[Scummvm-devel] Merging remaining GSoC branches (Attention PORTERS!)

[Max Horn]

Hi folks,

with 1.2.0 released, it is time to look into merging the remaining three GSoC branches.

The decompiler task
===================
This can be merged right away from my point of view. Yes, it still needs work and polish (and I still hope Michael will find some time and inspiration for that, or for at least writing down a summary of all the TODOs, ideas and plans we were throwing around during GSoC). But it is good enough already. I'd like to clean up my SCUMM v5 "plugin" for it, and put that in as well, but writing it I learned that some things in the decompiler should ideally be changed before we start writing more engine plugins for it... So I guess we need a roadmap, a more up-to-date TODO, and then ideally some volunteers ... ;)

 To get the branch, use

   svn co https://scummvm.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/scummvm/tools/branches/gsoc2010-decompiler


The OpenGL branch
=================
Johannes recently merged trunk back into that branch, but since then a couple new engines were added... ;). That's a minor bit, though. More importantly, we got some new SDL-based backends since the branch was created. Now, one of the things the branch does is refactoring the SDL backend, modularizing it. This is IMHO a great thing for all SDL-based backends, but it also means that they all need to be adapt. Hence, several backends in the opengl branch are likely to not compile. Hence

 >>> every PORTER/MAINTAINER of an SDL based backend is strongly encouraged to check out the branch, via

   svn co https://scummvm.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/scummvm/scummvm/branches/gsoc2010-opengl

to if your backend is still compiling, and working. If not, please look into fixing it. Of course we will be here to help you with that, answering questions etc. As some reference points, you may want to look at these files:
   backends/modular-backend.*
   backends/platform/sdl/amigaos/*.* \
   backends/platform/sdl/macosx/*.*   |
   backends/platform/sdl/posix/*.*    | some new & simple SDL derived backends
   backends/platform/sdl/win32/*.*   /
   backends/platform/linuxmoto/*.*   > another SDL derived backend which has been converted to the new system.
   ... more stuff in backends/ ...

As I see it, we have two alternatives to proceed:
1) Set a deadline until which we expect porters to have fixed up their backend, then merge.
2) Merge the branch ASAP, and let porters fix their ports on trunk.
With 1, we reduce the time some ports are broken on trunk (which is good in terms of reducing the time testers cannot get at working daily builds to test new engines on non-standard platforms; but I am not sure whether there are really that many of these?). On the other hand, it might be more convenient for some porters to fix their port on trunk, and by merging the changes, buildbot will help expose any breakage. A compromise might be to set a relatively short deadline, say 2-4 weeks, with the option for porters to shout loudly if they need some more time to get a fix done. Opinions? Esp. from affected porters? :)


The plugins branch
==================
As far as I know, this is mostly ready for a merge, too. Though it would be good if the people who know could chime in. Also, we need to determine whether to merge it before or after the OpenGL branch. If we decide to wait a couple of weeks with the OpenGL branch, I'd propose to merge the plugins branch first, and as soon as possible.

One thing we may have to look out for is the Nintendo DS port, which, I think, as usual received changes on the 1.2.0 release branch which have not yet been merged back to trunk... (side note: Neil, I am still not very thrilled about this practice, which makes testing trunk that much harder. The last 2-3 times I performed the merge for you, but I'd appreciate if you could do it ASAP, and not just before 1.3.0 is coming. Right now it should only be a couple minutes of work.)
Anyway, that means that merging the plugins branch could potentially conflict with the 1.2.0 changes. Just something to watch out for. 

To get the branch, do
   svn co https://scummvm.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/scummvm/scummvm/branches/gsoc2010-plugins



Cheers,
Max