Batch deployment

Blair,

A couple of excerpts from Bill Dargel's 4-3-2003 post on automated builds:

=========================
I have a batch file that starting from that image, builds a fresh working
image
from source, runs all the unit tests, and if successful, goes on to strip
the
image, run the ClickTeam install maker, and finally saves the resulting
executables and working image in a backup directory with automatically
incremented build numbers as part of the filename.

I've set up the various options for the image stripper as usual, using the
wizard. All of those settings get saved with the package, and get taken care
of
as part of building the fresh image from source. The one change needed in my
subclass of ImageStripper to get it to work in a batch environment was to
override #saveExecutable:. I commented out the
UserLibrary>>messageBox:lpText:lpCaption:uType: call, which would otherwise
interrupt the batch process with a needless prompt.
=========================

FWIW, I'm arriving at a very similar system based on InnoSetup and a
re-boiled SuiteBuilder.  As the other parts improve, the "loop" through the
deployments is becoming a bottleneck.  Some out of the box way to control
(or timeout) the message box would be appreciated.

Have a good one,

Bill

--
Wilhelm K. Schwab, Ph.D.
[hidden email]

"Bill Schwab" <[hidden email]> wrote in message
news:bpirtc$1p5f3g$[hidden email]...
> Blair,
>
> A couple of excerpts from Bill Dargel's 4-3-2003 post on automated builds:
>
> =========================
>.... The one change needed in my
> subclass of ImageStripper to get it to work in a batch environment was to
> override #saveExecutable:. I commented out the
> UserLibrary>>messageBox:lpText:lpCaption:uType: call, which would
otherwise
> interrupt the batch process with a needless prompt.
> =========================
>
> FWIW, I'm arriving at a very similar system based on InnoSetup and a
> re-boiled SuiteBuilder.  As the other parts improve, the "loop" through
the
> deployments is becoming a bottleneck.  Some out of the box way to control
> (or timeout) the message box would be appreciated.
>

I'd take issue with the prompt being "needless" in general - there needs to
be some indication that the process has completed successfully, and since
the progress dialog has to be closed towards the end of the process for
maximal stripping efficiency, one would otherwise not know if it ever
finished. For unattended builds, however, I can see that it would be useful
to have a silent mode (#1401).

Regards

Blair

Blair,

> I'd take issue with the prompt being "needless" in general - there needs
to
> be some indication that the process has completed successfully, and since
> the progress dialog has to be closed towards the end of the process for
> maximal stripping efficiency, one would otherwise not know if it ever
> finished. For unattended builds, however, I can see that it would be
useful
> to have a silent mode (#1401).

Did I call it "needless" - I certainly never meant to do so.  An option for
a silent mode sounds great.

Have a good one,

Bill

--
Wilhelm K. Schwab, Ph.D.
[hidden email]

Blair,

> > I'd take issue with the prompt being "needless" in general - there needs
[ snip ]
> For unattended builds, however, I can see that it would be
> useful
> > to have a silent mode (#1401).
>
> Did I call it "needless" - I certainly never meant to do so.

Found it - something I copied from Bill's original post.  I'm confident that
he meant it in the context of batch processing, and I (obviously) hadn't
noticed it.

Have a good one,

Bill

--
Wilhelm K. Schwab, Ph.D.
[hidden email]

Hello all,

While I haven't done anything real with it, I appear to have a batch build
that will work.  Rather than customize the session manager, I continued
using SuiteBuilder's image saving trick, so the image is in charge of the
packages to be deployed and iterates a list, one deployment per session.
Obviously something has to run Dolphin the correct number of times.

Thanks to Bill's pointer to start /wait, I can use a batch file to do the
work.  An early stage of my deployment wizard has a Batch... button that
writes a batch file with the correct number of commands, and then offers to
save the image and exit.  The batch file takes over (I haven't yet tried to
launch it from Dolphin).

To automate "pushing the build button", the Batch... command registers
interest in the #systemStarted event and queues a deferred action to display
a five second countdown (just in case things get ugly), and if that runs to
the end, to fire the build command.

After all of that happens, the wizard uses Bob Jarvis' ExternalProcess to
run InnoSetup as required, and then offers options that are specific to my
arrangement of servers.

It occurs to me that instead of batch files, a deployed Dolphin executable
might control the deployment.  We would each customize it to our needs and
deploy it using Lagoon.  Comments?

Have a good one,

Bill

--
Wilhelm K. Schwab, Ph.D.
[hidden email]