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JOURNAL FOR SUNDAY 23RD OCTOBER, 2016
______________________________________________________________________________
SUBJECT: Minor delays & more updates
DATE: Sun 23 Oct 23:49:04 BST 2016
This week started of really well with a lot of coding and even more journal
entries than usual. Then I got a bad bout of what I assume was flu. Whatever
it was it was bad enough to put me in bed for three days anyway :(
I have managed to work on WolfMUD this weekend and implemented a number of
changes that were either requested or needed for the upcoming release.
First of all the default directory used by the server has been changed. It now
looks for a 'data' directory in the current working directory. This means that
Windows users, some Linux[1] users?, will be able to download one of the
binary distributions of WolfMUD, unpack it and just double click the server
executable to get started.
I cleaned up some error handling in the comms package and managed to drop some
nasty code that fiddled with the internal client error channel. At the time
the fiddle was written it was the only way to code around an issue I was
having.
The config package has been updated to use an init function so configuration
values are now available to all other packages immediately. Still need to
check where this might simplify existing code but I needed the functionality
for some new code.
A new configuration option has been implemented for the maximum number of
players allowed to connect to the server at the same time. This is important
for people who want to run an internet accessible server without their
broadband or hardware being swamped[2].
I've also been going through the default Zinara zone files and making little
tweaks and cleaning the text up.
All of the above changes, except for the zone file tweaks - which I am still
working on, have just been pushed to the public dev branch.
One major headache - non-flu induced - has been dusting off my release scripts
to build all of the different downloads that will be made available. Windows
really is a pain. There is no descent default plain text editor. Also all of
the text files for data and documentation need to have line endings converted
to make life easier for users. I don't think telling people to get a decent
editor is the right thing to do. My audience for WolfMUD is small, I don't
want to make it any smaller :(
Argh! That's just reminded me, I need to review the recordJar package. It
currently does not like data files with carriage return and line feed pairs.
All these things like to come out of the woodwork when you start preparing for
a release!
Also it seems that some people think my Git setup is weird.
Usually, for work, I start with a 'dev' branch. All work is done on there. At
some point a 'staging' branch is made from 'dev' and put onto a server for
client testing. Fixes go into 'dev' and are merged into 'staging'. Finally the
project goes live and a 'live' branch is created from 'staging'. All fixes and
features go through 'dev', 'staging' and 'live'. Seems logical and how I've
been working for years. So where is the weirdness?
Apparently this effectively makes my 'dev' branch the master branch when the
master branch should be the 'live' branch. As a consequence I'm always merging
down instead of up. What I should do is create the 'live' master branch, then
'staging' from 'live' and 'dev' from 'staging'. Then all merging would be
merging up into the higher branches.
I've only been using Git for over a decade :)
So what I am going to do about it? WolfMUD currently has two branches: 'dev'
and 'go1'. The master branch should be the 'go1' branch with 'dev' being a
branch off of it. Note, the 'go1' branch is looked for by the 'go get' tool.
So after the release I will delete my 'dev' branch and create a new 'dev'
branch off of 'go1'. What I'm not sure about is if I'd need to do this after
each release? We shall see.
I'll also be using topic branches a lot more for WolfMUD. I do use them a lot
normally, but as WolfMUD has been in a lot of flux with wide ranging changes
all work has mainly been done on the 'dev' branch directly. The upcoming
release will be my "line in the sand". It is where I will say "This is how
WolfMUD is going to be going forward". The release will be the foundations
for all future WolfMUD development.
Only 7 days left till Halloween... /\oo/\
--
Diddymus
[1] Dependant on the Linux distribution and the desktop and/or file manager
being used. I really have no idea as I only use DWM[3] on Linux and have
done for many years now.
[2] Insert joke about "Are there that many MUD players still out there..."
[3] DWM - Dynamic Window Manager: https://dwm.suckless.org
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