Packaging Cahute

Cahute is constituted of a static library, a set of utilities, and a set of udev rules. Due to the last element having to be installed for both, only the following package organisations are available:

  • Having one package for both the static library and utilities.

  • Having one package for the static library, either a package for all utilities or a package for each utility, and a package for installing the udev rules, of which all previous package depend.

For more about the rationale behind this document, consult the Archlinux CMake packaging guidelines.

Preparing the installer or distribution

The build dependencies and method for Cahute, as well as the way to obtain a distribution directory or installer, are described in detail in Building Cahute from source. It is recommended to use the tarballs rather than the git repository, as they run on a simpler and less prone to fail service.

If need be, you can take inspiration from the cahute PKGBUILD for Archlinux or the Cahute formula for Homebrew.

Warning

If your packaging system provides stripping out of the box, it is recommended to disable it, as it may strip the symbols out of the static library, rendering it unusable.

For example, in the PKGBUILD file for Archlinux and derivatives, the strip option must be explicitely disabled, i.e. the PKGBUILD should have the following line:

options=(!strip)

Note

For Linux distributions, Cahute provides udev rules by default, which make the following assumptions:

If any of these assumptions is incorrect in the case of your distribution, it is recommended to:

  • Disable the udev rules installation, by adding the following to the initial command:

    cmake -B build -S cahute-0.5 ... -DENABLE_UDEV=OFF

  • Take the appropriate measures to simplify user access to the devices.

Otherwise, if all of the assumptions are correct, it is recommended to:

  • Reload the udev rules in post-installation, by running the following command:

    udevadm control --reload

  • Prompt to the user to add their username to the uucp group, e.g. using the usermod -a -G uucp <username> command.

Testing your package

As usually recommended for packagers, it is recommended to test your package or packages by installing them on a fresh, minimal system, and ensure that they installs the correct runtime repositories.

A few tests that you can do regarding the command-line utilities are the following:

  • Ensure that both p7 --help and p7screen --help both display help messages. This can help identifying issues regarding missing shared libraries;

  • If your system supports USB, connect an fx-9860G calculator or compatible, place it in reception mode, run p7 info and ensure that it displays the correct information regarding your calculator. This ensures that:

    • USB detection works correctly;

    • User has access to the USB calculator;

    • USB endpoints are reported correctly and are usable to run a full communication.

  • If your system supports serial or USB-to-serial devices, and you have both an fx-9860G calculator or compatible and the appropriate cable:

    • Connect your serial or USB-to-serial cable to both the computer running the system you’re testing, and your calculator.

    • Place your calculator in receive mode over 3-pin specifically.

    • Run p7 list-devices and ensure that it displays the serial adapter.

    • Run p7 info --com <serial_device>, where <serial_device> is the name of the serial device reported above. This ensures that serial communications work correctly.

A few tests that you can do regarding the library are the following:

  • Build and run the guides you have the hardware and system support for, e.g. Listing calculators connected by USB. See Building with the Cahute library for more information. This can help identify issues with overzealous binary stripping, or missing dependencies using pkg-config.

  • If you have nm or equivalent, run nm -CgU <path/to/libcahute.a> to ensure that all exported symbols for your system start with cahute_.

Getting informed when a new version is released

Maintaining a package is a long-term process, and you need to stay informed when Cahute is updated so that you can update your package. Fortunately, there is a way to do just this!

As described in Release process, when a new release is created, a new entry is created on the Releases page of the Gitlab repository. You can subscribe to such events by creating a Gitlab.com account, and following the steps in Get notified when a release is created.

Note

You can check your notification settings at any time in Notifications.