1403169 - Notification emails should contain header with… Bug ID

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Bugzilla :: Email Notifications, defect)

Description

[Piotr Dobrogost]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/60.0.3112.90 Safari/537.36

Steps to reproduce:

I received email notification from Bugzilla.


Actual results:

There's no header with Bug ID.


Expected results:

There should be a header with a plain Bug ID.

Comment 1

[Dylan Hardison [:dylan] (he/him)]

Interesting. Can you tell me what extensions you're using and if template/en/default/email/header-common.txt.tmpl contains X-Bugzilla-ID?

Comment 2

[Piotr Dobrogost]

(In reply to Dylan Hardison [:dylan] (he/him) from comment #1)
> Interesting. Can you tell me what extensions you're using and if
> template/en/default/email/header-common.txt.tmpl contains X-Bugzilla-ID?

As to extensions we use a few (didn't have luck establishing which ones exactly :/) and some our own customizations but "Nothing That Should Matter"™ here :) As to template/en/default/email/header-common.txt.tmpl, it does not contain X-Bugzilla-ID and it seems to be exactly the version which comes with Bugzilla 4.4.12.4 which is what we use.

Comment 3

[Emmanuel Seyman]

Looking at the bugzilla 4.4.12 release, I don't see a template/en/default/email/header-common.txt.tmpl .

There is a  template/en/default/email/bugmail-header.txt.tmpl file that contains the headers of the emails Bugzilla generates. It does generate a line with the bug ID but that line is the subject line, not a "X-Bugzilla-*" line.

Comment 4

[Piotr Dobrogost]

(In reply to Emmanuel Seyman from comment #3)
> Looking at the bugzilla 4.4.12 release, I don't see a
> template/en/default/email/header-common.txt.tmpl .

True.
We do not have any such file in our installation of Bugzilla, either.
 
> There is a  template/en/default/email/bugmail-header.txt.tmpl file that
> contains the headers of the emails Bugzilla generates. It does generate a
> line with the bug ID but that line is the subject line, not a "X-Bugzilla-*"
> line.

True.
This is also the file I've been thinking about in my comment 2 when I was referring – by mistake – to template/en/default/email/header-common.txt.tmpl instead.


To summarize; in our installation there's a file template/en/default/email/bugmail-header.txt.tmpl – unmodified from 4.4.12 distribution – which does not set X-Bugzilla-ID header nor does set any other header with Bug ID.

Comment 5

[Emmanuel Seyman]

(In reply to Piotr Dobrogost from comment #4)
> (In reply to Emmanuel Seyman from comment #3)
> > Looking at the bugzilla 4.4.12 release, I don't see a
> > template/en/default/email/header-common.txt.tmpl .
> 
> True.
> We do not have any such file in our installation of Bugzilla, either.
>  
> > There is a  template/en/default/email/bugmail-header.txt.tmpl file that
> > contains the headers of the emails Bugzilla generates. It does generate a
> > line with the bug ID but that line is the subject line, not a "X-Bugzilla-*"
> > line.
> 
> True.
> This is also the file I've been thinking about in my comment 2 when I was
> referring – by mistake – to template/en/default/email/header-common.txt.tmpl
> instead.
> 
> 
> To summarize; in our installation there's a file
> template/en/default/email/bugmail-header.txt.tmpl – unmodified from 4.4.12
> distribution – which does not set X-Bugzilla-ID header nor does set any
> other header with Bug ID.

Your template/en/default/email/bugmail-header.txt.tmpl should contain the line:

Subject: [[% terms.Bug %] [%+ bug.id %]] [% 'New: ' IF show_new %][%+ bug.short_desc %]

If it doesn't, you're using a modified version of Bugzilla.
If it does, there a header in your email that contains the bug ID, the subject line.

Comment 6

[Piotr Dobrogost]

(In reply to Emmanuel Seyman from comment #5)
> 
> Your template/en/default/email/bugmail-header.txt.tmpl should contain the
> line:
> 
> Subject: [[% terms.Bug %] [%+ bug.id %]] [% 'New: ' IF show_new %][%+
> bug.short_desc %]
> 
> If it doesn't, you're using a modified version of Bugzilla.
> If it does, there a header in your email that contains the bug ID, the
> subject line.

Well, technically you are right but don't you think such a detail as Bug ID :) deserves a header of its own in addition to being mentioned with other information in the Subject: header? That's at least what I meant when I raised this issue.

Comment 7

[Emmanuel Seyman]

Dylan, any objection to adding a X-Bugzilla-ID line in the headers? I'm blanking on the problem it would solve but it's a non-code one-liner. If no objections, I'll provide a patch.

Comment 8

[Piotr Dobrogost]

(In reply to Emmanuel Seyman from comment #7)
> I'm blanking on the problem it would solve (…).

I would argue it would give bulletproof way of getting the single most important piece of meta information on bug notification which is the Bug ID as there's nothing preventing someone from creating a bug with bug.short_desc of "Funny things about bug <Bug ID here>". Forcing users to parse free form Subject: header to find out Bug ID is simply wrong. Looking at this from another angle I don't see a way to justify inclusion of all currently existing headers but not X-Bugzilla-ID…

Comment 9

[Emmanuel Seyman]

Attachment: Add the email header X-Bugzilla-Id which indicates the bug id

(In reply to Piotr Dobrogost from comment #8)
> 
> I would argue it would give bulletproof way of getting the single most
> important piece of meta information on bug notification which is the Bug ID

There's nothing important about the bug_id, IMO, except in a database context. The only X-Bugzilla-* header I've ever cared about is component.

> as there's nothing preventing someone from creating a bug with
> bug.short_desc of "Funny things about bug <Bug ID here>". Forcing users to
> parse free form Subject: header to find out Bug ID is simply wrong.

There's nothing free form about it (at least, if you're using the default template). Your Subject will start with "Bug <Bug ID here>".

But this still doesn't explain what a header with the bug ID is useful for. Dylan suggested kill-filing individual bugs but, even here, filtering on the subject line seems adequate for the job.

Comment 10

[Piotr Dobrogost]

(In reply to Emmanuel Seyman from comment #9)
> Created attachment 8912860 [details] [diff] [review]
> Add the email header X-Bugzilla-Id which indicates the bug id
> 
> (In reply to Piotr Dobrogost from comment #8)
> > 
> > I would argue it would give bulletproof way of getting the single most
> > important piece of meta information on bug notification which is the Bug ID
> 
> There's nothing important about the bug_id, IMO, except in a database

I must be missing something here; how would someone who received notification know where to look for, well a bug if there was no bug id anywhere in the notification?
 
> > as there's nothing preventing someone from creating a bug with
> > bug.short_desc of "Funny things about bug <Bug ID here>". Forcing users to
> > parse free form Subject: header to find out Bug ID is simply wrong.
> 
> There's nothing free form about it (at least, if you're using the default
> template). Your Subject will start with "Bug <Bug ID here>".

That's because you know exactly how Subject field is being generated. Average user can't be really sure what elements in Subject are guaranteed to be there and if they are always in the same place; he has all rights to assume it's a free form since there is a link to the bug in email's body so bug id in the Subject is _extra_ nicety which could be dropped in any update of Bugzilla.

> But this still doesn't explain what a header with the bug ID is useful for.
> Dylan suggested kill-filing individual bugs but, even here, filtering on the

That's my use case; ignoring some noisy bugs which I'm not interested in but get notifications for as I watch some user. If there were black list functionality in the Bugzilla itself this would be even better of course.

> Dylan suggested kill-filing individual bugs but, even here, filtering on the
> subject line seems adequate for the job.

The crux of the problem here is basically forcing users to "filter for essential information".

Comment 11

[Emmanuel Seyman]

(In reply to Piotr Dobrogost from comment #10)
> 
> I must be missing something here; how would someone who received
> notification know where to look for, well a bug if there was no bug id
> anywhere in the notification?

Oh, it makes perfect sense in the body of the email or having it once in the headers. I just can't see any use for a second occurrence in the headers.

> That's because you know exactly how Subject field is being generated.

TBH, X-Bugzilla-Id requires you actually know it's there (and I've talked with Firefox developers who didn't know Bugzilla emails have X-Bugzilla-* headers).

> Average user can't be really sure what elements in Subject are guaranteed to
> be there and if they are always in the same place; he has all rights to
> assume it's a free form since there is a link to the bug in email's body so
> bug id in the Subject is _extra_ nicety which could be dropped in any update
> of Bugzilla.

You could say the same thing about X-Bugzilla-Id. If the first occurrence of the bug ID can be dropped, so can the second.

> That's my use case; ignoring some noisy bugs which I'm not interested in but
> get notifications for as I watch some user. If there were black list
> functionality in the Bugzilla itself this would be even better of course.

Bugzilla master has an Ignore Bug Mail checkbox which allows you to not get email about a particular bug. I'm not sure it works with watching, though.

Comment 12

[Piotr Dobrogost]

(In reply to Emmanuel Seyman from comment #11)
> 
> Oh, it makes perfect sense in the body of the email or having it once in the
> headers. I just can't see any use for a second occurrence in the headers.

Again, having important piece of information (bug id) stuck with other information in the Subject field – which is not normally associated with any rigid format – does not seem to be the optimal solution.

> TBH, X-Bugzilla-Id requires you actually know it's there (and I've talked
> with Firefox developers who didn't know Bugzilla emails have X-Bugzilla-*
> headers).

However, once you know there are X-Bugzilla-* headers and you need any information from notification email for automation, the first place where you look for it are these headers as they are meant to provide information in the most straightforward way. 

> > Average user can't be really sure what elements in Subject are guaranteed to
> > be there and if they are always in the same place; he has all rights to
> > assume it's a free form since there is a link to the bug in email's body so
> > bug id in the Subject is _extra_ nicety which could be dropped in any update
> > of Bugzilla.
> 
> You could say the same thing about X-Bugzilla-Id. If the first occurrence of
> the bug ID can be dropped, so can the second.

I don't agree here. My impression is that Subject is mainly meant for human whereas X-Bugzilla-* headers are mainly meant for tools. As a consequence, removing a piece of information from Subject – especially one which is extra nicety – should not be expected to break anything whereas removing any X-Bugzilla-* header is guaranteed to break all tools making use of such header.

> Bugzilla master has an Ignore Bug Mail checkbox which allows you to not get
> email about a particular bug. I'm not sure it works with watching, though.

Thank you for letting me know.

Comment 13

[Emmanuel Seyman]

Attachment: Add the email header X-Bugzilla-ID which indicates the bug id

Even this, I can't get right...
The header has been renamed to X-Bugzilla-ID to match what bmo is currently using.

Comment 15

[Piotr Dobrogost]

Any news on this?

Comment 16

[Dave Miller [:justdave]]

Attachment: [bugzilla/bugzilla] [5.2] Bug 1403169: add a X-Bugzilla-ID header to emails

Comment 17

[Dave Miller [:justdave]]

Landed in 5.2:
https://github.com/bugzilla/bugzilla/commit/42c22e6dfd97ad57be3ff1ef310014508e4c6e73

Comment 18

[Piotr Dobrogost]

Thank You.