Readme.md

#Repository Structure

the repository is structured as follows

    <code class="text">
    bundles  --- contains any standard eclipse plugin and the emf code generator.
    features --- contains any tooling kernel or af3 feature definition (set of plugins).
    products --- contains product descriptions (set of features): produces the resulting zips.
    releng   --- common build configuration and p2 update sites.
    tests    --- junit integration or module tests of the application, or single fragments respectively.
    
* **bundles**

the bundle folder is composed of the following repositories:

    <code class="text">
    af3           --- git submodule of the af3 plugins.
    af3-rcp       --- git submodule containing the org.fortiss.af3.rcapplication plugin.
    emf-generator --- contains the emf code generator and its launch configuration.
    kernel        --- git submodule of the tooling kernel plugins.
    
two maven pom files are found in this folder:

    <code class="text">
    pom.xml               --- specifies the to-be-compiled eclipse plugins activated by the given build flags.
    pom-bundle-parent.xml --- compilation-specific configuration: currently, it only adds the required openjfx libraries to the tycho classpath.
    
the pom.xml file is the entry point for the compilation, whereas the
pom-bundle-parent.xml is included from bundle repos (such as af3).

note that all plugins are build pom-less: this means that no pom.xml
config file is needed within standard eclipse plugins. it is only
required at the level above. therefore, a maven extension is specified
within the “.mvn” folder within the root of the maven-releng repository.

* **docker**

Contains the build specification for the docker container used in the CI Jobs.

* **features**

contains the tooling kernel and af3 feature as git submodules. each of
these features contains the full set of plugins as of now. however they
might be regrouped acc. to functionality groups in future.

* **products**

contains the af3 phoenix product as git submodule.

* **releng**

contains the following modules:

    <code class="text">
    org.fortiss.af3.configuration --- Common configuration of all maven modules such as maven plugin versions and configuration. Moreover, commonly used variables are specified here.
    org.fortiss.af3.target        --- Target definition file that specifies all available plugins of the compilation and runtime platform. The definition of p2 sites is only allowed here. (There is only one exception in the product)
    org.fortiss.af3.update        --- Contains the configuration to produce the AF3 p2 update site.
    org.fortiss.tooling.update    --- Contains the configuration to produce the Tooling kernel update site.
    
* **Tests**

Contains a git submodule containing the AF3 JUnit tests.
  
#Updating references of submodules

To update references to AF3 in order to build a new release 
 * execute `git submodule update --remote` in root maven-releng and
 * commit and push changes

#Build flags

The build itself is controlled by environment variables passed by
invoked maven commands. These variables activate build profiles in the
maven configuration.  
The following build flags are configured:

    
```text">
    build.emf     --- activates the emf code generation. required when setting "build.af3" or "build.kernel".
    build.af3     --- activates the compilation of af3 plugins.
    build.tooling --- activates the compilation of tooling kernel plugins.
    build.tests   --- runs the junit integration tests on the resulting product.
    
```

  
the build flags are used for a modular build configuration. for
instance, another project could only depend on the tooling and implement
a product that is totally different from af3.  
the flag “build.tooling” just produces a p2 update site that can be
reused by subsequent builds. this update site is ignored if the flag is
specified. thus, the combination of “build.af3” and “build.tooling” will
not use the tooling update site.  
an equivalent mechanism is implemented for “build.tests” that
additionally uses an af3 p2 update site.

*notes*

 - we use the maven phase “verify” for building, not “package”, which
    is the default. we are forced to use this phase, since we must
    perform post-package product patching (no other phase qualifies).
    this is also the reason to introduce the “build.tests” flag to skip
    the testing phases that are located between the “packaging” and
    “verify” phases.
 - the flag “build.emf” is required to avoid triggering the code
    generation multiple times.  
  
  
#Updating the Docker build container

  * Clone the repository.
  * Navigate to the cloned directory in a UNIX shell and apply the following
    commands.
  * `docker login git.fortiss.org:5001 -u <USERNAME>`
  * `docker build -t git.fortiss.org:5001/af3/maven-releng docker/`
  * Delete the outdated 'af3/maven-releng' container
  * `docker push -t git.fortiss.org:5001/af3/maven-releng`



#Debugging Build Failures

Whenever a CI job fails, it may be caused by a problematic source code change, a
bug in the maven-releng configuration, the docker image, or related to the
gitlab CI pipeline. The following pieces of information shall provides hints to
debug such issues.

* As a first measure, ensure that the AF3 and Kernel builds in your local AF3
  AF3 developer installation. Ensure that you are on the branches that you want
  to test.
* If this test succeeds, do a local AF3 maven build following the instructions
  for a [local build](https://af3-developer.fortiss.org/projects/autofocus3/wiki/AF3_Build_Management#Local-Build).
* If the build finishes sucessfully, check whether the failure is caused by the
  docker container configuration. Therefore, on a linux machine, install the
  gitlab-runner and docker packages and build the docker image locally by
  executing `docker build -t maven-releng docker/` within your clone of this
  repository.
  Afterwards, execute the stage from the CI script that failed by executing
  `gitlab-runner exec docker <job-name>`. Please not that pipelines are not
  not supported if executing the gitlab-runner tool locally. Hence you must
  ensure that all required build artifacts are available in the job to test.
  For instance, if the test phase fails, the gitlab-ci.yml must be modified to
  clone all submodules and use all build flags defined in the build job.
  Finally, if the isse is resolved by a change in the Dockerfile, follow the
  instructions in the *Structure* section to upload the changes to the gitlab
  repository. Otherwise, just push the changes of the gitlab-ci.yml script.
* If this point is reached, the CI build failure may caused by some pipeline
  misconfiguration, for instance due to wrong artifact passing. Another likely
  reason is an outdated docker image in the repositorie's Container Registry.