diff -r 820b22e13ff1 -r 39c28ec933dd buildframework/helium/doc/src/introduction.rst --- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/buildframework/helium/doc/src/introduction.rst Mon May 10 19:54:49 2010 +0100 @@ -0,0 +1,82 @@ +################### +Helium Introduction +################### + +.. index:: + module: Introduction + +.. contents:: + +.. index:: + single: Introduction + +Introduction +============= + +This is the user guide and technical description for Helium, an ANT based build framework used to build S60 based products. +This documentation describes how to configure and use the Helium build framework from the point of view of an IDO integrator, +a build manager, a helium contributor and subcon user. + +Helium contains all you need in order to create a work area, a build area, perform the compilation, link, create localised +variants, submit build information to Diamonds (used for statistical analysis), create Data Packages, +zip the files to create a release and much more. The aim is for helium to be used by every build and release team working on +S60 products within Nokia. It is also used by some Subcons as part of the tool set given to them to allow subcons to build parts +of the S60 code. + +Before you start reading about Helium it is very advisable that you are familiar with ANT_ and how it works so +click on this `ANT link`_ if you are not familiar with ANT_. + +.. _ANT link: http://ant.apache.org/ +.. _ANT: http://ant.apache.org/ + +Ant makes great use of XML_ files for its configuration so if you are unfamiliar with XML_ files it is recommended that you read the +information at the XML_ link. + +.. _XML: http://www.w3.org/XML/ + +There are various parts of this documentation that are only of interest to certain users (in particular the Helium integrator), +it is hoped that eventually there will +be separate contents lists for the different users, but for the time being this is not possible, so bare with us. + + +NOTE: for best viewing you should use Windows Internet Explorer 7.0 or newer as version 6.0 has some problems with display of the +navigation bar and contents list. + + +.. index:: + single: Vision + +Vision +========= + +The Helium vision is to fulfill the following demands: + + * A "common unified toolset". + * Easy to use and configure for all different builds. + + * Fully automated builds. + * Verbose and clear messages. + + * Light. + * Simple things should be easy to do, complex things should be possible. + +.. index:: + single: Background + +Background +============ + +Helium was developed from a need to reduce "reinventing the wheel" for build tools. It was based on the mc_tools project which had the same goal within the former MC organization. + +.. index:: + single: Why Ant? + +Why Ant? +========== + +Helium is fundamentally based on Apache ANT_. Why was ANT_ chosen when there were many other similar frameworks inside Nokia, +such as sbt, isis_build and TrombiBuild. The main reason is that while the other toolkits were developed inside Nokia, +ANT_ is an open source tool from Apache, based on relatively simple XML_ files that define the build steps. +Through leveraging the power of open source Helium has integrated a large amount of functionality that would have taken +much longer to develop in-house, as well as benefit from existing, high-quality documentation. +