SlicerExecutionModel

Overview

The SlicerExecutionModel is a CMake-based project providing macros and associated tools allowing to easily build Slicer CLI (Command line module).

It is designed to improve the acceptance and productivity of Slicer application developers. The Execution Model provides a simple mechanism for incorporating command line programs as Slicer modules. These command line modules are self-describing, emitting an XML description of its command line arguments. Slicer uses this XML description to construct a GUI for the module.

SlicerExecutionModel is documented here:

https://www.slicer.org/wiki/Documentation/Nightly/Developers/SlicerExecutionModel.

Contributing

There are many ways to contribute to SlicerExecutionModel, with varying levels of effort. Do try to look through the documentation first if something is unclear, and let us know how we can do better.

• Ask a question on the Slicer forum
• Submit a feature request or bug, or add to the discussion on the issue tracker
• Submit a Pull Request to improve the SlicerExecutionModel or its documentation

We encourage a range of contributions, from patches that include passing tests and documentation, all the way down to half-baked ideas that launch discussions.

How to submit a PR

If you are new to SlicerExecutionModel development and you don't have push access to the SlicerExecutionModel repository, here are the steps:

1. Fork and clone the repository.
2. Create a branch.
3. Push the branch to your GitHub fork.
4. Create a Pull Request.

This corresponds to the Fork & Pull Model mentioned in the GitHub flow guides.

If you have push access to SlicerExecutionModel repository, you could simply push your branch into the main repository and create a Pull Request. This corresponds to the Shared Repository Model and will facilitate other developers to checkout your topic without having to configure a remote. It will also simplify the workflow when you are co-developing a branch.

When submitting a PR, make sure to add a Cc: @slicer/slicerexecutionmodel comment to notify SlicerExecutionModel developers of your awesome contributions. Based on the comments posted by the reviewers, you may have to revisit your patches.

Automatic testing of pull requests

When you submit a PR to the SlicerExecutionModel repo, CircleCI will run the build and test suite on the head of the branch. If you add new commits onto the branch, those will also automatically be run through the CI process. The status of the CI process (passing, failing, or in progress) will be displayed directly in the PR page in GitHub.

The CircleCI build will run according to the .circleci/config.yml file, which is useful as an example for how to set up your own environment for testing.

Your test results will be posted on SlicerExecutionModel's dashboard. These results will list any failed tests. You can reach your build by clicking the build status link on your GitHub PR.

Testing environments

With each PR, SlicerExecutionModel is built and tested against multiple version of ITK. Each environment is made available in docker images:

• Each environment is described in a Dockerfile found in a Docker-ITK-vX.Y.Z subdirectory of test.
• Testing using a given environment is enabled updating the .circleci/config.yml file.
• Before enabling an environment, associated docker image has to be (1) built locally and (2) pushed to dockerhub.

Available environments

Deprecated environments

Deprecated environments are not maintained, corresponding Dockerfiles have been deleted and associated SlicerExecutionModel continuous integration settings have been removed.

Adding or updating a testing environment

To add a testing environment:

• create a new directory in test following the existing convention (test/Docker-ITK-vX.Y.Z[_qualifier])
• add a Dockerfile
• update list of DIRECTORIES in test/Docker/Makefile
• add a new job to .circleci/config.yml
• update list of environments in README.md

To update a testing environment:

• update test/Docker-ITK-vX.Y.Z[_qualifier]/Dockerfile

Then, after adding or updating an environment, build and publish images:

cd test/Docker
make push

And finally, create a PR with your changes.

How to integrate a PR

Getting your contributions integrated is relatively straightforward, here is the checklist:

• All tests pass

• Consensus is reached. This requires that a reviewer adds an "approved" review via GitHub with no changes requested, and a reasonable amount of time passed without anyone objecting.

Next, there are two scenarios:

• You do NOT have push access: A SlicerExecutionModel core developer will integrate your PR.
• You have push access: Simply click on the "Merge pull request" button.

Then, click on the "Delete branch" button that appears afterward.

License

See http://www.slicer.org/copyright/copyright.txt for details.

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.