[Queue-developers] Nifty New GNU Queue package availability.

[W. G. K. <wer...@ya...>]

Hi all,

I've integrated Monica Lau's/Texas Instruments' Queue_Manager package into the
CVS repository. This is a major contribution, so I hope people will take the
time to try out and test the new code.

Among the code elements contributed is a much-requested utility to allow central
control of executing Queue jobs.

Texas Instruments is releasing the Queue_Manager package under its own copyright
as GPL'd code. Code copyrighted by Texas Instruments has been clearly indicated
throughout the package. (The .cc files, the things in doc/queue_manager, and
portions of queue.c and queued.c expressly indicated as being copyright Texas
Instruments.) This was done to speed up the legal processes; TI can keep it this
way or assign or transfer the copyright on these portions at a later date. Let's
hear it for Monica Lau and Texas Instruments! :)

The nomanager option currently controls whether or not queue_manager is compiled
in. This is because I wanted to make queue_manager the default option, at least
for this trial.

> ./configure --enable-nomanager=YES
causes the old GNU Queue to be compiled. (It compiles, but check that this still
works properly!)

> ./configure

OR

> ./configure --enable-nomanager=NO
causes queue_manager to be compiled in.

Note that ./configure now requires a C++ compiler (or something pretending to be
one); this is explained below.

To download the integrated package from CVS run the following two commands

> cvs -d:pserver:ano...@cv...:/cvsroot/queue login [hit return at
the password prompt.]

> cvs -z3 -d:pserver:ano...@cv...:/cvsroot/queue co
queue-development

There is fairly extensive new documentation on all of this in a variety of
formats in the doc/queue_manager directory.

If all goes well, this package will be released more generally shortly (probably
as GNU Queue 1.30 or so), so it is important that this be tested thoroughly.

Thanks.


NOTES FROM CHANGELOG:

 Upon receiving word from Monica Lau <ml...@al...> that Texas Instruments
        wanted to release the queue_manager package under its own copyright as a
GPL'd
        program and receiving the C++ code with a Texas Instrument copyright
header
        (to speed up the legal processes --- Monica's code is now released
        under the Texas Instruments copyright; Texas Instruments can keep it
this way
        or can reassign these portions at a separate date.) I integrated the
Queue_Manager
        package into GNU Queue as follows:

        - Added the "--enable-nomanager" switch to ./configure.in and
./configure so that Queue_manager can be compiled
        in or out at will. (Added junk main() to .cc files when queue_manager is
to be compiled out;
        this is a hack and will still require a pseudo-working c++ program, or
at least echo
        symlinked to c++ for the ./configure and compile to run successfully,
even when
        queue_manager and the .cc code isn't wanted. Any ideas how to eliminate
this hack so that
        Queue can be compiled without the queue_manager package and without C++
would be appreciated.)

        Compilation of queue_manager might not be the default option in the
first few releases, so
        the nomanager option might change to "manager" option.

        - Added the GNU Queue URL to the .cc files contributed by Monica.

        - Using diff, carefully examined the changes Monica made to queue.c and
queued.c. Most of these were indicated
        by comments, but a few weren't.

        Added a header ("2000/10/22 coded added by Monica Lau
<ml...@al...") and a trailer to each of these
        pieces of code, along with the #ifdef QUEUE_MANAGER switch, so that
these can be compiled in and out using ./configure.

        Code 8 lines or longer in queue.c and queued.c became (C) 2000 Texas
Instruments, and these have been clearly indicated in
        the code per FSF/GNU policy to make the copyright ownership of these
parts of queue.c and queued.c clear in case these is ever a question about
these.
        (Chunks of code less than 8 lines are thought to retain the copyright
ownership of the original work.)

        For legal reasons, it is very important that a clear distinction is made
in the source code as to what is copyright Texas Instruments
        and what is copyrighted by other entities; this has been carefully done.

        In some cases, it was necessary to add an #else to go back to the old
code. Usually, this involved compiling in the older option
        switch statements and usage lines when the queue_manager package wasn't
being used.

        -Modified configure.in and ./configure for C++ support; which means
./configure will fail if it doesn't find a C++ compiler. See above
        for why this is bad.

        -Created the doc/queue_manager directory to house the docs Monica
contributed on queue_manager, at least temporarily.

        Moved all of Monica's "diagrams" together in Star Office into a single
StarOffice slide show, queue_manager_slides.sda.
        Added the GNU Queue URL along with Monica's name, email, and a Texas
Instruments Copyright Statement to these slides

        Exported the StarOffice slides to HTML and EPS as
queue_manager_slides_html.tar.gz (folder in tar.gz format because of CVS
concerns with so many temporary files)
        and queue_manager_slides.eps for users who don't have StarOffice (the
majority.)

        Added a Texas Instruments copyright statement and GPL release notice to
the StarOffice documentation file she provided, exported
        this to HTML and UNIX text formats as well (queue_manager_docs.htm and
queue_manager_docs.txt .)