rmtoo

Development Guide

This guide covers setting up a development environment for rmToo and contributing to the project.

Development Environment Setup

Prerequisites

System Dependencies

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install -y make graphviz texlive-latex-extra
sudo apt install -y python3-dev python3-venv

# CentOS/RHEL
sudo yum install -y make graphviz texlive python3-devel

# Fedora
sudo dnf install -y make graphviz texlive python3-devel

Python Environment

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/florath/rmtoo.git
cd rmtoo

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv dev-env
source dev-env/bin/activate

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .

Environment Variables

export PYTHONPATH=${PWD}

Testing

Running Tests Locally

Full Test Suite

cd rmtoo
pytest --junit-xml=result.xml --cov-report term --cov-report xml --cov=lib --cov=inputs --cov=outputs tests

Specific Test Categories

# Unit tests only
pytest tests/RMTTest-Unit/

# Blackbox tests only
pytest tests/RMTTest-Blackbox/

# Output tests only
pytest tests/RMTTest-Output/

# Syntax tests only
pytest tests/RMTTest-Syntax/

Using tox (Recommended)

# Run tests for all supported Python versions
tox

# Run specific environment
tox -e py39
tox -e py310
tox -e py311

# Run linting
tox -e pep8
tox -e pylint

Test Structure

rmToo uses pytest with specific naming conventions:

• Test files: RMTTest*.py
• Test classes: RMTTest*
• Test methods: rmttest*

Test Categories

• Unit tests: tests/RMTTest-Unit/ - Core component testing
• Blackbox tests: tests/RMTTest-Blackbox/ - Full integration tests
• Output tests: tests/RMTTest-Output/ - Testing specific output formats
• Syntax tests: tests/RMTTest-Syntax/ - Input syntax validation

XML Comparison Testing

For output modules that generate XML, rmToo includes custom XML comparison utilities:

Background

• Until version 19, rmToo used the xmldiff library
• xmldiff was too slow for large documents (20+ minutes for big files)
• Custom XML comparison was implemented for better performance

Requirements

• Not only node content must match, but also order
• Supports both directly generated files and library-generated files

Code Quality

Linting

# Run flake8
flake8

# Run pylint
pylint rmtoo

# Using tox
tox -e pep8
tox -e pylint

Code Coverage

# Generate coverage report
pytest --cov=lib --cov=inputs --cov=outputs --cov-report=html tests

# View coverage report
open htmlcov/index.html

Contributing

Development Workflow

1. Fork the repository on GitHub
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature-name
3. Make your changes and add tests
4. Run the test suite: tox
5. Submit a pull request

Code Style

• Follow PEP 8 for Python code
• Use meaningful variable and function names
• Add docstrings for public functions and classes
• Keep functions small and focused

Testing Requirements

• Add tests for new features
• Ensure all existing tests pass
• Maintain or improve code coverage
• Test on multiple Python versions using tox

Architecture Overview

Core Components

• Input Plugins: Parse requirement tags and dependencies
• Output Plugins: Generate different artifact formats
• Analytics: Quality checking modules
• Configuration: Hierarchical config system

Plugin Development

See the setuptools entry points in setup.py for examples of creating new input and output plugins.

Release Process

Building Packages

# Build source distribution
python setup.py sdist

# Build wheel
python setup.py bdist_wheel --universal

Testing with TestPyPI

# Upload to TestPyPI
python setup.py sdist upload -r testpypi
python setup.py bdist_wheel --universal upload -r testpypi

# Install from TestPyPI
pip install -i https://testpypi.python.org/pypi rmtoo

Community and Forks

Notable Forks

Several forks have been created over the years. Some interesting ones to review:

• apre/rmtoo: GUI branch
• andipla/rmtoo: SIL (Safety Integrity Level) feature
• joesteeve/rmtoo: Virtualenv support (merged)

Contributing Back

When reviewing forks, consider:

1. Cherry-picking useful features
2. Contacting fork maintainers
3. Coordinating integration efforts

Getting Help

Development Questions

• Check existing GitHub issues
• Contact the maintainers: rmtoo@florath.net

Documentation

• Update documentation when adding features
• Test documentation examples
• Follow the documentation style guide

Tools and Resources

Required Tools

• make: Build automation
• graphviz: Graph generation
• texlive: LaTeX processing
• python3-dev: Python development headers

Optional Tools

• tox: Testing across Python versions
• coverage: Code coverage analysis
• pytest: Test runner
• flake8: Linting
• pylint: Advanced linting

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