DepManager

Depmanager is a minimalistic tool to manage dependencies (also known as third-party libraries) of a C++ Project. It works closely with cmake tool.

It allow to store dependencies in a distant repository to share builds with other and have a local cache project-independent.

Installation

Depmanager is written in python so in the following we assume you have a working python installation designated as <python> with pip installed.

pip

To install dep manager simply use <python> -m pip install depmanager

See the page on Pypi: depmanager.

From source

Prerequisite: python module 'build' install it with <python> -m pip install build

Clone the gitHub repository.

In the source root do:

<python> -m build
<python> -m pip install dist/depmanager-x.y.z-py3-none-any.whl

Commandline use

Get help

For any command or sub-command adding --help or -h to get help on parameters or usage.

Generalities

In the base commande you can find:

In the following, <query> designate something representing the dependency's description. The syntax reads: --predicate(-p) <name>:<version> --type(-t) <type> --os(-o) <os> --arch(-a) <arch> --compiler(-c) <compiler> --glibc <glibc>

Valid values for type: shared, static, header.

Valid values for os : Windows, Linux (default: host os)

Valid values for arch : x86_64, aarch64 (default: host arch)

Valid values for compiler : gnu, msvc (default: gnu) Note: clang compiler stands for gnu while clang-cl stands for msvc.

Valid values for glibc are only needed for linux. By giving, a value the system will look at package with compatible version will be search (ie. wit a version number lower or equal). It is still possible to do an exact search by using = as first character. (like --glibc =2.36)

Also, we will designate <remote> as a description a remote server, syntax reads: [-n <name>|-d]. If nothing given, we assume 'local'. If -d given, use the default remote, else use the remote by its name.

If the name does not exist, it will fall back to default then to local.

Base commands

info

Subcommands:

• version gives the version of the local manager.
• basedir gives the path to the local data of the manager
• cmakedir gives the path to add to CMAKE_MODULE_PATH before include ExternalDependencyManager

get

depmanager get <query>

Get path to cmake config of the 'best' package given by the query information.

The command will first search in the local cache, if not found it will search in the default remote. This does not intent for human use but more for cmake integration.

pack

Actions on packages.

query

depmanager pack query <query> [--transitive(-t)] <remote> Simply do a search in the given remote (in local if nothing given) and print the result.

The --transitive(-t) flag will allow to use transitive query, meaning to search for local then remote.

add, del

depmanager pack add <location> Will add a package to the local database. <location> can be a folder, then it must contain a properly formatted edp.info file. Or an archive (.zip, .tgz or .tar.gz file format allowed). The uncompressed archive must contain a properly formatted edp.info file.

depmanager pack del <query> <remote> [-r] Will remove from local cache all package matching the query.

The -r option allows operation on multiple packages (local only), else the command will return an error if multiple package matches the query.

push, pull

depmanager pack [push|pull] <query> <remote> [--force(-f)] [-r] will synchronize Local cache with the remote. The query must be precise enough to match one and only one package. remote must be valid.

push will look for the package in local cache that match the query and send it to the given remote.

pull will look for the package in given remote that match the query and bring it to the local cache.

If --force is given, The transfert occurs even if the package already exists in the destination.

The -r option allows operation on multiple packages. If multiple versions, only the highest one will be used.

clean

depmanager pack clean [--full(-f)] Will clean the local repository by removing old packages, only the newest version of each package is kept.

The [--full(-f)] option will make the clean operation applies to all package, thus emptying the local database.

remote

Manage the list of remote servers subcommands:

• list lists the defined remote server.
• add adds a new remote to the list.
  • --name(-n) <name> --url(-u) <proto>://<url[:port]> [--default(-d)].
  • Mandatory. If name already exists it will modify the existing one.
  • Allowed proto are:
    • ftp supports login
    • folder a folder of your computer (mostly for debug or testing)
    • srv a dedicated server see gitHub
    • srvs a dedicated server with secure connexion see gitHub
  • Login can be defined with: --login(-l) <login> --passwd(-p) <passwd>.
• del <remote> remove the designated remote if exists.
• sync <remote> [--push-only|--pull-only] [--dry-run] push to remote all local package that does not already exist on remote. Pull local package that have a newer version on the remote. If no remote given, it will use the default one.
• info <remote> gets information from the remote: type and version.

build

depmanager build [OPTIONS] <location> will search for recipe in the given location and build them.

Some option can be passed to the build system:

• --single-thread: on some low-end devices (such as RaspberryPi) single thread build is recommended.
• --force, -f: Force the build even if the dependency already exists
• --cross-c: redefine the C compiler
• --cross-cxx: redefine the C++ compiler
• --cross-arch: redefine the architecture
• --cross-os: redefine the OS

Using package with cmake

Include depmanager to cmake

To initialize depmanager into cmake you need to add to CMAKE_MODULE_PATH the path to the cmake folder of this installation.

Here is a small cmake code snippet to initialize depmanager in cmake.

# add HINTS or PATH to find the executable if not in the PATH
find_program(EDEPMANAGER depmanager) 
if (${EDEPMANAGER} STREQUAL EDEPMANAGER-NOTFOUND)
    message(FATAL_ERROR "Dependency manager not found.")
else()
    execute_process(COMMAND ${EDEPMANAGER} info cmakedir
            OUTPUT_VARIABLE depmanager_path)
    string(STRIP ${depmanager_path} depmanager_path)
    list(PREPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${depmanager_path})
    include(DepManager)
endif()

Automated mode

In automated mode, depmanager can automatically set a remote repository, retrieve packages from this repository and load then in one command.

The command

dm_load_environment(
   [QUIET]
   [PATH path]
   [KIND kind]
   [ARCH target_arch]
   [OS target_os]
   [COMPILER target_compiler]
   [GLIBC target_glibc]
) 

If QUIET set, only errors are written.

path is the path to the configuration file, either directly a configuration file name, or a directory containing a file named depmanager.yml. By default, it will look at the project root. See the next paragraph for more information about configuration file.

kind is used to force library kind (shared, static, header). By default, it uses the value from BUILD_SHARED_LIBS.

target_arch, target_os, target_compiler, target_glibc are used in the query. If not set, default values are CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR, CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME and CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID

The cmake function will update the CMAKE variable for the search of package.

After call this command, the cmake user has to call for needed find_package.

Configuration file

The configuration file is a yaml file. Here is an example with explication in comment.

remote:
  # If server is defined, depmanager will add this server to its
  # database (if not already there)
  server:
    # Same parameter as command-line (also the required)
    name: "my_server"
    kind: "srvs"
    url: "https://packages.example.net"
    login: "foo"
    passwd: "bar"
  # If package not found locally, do you allow for download?
  pull: true
  # If newer remote package exists, download it? (implies 'pull')
  pull-newer: true
packages:
  # list the needed packages.
  fmt:
    # version 'at least'
    version: ">=10.1.0"
  spdlog:
    # exact version
    version: "1.12.0"
  debugbreak:
    # if not found locally, don't pull, nor error.
    optional: true
  glm:
    version: "0.9.9.9"
    # force the shared version even in static build mode.
    kind: "shared"
  glfw:
    # use this only for the (same for arch, and compiler)
    os: Linux

Manual mode

In manual mode you should load or find each package individually. You should also manually set the remote and download the package.

Find packages

With depmanager initialized in cmake, it provides an alternative to classical find_package of cmake by dm_find_package

dm_find_package(
   package
   [QUIET] [TRACE] [REQUIRED]
   [VERSION version]
   [KIND kind]
   [ARCH target_arch]
   [OS target_os]
   [COMPILER target_compiler]
   [GLIBC target_glibc]
)

package is the package name to find.

version is the exact version to match (wildcard are allowed). By default, find the latest one.

kind is used to force library kind (shared, static, header). By default, it returns the first found.

If REQUIRED set, the function will give an error if no package found. (same as original find_package)

If QUIET set, only errors are written. (same as original find_package). In opposition, if TRACE set, many more debug message displayed.

target_arch, target_os, target_compiler target_glibc are used in the query. If not set, default values are CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR, CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME and CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID

LIMITATION: it requires the library name is the package name. So no multi lib or lib with different name.

Load package

This command is similar to the previous one, but does not directly do a cmake's find_package. It only adds to the CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH list the folders of given package.

dm_load_package(
   package
   [REQUIRED] [TRACE]
   [VERSION version]
   [KIND kind]
   [ARCH target_arch]
   [OS target_os]
   [COMPILER target_compiler]
   [GLIBC target_glibc]
)

After call this command, the cmake user has to call for needed find_package.

Create you own package

Depmanager allow you to create your own packages by defining recipes. Then run depmanager build <location of recipes> [OPTIONS] The program will then build and add dependencies to the local cache.

The location can contain as many recipe in any number of files.

The search behavior can bve set as recursive with option --recursive,-r. As sometimes, sources also contains python files that may fail to load, the depth of recursion can be restrained using --recursi-depth <n>.

By default, a package will not be build if already exists in the local cache. You can force the rebuild with the option --force,-f.

By default, the builder will use all the cpu cores, but --single-thred,-s will force to use only one core.

Cross-compilation can be used by giving the tools at command line: --cross-c <C_COMPILER> --cross-cxx <CXX_COMPILER> --cross-arch <TARGET_ARCH> --cross-os <TARGET_OS>

It is also possible to give a remote name -n <remote_name> or set to default remote -d. This way, The builder will look into remote to see if an package already exists and pull it instead of building it. Also, after a successful build, it will automatically push to the remote. Use either --no-pulland --no-push option to skip these steps.

A --dry-run option will do all the checks and print the results but no pull, build and push action will be done.

The recipe

During build, Depmanager will look in all .py file for class that inherits from depmanager.api.recipe.Recipe.

As for dependency usage, build also rely on cmake for building.

The builder will use the provided recipe in the following workflow:

• Init recipe
• Call recipe.source()
• Call recipe.configure()
• Initialize options based on recipe data
• Run cmake configure
• For all configuration (mostly 'Debug', 'Release')
  • build target install
• Call recipe.install()
• Generate edp.info file
• Import into local cache
• Call recipe.clean()
• Clean Temporary

Here is a small example

"""
Small recipe example
"""
from depmanager.api.recipe import Recipe


class MyAwesomeLib(Recipe):
    """
    Awesome lib
    """
    name = "awesome_lib"  # lib name
    version = "0.0.1.foo"  # lib version
    source_dir = "src"  # where to fine the sources (especially) the CmakeList.txt
    kind = "static"  # the lib's kind


class AnotherAwesomeLib(MyAwesomeLib):
    """
    Shared version of previous one
    """
    kind = "shared"

As many python file may exist in the source you want to build, python file using shebang will be ignored to avoid errors when parsing them. Do not add shebang in your recipe files.

Roadmap

First of all in the roadmap is to use this tool in C++ project to get feedback.

Among things:

• version 0.7.x
  • Creation of a frontend application.
    • Can view, edit, suppress local package.
    • Can add, remove, explore remotes.
    • Can push, pull packages.
• version 0.6.x
  • Add recipe libray
    • Possibility to store the recipes in remote
    • Auto build recipe if neither local nor remote found.
• version 0.5.x
  • Add a sorting order for remotes.
    • Searching across remotes with final package sorting.
    • Allow auto-pull best-fitting package
• version 0.4.x
  • Add concept of toolset.
    • Tool set defines arch, os and compilers; stored in config.ini; with a default one.
    • Use toolset in build.
    • Use toolset in queries.
  • More detail documentation.
    • Documentation hosted in instance of Depmanager Server.
• version 0.3.3 -- 2024-01-27
  • Improved Builder Configurations management
  • Operation on multiple package
    • add a 'clean' command
      • basic mode: keep only the newest packages
      • full mode: delete everything.
    • allow local deletion of multiple packages
    • allow push/pull of multiple packages
• version 0.3.2 -- 2024-01-19
  • Better management of push in auto-build
  • Bugfixes in the use of CMake
  • manage dependency in the list of Recipes
• version 0.3.1 -- 2024-01-16
  • Allow to externally control the build system
    • Allow to build a package by giving a single recipe
    • Allow to pull packages prior to build if exists on a remote
    • Allow to push (force) to remote after build
  • Helper functions to find recipes in filesystem
    • Allow recursive search
• version 0.3.0 -- 2024-01-12
  • CMake integration improvement
    • Simplify integration with cmake
    • Python auto generate the Module dir for cmake
    • Allow to load package by batch
      • use Yaml config file.
• version 0.2.1 -- 2023-12-31
  • Bufix: allow more date format and don't break if bad format.
• version 0.2.0 -- 2023-12-12
  • WARNING: Some breaking change. Backward compatibility not fully tested.
  • Faster commandline
    • Use remote connexion only if needed
  • Transitive search
    • Query: search in local then remote.
    • get: Auto-pull if not in local.
  • Add new remote command.
    • Get info from remote (type and version)
    • Allow to delete package on remote.
  • Better Package properties
    • Add build Date in package properties.
    • Add build glibc version in package properties if applicable.
    • Better queries on glibc compatible system
    • Use system's glibc in get searches
• version 0.1.4 -- 2023-06-21
  • Allow to sync with remote.
    • Allow to pull local package that have newer version.
    • Allow to push local package newer than remote or not existing in remote.
  • Allow to force push/pull.
  • Bugfix: safe delete
• version 0.1.3 -- 2023-06-12
  • Update internal statuses when using API.
  • omit -d in push/pull command.
  • add progress bar in push/pull command.
  • Allow single thread in build.
• version 0.1.2 -- 2023-05-31
  • Add possibility to force os, arch and compiler for cross compiling.
  • Adapt build system to search dependency in the forced environment.
• version 0.1.1
  • Add remote 'srv' Type: a dedicated dependency server.
  • Add remote 'srvs' Type: a dedicated dependency server with secure connexion.