Logging of development email

Question

I'm at an IT/Development department where the only method notifying changes to code is sending a email to the group ([email protected]). So we have a lot of emails.

I would like to set up the email group so all emails sent to the group are stored in one place. We use Exchange, so I was thinking of having them automatically stored in an Exchange online folder. Sadly, I've been told those exchange folders are no longer the latest version of Exchange.

My second choice was an internal blog, like Wordpress, where all emails are posted, tagged, and accessible for searching.

• Has anyone blogging software to record group emails?
• What other methods have you used to log these emails?

Please note: I'm in the process of setting up a bug tracker, but I'm sure it will take quite a while to motivate developers to use it. In the mean time, I need this other method.

Update

Please note:

• We have no source control (and no chance of making that happen)
• We have no bug/issue tracking, but I'm hoping to have one by the end of the year.
• The people were I work are too used in notifying changes they make through email. Storing those email in one place, for searching, would be ideal.

Answer 1

Couldn't a new e-mail be set up, e.g. [email protected], and that mailbox is shared so any developer can look in on that mailbox but it doesn't clog up each developer's personal mailbox? Where I work we have an "Application Logging" mailbox that gets used this way so that various people can peak in on what is going on while at the same time it doesn't congest anyone's personal mailbox.

We have a couple of ways to notify each other of a code change besides watching the source control:

1) Continuous integration machine build - When someone checks in new code, a build is triggered and this can be something we developers see with something like CCTray.

2) Messengers - Things like Twitter or Microsoft Office Communicator are a way to send a note to everyone else that something was changed.

Answer 2

At the risk of sounding tacky... Cant Tweeter be an option for this ?

Not your personal account on tweeter- but some sort of business service- where developers get a quick and brief notice on whats happening.

I have been thinking about this for our small group- just to keep everyone in touch with what people are working on and if they are facing problems or getting stuck

Answer 3

Well, most email list packages (mailman etc) have archiving functions and ways to browse through the archives, as well as own ways to manage users.

Maybe such one of them works with exchange, and absolve the exchange-mgr from administrating the list mutations

Answer 4

Question: why do you want to notify people about changes to the code? What use to developers make of this information?

I've seen this done where a developer can subscribe to changes in a particular part of the Source Control tree, and that made some sense. I'm not sure why you'd need everyone to be notified of every checkin in every part of your application.

Additionally, if the notification methods all come from your Source Control system, and if the Source Control system already has a list of all the changes, then why do you need to log the emails that result from the changes that the source control system already tracks?

Answer 5

Your biggest issue is your lack of a configuration management system. That means source code versioning (e.g. Subversion) plus processes to control changes, integration and releases. That way you don't get someone adding untested code just before the final build, or fixes being lost because Bill saves his changes on top of the ones already made by Joe. Saying "no chance of getting one" is an abdication of responsibility. This is your top priority in terms of improving quality and efficiency. Build a business case around the costs and risks of your current non-system and take it to senior management.

Then get yourself a decent issue tracking system. As with CM systems, there are plenty of free ones around. Email messages don't scale.

Once you have an issue tracker, tie your CM system into it by putting the appropriate issue number in the comment field for every delta. Then you can write a Perl script to tell you which issues have been fixed in any branch, and use its reports to update the issues in the tracker. Only when you have done this will you know what has gone into your next release.

Answer 6

We have no source control

How do your developers share code without a source control system? Do they send patches via e-mail, or changed files? Can they manage this without creating enormous pain for everyone?

(and no chance of making that happen)

I appreciate how difficult it can be to change entrenched working practices, however version control and bug tracking software are the two "must haves" for a sane development environment.

If your developers can access a common network share, then try Mercurial. It takes only a few minutes to set up, and it doesn't need a server process if you have network file access. There's a great tutorial written by Joel Spolsky here: hginit.

The e-mails are superceded by log messages on commit.

If you really can't stop your developers from e-mailing code changes around, you could at least get them to e-mail patches containing Mercurial change sets instead. Eventually they will work out that it is easier to pull from a Mercurial share, and you will have successfully introduced code control by stealth.

Has anyone blogging software to record group emails? What other methods have you used to log these emails?

In over 20 years as a software developer I've never worked anywhere that used e-mails instead of a source code control system.