Creating a CPACK

A CPACK is a directory with a subdirectory structure that is equivalent to the structure used by ClioPatria (see RoadMap.txt). The name of the directory is the package name.

Using cpack_create/3.

The predicate cpack_create/3 requires a bit of setup. You need a place where you can host a git repository that

• Is accessible from the ClioPatria cpack server for cloning without authentication.
• Can be accessed through SSH to create a repository.

The setup currently deals with two scenarios:

1. Using GitHub public repositories. This is accessible for anyone wishing to create a GitHub account. You need to install the hub command line utility
2. You have SSH access to a machine that has =git daemon= installed, providing public access to repositories using git:// URLs.

If you have one of the above, create a CPACK profile, notably fill out the defaultAuthor and repository-templates. Now simply run e.g.,:

?- cpack_create(my_package, 'My first package', []).

This creates a package skeleton in cpack/my_package and initialises this as a GIT repository. If hub or ssh setup is properly configured, it will also create the remote repository and setup the proper git remotes to allow you pushing into it. Otherwise, you need to create the target repository by hand.

Next, complete the skeleton and add your files. Then configure the package and install it in your ClioPatria copy using cpack_configure/1 as illustrated below. This adds the new package to the search-paths defined in config-enabled/010-packs.pl, installs the configuration defaults into config-enabled and loads these.

?- cpack_configure(<name>).

From this point you can create and edit files to complete and debug the package. Once satisfied, you can make the new package available to others using the following steps:

Upload the package

To upload the package, go to the server, login and select CPACK/Submit pack. Fill in the GIT URL above and optionally a branch-name.

Verify the package

Go to the page of the package and examine the results from the package analysis. Fix possible problems by updating the public git and using the update-link at the top-right corner of the package-page.

Creating packages without cpack_create/3

A new package is typically created in a directory cpack/<name>, relative to your current ClioPatria working directory. Here are the components that turn this into a CPACK:

A file rdf/cpack/<name>.ttl

This file provides the meta-data for the package. The details are described in metadata.

The directory config-available

This allows you to specify which files are loaded, setup menus, etc. If nothing needs to be loaded or can be configured (e.g., packages that only provide libraries), this can be omitted. See config-available for details.

From this point, you can run cpack_configure/1 as described above and further develop the package. At some point, you need to turn it into a publically available GIT repository and make this known to the package manager as described above.