Issue rank management in an issue tracking system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016239785-A1
Application number	US-201514622784-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 13, 2015
Priority date	Feb 13, 2015
Publication date	Aug 18, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Described herein is a computer implemented method for maintaining a plurality of issues, each issue having an associated rank value, the rank values of the plurality of issues defining an order of the plurality of issues. The method comprises receiving a rank operation request to change the rank of a subject issue; determining relevant issues to the rank operation request; and attempting to acquire locks on each of the relevant issues. In response to successfully acquiring locks on each of the relevant issues a new rank value for the subject issue is calculated and saved.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer implemented method for maintaining a plurality of issues, each issue having an associated rank value, the rank values of the plurality of issues defining an order of the plurality of issues, the method comprising:
receiving a rank operation request to change the rank of a subject issue; determining relevant issues to the rank operation request; attempting to acquire locks on each of the relevant issues; and in response to successfully acquiring locks on each of the relevant issues:
calculating a new rank value for the subject issue, the new rank value determined in accordance the rank operation requested; and
saving the new rank value for the subject issue.

2 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the rank operation request is a reorder request, and wherein the relevant issues are determined to comprise the subject issue, a higher ranked neighbor issue, and a lower ranked neighbor issue.

3 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the reorder request is selected from a group comprising: a rank first request being a request to rank the subject issue as the first issue in the rank order; a rank last request being a request to rank the subject issue as the last issue in the rank order; a rank before request being a request to rank the subject issue so it is ordered immediately before a specified issue; a rank after request being a request to rank the subject issue so it is ordered immediately after a specified issue.

4 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the new rank value for the subject issue is calculated so the new rank value has a length that is less than a maximum issue rank length.

5 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the rank operation request is a balance request and wherein the relevant issues are determined to comprise the subject issue and a neighbor issue.

6 . The computer implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the balance request is a balance down request and the neighbor issue is a lower ranked neighbor issue.

7 . The computer implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the balance request is a balance up request and the neighbor issue is a higher ranked neighbor issue.

8 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein attempting to acquire locks on the relevant issues comprises attempting to write lock data to a lock value field associated with each relevant issue, and wherein an attempt to acquire locks is successful if lock data is successfully written to the lock value field associated with each relevant issue.

9 . The computer implemented method of claim 8 , wherein attempting to acquire locks on each of the relevant issues is performed by a single lock acquisition request, and wherein attempting to acquire locks on the relevant issues is successful if a returned value of the lock acquisition request indicates that lock data was written to each relevant issue.

10 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein after saving the new rank value for the subject issue, the method further comprises releasing the successfully acquired locks.

11 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein if the attempt to acquire locks is not successful, the method further comprises implementing a delay and, following the delay, re-attempting the rank operation.

12 . The computer implemented method of claim 11 , wherein if the delay results in a maximum runtime being reached or exceeded, the method comprises terminating the rank operation in respect of the rank operation request.

13 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein if the attempt to acquire locks is not successful, but in the attempt one or more of the relevant issues is locked, the method further comprises unlocking issues that were locked in the unsuccessful lock acquisition attempt.

14 . The computer implemented method of claim 13 , wherein unlocking issues that were locked in the unsuccessful lock acquisition attempt is performed by a single lock release request.

15 . A system for maintaining a plurality of issues, each issue having an associated rank value, the rank values of the plurality of issues defining an order of the plurality of issues, the system comprising:
one or more processors; one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive a rank operation request to change the rank of a subject issue;
determine relevant issues to the rank operation request;
attempt to acquire locks on each of the relevant issues; and
in response to successfully acquiring locks on each of the relevant issues:
calculate a new rank value for the subject issue, the new rank value determined in accordance the rank operation requested; and
save the new rank value for the subject issue.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the rank operation request is a reorder request, and wherein the relevant issues are determined to comprise the subject issue, a higher ranked neighbor issue, and a lower ranked neighbor issue.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the reorder request is selected from a group comprising: a rank first request being a request to rank the subject issue as the first issue in the rank order; a rank last request being a request to rank the subject issue as the last issue in the rank order; a rank before request being a request to rank the subject issue so it is ordered immediately before a specified issue; a rank after request being a request to rank the subject issue so it is ordered immediately after a specified issue.

18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the new rank value for the subject issue is calculated so the new rank value has a length that is less than a maximum issue rank length.

19 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the rank operation request is a balance request and wherein the relevant issues are determined to comprise the subject issue and a neighbor issue.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the balance request is a balance down request and the neighbor issue is a lower ranked neighbor issue.

21 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the balance request is a balance up request and the neighbor issue is a higher ranked neighbor issue.

22 . The system of claim 15 , wherein attempting to acquire locks on the relevant issues comprises attempting to write lock data to a lock value field associated with each relevant issue, and wherein an attempt to acquire locks is successful if lock data is successfully written to the lock value field associated with each relevant issue.

23 . The system of claim 22 , wherein attempting to acquire locks on each of the relevant issues is performed by a single lock acquisition request, and wherein attempting to acquire locks on the relevant issues is successful if a returned value of the lock acquisition request indicates that lock data was written to each relevant issue.

24 . The system of claim 15 , wherein after saving the new rank value for the subject issue, execution of the sequences of instructions cause the one or more processors to release the successfully acquired locks.

25 . The system of claim 15 , wherein if the attempt to acquire locks is not successful, execution of the sequences of instructions cause the one or more processors to implement a delay and, following the delay, re-attemp

Assignees

• Atlassian Pty Ltd

Inventors

• Lassau Mark
• Quail Matt
• Petrov Nikolay
• Bosticky Ivo
• Elias Michael

Classifications

• G06Q10/063116 Primary

  Schedule adjustment for a person or group · CPC title

• G06Q10/06315

  Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis · CPC title