docs/usage/general.rst

.. _general:

=======================
General Kallithea usage
=======================


Repository deleting
-------------------

Currently when an admin or owner deletes a repository, Kallithea does
not physically delete said repository from the filesystem, but instead
renames it in a special way so that it is not possible to push, clone
or access the repository.

There is a special command for cleaning up such archived repos::

    paster cleanup-repos --older-than=30d my.ini

This command scans for archived repositories that are older than
30 days, displays them, and asks if you want to delete them (unless given
the ``--dont-ask`` flag). If you host a large amount of repositories with
forks that are constantly being deleted, it is recommended that you run this
command via crontab.

It is worth noting that even if someone is given administrative access to
Kallithea and deletes a repository, you can easily restore such an action by
renaming the repository directory, removing the ``rm__<date>`` prefix.

Follow current branch in file view
----------------------------------

In file view when this checkbox is checked the << and >> arrows will jump
to changesets within the same branch currently being viewed. So for example
if someone is viewing files in the ``beta`` branch and marks the `follow current branch`
checkbox the << and >> buttons will only show revisions for the `'beta`` branch.


Compare view from changelog
---------------------------

Checkboxes in the compare view allow users to view a combined compare
view. You can only show the range between the first and last checkbox
(no cherry pick).  Clicking more than one checkbox will activate a
link at the top saying ``Show selected changesets <from-rev> ->
<to-rev>``. Clicking this will activate the compare view. In this view
it is also possible to switch to combined compare.

Compare view is also available from the journal on pushes having more than
one changeset.


Non changeable repository urls
------------------------------

Due to the complicated nature of repository grouping, URLs of repositories
can often change.

example::

  #before
  http://server.com/repo_name
  # after insertion to test_group group the url will be
  http://server.com/test_group/repo_name

This can be an issue for build systems and any other hardcoded scripts, moving
a repository to a group leads to a need for changing external systems. To
overcome this Kallithea introduces a non-changable replacement URL. It's
simply a repository ID prefixed with ``_``. The above URLs are also accessible as::

  http://server.com/_<ID>

Since IDs are always the same, moving the repository will not affect
such a URL.  the ``_<ID>`` syntax can be used anywhere in the system so
URLs with ``repo_name`` for changelogs and files can be exchanged
with the ``_<ID>`` syntax.


E-mail notifications
--------------------

When the administrator correctly specified the e-mail settings in the Kallithea
configuration file, Kallithea will send e-mails on user registration and when
errors occur.

Mails are also sent for comments on changesets. In this case, an e-mail is sent
to the committer of the changeset (if known to Kallithea), to all reviewers of
the pull request (if applicable) and to all people mentioned in the comment
using @mention notation.


Trending source files
---------------------

Trending source files are calculated based on a pre-defined dict of known
types and extensions. If you miss some extension or would like to scan some
custom files, it is possible to add new types in the ``LANGUAGES_EXTENSIONS_MAP`` dict
located in ``kallithea/lib/celerylib/tasks.py``.


Cloning remote repositories
---------------------------

Kallithea has the ability to clone remote repos from given remote locations.
Currently it supports the following options:

- hg  -> hg clone
- svn -> hg clone
- git -> git clone


.. note:: svn -> hg cloning requires tge ``hgsubversion`` library to be installed.

If you need to clone repositories that are protected via basic auth, you
might pass the url with stored credentials inside, e.g.,
``http://user:[e-mail]/repo``, Kallithea will try to login and clone
using the given credentials. Please take note that they will be stored as
plaintext inside the database. Kallithea will remove auth info when showing the
clone url in summary page.



Specific features configurable in the Admin settings
----------------------------------------------------

In general, the Admin settings should be self-explanatory and will not be
described in more detail in this documentation. However, there are a few
features that merit further explanation.

Repository extra fields
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the `Visual` tab, there is an option `Use repository extra
fields`, which allows to set custom fields for each repository in the system.
Each new field consists of 3 attributes: ``field key``, ``field label``,
``field description``.

Example usage of such fields would be to define company-specific information
into repositories, e.g., defining a ``repo_manager`` key that would give info
about a manager of each repository.  There's no limit for adding custom fields.
Newly created fields are accessible via the API.

Meta-Tagging
~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the `Visual` tab, option `Stylify recognised meta tags` will cause Kallithea
to turn certain meta-tags, detected in repository and repository group
descriptions, into colored tags. Currently recognised tags are::

    [featured]
    [stale]
    [dead]
    [lang => lang]
    [license => License]
    [requires => Repo]
    [recommends => Repo]
    [see => URI]