Installation instructions for development mode

The primary :ref:`Installation instructions`_ indicate how to install the assisi playground and API (assisipy) in user-mode.

For development purposes, it may be preferrable to install either the playground or the API (or both) directly from the github source.

Playground At present the main playground code is installed in this way, so consult the primary guide.

assisipy API Rather than following step 3 of :ref:`Building the assisi software`_ in the primary guide, follow the steps below.

Assumptions of prior installation

Here we assume that you are using Ubuntu /debian 14.04 and have the directory structure:

  • assisi
    • playground
    • examples
    • python
    • deps
      • enki

and that you have already followed the steps below from the primary guide:

  • dependencies from the standard repositories (i.e., through apt-get)

  • enki dependency, from github, compiled and installed / available on the system path, probably in /usr/local/include

  • assisi playground software, from github, compiled, and the executable on your system path (or added to the PATH environment variable when needed)
    • the installation completed correctly using an up-to-date msg submodule.

The Python API

git clone https://github.com/larics/assisi-python python
cd python
git submodule update --init
./compile_msgs.sh
export PYTHONPATH=${PYTHONPATH}:~/assisi/python
cd ..

The PATH and PYTHONPATH exports have to be done very time you open a new shell, so It’s best to add it to the end of your ~/.bashrc file. It’s purpose is to enable the importing of the Assisi python API in Python programs.

Setting up a dual-source repository

There are two main methods that developers contribute to the assisi playground source:

  1. having read-write access to https://github.com/larics/assisi-python
  2. using read-only access to github/larics/assisi-python; modifying a fork, and contributing via pull requests.

To configure a repository for route #1:

git clone git@github.com:larics/assisi-python.git python

cd python
git submodule update --init
./compile_msgs.sh
export PYTHONPATH=${PYTHONPATH}:~/assisi/python
cd ..

To configure a repository for route #2:

# set up your own fork with r+w
git clone git@github.com:<GH-USER>/assisi-python.git python
cd python
git submodule update --init
./compile_msgs.sh

# now add the remote
git remote add upstream https://github.com/larics/assisi-playground
git fetch

See the github gitflow page for info on the workflow - in brief, in involves:

  • sync your fork:master with the upstream:master
  • branch from your master
  • commit changes to your new feature branch
  • push to your fork
  • create a pull request from your fork to the upstream