[Buildbot-devel] Buildbot supporting buildset with multiple repositories

[Dustin J. Mitchell]

On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 9:20 PM, Jared Grubb <jared.grubb at gmail.com> wrote:
> So I'm new to buildbot and this list, but you're describing something
> like what I've tried to figure out in my own buildbot.

Welcome!

> After looking in the source, I think I have a proposal. SCons has a
> "override dictionary" mechanism which lets you get/set properties
> different from a set of (global) default values. So what I'm thinking
> is a project override dictionary, where you consult a subdictionary
> first and fall back to the "global" value if necessary. Basically:

I'm not sure I see why "project" is relevant here -- the concept of a
project is intended to allow a single buildmaster to support multiple,
unrelated projects (e.g., GNOME apps or python libraries on pypi).
When you're mixing multiple repositories into a single build process,
then the differentiating factor is the repository.

I'm not convinced that build properties need to be keyed by repository
- most build properties are universal.  Harry, Benoit, and I did
discuss the got_revision property in particular, as (unlike other
properties) it is particular to a repository.  We discussed a few
ideas for that property, but didn't settle on any solution as best.

In general, I think that properties are already fairly complex,
although it helps that they are modeled on environment variables.
While that gives them a lot of expressive power, I don't want to make
them much more complex, without a good understanding of the need for
that complexity.

So, can you outline the reasons you have in mind for this
modification, and perhaps also address ideas for got_revision
separately from those for other properties?

Dustin