[higgins-dev] How To Create Automated Build Scripts: Questions

["Tom Doman" <TDoman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Actually, I guess these are questions and requests for more detail.  I'm looking at the files in the org.eclipse.higgins.releng.auto project to try to decipher what I'd need to do to add a new component.  So far, my gut feel is that there is a lot of copying, cutting and pasting going on that will make even a small change very difficult to propagate.  Here are my questions so far:

1. What does the "dropSite" referenced in the org.eclipse.higgins.releng.auto correspond to in the "How To" instructions?

I'm looking at some of the Context Provider directories ...

In "DropSiteRootFiles":
2. What is the desc.xml file and why is it not generated at build time?  The <buildTime> element has a date from 2006.
3. Could index.php be shared among all automated builds?  I don't see anything specific to any CP in there.

4. What are maps and what belongs there for any given component?
5. What is runtime?  It looks like some of these files could be generated from a template with the project name, package name, or etc.  At any rate, I can't tell what they're used for or needed for.  I see Eclipse runtime referenced once in the instructions, is that what this is for?  Regardless, I still don't know what that means either.
6. Same of #5 for "tests" w/ respect to a template.
7. Same as #6 for root context provider scripts.  Only descriptions, project names, packages, and build directories differ.  I'd hate to think every component owner has to do a copy, cut and paste dance to start and then manually respond to build system changes separately.
8. As far as build automation, why are context providers, hbx, idas, and sts separated out?  If they all have basically the same structure, dropSiteRootFiles, maps, runtime, and base scripts it makes sense that they would just be components in the automated build.

I think a lot more commonization and standardization should be done with the build system.  It should be relatively easy for a component owner to add a new component.  I'd think by editing a single file with project, package, description and build directories (though that could be derived from the other info).  Changes to the build system would then flow to the components by simply regenerating the scripts.

Tom