Megatest

Road Map
--------

Note 1: This road-map is still evolving and subject to change without notice.

RFC M01: Add ability to move runs to other Areas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Purpose*: allow shrinking megatest.db data by moving runs to an alternate
 Megatest area with same keys.

*Method*: extend db sync to take a different megatest area as a destination.

*Design*:

. add param -destination [area|path]. when specified runs are copied to new
  area and removed from local db.
. the data move would involve these steps
.. copy the run data to destination area megatest.db
.. mark the run records as deleted, do not remove the run data on disk
. accessing the data would be by running dashboard in the satellite area
. future versions of Megatest dashboard should support displaying areas in a
  merged way.
. some new controls would be supported in the config
.. [setup] => allow-runs [no|yes]  <== used to disallow runs
.. [setup] => auto-migrate=[areaname|path]  <== used to automatically
  migrate data to a satellite area.

*Branch*: This work is taking place on branch v1.65-reduce-records

RFC M02: Move data into completed-runs.db
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Purpose*: shrink megatest.db data to enable lower load and higher performance.

*Method*: add a completed-runs.db and automatically move runs data from megatest.db to that db

*Design*:

. completed-runs.db is a full megatest database with complete schema
. the data move would involve these steps
.. copy the run data to completed-runs.db
.. remove the run data, first from /tmp/…/megatest.db and /tmp/…/megatest_ref.db, followed by megatest.db
. accessing the data would be unchanged for most operations.
. a mode -full-db will be added which when specified would attach the completed-runs.db to megatest.db before doing the query
. mechanisms for moving runs to/from the megatest.db would be added
.. -reduce-records => move runs to completed-runs.db
.. -restore-records => move runs from completed-runs.db to megatest.db

*Branch*: This work is taking place on branch v1.65-reduce-records

RFC M03: Automatic homehost migrations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Purpose*: Automatically migrate homehost.

*Method*: Check that there are no tests running, launched or remotehoststart in past ½ hour then if not on homehost migrate the db to current host

*Design*:

. Check that the system is quiescent, i.e. that there are no runs in flight or recently run
. Create a lock
. Migrate the /tmp cache db to the current host
. Update the .homehost file
. Remove the lock

*Branch*: This work not yet started

Architecture Refactor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Goals
^^^^^

. Reduce load on the file system. Sqlite3 files on network filesystem can be
  a burden. [green]#[DONE]#
. Reduce number of servers and frequency of start/stop. This is mostly an
  issue of clutter but also a reduction in "moving parts". [green]#[DONE]#
. Coalesce activities to a single home host where possible. Give the user
  feedback that they have started the dashboard on a host other than the
  home host. [green]#[DONE]#
. Reduce number of processes involved in managing running tests.

Changes Needed
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

. ACID compliant db will be on /tmp and synced to megatest.db with a five
  second max delay. [green]#[DONE]#
. Read/writes to db for processes on homehost will go direct to /tmp
  megatest.db file. [green]#[DONE]#
. Read/wites fron non-homehost processes will go through one server. Bulk
  reads (e.g. for dashboard or list-runs) will be cached on the current host
  in /tmp and synced from the home megatest.db in the testsuite area. [green]#[DONE]#
. Db syncs rely on the target db file timestame minus some margin. [green]#[DONE]#
. Since bulk reads do not use the server we can switch to simple RPC for the
  network transport. [green]#[DONE]#
. Test running manager process extended to manage multiple running tests.

Current Items
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ww05 - migrate to inmem-db
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

. Switch to inmem db with fast sync to on disk db's [green]#[DONE]#
. Server polls tasks table for next action
.. Task table used for tracking runner process [red]#[Replaced by mtutil]#
.. Task table used for jobs to run [red]#[Replaced by mtutil]#
.. Task table used for queueing runner actions (remove runs,
   cleanRunExecute, etc)  [red]#[Replaced by mtutil#]


// ww32
// ~~~~
// 
// . Rerun step and or subsequent steps from gui
// . Refresh test area files from gui
// . Clean and re-run button
// . Clean up STATE and STATUS handling.
// .. Dashboard and Test control panel are reverse order - choose and fix
// .. Move seldom used states and status to drop down selector
// . Access test control panel when clicking on Run Summary tests
// . Feature: -generate-index-tree
// . Change specifing of state and status to use STATE1/STATUS1,STATE2/STATUS2
// 
// ww33
// ~~~~
// 
// . http api available for use with Perl, Ruby etc. scripts
// . megatest.config setup entries for:
// .. run launching (e.g. /bin/sh %CMD% > /dev/null)
// .. browser "konqueror %FNAME%
// 
// ww34
// ~~~~
// 
// . Mark dependent tests for clean/rerun -rerun-downstream
// . On run start check for defunct tests in RUNNING, LAUNCHED or REMOTEHOSTSTART and correct or notify
// . Fix: refresh of gui sometimes fails on last item (race condition?)
// 
// ww35
// ~~~~
// 
// . refdb: Add export of csv, json and sexp
// . Convert to using call-with-environment-variables where possible. Should allow handling of parallel runs in same process.
// . Re-work text interface wizards. Several bugs on record. Possibly convert to gui based.
// . Add to testconfig requirements section; launchlimiter scriptname, calls scriptname to check if ok to launch test
// . Refactor Run Summary view, currently very clumsy
// . Add option to show steps in Run Summary view
// 
// ww36
// ~~~~
// 
// . Refactor guis for resizeablity
// . Add filters to Run Summary view and Run Control view
// . Add to megatest.config or testconfig; rerunok STATE/STATUS,STATE/STATUS...
// . Launch gates for diskspace; /path/one>1G,/path/two>200M,/tmp>5G,#{scheme *toppath*}>1G
// 
// Bin List
// ~~~~~~~~
// 
// .	Quality improvements
// ..	Server stutters occasionally
// ..	Large number of items or tests still has some issues.
// ..	Code refactoring
// ..	Replace remote process with true API using json (supports Web app also)
// .	Streamline the gui
// ..	Everything resizable
// ..	Less clutter
// ..	Tool tips
// ..	Filters on Run Summary, Summary and Run Control panel
// ..	Built in log viewer (partially implemented)
// ..	Refactor the test control panel
// .	Help and documentation
// ..	Complete the user manual (I’ve been working on this lately).
// ..	Online help in the gui
// .	Streamlined install
// ..	Deployed version (download a location independent ready to run binary bundle)
// ..	Install Makefile (in progress, needed for Mike to install on VMs)
// ..	Added option to compile IUP (needed for VMs)
// .	Server side run launching
// .	Support for re-running, cleaning etc. of individual steps (ezsteps makes this very easy to implement).
// .	Launch process needs built in daemonizing (easy to do, just need to test it thoroughly).
// .	Wizards for creating tests, regression areas (current ones are text only and limited).
// .	Fully functional built in web service (currently you can browse runs but it is very simplistic).
// .	Wildcards in runconfigs: e.g. [p1271/9/%/%]
// .	Gui panels for editing megatest.config and runconfigs.config
// .	Fully isolated tests (no use of NFS to see regression area files)
// .	Windows version