Repository Categories Example | Qt Installer Framework Documentation 4.10.0

- Qt Installer Framework Documentation
- Tutorials and Examples
- Repository Categories Example
- Qt Installer Framework 4.10.0

# Repository Categories Example

Using the RepositoryCategories element to set up an online installer where repositories are grouped.

Repository Categories illustrates how to set up an installer where repositories are grouped into categories.

## Configuring the Example Installer

The installer configuration file, config.xml, in the `config` directory specifies the text and default values used in the installer:

- The `<Name>` element sets the application name and adds it to the page name and introduction text.
- The `<Version>` element sets the application version number.
- The `<Title>` element sets the installer name and displays it on the title bar.
- The `<Publisher>` element sets the publisher of the software (as shown in the Windows Control Panel, for example).
- The `<StartMenuDir>` element sets the name of the default program group for the product in the Windows Start menu.
- The `<TargetDir>` element sets the default target directory location to be within the `IfwExamples` directory in the home directory of the current user (because it uses the pre-existing variable `,` @HomeDir@, as part of the value). For more information, see Predefined Variables.

- The `<RepositoryCategories>` element shows how to group repositories into categories. `<RepositoryCategories>` can contain one or several `<RemoteRepositories>` child elements that specify a connection to repositories. For more information about `<RemoteRepositories>` see Configuring Repositories.

     <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
     <Installer>
         <Name>Repository category Installer Example</Name>
         <Version>1.0.0</Version>
         <Title>Repository category Installer Example</Title>
         <Publisher>The Qt Company</Publisher>
         <StartMenuDir>Qt IFW Examples</StartMenuDir>
         <TargetDir>@HomeDir@/IfwExamples/repositoryCategories</TargetDir>
         <RemoteRepositories>
             <Repository>
                 <Url>http://localhost/repository</Url>
             </Repository>
         </RemoteRepositories>
         <RepositoryCategories>
             <RepositoryCategoryDisplayname>Releases</RepositoryCategoryDisplayname>
             <RemoteRepositories>
                 <DisplayName>Category 1</DisplayName>
                 <Tooltip>Contains repository1 and repository2</Tooltip>
                 <Repository>
                     <Url>http://localhost/repository1</Url>
                 </Repository>
                 <Repository>
                     <Url>http://localhost/repository2</Url>
                 </Repository>
             </RemoteRepositories>
             <RemoteRepositories>
                 <Preselected>true</Preselected>
                 <DisplayName>Category 2</DisplayName>
                 <Tooltip>Contains repository3</Tooltip>
                 <Repository>
                     <Url>http://localhost/repository3</Url>
                 </Repository>
             </RemoteRepositories>
         </RepositoryCategories>
     </Installer>

## Creating the Example Package Information File

The installer package information file, package.xml, in the `meta` directory specifies the components that are available for installation:

- The `<DisplayName>` element sets the human-readable name of the component.
- The `<Description>` element sets the human-readable description of the component.
- The `<Version>` element sets the version number of the component.
- The `<ReleaseDate>` element sets the date of release for this component version.

- The `<Default>` element is set to `true` to preselect the component in the installer.

     <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
     <Package>
         <DisplayName>A</DisplayName>
         <Description>Example component A</Description>
         <Version>1.0.2-1</Version>
         <ReleaseDate>2015-01-01</ReleaseDate>
         <Default>true</Default>
     </Package>

## Generating the Online Repository

This installer contains four packages that each have two components. The `Packages` directory contains two components that are not grouped categories. They are always visible in tree view in the component selection page. `Packages_forcategory1` and `packages2_forcategory1` both contain two components, which are visible when `Category` 1 is fetched. `Packages_forcategory2` contains two components that are visible only when `Category` 2 is fetched.

The packages need to be converted to a file structure that the installer can fetch at runtime. To use the `repogen` tool to convert the packages, switch to the example source directory on the command line and enter the following command:

- On Windows:

       ..\..\bin\repogen.exe -p packages repository
       ..\..\bin\repogen.exe -p packages_forcategory1 repository1
       ..\..\bin\repogen.exe -p packages2_forcategory1 repository2
       ..\..\bin\repogen.exe -p packages_forcategory2 repository3

- On Linux or macOS:

       ../../bin/repogen -p packages repository
       ../../bin/repogen -p packages_forcategory1 repository1
       ../../bin/repogen -p packages2_forcategory1 repository2
       ../../bin/repogen -p packages_forcategory2 repository3

The generated `repository`, `repository1`, `repository2` and `repository3` directories will now contain a full copy of the package data and some additionally generated metadata, such as SHA checksums.

The directories now need to be made available at the URL set in `config.xml`: `http://localhost/repository`, `http://localhost/repository1`, `http://localhost/repository2` and `http://localhost/repository3`. How this is done depends on the platform and web server used. If you do not have a running web server yet, but have Python available, you should be able to start a minimal web server from the command line. Make sure you are in the example directory, and then enter:

     python -m SimpleHTTPServer 80

You should now be able to open and explore http://localhost/repository in your web browser.

Note: If you do not have enough permissions to set up a web server locally, you can also specify an absolute `file:///` URL as the value of the `URL` element in `config.xml`. For example, `file:///C:/Qt/QtIFW/examples/repositorycategories/repository` would be a valid URL on Windows if `repository` is located in `C:\Qt\QtIFW\examples\repositorycategories`.

## Generating the Example Installer

To create the example installer, switch to the example source directory on the command line and enter the following command:

- On Windows:

       ..\..\bin\binarycreator.exe --online-only -c config\config.xml -p packages installer.exe

- On Linux or macOS:

       ../../bin/binarycreator --online-only -c config/config.xml -p packages installer

You should now be able to run the installer and install from the repository.

Files:

- repositorycategories/config/config.xml
- repositorycategories/packages/A/data/A.txt
- repositorycategories/packages/A/meta/package.xml
- repositorycategories/packages/B/data/B.txt
- repositorycategories/packages/B/meta/package.xml
- repositorycategories/packages2_forcategory1/A2Cagetory1/data/A2_category1.txt
- repositorycategories/packages2_forcategory1/A2Cagetory1/meta/package.xml
- repositorycategories/packages2_forcategory1/B2Category1/data/B2_category1.txt
- repositorycategories/packages2_forcategory1/B2Category1/meta/package.xml
- repositorycategories/packages_forcategory1/ACagetory1/data/A_category1.txt
- repositorycategories/packages_forcategory1/ACagetory1/meta/package.xml
- repositorycategories/packages_forcategory1/BCategory1/data/B_category1.txt
- repositorycategories/packages_forcategory1/BCategory1/meta/package.xml
- repositorycategories/packages_forcategory2/ACategory2/data/A_category2.txt
- repositorycategories/packages_forcategory2/ACategory2/meta/package.xml
- repositorycategories/packages_forcategory2/BCategory2/data/B_category2.txt
- repositorycategories/packages_forcategory2/BCategory2/meta/package.xml
- repositorycategories/repositorycategories.pro