6.2. The Start Page
Navigational location:
[login]--->[START]---> [package management]-\ /-->[program execution] | | | |----> [project management]-+->+-->[file view] | | | |----> [pool management]----/ \-->[directory browser] | |----> [configuration] | \----> [help] default context
The start page of the ComPact GUI is mainly intended to select a package, project, or pool as working context. It also offers commands to checkout or create packages or collections of packages.
The dir1 frame (5) contains a list of all packages that ComPact has found. This list is compiled by searching all the directories in the configuration variable package-collection-path (which must be separated by the semicolon character) as well as those of the special collection package-collection. If no packages show up, this can be due to several reasons:
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The package collections listed in the said variables do not exist.
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There are no packages in the listed collections.
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ComPact does not recognize the structures in the listed collections as valid packages. The structure of a package is defined in the configuration resource PkgBase.DefaultData.
The dir2 frame (6) in the middle of the page should list all project descriptions found by ComPact. Projects are found by searching the directories listed in the configuration variable project-collection-path (which must be separated by the semicolon character) as well as those of the special collection project-collection. A valid project structure currently contains at least the project description file PrjDesc and a snapshot subdirectory snaps. Please refer to the chapter about the project description file in the Project Manager User Manual and the chapter about project management in this book.
The dir3 frame (6) lists all pools found by ComPact. Usually there are three pools which contain completely built ready-to-use versions of packages for one or more platforms. The location of pools is defined by the configuration variables localpool, projectpool, globalpool, and poolprefix. Please refer to the overview chapter in the Pool Manager User Manual and the chapter about pool management in this book.
You may now switch to the ComPact project management, package management, or pool management, by simply clicking on one of the listed projects, packages, or pools in the dir frames. This will create a new appropriate context (or use an already existing context) and change the displayed page to the project management, package management, or pool management page. You may switch to the configuration pages (for example to change the configuration variables mentioned above) by selecting the config button in the navigation frame (1). You may also also edit your global configuration file .compactrc by selecting the Edit in the header commands frame (4) below the title Session configuration and then re-initialize the Compact GUI by hitting ReInit.
The other functions of the header commands frame (4) are concerned with the checkout and creation of packages and collections. Just remember that all packages controlled by Elego ComPact live in collections. Collections are just paths prefixes used to group together and locate packages in the version control repository and the developer's workspaces.
Creation of new packages. Use the Create button in the section Checkout or create packages to create a new package. In order to do so, you must specify the collection where the package shall be located (multiple choice selection), the kind of the package (multiple choice selection), and the name of the package (text input field on the right side).
Checkout of packages. Use the Checkout button in the section Checkout or create packages to checkout one package at a time. In order to do so, you must specify the collection where the package is to be located (multiple choice selection), a symbolic version name or tag of the package (like release_pkg_2_3_0 or simply head) (text input field), and the name of the package (text input field on the right side).
Creation of new collections. Use the Create button in the section Checkout or create collections to create a new collection. Currently all the collections are created relative to the value of the configuration variable collectionroot by default. You may of course change this default value supplied in the left input field next to the button. The right input field is intended to hold the name of the collection to be created, which of course has no default.
Checkout of complete collections. Use the Checkout button in the section Checkout or create collections to checkout a complete collection from the version control repository into your local workspace. In addition to the input fields for the creation of collections, there is one that specifies the symbolic version name or tag which is to be checked out. Usually you use this simply to checkout the current development version of all packages of the collection (head) or the tip of some release branch.