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INCOGEN's BugPort System

The BugPort system is an open-source, freely available, web-based system to manage tasks and defects throughout the software development process.  BugPort is written in the cross-platform PHP language (using its object-oriented capabilities) and uses a relational database for storage/querying.  BugPort is in heavy use by INCOGEN for internal management of software development and QA.

BugPort News

02/09/2005
A new version (1.147) was released with a few bug fixes and new features.  Of particular interest are the new RSS feeds for search results.  See this FAQ item for information about this new feature, as it currently has significant authentication concerns.  And thanks to Hendrik Scheider and Dawn Cannan for assistance with the "lost" issue bug! 

10/01/2004
A new version (1.134) was released with a very important, security-related bug fix.  It is highly recommended that all BugPort user's upgrade, especially if you allow non-trusted users to login to your BugPort site.  Thanks to Eduardo Correia for discovering the bug! 

Update Note: to upgrade and keep your existing config.php file, you will need to add a new $attachmentDirectory variable to the config.php file.  See the sample config.php file included in the tar file as an example.  You will then need to move all dirs/files from your existing bugport/files/ directory into your new attachments directory.

9/01/2004
The demo site was updated to the newest version of BugPort.

5/03/2004
The HTML Docs were updated with notes for installing BugPort under Windows/IIS.  Thanks go to Mr. Kevin Green for the documentation addition!

4/05/2004
The first alpha-level admin tools were added to the system.  These are not in a very useful state as of yet, since manual database manipulation is still needed to manage project permissions and some minor data items.  However, the base of the code is now in place and we expect that finishing up the admin tools will be much easier now.  Please note: we added an important isAdmin column to the iuser table which controls whether or not a user can use the admin tools. See the UPDATE.txt file for more information.

1/30/2004
An important security vulnerability was addressed in release 1.099.  It is strongly recommended that all BugPort users upgrade to the newest version of BugPort to prevent database connection information from becoming visible to end-users.  Please read the update instructions for important info.  Thanks go to Paul Harris for bringing this to our attention.

1/15/2004
New features added to BugPort include the ability to manage groups of "favorite" issues and a new Recently Viewed portlet on the homepage.  These features require a new config table so please read the UPDATE.txt file to learn how to add it. 
Also, the BugPort developers are starting a low-volume mailing list for BugPort users.  Please email bugport<@>incogen.com to join this new mailing list.  Your email address will not be used for ANY other purpose.


BugPort Features
Team productivity
  • Portal-based Homepage - provides quick summary view to allow user to determine what issues to address next
  • Keyword Searching - uses MySQL (or, soon, Oracle) keyword searching features to allow fast text-based searches (of ALL text fields for each issue)
  • Quick Search - users can search by keyword or issue ID from any page in the system
  • Color coding - subtly provides information on priority and highlights important information
  • Favorites Groups - users can create and share arbitrary groups of issues to improve communication
Process control
  • Manages defects, tasks, and feature requests
  • Supports Multiple Projects
  • Manages attachment files
  • Helps track related issues
  • Allows multiple permission levels using User Types - Designer, Developer, Tester, Lead Tester
  • Sends automatic e-mail notifications for issue changes
Project analysis
  • Generates and reports historical statistics
  • Tracks estimated and actual design and development hours
System foundation
  • Easy to use
  • Built on an easy-to-use INCOGEN-created PHP development API for simple code extensibility and re-use
  • Most BugPort pages are built in less than 1 second (when running on a 1GHz Pentium server)
  • Caches data extensively for performance boosts - achieved with the help of the excellent ADOdb PHP package
  • Provides cross-platform compatibility

BugPort Screenshots
The following screenshots show some of the tools BugPort provides for managing issues.  These screenshots were taken using Internet Explorer 6.0 (our default client for testing BugPort) running version 1.007 of BugPort.
 
Project Home 
From this Portal-style view you see any issues that need to be addressed by you, whether you are a project designer, developer, or tester.
Searching 
From this view you search for issues by a variety of different criteria.
Adding Issues
This view allows users to add defects/tasks/feature requests for the current project.
Issue Details
This view shows all details for the item, including which other items are related to this one, any attachments this issue has, and comments.
Search Results
This view shows the results of a search in summary form.  A detailed form is also available which equates to multiple Issue Details views concatenated together (useful for printing reports).

 

Download the Latest Version of BugPort

Current Version:
1.147 released Feb 9, '05, 9:37 am ET

Download BugPort: [Tar File] (916 KB)  

Please note: Releases are often made with few changes involved.  Please check the Change Log to determine if an upgrade is actually warranted.  Please read the UPDATE.txt file (included in the tar file) to learn important information about updating your BugPort system.  And please remember to back up any current BugPort installation (files and database) before upgrading to prevent the accidental loss of data and/or attachment files.


BugPort Demo
View the BugPort v1.134 demo here

We welcome you to explore the BugPort demo site available at the link above. The system has been set up to allow you to experience BugPort from a fairly fresh instance. All functionality is enabled with the exception of email notifications, which are normally issued when significant changes (such as state) are made.

Logging In
You can login as one of four different user names
: designer, developer, qalead, or tester

Each account's password is 'demo' (without the quotes).  Try each one to see how the user type system gives different permissions and views depending on the user's role in the project.  Of course, user accounts can have combinations of user types which will join to show all of the possible operations a user can perform.

To logout from BugPort, you will need to close all browser windows. 


BugPort System Overview

Requirements for Installing BugPort

BugPort runs via a web server running PHP.  The BugPort "server" machine can run almost any operating system however, it needs to support:

  • MySQL 4.0+ (note that other databases, such as Oracle® 8i+, are nearly supported - tell us if you are interested in a particular database)

  • PHP 4.2.2+ (preferably running on Apache as a DSO module)

You will also need the knowledge to use/install the above items as appropriate.

Requirements for Administering BugPort

  • A client (GUI or command-line) for your database and the knowledge to use it to make small data changes - this is to make manual DB changes on rare occasions.
  • A web browser
  • Command-line (or console) access to your server is helpful

Requirements for Using BugPort

  • A web browser (as modern a version as possible)
  • A BugPort account created by your local BugPort administrator


BugPort Support
Before contacting the BugPort team please make sure you have:
  • Read the FAQ
  • Read the installation documentation in the tar file

If you still need assistance with your BugPort installation, please e-mail the team.  The address to use is: bugport <<@>> incogen.com.  Make sure you remove the angle brackets in that "obfuscated" e-mail address before mailing us and include the word BugPort in your subject line.

If you wish to contribute code or other modifications to the BugPort system, we will gladly accept them at the above e-mail address.


 

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