Re: [ANNOUNCE] Kconfiglib menuconfig implementation

[Ulf Magnusson]

On Tue, May 1, 2018 at 8:52 PM, Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On 05/01/2018 11:13 AM, Randy Dunlap wrote:
>> On 05/01/2018 10:56 AM, Randy Dunlap wrote:
>>> On 04/30/2018 05:57 PM, Ulf Magnusson wrote:
>>>> Hello,
>>>>
>>>> Kconfiglib (https://github.com/ulfalizer/Kconfiglib) now has a
>>>> terminal menuconfig implementation, implemented in plain curses
>>>> (which is in the Python standard library).
>>>>
>>>> The interface should feel familiar to people used to mconf. It has
>>>> some features that mconf lacks:
>>>>
>>>>   - Seamless resizing
>>>>
>>>>   - Unicode support
>>>>
>>>>   - Runs on Windows (via 'pip install windows-curses', which uses
>>>>     PDCurses)
>>>>
>>>>   - Improved information displays:
>>>>
>>>>     * All expressions are split into readable chunks
>>>>
>>>>     * Menus and comments have information displays
>>>>
>>>>   - Relatively easy-to-read and easy-to-tweak code.
>>>>
>>>>     Kconfiglib automatically invalidates symbols as needed, and
>>>>     values can never get stale, which helps.
>>>>
>>>> Some upcoming features are mouse support and a search feature that
>>>> can jump directly to the definition of a symbol. The jump-to feature
>>>> will use a "show-all" mode in case the symbol isn't visible.
>>>>
>>>> See the Kconfiglib GitHub page for screenshots. The menuconfig
>>>> implementation is at
>>>> https://github.com/ulfalizer/Kconfiglib/blob/master/menuconfig.py.
>>>> The docstring at the top has some more information.
>>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I'm probably missing some python additive (I hope it's that easy), but
>>> menuconfig.py is not liking the "degree" symbol in drivers/net/can/peak_canfd/Kconfig:
>>>
>>> config CAN_PEAK_PCIEFD
>>>      depends on PCI
>>>      tristate "PEAK-System PCAN-PCIe FD cards"
>>>      ---help---
>>>        This driver adds support for the PEAK-System PCI Express FD
>>>        CAN-FD cards family.
>>>        These 1x or 2x CAN-FD channels cards offer CAN 2.0 a/b as well as
>>>        CAN-FD access to the CAN bus. Besides the nominal bitrate of up to
>>>        1 Mbit/s, the data bytes of CAN-FD frames can be transmitted with
>>>        up to 12 Mbit/s. A galvanic isolation of the CAN ports protects the
>>>        electronics of the card and the respective computer against
>>>        disturbances of up to 500 Volts. The PCAN-PCI Express FD can be
>>>        operated with ambient temperatures in a range of -40 to +85 ÂC.
>>>
>>>
>>> kconfiglib.KconfigSyntaxError:
>>> Malformed ascii in drivers/net/can/peak_canfd/Kconfig
>>> Context: b't temperatures in a range of -40 to +85 \xc2\xb0C.\n'
>>> Problematic data: b'\xc2'
>>> Reason: ordinal not in range(128)
>>
>> BTW, after modifying 4 other instances of this "error," I have it running.
>> Now looking/testing. :)
>
> Hi Ulf,
>
> Here are a few comments for you FWIW.
>
> menuconfig.py uses the terminal window space better than menuconfig:
> fewer margins, less Help text so more usable lines.
>
> ESC/q is nicer than in ESC+ESC in menuconfig.
>
> What is the lower colored line for? I don't see it being used.

It's just a separator above the help text with the keys. Also has
arrows pointing down when the window is scrolled up.

Maybe the help text could appear directly at the bottom with a
different background color instead. Not sure if it'd get uglier.

>
> On Quit, don't need to prompt for Save when the file is already saved
> or has not been modified.

Will fix. I had gotten the idea that mconf always prompted, so I got
lazy for the initial version. :)

>
> When menuconfig displays the Kconfig menu tree and it is over term-width
> characters, it truncates on the left so that the user can see all of
> the current menu name. menuconfig.py truncates on the right so that
> the current menu name may be partially lost or totally lost.

You mean the menu path at the top? Will fix that.

>
> To enable=y a tristate symbol, cannot enter Y, must do Space Space to cycle
> from N to M to Y.

Had never noticed that feature in mconf. I'll add it.

>
> No / symbol search. I use that a lot, but I don't claim to be a
> typical user.

It's planned. It will also support jumping directly to a symbol in the
menu tree, which is a feature I've always missed in mconf.

A "show all" mode will be added at the same time, that shows invisible
symbols. Jumping to an invisible symbol can then turn it in
automatically.

>
>
> Thanks.
> --
> ~Randy

Cheers,
Ulf