Description of problem: The help tab on the Reports Template page of the Satellite UI is confusing and not very helpful to customers. Can we place it with the new documentation created for Satellite 6.8 on this subject? It might be good if we provide links to in depth documentation (even upstream) if it exists. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): Found in satellite 6.7.0
I think there is a misunderstanding. The classes you see listed, e.g. Subnet or Nic::Base can't be used directly. E.g. you can't do this > <%= Subnet.all.map(&:name) %> We don't want users to use internal objects API, in this case the ActiveRecord interface, as that may change. Instead we have the DSL that allows accessing these objects. E.g. to load subnet objects, there's a load_subnets macro. The documentation contains methods that you can call on such classes. So for example, > <%- load_subnets.each_record do |s| -%> > <%= s.name -%> > <%- end -%> here you can see we load subnets using the loader and iterate over all of them. In variable s, we have instances of class Subnet. Here's where the documentation for Subnet class is useful. All methods listed in it can be called on s, e.g. name. Of course, there are other ways how to load subnet object, e.g. host.subnet (if host is object of class Host. I'd suggest reading the Help page (link is on top right corner in the 6.8 documentation), it explains it a bit more detailed. You are right that we mostly allow read only things in the DSL. The safe mode should prevent users from doing potentially harmful things. But also reading can cause problems. There may be sensitive information that we don't want to expose to every user who has edit template permission. That's why every method needs to be considered and whitelisted. If there's some method you're missing, open a BZ for that. If we find it safe, it's easy to add. But in this case, I think it was more about the misunderstanding of how to use the documentation. Note that Subnet is not a method but a class of object. Please let us know if it makes more sense now and we can close this.
Hello, As satellite 6.8 seems to expand on reporting and documentation for it, you can go ahead and close this BZ.
One thing though, Subnet and Nic::Base are both listed as methods in the satellite gui help page under report templates. At the very least this is confusing to the customer.
Could you please upload a screen shot? The table may be confusing, but the left column should be the class, while on the right, there should be a list of methods. We should replace the Help tab though once the new documentation is in-app.
Created attachment 1713512 [details] Screen shot from help tab
Created attachment 1713513 [details] screen shot from further down help tab
As can be seen in the screen shot, all items in the table are labelled Safe Mode Methods and Variables. Yet some of them are not usable in safe mode. Since the user will expect them to work, this just creates confusion.
I don't see the confusion there. Table on screenshoots show what methods are allowed for given object so logically you can't call 'Subnet.all' because method 'all' is not allowed for that object. Maybe it can help changing the labels of columns, for example 'for class' instead of 'class' and 'are allowed methods and members' instead of 'allowed methods and members'. However, I don't know if it's makes sense according to new documentation that was mentioned by Marek at Comment 4.
I think there are 2 confusions. Gary calls Subnet and Nic::Base methods, but these are classes, as the table shows in the header for the first column. They are not allowed to be used in safe mode directly, e.g. <% Subnet %> will fail. Methods listed in the right column can be used on instances of this class, e.g. <% @host.subnet %>. Note the difference between class and instance. The table header says "Allowed methods or members" only for the right column. To load subnets, a loader must be used, e.g. <% load_subnets %> I totally agree the Help tab is not overly helpful and should be replaced with the new documentation introduced in 6.8. If you don't mind, I'd modify this BZ subject and comment 0 to reflect it. It would be a new RFE. Does that make sense?
Marek, Agreed and done.
Created redmine issue https://projects.theforeman.org/issues/30959 from this bug
Upon review of our valid but aging backlog the Satellite Team has concluded that this Bugzilla does not meet the criteria for a resolution in the near term, and are planning to close in a month. This message may be a repeat of a previous update and the bug is again being considered to be closed. If you have any concerns about this, please contact your Red Hat Account team. Thank you.
Thank you for your interest in Red Hat Satellite. We have evaluated this request, and while we recognize that it is a valid request, we do not expect this to be implemented in the product in the foreseeable future. This is due to other priorities for the product, and not a reflection on the request itself. We are therefore closing this out as WONTFIX. If you have any concerns about this feel free to contact your Red Hat Account Team. Thank you.