Comments for rhelmer's blog http://roberthelmer.com/blog "Quote me as saying I was misquoted." - Groucho Marx Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:41:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Comment on Breakout! by Jane Mantis http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=31&cpage=1#comment-8281 Jane Mantis Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:41:08 +0000 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=31#comment-8281 Runs smoother on my windows machine than my ubuntu box. mine is nvidia but i guess it's because of firefox under linux. i dont know but firefox runs better under windows. pretty good work! breakout ;-) Runs smoother on my windows machine than my ubuntu box. mine is nvidia but i guess it’s because of firefox under linux. i dont know but firefox runs better under windows.
pretty good work! breakout ;-)

]]> Comment on canvas love by rhelmer http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=108&cpage=1#comment-4123 rhelmer Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:08:16 +0000 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=108#comment-4123 (sorry Alex, accidentally deleted your commented, but here is a response to what I suggest for line charts): I am using <a href="http://code.google.com/p/flot/" rel="nofollow">flot</a> for line charts, and it works well, check out the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/flot/" rel="nofollow">examples</a>. (sorry Alex, accidentally deleted your commented, but here is a response to what I suggest for line charts):

I am using flot for line charts, and it works well, check out the examples.

]]> Comment on Tinderbox by John O’Duinn’s Soapbox » “Mozilla Open Design Lunch” or “how do we figure out whats going on?” http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87&cpage=1#comment-4117 John O’Duinn’s Soapbox » “Mozilla Open Design Lunch” or “how do we figure out whats going on?” Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:27:51 +0000 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87#comment-4117 [...] http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87 [...] [...] http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87 [...]

]]> Comment on Tinderbox by rhelmer http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87&cpage=1#comment-4116 rhelmer Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:48:50 +0000 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87#comment-4116 Gerv this is an excellent point, this is a crucial detail that I've been leaving out. I know that both Buildbot and Hudson have ETA support, although I have not looked into them in any real depth; Hudson gives last build time and last successful build time for each project. In principle it seems like there should be enough information to say how long a successful build generally takes, how long the last build took, etc. at a higher level. Having a (reliable!) system do this for you seems better than having to slog through the waterfall and estimate yourself; I have not had to futz with Hudson at all, although I use it on a much smaller project than Mozilla. The kind of thing I am proposing, just to be clear, would be a better front page, such as the one on http://tinderbox.mozilla.org Way more information could be provided there than is currently, and anyone who needs more information could click through (just as they do now) to get to a more detailed page. Gerv this is an excellent point, this is a crucial detail that I’ve been leaving out. I know that both Buildbot and Hudson have ETA support, although I have not looked into them in any real depth; Hudson gives last build time and last successful build time for each project.

In principle it seems like there should be enough information to say how long a successful build generally takes, how long the last build took, etc. at a higher level. Having a (reliable!) system do this for you seems better than having to slog through the waterfall and estimate yourself; I have not had to futz with Hudson at all, although I use it on a much smaller project than Mozilla.

The kind of thing I am proposing, just to be clear, would be a better front page, such as the one on http://tinderbox.mozilla.org
Way more information could be provided there than is currently, and anyone who needs more information could click through (just as they do now) to get to a more detailed page.

]]> Comment on Tinderbox by Gerv http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87&cpage=1#comment-4107 Gerv Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:59:16 +0000 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87#comment-4107 I use tinderbox for: is the tree green and, if not, what is the first time that it's likely to be green in the future (i.e. what is the estimated time that all currently red or orange boxes will have completed another full cycle)? This is actually the question that anyone who wants to check in is really asking. Gerv I use tinderbox for: is the tree green and, if not, what is the first time that it’s likely to be green in the future (i.e. what is the estimated time that all currently red or orange boxes will have completed another full cycle)?

This is actually the question that anyone who wants to check in is really asking.

Gerv

]]> Comment on Tinderbox by robert http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87&cpage=1#comment-4105 robert Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:57:07 +0000 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87#comment-4105 Right, like I said the waterfall is brilliant for certain cases.. I'm not saying it should go away, and if you want to start there you can. I would say that ideally going to http://tinderbox.mozilla.org (or http://build.mozilla.org, whatever) would provide an interface that's actually useful, instead of just a list of projects. If you wanted to then click through and bookmark the waterfall interface and use that exclusively, I think that makes a lot of sense for certain Tinderbox users. Right, like I said the waterfall is brilliant for certain cases.. I’m not saying it should go away, and if you want to start there you can.

I would say that ideally going to http://tinderbox.mozilla.org (or http://build.mozilla.org, whatever) would provide an interface that’s actually useful, instead of just a list of projects.

If you wanted to then click through and bookmark the waterfall interface and use that exclusively, I think that makes a lot of sense for certain Tinderbox users.

]]> Comment on Tinderbox by robert http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87&cpage=1#comment-4104 robert Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:55:28 +0000 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87#comment-4104 Well the point behind Millicent is to be a drop-in replacement for Tinderbox in the sense that it can import data (from email right now, but ideally from JSON too) but all it does is export that data in a saner JSON format, and the consumer has to deal with it (whether that's Javascript, or a web app, etc). It's one approach toward moving incrementally away from Tinderbox, an alternative to improving the Tinderbox code and the JSON exporter. I think this would be a great way to do it, but there is no good separation of front-end/back-end code in Tinderbox. Millicent is just a really simple backend. Well the point behind Millicent is to be a drop-in replacement for Tinderbox in the sense that it can import data (from email right now, but ideally from JSON too) but all it does is export that data in a saner JSON format, and the consumer has to deal with it (whether that’s Javascript, or a web app, etc).

It’s one approach toward moving incrementally away from Tinderbox, an alternative to improving the Tinderbox code and the JSON exporter. I think this would be a great way to do it, but there is no good separation of front-end/back-end code in Tinderbox. Millicent is just a really simple backend.

]]> Comment on Tinderbox by Axel Hecht http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87&cpage=1#comment-4101 Axel Hecht Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:17:32 +0000 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87#comment-4101 Hrm. Looking at the datamodel in millicent, I don't think that's going to help us significantly. I think that plenty of views useful for presenting build results as well as debugging depend on build properties, most likely the full list we have in buildbot. One fine day, I'd love to understand what you like about Hudson, as I haven't figured that out yet. And right now, I can't even get close, as the website is down (at least the wiki part with the actual info). Hrm. Looking at the datamodel in millicent, I don’t think that’s going to help us significantly. I think that plenty of views useful for presenting build results as well as debugging depend on build properties, most likely the full list we have in buildbot.

One fine day, I’d love to understand what you like about Hudson, as I haven’t figured that out yet. And right now, I can’t even get close, as the website is down (at least the wiki part with the actual info).

]]> Comment on Tinderbox by Standard8 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87&cpage=1#comment-4098 Standard8 Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:54:11 +0000 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87#comment-4098 I think you missed a reason to visit Tinderbox - how long will it be until the tree is green or my checkin has cycled green? It sort of fits under your point 2 - Can I check in? However, I think it is partially addressed by a waterfall display (tinderbox/buildbot) - you can normally get a reasonable idea of how long it will take (as long as you haven't caused a complete rebuild for some reason) by looking at previous and current builds. tinderboxpushlog and isthetreegreen definitely don't address this at the moment, though buildbot waterfall would do out of the box due to its etas (which aren't perfect, but are something). Tinderbox waterfall is probably the best current way of working out roughly how long. I think you missed a reason to visit Tinderbox – how long will it be until the tree is green or my checkin has cycled green?

It sort of fits under your point 2 – Can I check in? However, I think it is partially addressed by a waterfall display (tinderbox/buildbot) – you can normally get a reasonable idea of how long it will take (as long as you haven’t caused a complete rebuild for some reason) by looking at previous and current builds.

tinderboxpushlog and isthetreegreen definitely don’t address this at the moment, though buildbot waterfall would do out of the box due to its etas (which aren’t perfect, but are something). Tinderbox waterfall is probably the best current way of working out roughly how long.

]]> Comment on Tinderbox by robert http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87&cpage=1#comment-4096 robert Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:56:53 +0000 http://roberthelmer.com/blog/?p=87#comment-4096 Yes we do, sorry to pick on that one part of your post; I just wanted to respond since I was mentioned :) I do have ideas on the actual switchover, and also the whole "build database" idea which has been discussed quite a bit in the past. I have been working on a few things, such as a new AUS3 web/db system, which lead me to conclude that something similar would also be suitable for pulling data out of Tinderbox/Buildbot - I made a little progress which you can <a href="http://hg.mozilla.org/users/robert_roberthelmer.com/Millicent" rel="nofollow">see in my hg repo</a>. I will try to flesh this out more and respond to your post as a whole, again sorry for taking it out of context; I wanted to use it as an opportunity to drive home my points, but I did hear and agree with you and think you're on the right track. Yes we do, sorry to pick on that one part of your post; I just wanted to respond since I was mentioned :)

I do have ideas on the actual switchover, and also the whole “build database” idea which has been discussed quite a bit in the past.

I have been working on a few things, such as a new AUS3 web/db system, which lead me to conclude that something similar would also be suitable for pulling data out of Tinderbox/Buildbot – I made a little progress which you can see in my hg repo.

I will try to flesh this out more and respond to your post as a whole, again sorry for taking it out of context; I wanted to use it as an opportunity to drive home my points, but I did hear and agree with you and think you’re on the right track.

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