774136 - Interactive settings wizard for mach

Status: NEW

(Firefox Build System :: Mach Core, enhancement)

Description

[Gregory Szorc [:gps]]

My intention for mach is for it to have an interactive wizard to control settings.

We should add a "settings" sub-command (or similar) that allows to settings to be viewed and manipulated. Basically, we should never force someone to look at the raw config file manually.

The first time mach is used and there is no settings file defined or present on the system, it should enter an interactive wizard. I think the flow should be, "This is what I chose for the default settings. Is this OK? (Y/N)"

If the user hits "N," they go to a very basic wizard:

  What application do you want to build?
    1) Firefox
    2) Fenec
    3) Boot to Gecko

  Debug or release? d/r:

  See advanced settings? y/n:

We do some of this presentation today. But, there is no interactive control. We need to add that.

I think it would be cool if there were a more advanced UI for the settings. e.g. a Tcl/Tk interface. But, that is beyond the scope of this bug.

Bug 774135 talks about making changes to the config/settings backend and could impact this work.

Comment 1

[Jeff Hammel]

> I think it would be cool if there were a more advanced UI for the settings. e.g. a Tcl/Tk interface. But, that is beyond the scope of this bug.

Um....why not HTML/WSGI?

Comment 2

[Gregory Szorc [:gps]]

Python has a built-in HTTP server. I'd be down if this wizard fired up an HTTP server and did everything through HTML :)

Of course, we need settings to control first...

Comment 3

[Wilhem Barbier [:nounoursheureux]]

Then what would be the default configuration ?

Comment 4

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

This already exists to some extant in http://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/tools/mercurial/mach_commands.py#22 (see MercurialSetupWizard), but it goes down a different path than the original comment.