[SoC] Final Report: Automated Update Routine - GSoC 2008

[Siddharth Prakash Singh]

Hello all,

I am feeling nostalgic about GSoC.
In one line: It was an awesome experience !

The project was my first experience working for an open source
project.  I also got an exposure of working in a group, collaborating
with people developing a single software. This was the first time I
used any versioning software(svn) . And I am sure this experience of
using versioning software will help me a lot later in the industry.
Before applying to GSoC, I never heard of OSGeo or Mapbender. I got to
know about Open Source Geo Foundation and specifically Mapbender. I
now understand, how mapbender and many other web based map software
software works. So, in short, I learned a LOT this summer.

My Project Title: Automated Update Routine for Mapbender .

Project Detail: Currently Mapbender users need to update Mapbender
software manually by executing a list of specified commands. And even
after executing those commands, successful update is not guaranteed in
case the user has tweaked with the mapbender software in past. Hence
there was a need of the automated script which can not only
automatically update the software but also check whether the already
running version is in proper state to update.

Project Status: I am quite satisfied with my work. The project was
completed in three parts.
First part was to develop a script which when executed will
automatically update the database schema. The database update script
automatically detects the version of Mapbender installed on the user's
system and then accordingly updates the software to the latest
version.
Second part was the checksum-build script. This script is not to be
distributed with the mapbender software bundle. It's purpose is to
store checksum of all mapbender files in json format to detect
tweaking done to the software. This script is to be executed while
building a Mapbender version.
Third part was the "filesystem update" script. The purpose of this
script is to update the filesystem. On execution, it asks the path to
the already installed software. After that it automatically makes a
backup of the current installation and updates the entire filesystem.

The entire script is ready to be implemented. Few tweaking may be
required while actually including it in the software. I'll be there at
that time. Also we ( I and Mapbender devs ) have planned to release
the update script with next Mapbender version i.e. , 2.6

Further Involvement:
I will be maintaining the update script. And I will also contribute to
Mapbender as a developer. I have already planned to work on Installed
script for Mapbender.

Few Links:
My SVN Branch : https://svn.osgeo.org/mapbender/branches/spsneo_dev
Online Tutorial for Updaate Script: http://www.mapbender.org/Update-Routine
Online Tutorial for Checksum-build Script:
http://www.mapbender.org/Build-Checksum

I have extensively documented the code and I have also uploaded README
files in the svn repository (spsneo_dev branch).


Acknowledgments:
I am grateful to Google for organizing SoC and sponsoring this
project. I am also very thankful to my mentor Mr. Christoph Baudson
without whom this project would not have been possible. And last but
not the least, I would like to thank the entire Mapbender Community
and OSGeo SoC administrator Mr. Wolf Bergenheim for their extended and
endless help.

Last Note: Weekly Project Status Report and weekly IRC meeting were
really helpful.

Anticipating Comments

Thanks

Siddharth Prakash Singh
http://www.spsneo.com