add generic solver

[looooo]

TODO

• investigate how other solvers are implemented +++
• implement a new solver type +
• add a solver selection to the solver (category ?) ++
• write interface to existing constraints (constraints to dict) +++

proposal

[joha2]

I have no own fork of FreeCAD. I just could fork from your's. But I am rather unexperienced with branching. Could you shortly outline a typical workflow, if I only want to work on your generical solver proposal branch? (My other project is only a python workbench, so there's no interference with the FreeCAD repo necessary.)

Uh, nevermind. Maybe I should have read http://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Source_code_management :-)

[looooo]

Good article. How far did you come? I would do like this:

1. fork with github

2. clone your fork

3. add freecad master as upstream

4. add my branch as sidestream :-)
   5.a.1. checkout the generic solver branch
   5.a.2. checkout a new branch where you want to write code
   alternitive
   5.b.1 checkout a new branch where you want to write code
   5.b.2 reset this branch on the sidestream/genericSolver

5. make changes to the code

6. push to github (simple with git push, there will be a message how to upload the branch)

7. make a pull request with github (you can choose on which branch, directly freecad master or my branch or any other...)

I could also add you as a contributer to this repository, but I think it's not possible to give access only to one branch. So I think it's better to take the pullrequest approach. This is maybe a bit more difficult for you, but it's the way how developers at freecad work, so maybe it's a good idea to learn it anyway. And once you have worked a bit with git, it's not difficult anymore...

[joha2]

Thank you for the introduction. I didn't understand the reset branch step at 5.b.2. Could you please explain that part shortly? I have no problem with the pullrequest approach. I think the contributor approach is only useful for a small project. And you're right: I have to learn it anyway sometime. My first pull request will only contribute to your proposal document anyway so I cannot mess up the code ;-)

[looooo]

Somehow I have messed with the lists...

if you have created a branch you can simple reset the branch by the state of another branch.
git reset upstream/master (or whatever branch) Sometimes this will fail. but if you want to have a local branch that looks exactly the same as any other branch you can pass the --hard option.

"git checkout -b new_branch" creates a new branch which is identical to the previously active branch.

[joha2]

OK, I had your branch and created my own with git checkout -b 'genericsolver_joha'. afterwards i renamed the file due to a typo in the filename and did git commit -a -m 'file renamed'. then i did git push and he told me that everything is up to date, although i changed the file. what did I do wrong?

[looooo]

what was the message at git commit -a -m ? normally you have to add a new (renamed) file with "git add file_name"
Ah I see, you are on a good way :-)

[joha2]

git commit -a -m 'msg' adds all changed files to a commit and puts msg on that commit. now with the push i did git push --all -u now there are two branches on my fork: genericsolver_joha and genericSolver. is this correct?

[joha2]

now i will delete my branch here at github. if i want to have the newest changes to your branch i have to do: git fetch loooo/genericSolver? then git checkout -b mynewestchanges and git commit -a -m, git push --all -u. then at some point pullrequest, commit commit commit, and after merge delete the branch mynewestchanges again. same game again and again?

[looooo]

hmm, never used that command. "git push --all -u" most likely will add all your local branches to github. I don't think this is what you wanted. But it's no problem to delete a branch on github... "git branch -D branch_name"
"git push -u" would have been enough.

I have merged your commit. There were actually 2 commits. The one you have made and one merge-commit. Next time I will try to avoid this. I think there is also an option to use re-basing as merge-strategy..., which will lead to a cleaner history

[looooo]

you do not have to delete your branch.

after fetching you can do this:
git rebase looooo/genericSolver

this will add all my commits to your current branch. (but at the moment the branches are the same. so nothin will happen)

[joha2]

hm I still don't understood it. too much new things to learn :D could you please show me an appropriate workflow loop (from update from your branch to pull request and to be ready for the next workflow loop)? my git behaves also strange or somehow different than yours :-( sorry that i ask these dumb questions, but i only contributed to a small project where pull requests only without branching are sufficient :-(

[looooo]

ok I have now rebased on freecad/master. So you can try to update your branch:

git checkout your_branch
git rebase looooo/genericSolver
git push origin +genericsolver_joha  #(the + is necessary, I don't know why, but it's always necessary for rebasing, maybe because rebasing can be dangerous :-)

now you add things, change stuff ...

git add .
git commit -a -m "message"
git push

and then do a pull-request... thats all.

[joha2]

oh oh, somehow the last file rename has been vanished. ok, i'll try your loop and see if it works. thanks btw. for writing all this stuff down :D