query-pr(1)						       GNATS User Utilities						       query-pr(1)

NAME

       query-pr - query problem reports in the GNATS database

SYNOPSIS

       query-pr
	      [--output file | -o file]
	      [--list-databases] [--list-fields] [--list-input-fields]
	      [--responsible-address address]
	      [--field-type type]
	      [--field-description description]
	      [--valid-values values]
	      [--format format | -f format]
	      [--full | -F] [--summary | -q]
	      [--database database | -d database]
	      [--and | -&] [--or | -|]
	      [--expr expr]
	      [--debug | -D]
	      [--help | -h] [--version | -V]
	      [PR ...]

   Non-network-mode options:
	      [--print-sh-vars] [--print-directory-for-database]

   Network-mode-only options:
	      [--host host | -H host] [--port port] [--user user | -v user] [--passwd passwd | -w passwd]

   Deprecated Options
	      [--list-categories | -j] [--list-classes | -J] [--list-responsible | -k] [--list-submitters | -l] [--list-states | -T]
	      [--category category | -c category] [--synopsis synopsis | -y synopsis] [--confidential confidential | -C confidential]
	      [--multitext multitext | -m multitext] [--originator originator | -O originator] [--release release | -A release]
	      [--class class | -L class] [--cases cases | -E cases] [--quarter quarter | -Q quarter] [--keywords keywords | -K keywords]
	      [--priority priority | -p priority] [--responsible responsible | -r responsible] [--restricted | -R]
	      [--severity severity | -e severity] [--skip-closed | -x] [--sql | -i] [--sql2 | -I] [--state state | -s state]
	      [--submitter submitter | -S submitter] [--text text | -t text] [--required-before date | -u date] [--required-after date | -U date]
	      [--arrived-before date | -b date] [--arrived-after date | -a date] [--modified-before date | -B date]
	      [--modified-after date | -M date] [--closed-before date | -z date] [--closed-after date | -Z date]

DESCRIPTION

       Queries the GNATS database according to options and returns either selected Problem Reports (PRs) or other requested information.  query-pr
       can query PRs located in either a local database or via gnatsd.

       PRs may be selected via the use of the --expr option, directly by number, or by the use of the (now deprecated) field-specific query opera-
       tors.

       By default, query options are connected with a logical AND.  For example,
	      query-pr --category=foo --responsible=bar
       only prints PRs which have a Category field of foo and a Responsible field of bar.

       The --or option may be used to connect query options with a logical OR. For example,
	      query-pr --category=baz --or --responsible=blee
       prints PRs which have either a Category field of baz or a Responsible field of blee.

       The use of these options is strongly discouraged, as they will be deleted in the next release.  The expressions specified by the --expr op-
       tion are much more flexible.

OPTIONS

       --help, -h
	    Prints a (rather longish) help message.

       --version, -V
	    Displays the program version to stdout.

       --output file, -o file
	    The results of the query will be placed in this file.

       --database database, -d database
	    Specifies the database to be used for the query.  If no database is specified, the database named default is  assumed.   (This  option
	    overrides the database specified in the GNATSDB environment variable; see the ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES section for more information.)

       --list-categories, -j
	    Lists the available PR categories for the selected database.

       --list-classes, -J
	    Lists the available PR classes for the selected database.

       --list-responsible, -k
	    Lists the users that appear in the database's responsible list.

       --list-submitters, -l
	    Lists the valid submitters for this database.

       --list-states, -T
	    Lists the valid PR states for PRs in this database.

       The previous --list-* options are deprecated and will be removed in the next release; their functionality can be replaced with

		      query-pr --valid-values field

       where field is one of Category, Class, Responsible, Submitter-Id, or State.

       --list-databases
	      Lists the known databases.

       --list-fields
	      Lists the entire set of field names for PRs in the selected database.

       --list-input-fields
	      Lists  the  fields that should be provided when creating a new PR for the currently-specified database.  The fields are listed in an
	      order that would make sense when used in a template or form.

       --field-type field
	      Returns the data type contained in PR field field.  The current set of data types includes text, multitext, enum,  multienum,  inte-
	      ger, date, and text-with-regex-qualifier.

       --field-description field
	      Returns a human-readable description of the intended purpose of field.

       --valid-values field
	      For  fields  of  type enum, a list of valid values (one per line) is returned.  Otherwise, a regular expression is returned that de-
	      scribes the legal values in field.

       --responsible-address name
	      The mail address of name is returned; name is assumed to be a name either appearing in the database's responsible list, or is other-
	      wise a user on the system.

       --print-sh-vars
	      A set of /bin/sh variables is returned that describe the selected database.  They include:

	      GNATSDB
		     The name of the currently-selected database.

	      GNATSDB_VALID
		     Set to 1 if the selected database is valid.

	      GNATSDBDIR
		     The directory where the database contents are stored.

	      DEBUG_MODE
		     Set to 1 if debug mode has been enabled for the database.

	      DEFAULTCATEGORY
		     The default category for PRs in the database.

	      DEFAULTSTATE
		     The default state for PRs in the database.

       --print-directory-for-database
	      Returns the directory where the selected database is located.

       --format format, -f format
	      Used to specify the format of the output PRs, See FORMATS below for a complete description.

       --full, -F
	      When printing PRs, the entre PR is displayed.  This is exactly equivalent to

		 query-pr --format full

       --summary, -q
	      When printing PRs, a summary format is used.  This is exactly equivalent to

		 query-pr --format summary

       --debug, -D
	      Enables debugging output for network queries.

       --host host, -H host
	      Specifies the hostname of the gnatsd server to communicate with.	This overrides the value in the GNATSDB environment variable.

       --port port
	      Specifies the port number of the gnatsd server to communicate with.  This overrides the value in the GNATSDB environment variable.

       --user user, -v user
	      Specifies  the  username	to  login  with when connecting to the gnatsd server.  This overrides the value in the GNATSDB environment
	      variable.

       --passwd passwd, -w passwd
	      Specifies the password to login with when connecting to the gnatsd server.  This overrides the  value  in  the  GNATSDB  environment
	      variable.

       --and, -&, --or, -|,
	      These  options are used when connecting multiple query operators together.  They specify whether the previous and subsequent options
	      are to be logically ANDed or logically ORed.

       --expr expr
	      Specifies a query expression to use when searching for PRs.  See the QUERY EXPRESSIONS section.

       The remaining deprecated options are not described here, since their use is fairly obvious and their functionality is  completely  replaced
       by the use of the --expr option.  (Some sort of shorthand option for querying fields may appear in the next release.)

FORMATS

       Printing formats for PRs are in one of three forms:

       formatname
	      This is a named format which is described by the database (specifically, these formats are described in the dbconfig file associated
	      with the database).  The default configuration contains five such formats: standard, full, summary, sql, and sql2.

	      The first three are the ones most commonly used when performing queries.	standard is the format used by default if no other  format
	      is specified.

	      Use of the latter two are discouraged; they are merely kept for historical purposes.

	      Other named formats may have been added by the database administrator.

       fieldname
	      A single field name may appear here.  Only the contents of this field will be displayed.

       '"printf string" fieldname fieldname . . .'

	      This provides a rather flexible mechanism for formatting PR output.  (The formatting is identical to that provided by the named for-
	      mats described by the database configuration.)  The printf string can contain the following % sequences:

	      %[positionalspecifiers]s:  Prints the field as a string.	The positional specifiers are similar to those of printf, as +, - and dig-
	      it qualifiers can be used to force a particular alignment of the field contents.

	      %[positionalspecifiers]S: Similar to %s, except that the field contents are terminated at the first space character.

	      %[positionalspecifiers]d:  Similar  to  %s,  except that the field contents are written as a numeric value.  For integer fields, the
	      value is written as a number.  For enumerated fields, the field is converted into a numeric equivalent (i.e. if the field  can  have
	      two possible values, the result will be either 1 or 2).  For date fields, the value is written as seconds since Jan 1, 1970.

	      %F: The field is written as it would appear within a PR, complete with field header.

	      %D: For date fields, the date is written in a standard GNATS format.

	      %Q: For date fields, the date is written in an arbitrary "SQL" format.

	      An example printf formatted query (note the quoting of the whole format specification):

	      query-pr --format '"%s, %s" Synopsis State'

QUERY EXPRESSIONS

       Query expressions are used to select specific PRs based on their field contents.  The general form is

	      fieldname|"value" operator fieldname|"value" [booleanop ...]

       value is a literal string or regular expression; it must be surrounded by double quotes, otherwise it is interpreted as a fieldname.

       fieldname is the name of a field in the PR.

       operator is one of:

       =      The  value  of  the left-hand side of the expression must exactly match the regular expression on the right-hand side of the expres-
	      sion.

       ~      Some portion of the left-hand side of the expression must match the regular expression on the right-hand side.

       ==     The value of the left-hand side must be equal to the value on the right-hand side of the expression.

	      The equality of two values depends on what type of data is stored in the field(s) being queried.	For example, when querying a field
	      containing integer values, literal strings are interpreted as integers.  The query expression

		     Number == "0123"

	      is identical to

		     Number == "123"

	      as  the  leading	zero is ignored.  If the values were treated as strings instead of integers, then the two comparisons would return
	      different results.

       !=     The not-equal operator. Produces the opposite result of the == operator.

       <,>    The left-hand side must have a value less than or greater than the right-hand side.  Comparisons are done depending on the  type	of
	      data being queried; in particular, integer fields and dates use a numeric comparison, and enumerated fields are ordered depending on
	      the numeric equivalent of their enumerated values.

       booleanop is either | [or], or & [and].	The query expression
	      Category="baz" | Responsible="blee"
       is identical to the second query example with --or given earlier; it selects all PRs with a Category field of baz or a Responsible field of
       blee.

       The not operator ! may be used to negate a test:
	      ! Category="foo"
       searches for PRs where the category is not equal to the regular expression foo.

       Parenthesis may be used to force a particular interpretation of the expression:
	      !(Category="foo" & Submitter-Id="blaz")
       skips PRs where the Category field is equal to foo and the Submitter-Id field is equal to blaz.	Parenthesis may be nested to any arbitrary
       depth.

       Fieldnames can be specified in several ways.  The simplest and most obvious is just a name:
	      Category="foo"
       checks the value of the category field for the value "foo".

       A fieldname qualifier may be prepended to the name of the field; a colon is used to separate the qualifier from the name.  To refer direct-
       ly to a builtin field name:

	      builtin:Number="123"

       In  this case, Number is interpreted as the builtin name of the field to check.	(This is useful if the fields have been renamed.  For more
       discussion of builtin field names, see dbconfig(5).)

       To scan all fields of a particular type, the fieldtype qualifier may be used:

	      fieldtype:Text="bar"

       searches all text fields for the regular expression bar.

       Note that it is not necessary that the right-hand side of the expression be a literal string.  To query all PRs where the PR has been modi-
       fied since it was closed, the expression

	      Last-Modified != Closed-Date

       will  work;  for  each  PR, it compares the value of its Last-Modified field against its Closed-Date field, and returns those PRs where the
       values differ.  However, this query will also return all PRs with empty Last-Modified or Closed-Date fields.  To further narrow the search:

	      Last-Modified != Closed-Date & Last-Modified != "" & Closed-Date != ""

       In general, comparing fields of two different types (an integer field against a date field, for example) will  probably	not  do  what  you
       want.

       Also, a field specifier may be followed by the name of a subfield in braces:

	      State[type] != "closed"

       or even

	      builtin:State[type] != "closed"

       Subfields are further discussed in dbconfig(5).

QUERY BY MAIL

       query-pr  can  also be accessed by electronic mail, if your version of GNATS is configured for this.  To use this feature, simply send mail
       to the address query-pr@your-site with command line arguments or options in the Subject: line of the mail header.  GNATS  replies  to  your
       mail with the results of your query.  The default settings for the query-pr mail server are shown below; to override the --state parameter,
       specify --state=state in the Subject: line of the mail header.  You can not query on confidential Problem Reports by mail.

       --restricted --state="open|analyzed|feedback|suspended"

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       The GNATSDB environment variable is used to determine which database to use.  For a local database, it contains the name of the database to
       access.

       For network access via gnatsd, it contains a colon-separated list of strings that describe the remote database in the form

       server:port:databasename:username:password

       Any of the fields may be omitted except for server, but at least one colon must appear; otherwise, the value is assumed to be the name of a
       local database.

       If GNATSDB is not set, it is assumed that the database is local and that its name is default.

SEE ALSO

       Keeping Track: Managing Messages With GNATS (also installed as the GNU Info file gnats.info)

       databases(5), dbconfig(5), delete-pr(8), edit-pr(1) file-pr(8), gen-index(8), gnats(7), gnatsd(8), mkcat(8),  mkdb(8),  pr-edit(8),  query-
       pr(1), queue-pr(8), send-pr(1).

COPYING

       Copyright (c) 1993, 94, 95, 96, 1997, 1999, 2003, Free Software Foundation, Inc.

       Permission  is  granted	to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
       preserved on all copies.

       Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that  the
       entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one.

       Permission  is  granted	to  copy and distribute translations of this manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
       versions, except that this permission notice may be included in translations approved by the Free Software Foundation  instead  of  in  the
       original English.

GNATS
								    August 2003 						       query-pr(1)