~bzr-pqm/bzr/bzr.dev

Configuring Bazaar
==================

.. contents::
   :depth: 2

As a Bazaar developer there are a few things you need to know about
configuration:

* how to add a new option,

* how add a new stack,

* how add a new store.

The first sections in this document summarize the steps needed when adding a
new configuration item, the rest of the document gives more internal details
on how this is implemented.

Get an option value
-------------------

Options values are obtained with ``stack.get(option_name)`` where ``stack``
is one of the daughter classes of ``config.Stack``, see their docstrings for
a description of which sections are used from which stores.

The value returned is of the type declared for that ``Option`` and if
nothing is specifically declared you will get the default for that option.

Add a new option
----------------

You add a new ``Option`` to the ``option_registry``, either inside
``bzrlib/config.py`` or during initialization of your plugin (use
``register_lazy`` in this case). New plugins should have systematic
hierarchical names so that related values are grouped together::

  option_registry.register(
      Option('dirstate.fdatasync', default=True,
            from_unicode=bool_from_store,
            help="Flush dirstate changes onto physical disk? ...."))

You then need to decide which stack is appropriate to implement the Option
policy:

* which config files (aka ``Store``) needs to be queried, which sections are
  relevant and in what order,

* which section will receive the modifications (if relevant).

The docstrings for the existing stacks cover most of the known use cases.

Modify an option value or delete an option
------------------------------------------

Just reading an option is what is needed most of the time, modifying option
values or removing options is usually something that is not automated but
left to the user (with ``bzr config``).

Nevertheless, if you need to save a modified option value, use
``.set(option_name, value)`` and ``.remove(option_name)`` to delete the
option. Both methods are provided by the ``Stack`` object.

But before doing that, you must be sure that the stack you're using have a
writable section (this is true for ``GlobalStack`` which uses the
``DEFAULT`` section in ``bazaar.conf`` and for ``BranchStack``which uses the
no-name section in ``branch.conf``).

Old and new configuration code
------------------------------

There is (as of late 2011) some older and some newer configuration code. The
old code has specific methods for various checks or uses classes like
``GlobalConfig``.  Don't add to to it; try to remove it.

If you encounter an option using the old code you may want to migrate
it. This generally involves:

* registering the option,

* replace the old config by a stack:

  * ``GlobalConfig`` became ``GlobalStack``,

  * ``LocationConfig`` became ``LocationStack``,

  * ``BranchConfig`` became ``BranchStack`` (or in this case,
    ``get_config()`` became ``get_config_stack()``.

* replace the custom accessor calls with ``conf.get(option_name)``.

The new config code provides some help for commonly encountered use cases
that can allow further simplifications like:

* providing a default value when the option is not defined in any way by the
  user,

* convert the unicode string provided by the user into a suitable
  representation (integer, list, etc).

If you start migrating a given option to the config stacks, don't stop
mid-way, all its uses should be covered (tests included). There are some
edge cases where updates via one API will be not be seen by the other API
(see http://pad.lv/948339 and http://pad.lv/948344 for details). Roughly,
the old API always trigger an IO while the new one cache values to avoid
them. This works fine as long as a given option is handled via a single API.

Adding a new stack
------------------

Stacks capture the various places an option can be declared by the user with
associated levels of generality and query them in the appropriate order
returning the first definition found. For example, the
``append_revisions_only`` option may be declared for all branches of a user
in ``bazaar.conf``, or for a hierarchy of branches in ``locations.conf`` or
in a single branch in ``branch.conf``.

Defining a new stack means you need a new way to expose these levels to the
user that is not covered by the existing stacks.

This is achieved by declaring:

* which stores can provide a value for the option,

* which sections apply to the stack instance, some filtering for a given
  context can be defined,

* which (store, section) should receive the modifications.

Mapping different sections to different stacks is a powerful way to organize
the options and provide various levels of configuration to the user. This is
achieved with ``Store`` and ``SectionMatcher`` objects.


Adding a new store
------------------

The following stores are used by ``bzr`` in ways that illustrate various
uses of sections.

bazaar.conf
===========

``bzr`` itself defines two sections here:

* ``DEFAULT`` where global options are defined,

* ``ALIASES`` where command aliases are defined. This section is *not*
  available via ``GlobalStack``, instead, the ``bzr alias`` command uses it
  for its own purposes.

Plugins can define either additional options in the ``DEFAULT`` section or
new sections for their own needs (this is not especially encouraged
though). The ``bzr-bookmarks`` plugin defines a ``BOOKMARKS`` section there
for example.

pkgimport.conf
==============

The Ubuntu package importer defines a store and two stacks involving
``pkgimport.conf``. A no-name section contains the options common to all
packages and sections named after their corresponding package can also be
defined.

The ``ImporterStack`` uses ``locations.conf`` and the no-name section in
``pkgimport.conf`` for the importer options.

The ``PackageStack`` uses only ``pkgimport.conf`` and uses the section name
after the package followed by the no-name section.

location.conf
=============

``bzr`` defines sections corresponding to URLs there and includes the
relevant sections in ``LocationStack`` and ``BranchStack``. No no-name
section is recognized in this file.

branch.conf
===========

This file defines the option for a given branch and uses only the no-name
section.

Option
------

The Option object is used to define its properties:

* name: a name: a valid python identifier (even if it's not used as an
  identifier in python itself). This is also used to register the option.

* from_unicode: a callable accepting a unicode string and returning a
  suitable value for the option. If the string cannot be coerced it should
  return None.

* override_from_env: a list of environment variables. The first variable set
  will be used as the option value overriding any other definition of the
  option.

* default: the default value that Stack.get() should return if no value can
  be found for the option. This can also be a callable as long as it returns
  a unicode string.

* default_from_env: a list of environment variables. The first variable set
  will provide a default value overriding 'default' which remains the
  default value if *no* environment variable is set.

* help: a doc string describing the option, the first line should be a
  summary and can be followed by a blank line and a more detailed
  explanation. This will be displayed to the user with::

    bzr help <option name>

* invalid: the action to be taken when an invalid value is encountered in a
  store (during a Stack.get()).

The value of an option is a unicode string or ``None`` if it's not
defined. By using ``from_unicode`` you can turn this string into a more
appropriate representation.

If you need a list value, you should use ``ListOption`` instead.

For options that take their values from a ``Registry`` object,
``RegistryOption`` can be used. This will automatically take care of
looking up the specified values in the dictionary and documenting the
possible values in help.

Sections
--------

Options are grouped into sections which share some properties with the well
known dict objects:

* the key is the name,
* you can get, set and remove an option,
* the value is a unicode string.

MutableSection is needed to set or remove an option, ReadOnlySection should
be used otherwise.


Stores
------

Options can be persistent in which case they are saved into Stores.

``config.Store`` defines the abstract interface that all stores should
implement.

This object doesn't provide direct access to the options, it only provides
access to Sections. This is deliberate to ensure that sections can be
properly shared by reusing the same underlying objects. Accessing options
should be done via the ``Section`` objects.

A ``Store`` can contain one or more sections, each section is uniquely
identified by a unicode string.

``config.IniFileStore`` is an implementation that use ``ConfigObj``.

Depending on the object it is associated with (or not) a ``Store`` also needs
to implement a locking mechanism. ``LockableIniFileStore`` implements such a
mechanism for ``IniFileStore`` based stores.

Classes are provided for the usual Bazaar configuration files and could be
used as examples to define new ones if needed. The associated tests provides a
basis for new classes which only need to register themselves in the right
places to inherit from the existing basic tests and add their own specific
ones.

A ``Store`` defines how option values are stored, this includes:

* defining the sections where the options are grouped,

* defining how the values are quoted/unquoted for storage purposes. Stacks
  use the unquoted values internally (default value handling and option
  expansion are simpler this way) and ``bzr config`` quote them when they
  need to be displayed.


Filtering sections
------------------

For some contexts, only some sections from a given store will apply. The
``SectionMatcher`` objects are used to define which sections in a store
apply to a given context.

The main constraint here is that a ``SectionMatcher`` should delay the loading
of the associated store as long as possible. The constructor should collect
all data needed for the selection and uses it while processing the sections in
``get_sections``.

Only ``ReadOnlySection`` objects are manipulated here but a
``SectionMatcher`` can return dedicated ``Section`` objects to provide
additional context (the ``LocationSection`` add an ``extra_path`` attribute
to implement the section local options for example). If no sections match,
an empty list is returned.

Options local to a section can be defined for special purposes and be
handled by ``Section.get()``. One such option is ``relpath`` which is
defined in ``LocationSection`` as an alternative to the ``appendpath``
policy.

For ``appendpath``, the ``LocationSection`` will carry ``extra_path`` as the
relative path between the section name and the location used. ``relpath``
will be available as a ``Section`` local option with the same
value. ``basename`` will carry the location base name and be available as a
local option with the same name. Note that such options can only be expanded
inside the section that defines them.

Specific section matchers can be implemented by overriding ``get_sections``
or just ``match``.

``bzrlib`` provides:

* ``NameMatcher(store, unique_id)``: To select a single section matching
  ``unique_id``.

* ``LocationMatcher(store, location)``: To select all sections that match
  ``location`` sorted by decreasing number of path components.

* ``StartingPathMatcher(store, location)``: To select all sections that
  match ``location`` in the order they appear in the ``store``.

Stacks
------

An option can take different values depending on the context it is
used. This can involve configuration files, options from the command line,
default values in bzrlib and then some.

Such a context is implemented by creating a list of ``Section`` stacked upon
each other. A ``Stack`` can then be asked for an option value and returns the
first definition found.

This provides a great flexibility to decide priorities between sections when
the stack is defined without to worry about them in the code itself.

A stack also defines a mutable section (which can be None) to handle
modifications.

Many sections (or even stores) are aimed at providing default values for an
option but these sections shouldn't be modified lightly as modifying an option
used for different contexts will indeed be seen by all these contexts.

Default values in configuration files are defined by users. Developers
shouldn't have to modify them, as such, no mechanism nor heuristics are used
to find which section (or sections) should be modified.

A ``Stack`` defines a mutable section when there is no ambiguity.  If there
is one, then the *user* should be able to decide and in this case a new
``Stack`` can be created cheaply.

Different stacks can be created for different purposes, the existing
``GlobalStack``, ``LocationStack`` and ``BranchStack`` can be used as basis
or examples. These classes are the only ones that should be used in code,
``Stores`` can be used to build them but shouldn't be used otherwise, ditto
for sections. Again, the associated tests could and should be used against the
created stacks.

Also note that ``MemoryStack`` can be used without any disk resources which
allows for simpler and faster tests. A common pattern is to accept a
``config`` parameter related to a given feature and test it with predefined
configurations without involving the whole
stack. ``bzrlib.tests.test_commit``, ``bzrlib.tests.test_gpg`` and
``bzrlib.tests.test_smtp_connection`` are good examples.