docs: add minimal constructor example

[bollwyvl]

as always, thanks for pixi! ❤️

references

• as proposed in Pixi equivalent of conda constructor #1375
• demonstrates feat: Export conda explicit specification file from project #1873

changes

• adds examples/constructor-minimal

future work

This tries to use the fewest bells and whistles I could manage in both pixi and constructor to still ship something. That being said, it's still needs some dirty tricks due to some inflexibility in both systems without resorting to a more opaque build script.

• uses pixi-in-pixi
• uses some of the finicky jinja2 support in constructor
• using pixi (or py-rattler) as the solver for constructor --conda-exe

There's a lot of opportunity to show more useful things on a separate example, such as:

• adding inputs and outputs
• injecting a .conda package built by rattler-build during the build
• DRYing more inputs, e.g. author -> company, system-dependencies -> virtual_specs
• using various tools to transform at-rest assets (icon, welcome images) into the (proprietary) platform-specific file formats
• shipping multiple environments in a single constructor
• tests

notes

• it would be lovely to have a zero/one-liner way to get the current platform (ne subdir) without a jq-like tool, e.g.
  • a PIXI_PLATFORM environment variable
  • a minimal info CLI selector language, like pixi info --json '.platform'
    • this would pair well with xargs
• matrix tasks (as discussed elsewhere)

[bollwyvl]

I have no idea how to tell check-yaml to ignore construct.yaml... I guess there could be a construct.yaml.in that gets cated with the specific line to generate a .gitignored (not-).yaml.

[ruben-arts]

Thanks @bollwyvl will review this later. Do you understand why the yaml is not valid?

[bollwyvl]

Yeah, it's the jinja (surprise). I can keep trying other syntaxes...

…

On Fri, Sep 20, 2024, 10:13 Ruben Arts ***@***.***> wrote: Thanks @bollwyvl <https://github.com/bollwyvl> will review this later. Do you understand why the yaml is not valid? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#2102 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAALCREPDHW4SBVZHEGBCUDZXQ3R7AVCNFSM6AAAAABOSGLTQCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDGNRTHE3DEOBZGQ> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[ruben-arts]

It now has no error when running this, @bollwyvl, but it's unclear to me what I can expect after this? It doesn't install micromamba for me. Which I assumed, any tips?

[bollwyvl]

Yeah, i don't know the right way to demonstrate the built thing... Having built installers do their shell integration is usually really bad. Ideally it should be able to activate itself in a clean shell window or something, but full tests are probably out of scope.

…

On Mon, Sep 23, 2024, 08:33 Ruben Arts ***@***.***> wrote: ***@***.**** commented on this pull request. ------------------------------ In examples/constructor-minimal/README.md <#2102 (comment)>: > +This demo shows how to use `pixi` to generate explicit `conda` environment specs, +and [`constructor`][constructor] to use these specs to build platform-specific, +offline-ready installers. + +## How to use? + +Make sure you have `pixi` available in your terminal. + +Navigate to this directory and run: + +```shell +# Build the installer +pixi run build + +# Install the built installer +pixi run start It now has no error when running this, @bollwyvl <https://github.com/bollwyvl>, but it's unclear to me what I can expect after this? It doesn't install micromamba for me. Which I assumed, any tips? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#2102 (review)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAALCRFJ5MY365MWCXW3APDZYAKDDAVCNFSM6AAAAABOSGLTQCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43YUDVNRWFEZLROVSXG5CSMV3GSZLXHMZDGMRSGI2TAMRWGA> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[ruben-arts]

Yeah, i don't know the right way to demonstrate the built thing... Having built installers do their shell integration is usually really bad. Ideally it should be able to activate itself in a clean shell window or something, but full tests are probably out of scope.

Right I don't want to leave the user with a broken system. If there isn't anything we can show then this is fine by me

[bollwyvl]

Well, it could list out the installed packages, i suppose...

[bollwyvl]

(oh and I haven't been able to run this locally, as the constructors will be broken until there's a release that emits topo-sorted @EXPLCIT files)

[ruben-arts]

(oh and I haven't been able to run this locally, as the constructors will be broken until there's a release that emits topo-sorted @EXPLCIT files)

That worked for me as I'm on main.

I'm merging it! Thanks @bollwyvl

[bollwyvl]

Thanks! Once there's a release, I'll revisit with a more complete lifecycle example (e.g. .whl -> .conda -> .exe). Last I checked, there wasn't a cross-platform .icns generator on conda-forge for OSX .pkg icons, so maybe i can get that done in the meantime.

[bollwyvl]

https://anaconda.org/conda-forge/icnsutil is now up.