Consider moving from the CESM testdb for CESM tag planning to github Projects

[ekluzek]

@briandobbins brought this up to me as something for us to consider. There are several strategic reasons to do this, that I won't go into extensively here. But, maintenance of the testdb is an issue and moving to standard software for our planning is another. We also use github extensively CESM-wide and centralizing on one widely used tool would be a good move.

I think the list of things to consider are:

• What are the requirements we need from the testdb to move over?
• Can github and github Projects do everything needed from testdb?
• If github can't -- what are alturnatives?
• What do we estimate it would it take to make the move?
• How much time do we need to train everyone on the new system?
• When can we/should we do the switch?

[ekluzek]

What are the requirements from the testdb to move over.

• Mark which tags are b4b
• Highlight dependencies
• Show if the tag exists
• Group component tags together (@cacraigucar)
• Link to .gitmodules for created tags (@cacraigucar )
• Integrated with CESM testing -- tags under test, or previously tested
• Easily see CESM test results
• Easily see grouped categories: planned tags, alpha tags, beta tags (and different cesm series, cesm2_3, cesm3_0, cesm3_1, etc.)
• Restrict permissions to CSEG + co-chairs
• Links to Brief ChangeLog and created ChangeLog
• Test Reports for sorting through test results (@fischer-ncar )
• Easily see comparison tag
• Easily see the tag creation date
• Show the author who added the component tag to the planned tag
• Place to document: general purpose of the alpha/beta tag, expected answer changes, summary of fails from testing

Things that are there, but maybe OK to remove:

• Integration with CESM tagging process isn't maybe important: (open, close, migrate, etc. help with ChangeLog's) (@fischer-ncar )
• Remove Full ChangeLog?

[fischer-ncar]

I use Brief Changelogs all the time to update the cesm ChangeLog, never used the Full version. Once in awhile I'll use "Test Reports" when I need to see how long a certain test has been failing, or look for a pattern of failing tests.

As far as the CESM tagging process. It's useful to have a description of all of the externals that go into a tag. But I used to make cesm/ccsm4 tags before the testdb ever came along.

I just did a quick check, it would be possible to query the testdb from Github. But I'm not sure what the security issues would be.

[ekluzek]

Requirements we'd like to see fixed from testdb in the move:

• Easily be able to change the tag order
• Be able to edit documentation for created tags (although not tag content) (maybe with some restrictions)
• Increase the people that can maintain it beyond just @fischer-ncar

[billsacks]

Thanks for starting this thread, @ekluzek and for your detailed list of the functionalities of the testdb!

This seems to be starting from the assumption that we're going to replace the testdb, but in order to help make that decision, I think there's one other important question: How much time and specialized knowledge does it currently take to maintain the testdb?