[PATCH] Use updater's name and email in ticket notifications

[gm.outside+trac@…]

This patch adds a new boolean config option named 'smtp_from_smart'. When this option is set to true notifications use updater's name and email for their 'From:' message header. We find it very useful since this patch helps to easily see who was modifying a ticket in a list of messages. Also, it's now possible to reply to the person directly.

The patch was created by (GalaxyMaster) from ​Openwall Project

This work was sponsored by ​CivicActions LLC

[Thijs Triemstra]

I'm not such a fan of the smtp_from_smart name, but I like the feature, even though I wonder if it's not possible already. If not, let's raise the priority of this ticket.

[Thijs Triemstra]

Here's an updated patch that re-uses the stmp_from_name and applies the updater's name when it's passed the value __updater__.

trac/ticket/notification.py

@@ -85 +85 @@
         changes_body = ''
         self.reporter = ''
         self.owner = ''
+        self.updater = ''
         changes_descr = ''
         change_data = {}
         link = self.env.abs_href.ticket(ticket.id)
@@ -329 +330 @@
             for updater, in cursor:
                 break
 
+        self.updater = updater
         if not notify_updater:
             filter_out = True
             if notify_reporter and (updater == self.reporter):

trac/notification.py

@@ -276 +276 @@
         self._init_pref_encoding()
         domains = self.env.config.get('notification', 'ignore_domains', '')
         self._ignore_domains = [x.strip() for x in domains.lower().split(',')]
-        # Get the email addresses of all known users
+        # Get the names and email addresses of all known users
         self.email_map = {}
+        self.name_map = {}
         for username, name, email in self.env.get_known_users(self.db):
+            if name:
+                self.name_map[username] = name
             if email:
                 self.email_map[username] = email
                 
@@ -404 +407 @@
             reactivate(t)
         projname = self.env.project_name
         public_cc = self.config.getbool('notification', 'use_public_cc')
+
+        if self.from_name == '__updater__' and self.updater:
+            name = self.updater
+            if self.updater in self.name_map:
+                name = self.name_map[self.updater]
+            self.from_name = name
+
+            if self.updater in self.email_map:
+                self.from_email = self.email_map[self.updater]
+
         headers = {}
         headers['X-Mailer'] = 'Trac %s, by Edgewall Software' % __version__
         headers['X-Trac-Version'] =  __version__

I'll add a new patch with documentation if it gets accepted.

[Thijs Triemstra]

The patch on #6512 seems to do almost the same, except it uses the username instead of the name specified in the preferences panel.

[Remy Blank]

Putting on my todo list for review. The patch in #6512 looks simpler at first sight, but I'll review both properly.

[anonymous]

Replying to thijstriemstra:

Here's an updated patch that re-uses the stmp_from_name and applies the updater's name when it's passed the value __updater__.

I think you miss one feature I introduced in the original patch — it also uses {{smtp_from_name}}, but it appends it to updater's name, e.g. if {{smtp_from_name}} was configured to be '[via Trac]' and updater is "Happy Joe", then the resulting From in my patch will be '"Happy Joe [via Trac]" <happy.joe@…'.

The rationale for this is that people are not happy to see an automated messages which they didn't write, but with the addition of, say, '[via Trac]' it's clear that the message was generated on their behalf. Also, it's much easier to filter/search for these messages.

[Remy Blank]

Use the change author as a sender if [notifiation] smtp_from_author is true.

[Remy Blank]

8360-smtp-from-author-r10410.patch​ is a slightly more complete version of the patch in comment:3, with the following changes:

• It uses a separate boolean option [notifiation] smtp_from_author to enable the functionality, so that smtp_from and smtp_from_name can still be set independently. The latter two are used if the author of a change hasn't configured an e-mail address.
• It adds a test case for the new behavior.

I didn't keep the suggested "misuse" of smtp_from_name as a name suffix. Sure, the author of a change didn't write the notification e-mail, but she did make the change, so sending in her name feels acceptable. And filtering is better done with other headers (e.g. X-Trac-Project).

Feedback and testing welcome.

[Remy Blank]

#6512 was closed as a duplicate. The patch above uses the idea from #6512 to use the reporter in the From: header for new tickets, and the change author for changes.

[Remy Blank]

An improved patch that also handles anonymous users having defined a name and an e-mail address was applied in [10421].

[Remy Blank]

Documentation updated in 0.13/TracNotification@2.