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                      6: <head>
1.19      harris41    7: <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></meta>
                      8: <title>LON-CAPA Software Developer Guide</title>
1.17      harris41    9: </head>
                     10: <body>
1.19      harris41   11: <h1>LON-CAPA Software Developer Guide</h1>
1.17      harris41   12: <p>
1.19      harris41   13: January 17, 2001</i>
1.20      harris41   14: <br /><i>Last updated, August 14, 2002</i>
1.17      harris41   15: </p>
                     16: <ol>
1.19      harris41   17: <li><a href="#Using_CVS">Using CVS</a>
1.17      harris41   18: <ul>
                     19: <li><a href="#cvslog">Logging in and out (cvs login; cvs logout)</a></li>
                     20: <li><a href="#cvsupdate">Updating files (cvs update -d)</a></li>
                     21: <li><a href="#cvssave">Saving files (cvs commit)</a></li>
                     22: <li><a href="#cvsadd">Adding files (cvs add)</a></li>
                     23: <li><a href="#cvsadddir">Adding directories (cvs add/import)</a></li>
                     24: <li><a href="#cvsnotsure">What to do when you're not sure about your files
                     25: (cvs update)</a></li>
1.19      harris41   26: </ul></li>
1.17      harris41   27: <li><a href="#makeHTML">Viewing the software (make HTML)</a></li>
                     28: <li><a href="#makebuild">Compiling the software (make build)</a></li>
                     29: <li><a href="#loncapafiles">Adding/removing files from the LON-CAPA
                     30: installation (doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml)</a></li>
                     31: <li><a href="#configversusnonconfig">Configurable files versus
                     32: non-configurable files</a></li>
                     33: <li><a href="#makeinstall">Updating the non-configurable files on your
                     34: machine (make install)</a></li>
                     35: <li><a href="#makeconfiginstall">Updating the configurable files on your
                     36: machine (make configinstall)</a></li>
                     37: <li><a href="#makeRPM">Building RPMs (make RPM)</a></li>
                     38: </ol>
1.2       harris41   39: 
1.17      harris41   40: <ol>
1.19      harris41   41: 
                     42: <li><a name="Using_CVS" /><h2>Using CVS</h2><br />
1.17      harris41   43: These instructions assume that you are using a Linux or UNIX based
                     44: terminal.
                     45: <ul>
                     46: <li><a name="cvslog" />
                     47:     <h3>Using CVS: Logging in and out (cvs login; cvs logout)</h3>
                     48: <p>
1.19      harris41   49: In order to log into CVS, CVS needs to be part of your system environment.
                     50: You can do this by:
                     51: </p>
                     52: <p>
1.17      harris41   53: <font color="#008800">
1.19      harris41   54: <tt>export CVSROOT=:pserver:USERNAME@install.lon-capa.org:/home/cvs</tt>
1.17      harris41   55: </font>
                     56: </p>
                     57: <p>
                     58: To actually login, you will need to execute the following command:
1.19      harris41   59: </p>
                     60: <p>
1.17      harris41   61: <font color="#008800">
1.19      harris41   62: <tt>cvs login</tt>
1.17      harris41   63: </font>
1.19      harris41   64: </p>
                     65: <p>
                     66: You are then prompted for a password.
1.17      harris41   67: If you do not have a password, or the password is not working, you
1.19      harris41   68: should contact <a href="mailto:helen@lon-capa.org">helen@lon-capa.org</a>.
                     69: </p>
                     70: <p>
                     71: The first time you use CVS, you need to CHECKOUT the repository.
                     72: Generally speaking, you need to checkout <tt>loncapa</tt> only once
                     73: per machine.
                     74: To check-out the repository, use the <tt>checkout</tt> command.
                     75: (Otherwise, just enter your CVS directory, <tt>cd loncapa</tt>.)
1.17      harris41   76: </p>
                     77: <p>
                     78: <font color="#008800">
1.19      harris41   79: <tt>cvs checkout loncapa</tt><br />
                     80: <tt>cd loncapa</tt>
1.17      harris41   81: </font>
                     82: </p>
1.19      harris41   83: <p>After completing work with the CVS repository,
                     84: you can log out:
                     85: </p>
                     86: <p>
1.17      harris41   87: <font color="#008800">
1.19      harris41   88: <tt>cvs logout</tt>
1.17      harris41   89: </font>
                     90: </p>
                     91: </li>
                     92: <li><a name="cvsupdate" />
                     93:     <h3>Using CVS: Updating files (cvs update -d)</h3>
                     94: <p>
                     95: After entering your CVS source tree (<tt>cd loncapa</tt>),
                     96: you should frequently update the software changes that
1.19      harris41   97: other people have made.  This is done with the <tt>update</tt> command.
                     98: </p>
                     99: <p>
1.17      harris41  100: <font color="#008800">
1.19      harris41  101: <tt>
1.17      harris41  102: cvs update -d
1.19      harris41  103: </tt>
1.17      harris41  104: </font>
                    105: </p>
                    106: <p>
1.19      harris41  107: The <tt>cvs update</tt> command creates output
                    108: as it updates your CVS source tree.  Common flags are
                    109: 'U' and 'P'; they indicate that a file in your
                    110: <tt>loncapa</tt> directory is now updated with
                    111: changes made by another programmer.
                    112: </p>
                    113: <p>
1.17      harris41  114: <font color="#880000">
1.19      harris41  115: <tt>`U FILE'</tt></font></p>
                    116: <blockquote><font color="#880000">
                    117: The file was brought up to date in your <tt>loncapa</tt>.
                    118: <br />'U' is done for:
                    119: <br />* any file that exists in the repository but not in your source, and
                    120: <br />* files that you have not changed but are not the most recent versions
                    121: available in the repository.
                    122: <br />The network behavior of 'U' is that the entire new file is uploaded
                    123: from the CVS server.
                    124: </font></blockquote>
                    125: <p><font color="#880000"><tt>
1.17      harris41  126: `P FILE'
1.19      harris41  127: </tt></font></p>
                    128: <blockquote><font color="#880000">
                    129: Like `U', but the CVS server sends a patch instead of an entire file.
                    130: </font></blockquote>
                    131: <p>
                    132: 'U' and 'P' essentially accomplish the same thing, just in
                    133: different ways.
1.17      harris41  134: </p>
                    135: <p>
1.19      harris41  136: Usually, when you do not <tt>cvs commit</tt> your code changes,
                    137: the <tt>update</tt> command will tell you that you have modified
1.17      harris41  138: your file with the 'M' flag.
1.19      harris41  139: </p>
                    140: <p><font color="#880000"><tt>
1.17      harris41  141: `M FILE'
1.19      harris41  142: </tt></font></p>
                    143: <blockquote><font color="#880000">
                    144:      The file is modified in your working <tt>loncapa</tt> directory.
                    145:      This is probably based on changes you made and have not yet
                    146:      "cvs commit"-ed.
                    147: </font></blockquote>
                    148: <p>
1.17      harris41  149: Sometimes, it will occur that:
1.19      harris41  150: </p>
1.17      harris41  151: <ul>
                    152: <li>you have modified a file and not yet committed it</li>
                    153: <li>someone else *has* modified a file and *has* committed it</li>
                    154: </ul>
1.19      harris41  155: <p>
1.17      harris41  156: Generally speaking, this is <strong>your</strong> fault.  It is your
                    157: responsibility to resolve conflicts.  <tt>cvs update</tt> informs
                    158: you of a conflict with the 'C' flag.
1.19      harris41  159: </p>
                    160: <p><font color="#880000"><tt>
1.17      harris41  161: `C FILE'
1.19      harris41  162: </tt></font></p>
                    163: <blockquote><font color="#880000">
1.17      harris41  164:      A conflict was detected while trying to merge your changes to FILE
                    165:      with changes from the source repository.
1.19      harris41  166: </font></blockquote>
                    167: <p>
1.17      harris41  168: You will need to open the file and examine it; CVS will have added in
                    169: markup tags like "&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;" to tell you about the merging
                    170: conflicts.  (Sometimes, CVS will intelligently merge in other changes and
                    171: give you the 'M' flag, but many times you will have to manually edit
                    172: the file as just described.)
                    173: </p>
                    174: </li>
                    175: <li><a name="cvssave" />
                    176:     <h3>Using CVS: Saving files (cvs commit)</h3>
                    177: <p>
                    178: <tt>cvs commit</tt> works to submit changes to an <strong>existing</strong>
                    179: file within the repository.  If a file does not currently exist, then you
                    180: will first need to <tt>cvs add</tt> it as described in the following
                    181: section.
                    182: </p>
1.19      harris41  183: Running the <tt>cvs commit</tt> command without additional arguments will
                    184: commit all of your changes within the current directory and subdirectories.
                    185: <p><font color="#008800"><tt>
1.17      harris41  186: cvs commit
1.19      harris41  187: </tt></font></p>
1.17      harris41  188: <p>
                    189: A more precise approach to using <tt>cvs commit</tt> is to pass it specific
                    190: file names.  (Usually you should do this.)
1.19      harris41  191: </p>
                    192: <p><font color="#008800"><tt>
1.17      harris41  193: cvs commit FILENAME
1.19      harris41  194: </tt></font></p>
1.17      harris41  195: <p>
1.19      harris41  196: Note that CVS typically invokes the
                    197: <a href="http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Tutor/vi.html">vi</a> editor and solicits
                    198: comments about your latest changes to the software.   Your comments should be
1.17      harris41  199: both short yet uniquely descriptive.  For example:
1.19      harris41  200: </p>
1.17      harris41  201: <ul>
                    202: <li><strong>BAD</strong> - "made some changes and am drinking soda"</li>
                    203: <li><strong>GOOD</strong> - "implemented syntax checking of perl scripts
                    204: with -c flag"</li>
                    205: </ul>
                    206: </li>
                    207: <li><a name="cvsadd" />
                    208:     <h3>Using CVS: Adding files (cvs add)</h3>
1.19      harris41  209: <p><font color="#008800"><tt>
1.17      harris41  210: cvs add FILENAME
1.19      harris41  211: </tt></font></p>
1.17      harris41  212: <p>
                    213: Then you can run <tt>cvs commit FILENAME</tt> and this file will
                    214: become an "official" part of LON-CAPA.
                    215: </p>
                    216: </li>
                    217: <li><a name="cvsadddir" />
                    218:     <h3>Using CVS: Adding directories (cvs add/import)</h3>
1.19      harris41  219: <p><font color="#008800"><tt>
1.17      harris41  220: cvs add DIRECTORYNAME
1.19      harris41  221: </tt></font></p>
1.17      harris41  222: <p>
                    223: There is no need to run <tt>cvs commit</tt>.  Directories immediately
                    224: become part of the LON-CAPA CVS source tree by only using the <tt>cvs add</tt>
                    225: command.
                    226: </p>
1.19      harris41  227: <p>
                    228: You should not ordinarily need to use the <tt>cvs import</tt> command.
                    229: If misused, <tt>cvs import</tt> can lead to the loss of code within
                    230: the repository.
                    231: </p>
1.17      harris41  232: </li>
                    233: <li><a name="cvsnotsure" />
                    234:     <h3>Using CVS: What to do when you're not sure about your files
                    235:         (cvs update -d)</h3>
                    236: <p>
1.19      harris41  237: Once in a while, multiple programmers may be working on the
1.17      harris41  238: same file.  Most conflicts are avoidable if everybody regularly
                    239: <strong>commits</strong> their changes AND if everybody
                    240: regularly <strong>updates</strong> the CVS source tree they are working on.
                    241: </p>
                    242: <p>
1.19      harris41  243: If you are absent from programming for a few days, and
1.17      harris41  244: <strong>fail</strong> to run <tt>cvs update -d</tt> on your CVS source
                    245: repository, you have only yourself to blame if you find yourself writing
                    246: code in a file that is not up-to-date.
                    247: </p>
                    248: </li>
1.19      harris41  249: </ul></li>
1.17      harris41  250: <li><a name="makeHTML" />
1.19      harris41  251:     <h2>Viewing the software (make HTML)</h2>
                    252: <p>
1.17      harris41  253: <strong>Commands</strong>
1.19      harris41  254: </p>
                    255: <p><font color="#008800"><tt>
                    256: cd loncom/build<br />
                    257: rm -Rf HTML <i>(or alternatively, "make clean")</i><br />
                    258: make HTML<br />
                    259: cd HTML<br />
                    260: <i>(look at the index.html file with a web browser such as Netscape)</i>
                    261: </tt></font></p>
                    262: <p>
1.17      harris41  263: <strong>General description of what happens</strong>
1.19      harris41  264: </p>
1.17      harris41  265: <p>
1.6       harris41  266: This is the actual make target code.
1.19      harris41  267: </p>
1.17      harris41  268: <pre>
1.6       harris41  269: <!-- LONCAPA MAKETARGET=HTML START -->
                    270: HTML:
1.17      harris41  271: 	install -d HTML
                    272: 	cp $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/*.gif HTML
                    273: 	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
                    274: 	perl lpml_parse.pl html development default "$(SOURCE)" '$(TARGET)' \
                    275: 	> HTML/index.html
1.6       harris41  276: <!-- LONCAPA MAKETARGET=HTML END -->
1.17      harris41  277: </pre>
1.19      harris41  278: <p>
1.7       harris41  279: What basically happens is that specially marked-up data in the LON-CAPA
1.19      harris41  280: cvs repository file <tt>doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml</tt> is parsed
                    281: into a more viewable format by <tt>loncom/build/lpml_parse.pl</tt>.  The
                    282: resulting file gives a very well organized view of all the files, directories,
1.7       harris41  283: links, ownerships, permissions, and brief documentation of what each
                    284: file does.
1.17      harris41  285: </p>
1.19      harris41  286: </li>
1.17      harris41  287: <li><a name="makebuild" />
                    288:     <h2>Compiling the software (make build)</h2>
                    289: <strong>Commands</strong>
1.19      harris41  290: <p><font color="#008800"><tt>
1.8       harris41  291: cd loncom/build
1.19      harris41  292: <br />make build
                    293: </tt></font></p>
1.17      harris41  294: <p>
                    295: <strong>General description of what happens</strong>
                    296: </p>
                    297: <p>
1.8       harris41  298: This is the actual make target code.
1.19      harris41  299: </p>
1.17      harris41  300: <pre>
1.13      harris41  301: <!-- LONCAPA MAKETARGET=build START -->
1.17      harris41  302: build: Makefile.build pod2html.sh pod2man.sh
                    303: 	echo -n "" > WARNINGS
                    304: 	make -f Makefile.build all
                    305: 	make warningnote
                    306: 
                    307: Makefile.build: $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml lpml_parse.pl
                    308: 	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
                    309: 	perl lpml_parse.pl build $(CATEGORY) $(DIST) "$(SOURCE)" "$(TARGET)" \
                    310: 	> Makefile.build
1.13      harris41  311: <!-- LONCAPA MAKETARGET=build END -->
1.17      harris41  312: </pre>
1.19      harris41  313: <p>
1.17      harris41  314: <tt>loncom/build/lpml_parse.pl</tt> reads in all the build information out
                    315: of <tt>doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml</tt>.  A new Makefile named
                    316: <tt>loncom/build/Makefile.build</tt> is dynamically constructed.
1.19      harris41  317: This dynamically generated Makefile is then used to build and compile
                    318: all the software targets from source.  This can take several minutes
                    319: (it depends on the speed of the machine you compile with).
1.17      harris41  320: </p>
1.19      harris41  321: <p>
1.17      harris41  322: <strong>Example</strong>
1.19      harris41  323: </p>
1.17      harris41  324: <p>
                    325: Here is information for one file <tt>tth.so</tt> provided in
                    326: <tt>doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml</tt>.
1.19      harris41  327: </p>
1.17      harris41  328: <pre>
                    329: &lt;file&gt;
                    330: &lt;source&gt;loncom/homework/caparesponse/capa.so&lt;/source&gt;
                    331: &lt;target dist='default'&gt;usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.005/capa.so&lt;/target&gt;
                    332: &lt;target dist='redhat7 redhat7.1'&gt;usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.0/capa.so&lt;/target&gt;
                    333: &lt;categoryname&gt;system file&lt;/categoryname&gt;
                    334: &lt;description&gt;
                    335: shared library file for dynamic loading and unloading
                    336: &lt;/description&gt;
                    337: &lt;build trigger='always run'&gt;
                    338: loncom/homework/caparesponse/commands
                    339: &lt;/build&gt;
                    340: &lt;dependencies&gt;
                    341: caparesponse.c;
                    342: caparesponse.pm;
                    343: README;
                    344: Makefile.PL;
                    345: capa.i;
                    346: commands
                    347: &lt;/dependencies&gt;
                    348: &lt;/file&gt;
                    349: </pre>
1.19      harris41  350: <p>
1.17      harris41  351: <tt>loncom/build/lpml_parse.pl</tt> sees the <b>build</b> tags and sets up
                    352: a dynamic file <tt>Makefile.build</tt> to run the command inside the
                    353: <b>build</b> tags.  The files listed inside the <b>dependencies</b> tags
                    354: are included in the <tt>Makefile.build</tt> so as to determine whether
                    355: or not there is a need to compile.
                    356: </p>
                    357: <p>
                    358: Here is an example of a dynamically generated <tt>Makefile.build</tt>
                    359: that builds two LON-CAPA files (one of which is <tt>tth.so</tt>).
1.19      harris41  360: </p>
1.17      harris41  361: <pre>
1.8       harris41  362: all: ../homework/caparesponse/capa.so ../modules/TexConvert/tthperl/tth.so 
                    363: 
1.17      harris41  364: ../homework/caparesponse/capa.so:  ../homework/caparesponse/caparesponse.c ../homework/caparesponse/caparesponse.pm alwaysrun
1.8       harris41  365:         cd ../homework/caparesponse/; sh ./commands
                    366: 
1.17      harris41  367: ../modules/TexConvert/tthperl/tth.so:  ../modules/TexConvert/tthperl/../tthdynamic/tthfunc.c ../modules/TexConvert/tthperl/../ttmdynamic/ttmfunc.c
1.8       harris41  368:         cd ../modules/TexConvert/tthperl/; sh ./commands
                    369: 
                    370: alwaysrun:
1.17      harris41  371: </pre>
                    372: </li><li><a name="loncapafiles" />
1.19      harris41  373:     <h2>Adding/removing files from the LON-CAPA installation
                    374:         (doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.html)</h2>
                    375: <p>
1.17      harris41  376: <strong>To add and remove (and alter)</strong>
1.19      harris41  377: </p>
1.17      harris41  378: <p>
1.11      harris41  379: All that you have to do to alter the behavior of the installation is
1.17      harris41  380: edit a single file (<tt>doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml</tt>).
1.11      harris41  381: Adding, removing, and altering files requires proper attention
                    382: to the syntax of file format of course.
1.17      harris41  383: </p>
1.19      harris41  384: <p>
1.17      harris41  385: <strong>File Format</strong>
1.19      harris41  386: </p>
                    387: <p>
                    388: The preceding <a href="#makebuild">"make build"</a> documentation
1.17      harris41  389: gives an example of a <b>file</b> entry describing one particular file.
                    390: All data within <tt>loncapafiles.lpml</tt> is specified according
                    391: to markup tags.  The format and syntax of <tt>loncapafiles.lpml</tt>
1.11      harris41  392: is currently best described by the HTML documentation code at the beginning of
                    393: loncapafiles.html (as well as, by example, seeing how various
                    394: information is coded).  All in all, the syntax is quite simple.
1.17      harris41  395: </p>
1.19      harris41  396: <p>
1.17      harris41  397: <strong>Philosophy and notes (the thing nobody reads)</strong>
1.19      harris41  398: </p>
1.17      harris41  399: <p>
1.11      harris41  400: Packaging the software from CVS onto a machine file system requires many
                    401: things:
1.19      harris41  402: </p>
1.17      harris41  403: <ul>
                    404: <li>documenting every component of the software,</li>
                    405: <li>handling CVS <u>source</u> to file system <u>target</u> information,</li>
                    406: <li>handling (according to a hierarchical scheme of grouping) file
                    407: ownership and permissions,</li>
                    408: <li>handling (according to a hierarchical scheme of grouping) directory
                    409: ownership and permissions,</li>
                    410: <li>handling symbolic links,</li>
1.19      harris41  411: <li>providing for multiple options of installation targets (e.g. RedHat versus
                    412: Debian),</li>
1.17      harris41  413: <li>providing for different file ownerships and permissions to apply
                    414: to the same file,</li>
                    415: <li>allowing system software documentation to be automatically generated
                    416: (see information on <a href="#makeHTML">"make html"</a>),</li>
                    417: <li>providing information in an easily adjustable form as new demands
                    418: are made on the software packaging system,</li>
                    419: <li>providing software package information (for RPM),</li>
                    420: <li>having information in a format that allows for troubleshooting
                    421: the current status of the machine file system,</li>
                    422: <li>allow for changes to the structure of the CVS repository,</li>
                    423: <li>and something that is simple enough for any one to immediately work with,
1.19      harris41  424: without having to learn any specifics (or hidden traps) of complicated
                    425: Makefile's or a new macro language (m4?).</li>
1.17      harris41  426: </ul>
                    427: <p>
1.11      harris41  428: I looked into, and tried, different ways of accomplishing the above
                    429: including automake and recursive make.  The automake system seemed quite
                    430: complicated (and needlessly so in terms of this project since, by and large,
                    431: it works to coordinate many different types of build/compilation parameters
1.19      harris41  432: whereas we are more concerned with installation parameters).  The other
                    433: alternative, recursive make,
                    434: has significant deficiencies since not all the information
1.11      harris41  435: is kept in one place, and there are significant levels of dependency
                    436: between all the things that must be done to keep software packaging
                    437: up to date.  A particularly convincing article I found when looking into
                    438: much of this was
1.17      harris41  439: <a href="http://www.pcug.org.au/~millerp/rmch/recu-make-cons-harm.html">
1.19      harris41  440: "Recursive Make Considered Harmful" by Peter Miller</a>.  Other complications
                    441: were that, at the time, it was unclear as to what categories
1.11      harris41  442: of software files we had, and whether or not the directory structure
                    443: of CVS would remain constant.  With an ever-developing directory structure
                    444: to CVS, I preferred to organize the information on a per-file basis
1.19      harris41  445: as opposed to a per-directory basis.
1.11      harris41  446: Additionally, a standard big Makefile assumes certain "normalcy" to
                    447: the directory structure of different potential operating system directories
                    448: (RedHat vs. Debian).
1.17      harris41  449: </p>
                    450: <p>
1.19      harris41  451: If you take time to look at <tt>loncapafiles.lpml</tt>
1.17      harris41  452: (and perhaps run the <a href="#makeHTML">make HTML</a> command)
1.11      harris41  453: you will find that the organizing information according to the markup
1.17      harris41  454: syntax in <tt>loncapafiles.lpml</tt> is simple.  Simple is good.
                    455: </p>
                    456: <p>
                    457: <tt>loncom/build/lpml_parse.pl</tt> is the script (invoked automatically
                    458: by the various targets in <tt>loncom/build/Makefile</tt>) that reads
                    459: <tt>doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml</tt>.  <tt>lpml_parse.pl</tt>
1.11      harris41  460: is capable of reading and returning different types of information
1.17      harris41  461: from <tt>loncapafiles.lpml</tt> depending on how <tt>lpml_parse.pl</tt>
                    462: is invoked.  <tt>lpml_parse.pl</tt> has yet to have introduced new sources
1.11      harris41  463: of error, and has been tested in quite a number of ways.  As with
                    464: any parser however, I remain paranoid.
1.17      harris41  465: </p>
                    466: <p>
1.19      harris41  467: Finally, some notes on the development.
1.17      harris41  468: <tt>lpml_parse.pl</tt> is very fast and styled after a state-based SAX-like
1.19      harris41  469: approach.  I do eventually want to use a real XML/XSLT approach, however
                    470: I hesitate to make everyone everywhere install something like
                    471: <a href="http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=XML-Xalan">XML::Xalan</a>.
                    472: Also note that <tt>loncapafiles.lpml</tt> has a 
                    473: DTD (<tt>loncom/build/lpml.dtd</tt>) against which it is valid.
                    474: I would also like to use more ENTITY's inside <tt>lpml.dtd</tt> but currently
                    475: the perl XML modules available at CPAN do not digest complex ENTITY's that
                    476: well.
1.17      harris41  477: </p>
                    478: <p>
                    479: The <tt>lpml_parse.pl</tt>-<tt>loncapafiles.lpml</tt> 
1.19      harris41  480: combination has been highly efficient and error-free.
1.17      harris41  481: </p>
                    482: </li><li><a name="configversusnonconfig" />
                    483:     <h2>Configurable files versus non-configurable files</h2>
                    484: <p>
                    485: <strong>Machine-specific information is the difference</strong>
                    486: </p>
                    487: <p>
1.12      harris41  488: The current list of configurable files for the LON-CAPA system is
1.19      harris41  489: <tt>/etc/httpd/conf/loncapa.conf</tt>,
                    490: <tt>/etc/ntp.conf</tt>,
                    491: <tt>/etc/krb.conf</tt>,
                    492: <tt>/etc/ntp/step-tickers</tt>,
                    493: <tt>/home/httpd/html/res/adm/includes/copyright.tab</tt>,
                    494: <tt>/home/httpd/html/res/adm/includes/un_keyword.tab</tt>,
                    495: <tt>/home/httpd/hosts.tab</tt>, and
                    496: <tt>/home/httpd/spare.tab</tt>.
1.17      harris41  497: </p>
                    498: <p>
1.12      harris41  499: All of these configurable files contain machine-specific information.
1.19      harris41  500: For instance, the overall LON-CAPA system relies on unique host IDs such
1.12      harris41  501: as msua3, s1, s2, msul1, and 103a1 (specified as a "PerlSetVar lonHostID"
1.19      harris41  502: field within <tt>/etc/httpd/conf/loncapa.conf</tt>).
1.12      harris41  503: Non-configurable files simply do NOT have machine-specific information.
1.19      harris41  504: </p>
                    505: <p>
1.17      harris41  506: <strong>The impact on updating software</strong>
1.19      harris41  507: </p>
1.17      harris41  508: <p>
1.19      harris41  509: What this means in terms of software updating is that:
                    510: </p>
1.17      harris41  511: <ul>
                    512: <li>non-configurable files can be simply overwritten with newer versions
                    513: (without "anything" else to worry about),</li>
                    514: <li>and configurable files must follow these steps to be safely
1.19      harris41  515: overwritten:
1.17      harris41  516: <ol>
1.19      harris41  517: <li>have their machine-specific information saved,</li>
1.17      harris41  518: <li>be overwritten, and then</li>
1.19      harris41  519: <li>have their machine-specific information restored.</li>
1.17      harris41  520: </ol>
1.19      harris41  521: </li>
1.17      harris41  522: </ul>
1.19      harris41  523: </li>
1.17      harris41  524: <li><a name="makeinstall" />
                    525:     <h2>Updating the non-configurable files on your machine (make install)</h2>
                    526: <strong>Commands</strong>
1.19      harris41  527: <p><font color="#008800"><tt>
1.13      harris41  528: cd loncom/build
1.19      harris41  529: <br />make install
                    530: </tt></font></p>
1.17      harris41  531: <p>
                    532: <strong>General description of what happens</strong>
                    533: </p>
                    534: <p>
1.13      harris41  535: This is the actual make target code.
1.19      harris41  536: </p>
1.17      harris41  537: <pre>
1.13      harris41  538: <!-- LONCAPA MAKETARGET=install START -->
1.17      harris41  539: install: TEST_hosts_tab Makefile.install Makefile
                    540: 	echo -n "" > WARNINGS
                    541: 	make -f Makefile.install SOURCE="$(SOURCE)" TARGET="$(TARGET)" \
                    542: 	directories
                    543: 	make -f Makefile.install SOURCE="$(SOURCE)" TARGET="$(TARGET)" files
                    544: 	make -f Makefile.install SOURCE="$(SOURCE)" TARGET="$(TARGET)" links
                    545: 	make SOURCE="$(SOURCE)" TARGET="$(TARGET)" \
                    546: 	NORESTORECONF="$(NORESTORECONF)" configinstall
                    547: 	make postinstall
                    548: 	make warningnote
                    549: 	echo "You can run 'make test' to see if your system is ready to go!"
                    550: 
                    551: Makefile.install: $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml lpml_parse.pl
                    552: 	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
                    553: 	perl lpml_parse.pl install $(CATEGORY) $(DIST) "$(SOURCE)" \
                    554: 	"$(TARGET)" > Makefile.install
1.13      harris41  555: <!-- LONCAPA MAKETARGET=install END -->
1.17      harris41  556: </pre>
1.19      harris41  557: <p>
                    558: For safety reasons (so as to preserve a machine's configuration),
1.13      harris41  559: configuration files are NOT installed during this step.  This means
1.19      harris41  560: that files such as <tt>/etc/httpd/conf/loncapa.conf</tt>,
                    561: <tt>/home/httpd/html/res/adm/includes/copyright.tab</tt>, and
1.20      harris41  562: <tt>/home/httpd/spare.tab</tt> are not overwritten, but remain as old,
1.19      harris41  563: non-updated copies.  (To automatically update these files and save/restore
1.13      harris41  564: their encoded machine configuration, you must run "make configinstall").
1.17      harris41  565: </p>
1.19      harris41  566: </li>
1.17      harris41  567: <li><a name="makeconfiginstall" />
                    568:   <h2>Updating the configurable files on your machine (make configinstall)</h2>
                    569: <strong>Commands</strong>
1.19      harris41  570: <p><font color="#008800"><tt>
1.13      harris41  571: cd loncom/build
                    572: make configinstall
1.19      harris41  573: </tt></font></p>
                    574: <p>
1.17      harris41  575: <strong>General description of what happens</strong>
1.19      harris41  576: </p>
1.17      harris41  577: <p>
1.13      harris41  578: This is the actual make target code.
1.19      harris41  579: </p>
1.17      harris41  580: <pre>
1.13      harris41  581: <!-- LONCAPA MAKETARGET=configinstall START -->
1.18      harris41  582: configinstall: Makefile.configinstall
                    583: 	make -f Makefile.configinstall SOURCE="$(SOURCE)" TARGET="$(TARGET)" \
                    584: 	configfiles
                    585: 	if (test "0" = $(NORESTORECONF)); then \
                    586: 	perl loncaparestoreconfigurations suffix .lpmlnew; fi
                    587: 
                    588: Makefile.configinstall: $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml lpml_parse.pl
                    589: 	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
                    590: 	perl lpml_parse.pl configinstall $(CATEGORY) $(DIST) "$(SOURCE)" \
                    591: 	"$(TARGET)" > Makefile.configinstall
1.13      harris41  592: <!-- LONCAPA MAKETARGET=configinstall END -->
1.17      harris41  593: </pre>
1.19      harris41  594: <p>
1.13      harris41  595: Configuration files are installed during this step.  This means
1.19      harris41  596: that files such as <tt>/etc/httpd/conf/loncapa.conf</tt>,
                    597: <tt>/home/httpd/html/res/adm/includes/copyright.tab</tt>, and
                    598: <tt>/home/httpd/spare.tab</tt> are overwritten.  Before being overwritten,
1.13      harris41  599: a backup copy is made though.  Information is read out of these
                    600: backup copies and restored to the new files by the
1.17      harris41  601: <tt>loncaparestoreconfigurations</tt> script.  To ensure that
1.13      harris41  602: new file permissions and ownerships are installed, a final set of
1.17      harris41  603: <tt>chown</tt> and <tt>chmod</tt> commands are called for each of 
1.13      harris41  604: the configuration files.
1.17      harris41  605: </p>
                    606: <p>
                    607: <strong>For the truly paranoid</strong>
                    608: </p>
                    609: <p>
1.13      harris41  610: If you are truly paranoid, you can just make the
1.17      harris41  611: <tt>Makefile.configinstall</tt> file and then save, copy,
1.13      harris41  612: and restore all the configuration values yourself.
1.17      harris41  613: <tt>loncaparestoreconfigurations</tt> is pretty smart though, has yet to
1.19      harris41  614: fail, and besides, when needed, backup copies are made.
1.17      harris41  615: </p>
1.18      harris41  616: </li><li><a name="makeRPM" />
1.17      harris41  617:     <h2>Building RPMs (make RPM)</h2>
1.18      harris41  618: <p>
1.19      harris41  619: LON-CAPA is currently installed through "intelligent tarballs".
                    620: What I am describing now is part of an earlier (and perhaps future) effort
                    621: involving RPMs.
1.17      harris41  622: </p>
                    623: <p>
1.19      harris41  624: <strong>Commands</strong>
1.17      harris41  625: </p>
1.19      harris41  626: <p><font color="#008800"><tt>
                    627: cd loncom/build<br />
                    628: rm -Rf BinaryRoot <i>(or alternatively, "make clean")</i><br />
                    629: make RPM<br />
                    630: <i>(to subsequently install, you can type commands like
                    631: "rpm -Uvh --force LON-CAPA-base-3.1-1.i386.rpm")</i>
                    632: </tt></font></p>
1.17      harris41  633: <p>
                    634: <strong>Configuration files</strong>
                    635: </p>
                    636: <p>
1.13      harris41  637: Configuration files are automatically saved with the file suffix
1.19      harris41  638: ".rpmsave".  So <tt>/etc/httpd/conf/loncapa.conf</tt> is saved as 
                    639: <tt>/etc/httpd/conf/loncapa.conf.rpmsave</tt>.
                    640: The <tt>loncaparestoreconfigurations</tt> script should work to restore
                    641: configurations in this case.  However, please note that if you install an RPM
                    642: twice without restoring your configuration, you will overwrite the
1.13      harris41  643: ".rpmsave" files.
1.17      harris41  644: </p>
                    645: <p>
                    646: <strong>General description of what happens</strong>
                    647: </p>
                    648: <p>
1.13      harris41  649: This is the actual make target code.
1.19      harris41  650: </p>
1.17      harris41  651: <pre>
1.13      harris41  652: <!-- LONCAPA MAKETARGET=RPM START -->
1.17      harris41  653: RPM: BinaryRoot base_rpm_file_list
                    654: 	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
                    655: 	perl lpml_parse.pl make_rpm $(CATEGORY) $(DIST) $(SOURCE) $(TARGET) \
                    656: 	> base_customizerpm.xml
1.21      harris41  657: 	cat base_rpm_file_list.txt | perl make_rpm.pl base 3.2 1 '' '' \
1.17      harris41  658: 	BinaryRoot base_customizerpm.xml
                    659: 
                    660: BinaryRoot: base_rpm_file_list
                    661: 	make TARGET='BinaryRoot' NORESTORECONF='1' install
1.13      harris41  662: 
1.17      harris41  663: base_rpm_file_list:
                    664: 	cat $(SOURCE)/doc/loncapafiles/loncapafiles.lpml | \
                    665: 	perl lpml_parse.pl rpm_file_list $(CATEGORY) $(DIST) $(SOURCE) \
                    666: 	'BinaryRoot' | sort > base_rpm_file_list.txt
1.16      harris41  667: <!-- LONCAPA MAKETARGET=RPM END -->
1.17      harris41  668: </pre>
1.19      harris41  669: <p>
1.17      harris41  670: A <tt>BinaryRoot</tt> directory is generated that reflects the locations,
1.13      harris41  671: ownerships, permissions, and contents for all the CVS source
                    672: files, compiled binaries, directories, and links as they should eventually
                    673: occur on the '/' filesystem location.
1.17      harris41  674: </p>
                    675: <p>
1.19      harris41  676: <tt>loncom/build/make_rpm.pl</tt> (also available at
                    677: <a href="http://www.cpan.org">CPAN</a>) is robust (tested over the
1.13      harris41  678: span of months) and, unlike other automated RPM-builders, cleanly
                    679: builds new RPMs without any after-effect of temporary files left
1.19      harris41  680: on the system.  The generated RPM is labeled in the format
1.21      harris41  681: LON-CAPA-base-(VERSION)-(RELEASE).i386.  VERSION is specified inside the
1.19      harris41  682: Makefile.
1.17      harris41  683: </p>
1.18      harris41  684: </li>
1.17      harris41  685: </ol>
                    686: </body>
                    687: </html>
1.12      harris41  688: 
                    689: 
                    690: 

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