Building and testing under CI a desktop application written in Python using Qt, nose and Jenkins.

This will be illustrated through the client we developed to allow bidirectional synchronization between a desktop app and a remote Nuxeo content repository.
The talk will cover the general concepts of a Python/Qt cross-platform application, the way we used unittest and nose to run functional tests and the whole build process handled by Jenkins. Starting from the application packaging for Windows and Mac OS X with cx_Feeze and py2app, ending with the execution of the tests under the 3 main platforms.

Transcript

1. OSDC 2013 - Paris Building and testing under CI a desktop application written in Python using Qt, nose and Jenkins Antoine Taillefer ataillefer@nuxeo.com
2. 2 About me – Antoine Taillefer • Graduated from ENSEEIHT in 2006 • Worked for 5 years for an Open source solutions integrator • Working at Nuxeo since 2011 ✔ Software engineer ✔ Involved in consulting / training • Languages : ✔ Java ✔ Python
3. 3 Agenda • Introduction: Nuxeo & Nuxeo Drive • Nuxeo Drive architecture • Coding session • Build and continuous integration • Roadmap
4. 4 Introduction
5. 5 Useful links • Source code: github.com/nuxeo/nuxeo-drive • Documentation: doc.nuxeo.com • Continuous integration: qa.nuxeo.org • Backlog: jira.nuxeo.com - "Nuxeo Drive" • Nuxeo: nuxeo.com / nuxeo.org
6. 6 Nuxeo Platform • Open source content management platform • Repository available through: ✔ Web user interface ✔ REST services (Nuxeo Drive) ✔ Shell • Java based • Modular and extensible => build business apps • Configuration tools: Nuxeo Studio / Nuxeo IDE
7. 7 Demo
8. 8 Nuxeo Drive • Fully open source, on Github, LGPL • Desktop client for Nuxeo • Available for Windows and OS X • Roundtrip synchronization • Selection of the folders to synchronize • Synchronization of any type of content • Conflict management (allows offline work) • Quick edit
9. 9 Main features • Command line • Systray GUI • Background synchronization • Robust to network errors: goes offline • Token based authentication + revocation • Multiple server bindings
10. 10 Demo
11. 11 Architecture
12. 12 Server-side • Addon for Nuxeo • Token authentication service • Change detection based on audit log • Pluggable service layer • REST API: basic operations ✔ getChanges() ✔ downloadFile() ✔ createFile()
13. 13 Client-side • UI thread / Synchronization thread • Local storage: maintain pair states • Token based authentication • Local file system client • Remote HTTP client (JSON) • Synchronization: infinite loop ✔ Polling for remote changes ✔ File system scan for local changes ✔ Resolution and synchronization
14. 14 Main libraries • Threading: threading • Command-line : argparse • GUI: PyQt4 (GPL) • Storage / ORM: sqlalchemy • OS detection: sys • File system: os • HTTP exchanges: urllib2, json, poster • Logging: logging • Testing: nose
15. 15 Coding session
16. 16 Dev tools • git • vi / Sublime Text / Eclipse + PyDev • nose (+ ipdbplugin) / PyUnit • Jenkins
17. 17 Test Driven Development (TDD) • Goal: PDF conversion of locally synchronized files • Steps : ✔ Write test scenario ✔ Write test ✔ Run it with nose / PyUnit => should fail ✔ Implement feature ✔ Run test again => should succeed
18. 18 GUI with PyQt • Goal: add menu entry to open the PDF conversion output folder • Steps: ✔ Code function ✔ Add menu action • Testing the PyQt GUI? ✔ Simulating clicks with PyQt API by sending signals ✔ PyQt QTest + unittest ✔ TDriver ✔ Squish
19. 19 Build under continuous integration
20. 20 Goal • Build standalone binary packages ✔ For Windows: .msi ✔ For OS X: .dmg • Embed Python, Qt, PyQt and all required libraries • Don't interfere with already installed packages
21. 21 Build environment setup • Install Python 2 (using Homebrew for OS X) • Install Qt / PyQt ✔ Linux: sudo apt-get install python-qt4 ✔ OS X: sudo brew install pyqt ✔ Windows: install binary package • Install pip with setuptools: sudo easy_install pip • Install freeze program ✔ Os X: pip install py2app ✔ Windows: install cx_Freeze
22. 22 Application freeze • Clone nuxeo-drive from Github git clone https://github.com/nuxeo/nuxeo-drive.git • Grab dependencies sudo pip install -r requirements.txt • Run freeze • Windows python.exe setup.py --freeze –dev bdist_msi • OS X python setup.py py2app sh tools/osx/create-dmg.sh
23. 23 Demo
24. 24 Continuous integration • Jenkins • Several jobs ✔ Build Nuxeo addon with Maven ✔ Freeze for Windows => msi ✔ Freeze for OS X => dmg ✔ Functional tests (depends on previous jobs) ➔ Launch Nuxeo server with Drive addon ➔ Run tests with nose
25. 25 Roadmap
26. 26 Nuxeo 5.8 • HTTP proxy • Handle readonly documents • GUI improvements ✔ Unified settings menu ✔ Home folder configuration ✔ Status icon ✔ Last synchronization date
27. 27 Nuxeo 5.x • GUI improvements ✔ Notifications ("10 files synchronized in 8 seconds") ✔ Recently modified files ✔ Suspend synchronization ✔ Multiple server bindings • Versioning and auto-upgrade • Explorer / Finder decoration + Right click • Optimization of local changes detection
28. 28 Questions