - Automatically toggle "Focus on Active Task" on when activating a task in navigation views such as the Package Explorer.
  • Auto expand tree views when focused - When toggling "Focus on Active Task", automatically expand trees so that all interesting elements are visible.
  • Manage open editors to match task context - When checked, activating a task will automatically open editors corresponding to the most interesting files in the task context. When deactivating a task, all editors will automatically close. While a task is active, files that become less interesting will automatically close as you work.
  • Remove file from context when editor is closed - When this option is checked, closing an editor will be considered an indication that you not interested in the corresponding file. Therefore, files you close will be removed from the task context. If you tend to close editors for files that you may want to return to, try unchecking this setting.
  • Open last used perspective on task activation - When this option is checked, activating a task will automatically switch to the perspective that was in use when the task was last active.

Resources

Use this preference page to add or remove resources that should not be included in the context of a task. Typically, excluded files are hidden backup or lock files that are not intented to be opened directly by the user of an application.

Breakpoints

Use this preference page to enable breakpoints in context.

  • Include breakpoints in task context (Experimental) - When this option is checked, each task will have its own set of breakpoints which will be shared when you attach context to the task. Breakpoints created while a task is active will be removed from the workspace on task deactivation and restored the next time the task is activated. This feature has the following limitations (tracked on bug 428378):
    • Breakpoints in closed projects are deleted from the context on task activation and cannot be recovered.
    • Breakpoints stored in context will not have their locations updated as the code changes, so they may be restored at the wrong location.

Team

  • Automatically create and manage with task context - Enables automatic change set management. Change sets will be created automatically so that you can commit or update only resources that are in a task's context.
  • Commit Message Template - Set the values that will appear in commit messages that are automatically generated when committing resources associated with a task.


Task Repository Connectors

Mylyn allows you to collaborate on tasks via a shared task repository, also known as bug tracking systems. In order to collaborate, you need to have a Connector to your particular repository.

See Mylyn Extensions for a list of available connectors.

Bugzilla Connector

Trac Connector

See Trac Connector Troubleshooting.


Generic Web Templates Connector

The generic web repository connector is NOT part of the default Mylyn install. You can install it from the incubator update site. See Mylyn download page for more details.

The web connector allow to retrieve tasks from repositories that don't have rich connectors, but can show list of tasks on the web UI. Out of the box connector provides configuration templates for the following issue tracking systems:

  • Google Code Hosting (code.google.com)
  • IssueZilla (java.net, dev2dev, tigris.org)
  • GForge (objectweb.org)
  • SourceForge (sf.net), see Using Sourceforge with Mylyn
  • Mantis (www.futureware.biz/mantis)
  • ChangeLogic (changelogic.araneaframework.org)
  • OTRS (otrs.org)
  • phpBB
  • vBulletin

Lists of issues can be extracted from existing web pages using simple parsing configuration. Configuration can be also parametrized to make it easier to customize it for a specific project.

The parameters used for configuring project properties are typically substituted into the URLs used to access the repository. Substitution and matching rules can be edited under the Advanced Configuration section on both the Repository Settings page and the Edit Query page.

See FAQ for the troubleshooting tips.

For example, consider the configuration steps for GlassFish project at java.net:

1. Create new Generic web-based repository (in the Task Repository view). GlassFish is using IssueZilla and has a preconfigured template that can be selected by server url https://glassfish.dev.java.net/issues. You can also specify all fields manually in the Advanced Configuration section. For GlassFish the following settings are required:

  • Task URL: ${serverUrl}/show_bug.cgi?id=
  • New Task URL: ${serverUrl}/enter_bug.cgi?issue_type=DEFECT
  • Query URL: ${serverUrl}/buglist.cgi?component=glassfish&issue_status=NEW&issue_status=STARTED&issue_status=REOPENED&order=Issue+Number
  • Query Pattern: <a href="show_bug.cgi\?id\=(.+?)">.+?<span class="summary">(.+?)</span>
Note: Query Pattern field should be a regexp with 1st matching group on Issue ID and 2nd on Issue Description. Alternatively, you could use named matching groups: ({Id}.+?), ({Description}.+?), ({Status}.+?), ({Owner}.+?) and ({Type}.+?), then they can appear in query regexp in an arbitrary order. The second option requires build 2.0.0v20070717 or later.
Note: the above fields are using parameter substitution ${..}. Variables serverUrl, userId and password are substituted from the values of corresponding fields of the repository preference page. In addition you can specify any arbitrary parameters and their values that will be also substituted into the template fields.
Note: the SourceForge template included with connector assume that single repository is used for all projects. User should create multiple queries, and set project parameters at the query level. Because web connector don't support actions like "open repository task" there is really no need to create separate repositories per project and if you think about it that is how it work for connectors for Bugzilla and JIRA. However, it is still possible to setup separate repository per project using repository url like http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=172199 and accordingly updating derived urls is the advanced repository settings.

For the web repository that require user to login, use advanced configuration in following way. This configuration is for GForge, you might need to change it for other repositories:

  • Login Request URL - an address that form is using to submit login request: ${serverUrl}/account/login.php?return_to=&form_loginname=${userId}&form_pw=${password}&login=Login (POST)
  • Login Form URL - an address where login form is located (only needed if server need a login token in the parameters of the Login Request URL): ${serverUrl}/account/login.php
  • Login Token Pattern - pattern to extract value of the loginToken parameter from the form page (only needed if server need a login token in the parameters of the Login Request URL and Login Form URL is specified): session_ser=(.+?)

2. Create a new query for the GlassFish task repository created above (either from popup context menu in the Task List view or using a "New..." wizard from File -> New... -> Other... menu).

  • Query URL and Query Pattern in the Repository Preferences are used as default query parameters and can be overwritten in Advanced Configuration section in Query Preferences. Custom parameter values can also be overridden here as well as new parameters for substitution into the specific query.
  • In the Advanced Configuration section of the "New Query" dialog, there is a "Preview" button. You can use it to test your query pattern.

Generic-web-repository-settings.gif

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