Memory Pool System Release Build Procedure

1. Introduction

This is the procedure for building a generic release of the Memory Pool System (an "mps-kit") from the version sources.

The intended readership of this document is Ravenbrook development staff. (If you are a user of the MPS, and want to build object code from an mps-kit, please see the readme.txt file in the kit).

This document is not confidential.

All relative paths are relative to //info.ravenbrook.com/project/mps/.

2. Procedure

2.1. Setting up for release

  1. Choose a RELEASE name of the form "VERSION.N" (for example, 0.3.0). VERSION is the number of the version you're releasing. N is the first unused release number (starting at zero). Look in the index of releases (release/index.html) for existing release numbers for your version.

  2. Ensure that version/VERSION/readme.txt contains an up-to-date description of the release you intend to build and the correct release name.

  3. In version/VERSION/code/version.c, set MPS_RELEASE to the correct value (see the rules in the comments), and check strings that contain copyright dates, etc.

  4. Submit readme.txt, version.c, and other changed files to Perforce before you continue.

  5. Determine the CHANGELEVEL at which you're going to make the release. This will usually be the latest submitted changelevel on the version branch; to get it, use p4 changes with a max of 1 (one):

    p4 changes -m 1 version/VERSION/...

2.2. MPS Kit Tarball and Zip file

On a Unix box:

  1. Sync the version sources to precisely the CHANGELEVEL you determined in step 2.1, with no extraneous files, by using the following procedure:

    # (you may wish to check for opened files first)
    p4 revert version/VERSION/...
    rm -rf version/VERSION
    p4 sync -f version/VERSION/...@CHANGELEVEL

    (Note: "revert" and "sync -f" are required: otherwise p4-opened or forced-writeable files may remain or be omitted; see [1].)

  2. Create a tarball and a zip file containing the MPS sources, and open it for add:

    cp -R version/VERSION mps-kit-RELEASE
    mkdir -p release/RELEASE
    tar cf - mps-kit-RELEASE | gzip -c > release/RELEASE/mps-kit-RELEASE.tar.gz
    zip -r release/RELEASE/mps-kit-RELEASE.zip mps-cet-kit-RELEASE rm -r mps-kit-RELEASE
    p4 add release/RELEASE/mps-kit-RELEASE.tar.gz p4 add release/RELEASE/mps-kit-RELEASE.zip

  3. Submit the release files to Perforce with the comment "MPS: adding the MPS Kit tarball and zip file for release RELEASE."

2.3. Registering the release

  1. Edit the index of releases (release/index.html) and add the release to the table, in a manner consistent with previous releases.

  2. Edit the index of versions (version/index.html) and add the release to the list of releases for VERSION, in a manner consistent with previous releases.

  3. Submit these changes with the comment "MPS: registered release RELEASE."

  4. Edit the main MPS Project index page at //info.ravenbrook.com/project/mps/index.html, to refer to the new release:

    • update links to 'the latest release' or 'download' (important);
    • consider updating the 'project status' section.

  5. Visit the project updater, select "mps" from the dropdown, and hit "Find releases".

  6. Inform the project manager and staff by e-mail to mps-staff@ravenbrook.com. Consider announcing the new release by e-mail to mps-discussion@ravenbrook.com.

A. References

[1] "revert ; rm ; sync -f"; RHSK; <URL: http://info.ravenbrook.com/mail/2008/10/16/13-08-20/0.txt>; 2008-10-16.

B. Document History

2002-06-17 RB Created based on P4DTI procedure.
2002-06-19 NB Fixed up based on experience of release 1.100.0.
2004-03-03 RB Fixed the way we determine the release changelevel to avoid possible pending changelists.
2005-10-06..31 RHSK Clarify this procedure is for general mps-kit releases; correct cp -r to -R. Add: check version.c.
2006-01-19..30 RHSK Correct readership statement, and direct MPS users to the mps-kit readme.
2006-02-16 RHSK Use Info-ZIP (free) for Windows archives, not WinZip.
2007-07-05 RHSK Releasename now also in w3build.bat.
2008-01-07 RHSK Release changelevel was in issue.cgi, now in data.py.
2010‑10‑06 GDR Use the project updater to register new releases.
2012‑09‑13 RB
  • Don't copy the readme.txt to the release directory, since it no longer has that dual role.
  • Make the zip file on a Unix box with the zip utility, since compatibility has improved.