on Fri Sep 14 2007, Jason Sankey <jason-AT-zutubi.com> wrote:
Hi all,
You may have noticed the discussion going on re: developer feedback systems. As part of this I have just started setting up a demo build server at:
At this stage it is an early demonstration of the server (Pulse) building the boost trunk. There is only one machine, but for illustration purposes I am running both the master and one agent on it. This shows the ability to build on multiple agents in parallel (to test the different OS/compiler combos). In this case I am testing two different gcc versions (the easiest to setup for the demo).
Very cool to see it working. Sorry it's taken me so long to respond.
You will notice that the build fails, with both a bunch of errors coming out and test failures. This isn't so bad for the demo since it shows how these things are reported. In reality work would need to be done to either fix the problems or have Pulse recognise them as expected failures.
Right.
You might also notice the Pulse is kicking off a build when it detects any change, and shows the change information (also linked to Trac for diff views etc). This should keep the machine busy, since a build takes over 2 hours (partly because two builds are running in parallel, but mostly just because the build takes that long). Perhaps there is a shorted build/test cycle that should be run on every change for faster feedback.
I don't know how you're invoking the build, but if you're using regression.py, there is an --incremental flag you can pass that avoids rebuilding things whose dependencies haven't changed.
On the subject of feedback, you may also want to try creating an account so you can log in. Just click the login link (top right corner) and you will see a link to sign up. It is best to choose your user name to match your Subversion user name, as then Pulse can tell which changes are yours. Once signed up you get a dashboard view along with preferences that allow you to sign up for email notifications.
Oh, that is awesome! I chose a different user name from my svn name, but then added an alias. Will that work?
It would be great if people could take a look and let me know:
1) If you think this is useful and worth continuing with.
Definitely worth continuing with. I don't think it's useful yet, but if you continue it will be.
2) What important features you think are currently missing.
Integration with the XML failure markup is the most crucial thing.
3) How some of the errors/failing tests can be resolved.
Not connected to the 'net as I write this; I might be able to look later. -- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting http://www.boost-consulting.com The Astoria Seminar ==> http://www.astoriaseminar.com