Speaker
S. Albrand
(LPSC)
Description
The Tag Collector is a web interfaced database application for release management.
The tool is tightly coupled to CVS, and also to CMT, the configuration management
tool. Developers can interactively select the CVS tags to be included in a build, and
the complete build commands are produced automatically. Other features are provided
such as verification of package CMT requirements files, and direct links to the
package documentation, making it a useful tool for all ATLAS users.
The software for the Atlas experiment contains about 1 MSLOC. It is organized in over
50 container packages containing about 500 source code packages. One or several
developers maintain each package. ATLAS developers are widely distributed
geographically.
The Tag Collector was designed and implemented during the summer of 2001, in response
to a near crisis situation. It has been in use since September 2001. Until this time
the ATLAS librarian constructed a build of the software release after a cascade of
e-mails from developers; communicating the correct CVS code repository version tag of
their respective packages. This was subject to all sorts of human errors, and
inefficient in our multi-time zone environment. In addition, it was difficult to
manage the contents of a release. It was all too easy for a prolific developer to
introduce a well-intentioned change in his package just before a build, often with
unsuspected border effects. Developers were also asking for regular, and frequent
developer builds.
The tool has proved extremely successful, and features that are outside the scope of
the original design have been requested. Requirements for a new version were
collected during 2003, culminating in a formal review in December 2003. The new
version is currently being designed. It will be more flexible and easier to maintain.
