Subject: [proto-team] suggestion for a WG chairs "gripe" tool

From: Rohan Mahy <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 12:36:11 -0700

Hi,

As a working group chair of two busy working groups, I would really
like to automate some of the periodic polling I do.  To this end, I
would love a utility (I'll call it id-gripe for now) that periodically
reminds the chairs, authors, and reviewers that the process is waiting 
on
him/her/them.

Internally the SIP and SIPPING working groups have a list of WG
internet drafts with current status and a "token" field to keep track
of "who has the token" on a particular draft.  The problem with our
current system is that the chairs have to manually update the token
when we get email from authors or ADs and when drafts are udpated. I
would love to be able to set this in WG tools pages and have a "gripe"
checkbox.  When checked, the tool would send email to the person
(authors, chairs, or AD usually) with the token reminding them what
needs to be done to progress to the next stage.  This would be linked
to the status kept by the draft tracker.  Here is a sample flow:

1. WG draft needs to close a few more open issues before WGLC.
Chair checks gripe box and fills in the issues the author needs to fix.
Gripe sends mail to the authors cc:ing chairs periodically until new ID
submitted or grip unchecked

2. Author revises draft. Gripe sends mail to chairs with the original
gripe and sets the token to the chairs.
Chair checks that issues were addressed and starts WGLC.  Sets token to
WGLC and sets end date.

3. At end of WGLC, gripe sends mail to chairs.
Chair realizes that the draft needs assigned review.  assigns reviewers
and sets token to Reviewers.
Gripe reminds reviewers and chairs.

4. After reviewers send their comments (or chairs remove them), gripe
sets the token back to the authors.

5. Author submits a new rev.
Gripe sets token to the chairs.  Chair verifies that edits incorporated
changes.  Chair sends publication request to AD and sets token to AD.
Alternatively maybe the chair requests publication from the tool  :-)
so that we're sure the PROTO eval is filled in, etc.

6. AD sets doc status in tracker to AD Eval.  Existing tracker gripes
at AD.

7. AD changes tracker to *:Revised ID Needed.  gripe sets token to the
authors and gripes (cc:ing chairs)

8. Author submits new rev.  grip sets token back to AD.

9. AD puts draft on the IESG agenda.

10. Comments and Discusses get griped to the authors and chairs
automatically (*concept!*).  token goes to chairs or authors.

11. Chairs submits proposed small RFC Editors Notes (from the web) to
address IESG comments.  gripe reminds the discussing ADs that there is
a proposed fix.  (Similar process if a new revised ID was needed, but
the chairs/authors would need to point out where in the new ID the
fixes are.

12. Last AD clears their DISCUSS. Draft is approved. Yeah!
Announcement from PROTO gets sent automagically.

Hope this gives a flavor of what I am looking for.

thanks,
-rohan

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---

From: Brian E Carpenter <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 08:39:19 +0200

Two comments

1. This is really what I would like the tracker extensions for
WG Chair access to provide, in general terms. But experience shows
that automated messages have to be used with care -too many of them
and busy people start ignoring them.

2. Very specifically

> Announcement from PROTO gets sent automagically.

Experience does show that the instruction to the Secretariat
to publish the approval announcement and trigger the RFC Editor
needs to be checked manually by the AD. That's to be 150% sure
that the writeup is complete and correct. So I don't think
this final step can be completely automagic.

    Brian

Rohan Mahy wrote:
> reminds the chairs, authors, and reviewers that the process is waiting on
> him/her/them.
> 
> Tools-discuss mailing list
> [email-masked]
> https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/tools-discuss
>

---

From: Jeroen Massar <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 16:52:12 +0200

On Fri, 2005-10-21 at 12:36 -0700, Rohan Mahy wrote:
<SNIP>

> I would love to be able to set this in WG tools pages and have a "gripe"

As per: http://www1.tools.ietf.org/wiki/ToolPriorityList there is item 6
on the list "notification", this will use events coming from the
secretariat or other places to notify interrested parties of these
events. This tool is currently being prototyped and hopefully Henrik
will demo of a beta at the upcoming Vancouver meeting. There is some
work to be done for it, but it is progressing quite well.

This will thus do already most of what you requested in your detailed
message. The tool at your end can then for example be fed with the
events coming in from jabber/email and then in a various number of
formats.

Greets,
 Jeroen