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By Bryan Quinn
+Tcl API
Tcl API
apm-install-procs.tcl (Supports installation of packages)
20-apm-load-procs.tcl (Bootstraps APM for server startup)
-apm-admin-procs.tcl (Supports APM UI)
PL/SQL file
PL/SQL file
In general terms, a package is a unit of software that serves a single well-defined purpose. That purpose may be to provide a service directly to one or more classes of end-user, (e.g., discussion forums @@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ installation through APM is another potential package instance that can become part of Jane's View Camera subsite.
The APM provides an architecture for packaging software, making instances of that software available to subsites, specifying configuration parameters -for each instance, and managing the creation and release of new packages.
+for each instance, and managing the creation and release of new packages.
Prior to ACS 3.3, all packages were lumped together into one monolithic distribution without explicit boundaries; the only way to ascertain what comprised a given package was to look at the top of the corresponding @@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ packages for other OpenACS users to download and install.
For a simple illustration of the difference between ACS without APM (pre-3.3) and ACS with APM (3.3 and beyond), consider a hypothetical ACS installation that uses only two of the thirty-odd modules available circa ACS -3.2 (say, bboard and e-commerce):
APM itself is part of a package, the OpenACS Kernel, an OpenACS -service that is the only mandatory component of an OpenACS installation.
The OpenACS is a platform for web-based application software, and any software +3.2 (say, bboard and e-commerce):
APM itself is part of a package, the OpenACS Kernel, an OpenACS +service that is the only mandatory component of an OpenACS installation.
The OpenACS is a platform for web-based application software, and any software platform has the potential to develop problems like those described above. Fortunately, there are many precedents for systematic solutions, including:
Debian GNU/Linux and the Debian @@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ integrated with filesystem-based version control -
web-based tools for package development:
creating new packages locally
releasing new versions of locally-created packages
The design chosen for APM was meant to satisfy the following constraints:
The process of authoring a package must be as simple as possible.
Strict conventions must be established that provide a set of canonical locations and names for files and patterns, for OpenACS application @@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ documentation walks the developer through each of these steps. Moreover, from following these steps, the package can be subsite specific, available to subsites across the system, and be available for distribution to other OpenACS -installations without doing a monolithic upgrade or reinstall.
The APM is composed of systems for accomplishing a set of package-related +installations without doing a monolithic upgrade or reinstall.
The APM is composed of systems for accomplishing a set of package-related tasks. Each of these tasks comprise a feature area that has an API, data model, and a UI:
Authoring a Package
Maintaining Multiple Versions of a Package
Creating Instances of the Package
Specifying Configuration Parameters for each Instance
Authoring a Package
Full instructions on how to prepare an OpenACS package are available in Packages. The API here can be invoked manually by a package's data model creation script, but need not to be used. This API is part of the APM PL/SQL @@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ attr_value in apm_parameter_values.attr_value%TYPE ); -
The central piece of the data model is the apm_package_types table where each package is registered. When a new application or service is installed on an OpenACS instance, a corresponding row in this table is inserted with information about the type of package, e.g. if the forum package is installed on your OpenACS server, a row @@ -503,12 +503,12 @@
apm_file_info - Provides a public interface for querying file information.
The APM's user interface is part of the + Provides a public interface for querying file information.
The APM's user interface is part of the OpenACS Administration Service. The UI is the primary point of contact with APM by developers and administrators. It is part of OpenACS Administration, because only the site-wide administrator should be able to access it. Thus in order to develop a package, the developer must be granted -site-wide administration.
APM has two parameters for configuring how it interacts with the UNIX +site-wide administration.
APM has two parameters for configuring how it interacts with the UNIX filesystem, accessible via the Site Map admin page. These parameters need not be changed under most circumstances, but may need to be tweaked for Windows compatibility.
GzipExecutableDirectory @@ -520,7 +520,7 @@
InfoFilePermissionsMode This sets the default UNIX permissions used when creating files using the -APM. Default is 775.
APM has been in production since OpenACS 3.3, and as of version 4.0 offers a stable set of features. One major feature planned is integration with the OpenACS Package Repository for automatic dependency satisfaction. When a user tries to install a package that depends on other packages, the APM will contact the @@ -538,6 +538,6 @@ repositories worldwide.
Another anticipated change is to split the APM UI into separate systems for authoring, maintaining, and installing packages. The current UI presents all of this functionality in one interface and it can be confusing from a -usability perspective.
System creator: Bryan Quinn, Jon Salz, Michael Yoon, Lars Pind, Todd +usability perspective.
System creator: Bryan Quinn, Jon Salz, Michael Yoon, Lars Pind, Todd Nightingale.
System owner: Bryan Quinn
Documentation author: Bryan Quinn, building from earlier versions by Jon -Salz, Michael Yoon, and Lars Pind.
| Document Revision # | Action Taken, Notes | When? | By Whom? |
| 0.1 | Creation | 9/25/2000 | Bryan Quinn |
| 0.8 | Ready for QA | 9/29/2000 | Bryan Quinn |
| 0.9 | Edited for ACS 4 Beta release | 10/02/2000 | Kai Wu |
| 1.0 | Edited for OpenACS 4.5 Beta release | 03/02/2002 | Roberto Mello |