[lsb-discuss] lsb version and the specdb ModCmd and ModLibtables

Camp, TracyX E tracyx.e.camp at intel.com
Tue Oct 31 10:24:13 PST 2006


I'm glad to hear that somebody is taking on the task of cleaning up the
specdb.  

I have specific concerns about your specific approach here with
versioning libraries and modules since a library may appear in at least
4 states in a given LSB release: 'not there', 'required', 'optional',
and 'withdrawn'.  The point is to be able to reconstruct that state for
any given LSB version from the DB.  Thus I took the approach of adding a
new join table that tracks this state independently from the specific
library tables (since this is a many to one relationship and I don't
like the idea of adding a lot of 'WHERE required_version >= $VERSION AND
withdrawn_version > $VERSION' statements everywhere.

Also simply adding four columns to each of these tables does not handle
the potential case of a library being optional then withdrawn and then
required in that order.

I'd be happy to discuss this particular technical issue with you some
more if you like.  Please see the attachments to bug #1509 for the
details of the change I'm proposing.

More generally I'm concerned about the idea of discussing infrastructure
changes in a separate mailing list and in a secret wiki.  This is
opensource, and as such should be open and as visible as possible.  This
helps prevent situations such as this one where we are both working on
different solutions to the same problem.  The LSB discuss mailing list
already seems to contain the correct audience for any discussions
concerning LSB infrastructure topics, starting another list that most
people probably don't know about or will subscribe too leaves out
potentially important viewpoints that may be necessary both for the
overall LSB projects' success and your success in implementing changes.

Tracy Camp

-----Original Message-----
From: Vladimir Rubanov [mailto:vrub at ispras.ru] 
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 10:23 AM
To: Camp, TracyX E
Subject: RE: [lsb-discuss] lsb version and the specdb ModCmd and
ModLibtables

Hi Tracy,

The quick information is that we [ISP RAS] started LSB Infrastructure
project after a lot of discussions with Ian Murdok. Finally, we started
the
work in mid-September under a contract with FSG.

Ian and Amanda made announcements in their blogs (e.g. see the end of
http://ianmurdock.com/?p=357 text).

There are many tasks in the project. Now we run the first stage till the
end
of the year with the primary tasks of developing basic LSB Test
Execution
Framework (evolution of Suse's lsb-autotest) and cleaning-up specdb and
associated scripts.

We will publish all the information about project tasks and status at
the
project Wiki site (http://ispras.freestandards.org/). It is protected
now
and I hope will be open to public soon. Also there is a mailing list for
the
project - lsb-infrastructure at lists.freestandards.org. It has been just
created, you are welcome to join.

Next week (it is 9 P.M. in Moscow :)), I will write to you the list of
changes in the spec db that we plan in the nearest "release".

Meanwhile, we need to think how to synchronize our efforts. They said in
FSG
that we [ISP RAS] are responsible for the DB schema now, but I do not
think
this is literally true because we do need to align with the others, and
your
colleague, Mats, seems to be the key person in helping to make decisions
(be
an arbiter).

Thank you and I am glad to become acquainted with you.

Regards,
Vladimir.


-----Original Message-----
From: Camp, TracyX E [mailto:tracyx.e.camp at intel.com] 
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 6:39 PM
To: Vladimir Rubanov
Subject: RE: [lsb-discuss] lsb version and the specdb ModCmd and
ModLibtables

See the attachments to bug #1509.  I don't mind at all if you want to
take that bug with you and modify it as necessary to match whatever
changes you have in mind.

However it _would_ be very helpful for the rest of us if you might give
us some insight into what you are working on.

Thanks,

Tracy Camp

-----Original Message-----
From: Vladimir Rubanov [mailto:vrub at ispras.ru] 
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2006 7:47 AM
To: Wichmann, Mats D; Camp, TracyX E; Lsb-discuss List
Cc: sschafer at freestandards.org
Subject: RE: [lsb-discuss] lsb version and the specdb ModCmd and
ModLibtables

Tracy,

Indeed, current specdb doesn't contain information about LSB version
where
particular artifacts were added/removed or became deprecated (as for
interfaces, you can only know when it was withdrawn from the
specification).
There is a request in bugzilla
(http://bugs.linuxbase.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1450) for a new table
containing
history for interfaces, commands and libraries.

We [ISP RAS] are working now under a contract with FSG on the specdb
schema
upgrade and the next version of specdb will be available soon. The
coming
release is mostly a 'cleanup' release, where we removed some
inconsistencies
in specdb and made its structure more uniform. We have also added
'withdrawnin' field in Library, Command, Constant and Header tables
similar
to Interfaces.

As for the other history information you requested, we are going to add
the
appropriate fields in a later release (mid-end Nov) of specdb (maybe not
exact the fields you requested; it's better to place such information
directly in Module/Command/Library tables, as Mats mentioned). We will
refine the data to contain valid information in those fields as well.

Regards,
Vladimir Rubanov
Project Manager
ISP RAS
linuxtesting.org

________________________________________
From: lsb-discuss-bounces at lists.freestandards.org
[mailto:lsb-discuss-bounces at lists.freestandards.org] On Behalf Of
Wichmann,
Mats D
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 10:33 PM
To: Camp, TracyX E; lsb-discuss at lists.freestandards.org
Subject: Re: [lsb-discuss] lsb version and the specdb ModCmd and
ModLibtables

________________________________________
From: lsb-discuss-bounces at lists.freestandards.org
[mailto:lsb-discuss-bounces at lists.freestandards.org] On Behalf Of Camp,
TracyX E
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 11:47 AM
To: lsb-discuss at lists.freestandards.org




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