xteam_schedule

Introduction

xTeam Schedule is a gem that provides full control over schedules for use with adnX's xTeam software.

It is capable of reading and writing schedules, whilst providing access to all of its components through the ActiveRecord interface, which every Ruby on Rails developer will be familiar with. This is absolutely, the best solution for managing agile teams.

You can find a blog post explaining some of the thinking behind its implementation here.

Features:

• Read and write schedules and interact with in-memory models through the ActiveRecord interface
• Customise everything; resources, assignments, groups, colours, holidays, remote access..
• Intuitive naming of models, that correspond to what you see on screen
• Full test coverage, giving confidence to highly dynamic businesses everywhere

Disclaimer

I am in no way associated with adnX. I work for an agile development company that makes use of xTeam. This project is open-source.

Getting Started

It is not required that you have xTeam installed. However, you will not be able to visualise your schedules otherwise.

Install the gem:

gem install xteam_schedule

Require it in your project:

require 'xteam_schedule'

You may need to require 'rubygems' too, if you are running an old version of Ruby.

Create a Schedule

You can create a new schedule, or read one from a file:

schedule = XTeamSchedule.new
schedule = XTeamSchedule.new('path/to/file.xtps')

Schedules

Schedules are the top level model through which you access everything. The inspect method is custom-made to give you an overview of the contents of the schedule:

XTeamSchedule.new('path/to/file.xtps')
=> #<XTeamSchedule resoruce_groups(9), resources(42), assignment_groups(14), assignments(118), working_times(79)>

A schedule has many resource groups and assignment groups. It also has many resources and assignments through resource groups and assignment groups respectively. Finally, a schedule has many working times through either resource groups then resources or assignment groups then assignments. Wherever possible, naming has been chosen to match xTeam, i.e. 'resource' instead of 'employee'.

schedule = XTeamSchedule.new('path/to/file.xtps')

resource_groups   = schedule.resource_groups
resources         = schedule.resources         # or schedule.resource_groups.map(&:resources).flatten
assignment_groups = schedule.assignment_groups
assignments       = schedule.assignments
working_times     = schedule.working_times

There are numerous other models, for example a schedule has one 'interface' which contains various display settings. These are explained in detail below. To output a schedule that can be read by xTeam, use the 'write' method:

schedule.write('path/to/file.xtps')

It is also possible to convert a schedule to/from a hash. After serialisation, this could easily be written to a database.

hash     = schedule.hash
schedule = XTeamSchedule.new(hash)

Resource Groups

Resource groups contain resources. Typical names for resource groups might be 'Management', 'Sales', or 'Developers'.

schedule.resource_groups.create!(
  :name => 'Management',
  :expanded_in_library => true
)

Required attributes: name

Defaults: expanded_in_library => true

Examples queries:

resource_groups = schedule.resource_groups

number_of_groups  = resource_groups.count
junior_developers = resource_groups.find_by_name('Junior Developers').resources
developer_groups  = resource_groups.where('name like "%developer%"')

Resources

A resource is an employee. A resource can not be in multiple resource groups.

developers = schedule.resource_groups.create!(:name => 'Developers')
developers.resources.create!(
  :name => 'Christopher Patuzzo',
  :email => '[e-mail]',
  :mobile => '0123456789',
  :phone => '9876543210',
  :displayed_in_planning => true
)

Required attributes: name

Defaults: displayed_in_planning => true

Example queries:

resources = schedule.resources

chris_mobile         = resources.find_by_name('Christopher Patuzzo').mobile
gmail_resource_names = resources.where('email like "%gmail%"').map(&:name)
resources.each { |r| r.update_attribute(:displayed_in_planning, true) }

A resource also has remote access attributes, that are explained below.

Assignment Groups

Assignment groups are almost identical to resource groups. Typical names might be 'Training' and 'Research'.

schedule.assignment_groups.create!(
  :name => 'Training',
  :expanded_in_library => true
)

Required attributes: name

Defaults: expanded_in_library => true

Example queries:

assignment_groups = schedule.assignment_groups

final_group_name         = assignment_groups.last.name
expanded_groups          = assignment_groups.where(:expanded_in_library => true)
visible_assignment_count = expanded_groups.map(&:assignments).map(&:count).inject(:+)

Assignments

An assignment is a task. An assignment cannot be in multiple assignment groups.

training = schedule.assignment_groups.create!(:name => 'Training')
training.assignments.create!(
  :name => 'Rails Conference',
  :colour => { :red => 1, :green => 0, :blue => 0 }
)

Required attributes: name

Defaults: colour => { :red => 0.5, :green => 0.5, :blue => 0.5 }

Aliases: color => colour

Example queries:

assignments = schedule.assignments

rails_assignments       = assignments.where('name like "%rails%"')
first_assignment_colour = assignments.first.colour
singleton_assignments   = assignments.select { |a| a.assignment_group.assignments.count == 1 }

Working Times

A working time is a relationship between a resource and an assignment. This is equivalent to scheduling an employee on a specific task for a given duration. Assignments are assigned to resources by creating working times.

developers        = schedule.resource_groups.create!(:name => 'Developers')
chris             = developers.resources.create!(:name => 'Christopher Patuzzo')

channel_5         = schedule.assignment_groups.create!(:name => 'Channel 5')
the_gadget_show   = channel_5.assignments.create!(:name => 'The Gadget Show')

chris.working_times.create!(
  :assignment => the_gadget_show,
  :begin_date => Date.new(2012, 01, 01),
  :duration => 20,
  :notes => 'Based in London'
)

The creation can also be written from the assignment, or directly from the model:

the_gadget_show.working_times.create!(
  :resource => chris,
  # etc.
)

XTeamSchedule::WorkingTime.create!(
  :resource => chris,
  :assignment => the_gadget_show,
  # etc.
)

Required attributes: begin_date, duration

Example queries:

working_times = schedule.working_times

maximum_duration          = working_times.map(&:duration).max.to_s + ' days'
recent_working_times      = working_times.where('begin_date > ?', Date.new(2012, 01, 01))
resources_on_new_projects = recent_working_times.map(&:resource).uniq.map(&:name)

Interface

A schedule has one interface that is created automatically. The interface is responsible for the display settings of xTeam. Possible values to pass to the granularities constant are: :day, :week, :month and :year

schedule.interface.update_attributes!(
  :display_assignments_name => true,
  :display_resources_name => false,
  :display_working_hours => false,
  :display_resources_pictures => true,
  :display_total_of_working_hours => false,
  :display_assignments_notes => true,
  :display_absences => true,
  :time_granularity => XTeamSchedule::Interface::TIME_GRANULARITIES[:month]
)

Defaults: The same as the attributes shown above.

Aliases:

display_assignment_names    => display_assignments_name
display_resource_names      => display_resources_name
display_resource_pictures   => display_resources_pictures
display_total_working_hours => display_total_of_working_hours
display_assignment_notes    => display_assignments_notes

Weekly Working Schedule

The weekly working schedule determines the 'opening hours' of the company. Working days can be accessed directly, or through weekly_working_schedule.

# Set all days to start at 9am, and finish at 5pm
# Set a lunch break from 12pm - 1pm each day
working_days = schedule.working_days
working_days.each do |day|
  day.update_attributes!(
    :day_begin   => '09:00',
    :day_end     => '17:00',
    :break_begin => '12:00',
    :break_end   => '13:00'
  )
end

Non working days are determined by setting the 'day_begin' attribute to nil. This works similarly for days without lunch breaks:

wednesday = working_days.find_by_name('Wednesday')
saturday = working_days.find_by_name('Saturday')
sunday = working_days.find_by_name('Sunday')

[saturday, sunday].each { |day| day.update_attributes!(:day_begin => nil) }
wednesday.update_attribute(:break_begin, nil)

Defaults: The default weekly working schedule is identical to the one set up above (except wednesday lunch). i.e. 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, with lunch from 12pm-1pm.

Holidays

Holidays can either belong to a resource, or the entire schedule. Holidays on the schedule are shared by all resources. This is useful for bank holidays. You can leave off the end date for one day holidays.

schedule.holidays.create!(:begin_date => Date.new(2012, 12, 25), :name => 'Christmas Day')

resource_group = schedule.resource_groups.create(:name => 'foo')
resource = resource_group.resources.create!(:name => 'bar')
resource.holidays.create!(
  :begin_date => Date.new(2012, 07, 01),
  :end_date => Date.new(2012, 07, 10),
  :name => 'Visiting California'
)

Required attributes: begin_date

Example queries:

holiday_names = schedule.resources.map(&:holidays).flatten.map(&:name)
resources_without_holidays = schedule.resources.select { |r| r.holidays.empty? }
finished_holidays = schedule.resources.map(&:holidays).flatten.select { |h|
  (h.end_date || h.begin_date) < Date.today
}

Remote Access

Remote access allows the xTeamView application on Mac OS X and iOS devices to view schedules remotely. A schedule has a remote_access object containing most of the setup, including the 'All' login option for the schedule.

schedule.remote_access.update_attributes!(
  :enabled => true,
  :custom_url => 'http://xteambridge.example.com',
  :custom_enabled => true,
  :global_login => 'username',
  :global_password => 'password',
  :global_login_enabled => true
)

When remote access is switched on in xTeam, there is a handshake process that takes place which assigns a server_id and name to the schedule. If either of these is missing or they become out of sync, the handshake will fail and you will be notified of an error in xTeam. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not change these attributes. Instead, you should enable remote in xTeam then read these attributes from that file. You can then re-use them as you please.

schedule = XTeamSchedule.new('path/to/file/with/remote/enabled.xtps')
server_id = schedule.remote_access.server_id
name = schedule.remote_access.name

# An example of re-using the remote configuration for an entirely new schedule
schedule = XTeamSchedule.new
schedule.remote_access.update_attributes!(
  :server_id => server_id,
  :name => name
)

There are three additional attributes on each resource for configuring individual logins. It is worth noting that login details have to be plaintext, unfortunately.

resource_group = schedule.resource_groups.create(:name => 'foo')
resource = resource_group.resources.create!(
  :name => 'bar',
  :remote_login => 'bar',
  :remote_password => 'baz',
  :remote_login_enabled => true
)

Example queries:

global_login_details = [schedule.remote_access.global_login, schedule.remote_access.global_password]
resources_without_logins = schedule.resources.reject { |r| r.remote_login }
usernames = schedule.resources.map(&:remote_login).compact
raise 'There are duplicated logins' if usernames.count > usernames.uniq.count

Under Development

This gem is far from complete. The following is a list of features that are under development, somewhat in priority order:

• Filtering and custom placement (dropdown)
• To assign (the drag 'n' drop box)
• Absences (holidays, minus the fun)
• Resource images (spike - need to work out what)
• Tiny interface things (hiding things, column widths)
• Schedule splicing before / after / between dates
• Binary operators (addition / subtraction of two schedules)
• Documentation overhaul (code docs, sectioned GitHub?)
• File system hooks (unobtrusive file diffs)
• A built in example (xTeam has one, we can too)
• Report generation (xTeam's suck, make something better)
• Improved colour controls (0-255, 0-1, hex, group inheritance)
• Date helpers (either end date, or number of days)

Contribution

Please feel free to contribute, either through pull requests or feature requests here on Github.

For news and latest updates, follow me on Twitter (@cpatuzzo).