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LON-CAPA Software Developer Instructions

+ + + + + + +LON-CAPA Software Developer Instructions + + +

LON-CAPA Software Developer Instructions

+

+
Written by Scott Harrison, January 17, 2001 +
Last updated, April 27, 2002 +

+
    +
  1. Using CVS
  2. + +
  3. Viewing the software (make HTML)
  4. +
  5. Compiling the software (make build)
  6. +
  7. Adding/removing files from the LON-CAPA +installation (doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml)
  8. +
  9. Configurable files versus +non-configurable files
  10. +
  11. Updating the non-configurable files on your +machine (make install)
  12. +
  13. Updating the configurable files on your +machine (make configinstall)
  14. +
  15. Building RPMs (make RPM)
  16. +
+ +
    + +
  1. Using CVS

  2. +These instructions assume that you are using a Linux or UNIX based +terminal. +
    +
  3. +

    Viewing the software (make HTML)

  4. +Commands + +
    +cd loncom/build
    +rm -Rf HTML (or alternatively, "make clean")
    +make HTML
    +cd HTML
    +(look at the index.html file with a web browser such as Netscape)
    +
    +
    +General description of what happens +

    +This is the actual make target code. + +

    +
    +HTML:
    +	install -d HTML
    +	cp $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/*.gif HTML
    +	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
    +	perl lpml_parse.pl html development default "$(SOURCE)" '$(TARGET)' \
    +	> HTML/index.html
    +
    +
    + +What basically happens is that specially marked-up data in the LON-CAPA +cvs repository file doc/loncapafiles.lpml is parsed into a more +viewable format by loncom/build/lpml_parse.pl. The resulting +file gives a very well organized view of all the files, directories, +links, ownerships, permissions, and brief documentation of what each +file does. +

    +
  5. +

    Compiling the software (make build)

    +Commands + +
    +cd loncom/build
    +make build
    +
    +
    +

    +General description of what happens +

    +

    +This is the actual make target code. + +

    +
    +build: Makefile.build pod2html.sh pod2man.sh
    +	echo -n "" > WARNINGS
    +	make -f Makefile.build all
    +	make warningnote
    +
    +Makefile.build: $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml lpml_parse.pl
    +	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
    +	perl lpml_parse.pl build $(CATEGORY) $(DIST) "$(SOURCE)" "$(TARGET)" \
    +	> Makefile.build
    +
    +
    + +loncom/build/lpml_parse.pl reads in all the build information out +of doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml. A new Makefile named +loncom/build/Makefile.build is dynamically constructed. +This dynamically generated Makefile is then run to build/compile +all the software targets from source. This currently takes 10 minutes +(depends on the speed of the machine you compile with). +

    +Example +

    +Here is information for one file tth.so provided in +doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml. + +

    +<file>
    +<source>loncom/homework/caparesponse/capa.so</source>
    +<target dist='default'>usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.005/capa.so</target>
    +<target dist='redhat7 redhat7.1'>usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.0/capa.so</target>
    +<categoryname>system file</categoryname>
    +<description>
    +shared library file for dynamic loading and unloading
    +</description>
    +<build trigger='always run'>
    +loncom/homework/caparesponse/commands
    +</build>
    +<dependencies>
    +caparesponse.c;
    +caparesponse.pm;
    +README;
    +Makefile.PL;
    +capa.i;
    +commands
    +</dependencies>
    +</file>
    +
    + +loncom/build/lpml_parse.pl sees the build tags and sets up +a dynamic file Makefile.build to run the command inside the +build tags. The files listed inside the dependencies tags +are included in the Makefile.build so as to determine whether +or not there is a need to compile. +

    +

    +Here is an example of a dynamically generated Makefile.build +that builds two LON-CAPA files (one of which is tth.so). + +

    +all: ../homework/caparesponse/capa.so ../modules/TexConvert/tthperl/tth.so 
    +
    +../homework/caparesponse/capa.so:  ../homework/caparesponse/caparesponse.c ../homework/caparesponse/caparesponse.pm alwaysrun
    +        cd ../homework/caparesponse/; sh ./commands
    +
    +../modules/TexConvert/tthperl/tth.so:  ../modules/TexConvert/tthperl/../tthdynamic/tthfunc.c ../modules/TexConvert/tthperl/../ttmdynamic/ttmfunc.c
    +        cd ../modules/TexConvert/tthperl/; sh ./commands
    +
    +alwaysrun:
    +
    + +

    +
  6. +

    Adding/removing files from the LON-CAPA installation (doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.html)

    +To add and remove (and alter) +

    +All that you have to do to alter the behavior of the installation is +edit a single file (doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml). +Adding, removing, and altering files requires proper attention +to the syntax of file format of course. +

    +File Format +

    +The preceding "make build" documentation +gives an example of a file entry describing one particular file. +All data within loncapafiles.lpml is specified according +to markup tags. The format and syntax of loncapafiles.lpml +is currently best described by the HTML documentation code at the beginning of +loncapafiles.html (as well as, by example, seeing how various +information is coded). All in all, the syntax is quite simple. +

    +Philosophy and notes (the thing nobody reads) +

    +Packaging the software from CVS onto a machine file system requires many +things: +

    +

    +

    +I looked into, and tried, different ways of accomplishing the above +including automake and recursive make. The automake system seemed quite +complicated (and needlessly so in terms of this project since, by and large, +it works to coordinate many different types of build/compilation parameters +whereas we are more concerned with installation parameters). Recursive make +has significant deficiencies in the sense that not all the information +is kept in one place, and there are significant levels of dependency +between all the things that must be done to keep software packaging +up to date. A particularly convincing article I found when looking into +much of this was + +"Recursive Make Considered Harmful" by Peter Miller. Complicating +matters was, at the time, it was unclear as to what categories +of software files we had, and whether or not the directory structure +of CVS would remain constant. With an ever-developing directory structure +to CVS, I preferred to organize the information on a per-file basis +as opposed to a per-directory basis (although there is a successful +implementation of a standard big Makefile in loncom/Makefile). +Additionally, a standard big Makefile assumes certain "normalcy" to +the directory structure of different potential operating system directories +(RedHat vs. Debian). +

    +

    +If you take time to look at loncapafiles.lpml +(and perhaps run the make HTML command) +you will find that the organizing information according to the markup +syntax in loncapafiles.lpml is simple. Simple is good. +

    +

    +loncom/build/lpml_parse.pl is the script (invoked automatically +by the various targets in loncom/build/Makefile) that reads +doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml. lpml_parse.pl +is capable of reading and returning different types of information +from loncapafiles.lpml depending on how lpml_parse.pl +is invoked. lpml_parse.pl has yet to have introduced new sources +of error, and has been tested in quite a number of ways. As with +any parser however, I remain paranoid. +

    +

    +lpml_parse.pl is very fast and styled after a state-based SAX-like +approach. Additionally, loncapafiles.lpml has a +DTD (loncom/build/lpml.dtd) against which it is valid. +I would like to use more ENTITY's inside lpml.dtd but currently +Perl XML modules available at CPAN do not digest complex ENTITY's that well. +

    +

    +The lpml_parse.pl-loncapafiles.lpml +combination has been working very efficiently and error-free. +

    +
  7. +

    Configurable files versus non-configurable files

    +

    +Machine-specific information is the difference +

    +

    +The current list of configurable files for the LON-CAPA system is +/etc/httpd/access.conf, /etc/smb.conf, /etc/ntp.conf, /etc/krb.conf, +/etc/atalk/config, /etc/ntp/step-tickers, +/home/httpd/html/res/adm/includes/copyright.tab, +/home/httpd/html/res/adm/includes/un_keyword.tab, +/home/httpd/hosts.tab, and +/home/httpd/spare.tab. +

    +

    +All of these configurable files contain machine-specific information. +For instance, the LON-CAPA system relies on unique host IDs such +as msua3, s1, s2, msul1, and 103a1 (specified as a "PerlSetVar lonHostID" +field within /etc/httpd/access.conf). +Non-configurable files simply do NOT have machine-specific information. +The impact on updating software +

    +What this means in terms of software updating is that +

      +
    • non-configurable files can be simply overwritten with newer versions +(without "anything" else to worry about),
    • +
    • and configurable files must follow these steps to be safely +overwritten
    • +
        +
      1. have their machine specific information saved,
      2. +
      3. be overwritten, and then
      4. +
      5. have their machine specific information restored.
      6. +
      +
    +

    +
  8. +

    Updating the non-configurable files on your machine (make install)

    +Commands + +
    +cd loncom/build
    +make install
    +
    +
    +

    +General description of what happens +

    +

    +This is the actual make target code. + +

    +
    +install: TEST_hosts_tab Makefile.install Makefile
    +	echo -n "" > WARNINGS
    +	make -f Makefile.install SOURCE="$(SOURCE)" TARGET="$(TARGET)" \
    +	directories
    +	make -f Makefile.install SOURCE="$(SOURCE)" TARGET="$(TARGET)" files
    +	make -f Makefile.install SOURCE="$(SOURCE)" TARGET="$(TARGET)" links
    +	make SOURCE="$(SOURCE)" TARGET="$(TARGET)" \
    +	NORESTORECONF="$(NORESTORECONF)" configinstall
    +	make postinstall
    +	make warningnote
    +	echo "You can run 'make test' to see if your system is ready to go!"
    +
    +Makefile.install: $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml lpml_parse.pl
    +	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
    +	perl lpml_parse.pl install $(CATEGORY) $(DIST) "$(SOURCE)" \
    +	"$(TARGET)" > Makefile.install
    +
    +
    + +For safety reasons (so as to not mess up a machine's configuration), +configuration files are NOT installed during this step. This means +that files such as /etc/httpd/access.conf, /etc/smb.conf, /etc/atalk/config, +/home/httpd/html/res/adm/includes/copyright.tab, and +/home/httpd/spare.tab are not overwritten, but remain as old, non-updated +copies. (To automatically update these files and save/restore +their encoded machine configuration, you must run "make configinstall"). +

    +
  9. +

    Updating the configurable files on your machine (make configinstall)

    +Commands + +
    +cd loncom/build
    +make configinstall
    +
    +
    +General description of what happens +

    +This is the actual make target code. + +

    +
    +configinstall: Makefile.configinstall
    +	make -f Makefile.configinstall SOURCE="$(SOURCE)" TARGET="$(TARGET)" \
    +	configfiles
    +	if (test "0" = $(NORESTORECONF)); then \
    +	perl loncaparestoreconfigurations suffix .lpmlnew; fi
    +
    +Makefile.configinstall: $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml lpml_parse.pl
    +	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
    +	perl lpml_parse.pl configinstall $(CATEGORY) $(DIST) "$(SOURCE)" \
    +	"$(TARGET)" > Makefile.configinstall
    +
    +
    + +Configuration files are installed during this step. This means +that files such as /etc/httpd/access.conf, /etc/smb.conf, /etc/atalk/config, +/home/httpd/html/res/adm/includes/copyright.tab, and +/home/httpd/spare.tab are overwritten. Before being overwritten, +a backup copy is made though. Information is read out of these +backup copies and restored to the new files by the +loncaparestoreconfigurations script. To ensure that +new file permissions and ownerships are installed, a final set of +chown and chmod commands are called for each of +the configuration files. +

    +

    +For the truly paranoid +

    +

    +If you are truly paranoid, you can just make the +Makefile.configinstall file and then save, copy, +and restore all the configuration values yourself. +loncaparestoreconfigurations is pretty smart though, has yet to +fail, and besides, when needed backup copies are made. +

    +
  10. +

    Building RPMs (make RPM)

    +

    +LON-CAPA is currently installed through "intelligent tarballs". This +is part of an earlier (and perhaps future) effort involving RPMs. +Commands + +

    +cd loncom/build
    +rm -Rf BinaryRoot (or alternatively, "make clean")
    +make RPM
    +   (to subsequently install, you can type commands like
    +       "rpm -Uvh --force LON-CAPA-base-3.1-1.i386.rpm")
    +
    + +

    +WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! +

    +Never never never never never manually install the +LON-CAPA-setup-3.1-1.i386.rpm. This RPM is meant to only be +installed by the CD installation process (it wipes out +the existing /etc/passwd file). +

    +

    +Configuration files +

    +

    +Configuration files are automatically saved with the file suffix +".rpmsave". So /etc/httpd/conf/access.conf is saved as +/etc/httpd/conf/access.conf.rpmsave. You can restore +the machine-specific configuration information by running +the /usr/sbin/loncaparestoreconfigurations. However, +a warning is important here. If you install an RPM twice +without restoring your configuration, you will overwrite the +".rpmsave" files. +

    +

    +General description of what happens +

    +

    +This is the actual make target code. + +

    +
    +RPM: BinaryRoot base_rpm_file_list
    +	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
    +	perl lpml_parse.pl make_rpm $(CATEGORY) $(DIST) $(SOURCE) $(TARGET) \
    +	> base_customizerpm.xml
    +	cat base_rpm_file_list.txt | perl make_rpm.pl base 3.2 '' '' \
    +	BinaryRoot base_customizerpm.xml
    +
    +BinaryRoot: base_rpm_file_list
    +	make TARGET='BinaryRoot' NORESTORECONF='1' install
    +
    +base_rpm_file_list:
    +	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
    +	perl lpml_parse.pl rpm_file_list $(CATEGORY) $(DIST) $(SOURCE) \
    +	'BinaryRoot' | sort > base_rpm_file_list.txt
    +
    +
    + +A BinaryRoot directory is generated that reflects the locations, +ownerships, permissions, and contents for all the CVS source +files, compiled binaries, directories, and links as they should eventually +occur on the '/' filesystem location. +

    +

    +loncom/build/make_rpm.pl is robust (tested over the +span of months) and, unlike other automated RPM-builders, cleanly +builds new RPMs without any after-effect of temporary files left +on the system. (On the negative side, there are a number of +LON-CAPA specific customizations inside make_rpm.pl which, for +the sake of reusability, should eventually be removed). Two new RPMs +are generated: LON-CAPA-base-3.1-1.i386 and LON-CAPA-setup-3.1-1.i386.rpm +(again, never manually install LON-CAPA-setup-3.1-1.i386.rpm). +

    +
  11. +
+ + + + -