[Toaster] Design - the All layers page

Thu Jul 24 08:55:43 PDT 2014

On 24/07/2014 16:26, "Damian, Alexandru" <alexandru.damian at intel.com>
wrote:

>
>
>Hi,
>
>I spent some time thinking about this, I have some comments below,
>
>Alex
>
>
>On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 11:54 AM, Barros Pena, Belen
><belen.barros.pena at intel.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>On 24/07/2014 07:17, "Reyna, David" <david.reyna at windriver.com> wrote:
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>If the "source" value is not already defined I propose that we define an
>>optional one that Toaster can use if present. I am sure Alex already has
>>a heuristic for existing YP layers so no changes there. This is to help
>>the mass of 2nd and 3rd party plus customer layers where "imported" is
>>too broad a category.
>
>
>As I understand, Layer sources are not a tool for categorizing or
>managing layers, 

Yes, they are a tool for categorising layers too

>they are a tool for discovering layers.

yes, they are also this

> When you want import a layer, we help with the discover-ability by
>hinting
> layers from layersources that may be what the user is looking for.

We might be talking about the same thing here, but I am going to clarify
the words I am using in the documentation. Layers in a layer source are
not "imported", they are simply "added" to a project. They don't need to
be imported because they are already "known" to Toaster. Layers that are
not in a layer source are not known to Toaster, and therefore must be
imported first, then added to a project. Looking at this page

http://www.yoctoproject.org/toaster/import-layer.html

might help. When you "import" a layer, it is put into the "Imported" layer
source, so in the All layers page, you can apply the "Imported" filter and
see all the layers you have ever imported into Toaster (independently of
project).

>
>
>The layersources are interesting only as far as a user imports layers in
>a project - once the layer is imported, it makes no sense to link back to
>the layer source.

Layers are imported into Toaster, then added to a project. This way, you
can add an imported layer to 2 projects very easily, without having to go
through the importing process twice.

>
>I would propose to drop the "layersource" column entirely. Only the
>system administrator should be concerned about existing layer sources.

I might have 2 layers called meta-blah, one from source OpenEmbedded,
another one with some patches of mine that I imported into Toaster. The
only difference between the 2 layers, which have the same name, is the
source, so we need to expose the source so that you know which meta-blah
is the standard one, and which one is the customised one you imported into
Toaster. 

>
>
> 
>
>
>
>Sorry, I am not sure I follow. Imported layers are only those manually
>imported by "regular" Toaster users. Layer sources are created by the
>person setting up the Toaster instance, and should be given a proper,
>meaningful name. I would expect second and third party layers to be set up
>as layer sources (with their own source names).
>
>
>I am not sure I follow -
>
>Layers are not layer sources. A layer source is a tool that indexes
>layers, so we cannot set layers as their own layer sources.

I am not suggesting we set layers as their own layer source, I am
suggesting a rule that says: "any layer entry created via the import layer
form should have 'Imported' as its source".

Now, this is the way things are designed. I suspect the terminology is
confusing (as David Reyna pointed out), so we might have to review that,
or change the model of the interface altogether. I am pretty much open to
anything (as long as it doesn't involve having to import the same layer
every time I want to use it in a project: that would be a lot of work).

Cheers

Belén

>
>
> 
>
>Customers might decide to
>set up their layers as a layer source (if they have many), or ask
>developers to import them manually (if they have only a couple of them).
>
>When would be this "optional" source value be used? Would it be selected
>by "regular" users?
>
>Thanks!
>
>Belén
>
>>
>>David
>>
>>Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Jul 23, 2014, at 5:57 AM, "Barros Pena, Belen"
>>><belen.barros.pena at intel.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 23/07/2014 06:29, "Reyna, David" <david.reyna at windriver.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi Belén,
>>>>
>>>> I had a chance to look over your excellent design document. It is as
>>>> usual very complete, detailed, consistent, and easy to use.
>>>>
>>>> I had a quick question. How does the tool know the "Source" of a
>>>>layer?
>>>
>>>> Specifically:
>>>>
>>>> * I do not recall this value in "conf/layers.conf". How does a layer
>>>> provider set that value?
>>>
>>> This is one for Alex: I am not sure how he is planning to organise
>>>these
>>> tables.
>>>
>
>
>
>
>
>This is tricky, I haven't got a definitive solution yet - but this is my
>reasoning:
>
>A "layer source" basically is a layerindex-like application that exposes
>the set API currently exposed by layerindex (the API itself is in the
>works).
>
>
>There is no concept of a layerindex in current bitbake conf files, since
>it was not designed to integrate with the command line tools. The
>layersource only lives in the toaster, and toaster is
> responsible for generating "project layer" entries that will translate
>into BBLAYER in layer.conf.
>
>
>
>The layersource's role is to make layer discovery easier for people
>starting with the project. The project will ship with a fixture pointing
>to the
>
>
>  "http://layers.openembedded.org/layerindex/branch/master/layers/"
>
>layer source.
>
>Additionally, there is a special "virtual" layersource that consists of
>layers discovered during build, or manually inserted by the user. This
>layersource is local to the installation. It raises some problems
>regarding portability of the project, since the
> imported layers may be local and they can't be easily replicated on a
>remote machine - we talked about this.
>
>
>
>
> 
>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> * I would presume that second party layer providers (e.g. "wrlinux" or
>>>> "timesys") would have those respective values as their layer's
>>>>"Source".
>>>
>>> Indeed: the process of setting up a layer source should include giving
>>>it
>>> a name. The name is exposed to users, so it should be something
>>>meaningful.
>
>
>
>
>
>The layer sources would be set up by each admin in part. Yes, we can
>have a "name" field.
>
>
> 
>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> * I presume that the Source filter tool would have an automatic entry
>>>> for each unique Source value found in that build, so nothing hard
>>>>coded
>>>> nor limited.
>
>
>
>
>
>The layer sources are not 
> 
>found in the build, but configured by the admin persona in charge of
>setting the system. As per usual, we provide some default configuration
>in terms of the "Imported" and "layerindex.openembedded.org
><http://layerindex.openembedded.org>"
> sources.
>
>
>
>>>
>>> Yes again :) There should be a filter per layer source set up in the
>>> Toaster instance.
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> Belén
>>>
>>>>
>>>> - David
>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: toaster-bounces at yoctoproject.org [mailto:toaster-
>>>>> bounces at yoctoproject.org] On Behalf Of Barros Pena, Belen
>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2014 9:50 AM
>>>>> To: toaster at yoctoproject.org
>>>>> Subject: [Toaster] Design - the All layers page
>>>>>
>>>>> This is the page where you can see all the layers compatible with
>>>>>your
>>>>> selected Yocto Project version
>>>>>
>>>>> 
>http://www.yoctoproject.org/toaster/all-layers.html
><http://www.yoctoproject.org/toaster/all-layers.html>
>>>>>
>>>>> Design document attached to Bugzilla entry 6232
>>>>>
>>>>> 
>https://bugzilla.yoctoproject.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6232
><https://bugzilla.yoctoproject.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6232>
>>>>>
>>>>> It's called: "Design - 1.2 All layers"
>>>>>
>>>>> Belén
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> toaster mailing list
>>>>> toaster at yoctoproject.org
>>>>> https://lists.yoctoproject.org/listinfo/toaster
>>>
>
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>-- 
>Alex Damian
>Yocto Project
>
>SSG / OTC 
>
>
>