Re: [bitbake-devel] [PATCH] toaster: Add recipe variables view

Hi Richard,

Thank you for the feedback, and sorry—the previous approach was too intrusive
in BitBake’s parsing and cache machinery.

I have reworked it so that no recipe-variable data is added to BitBake’s parse
cache or dependency events. Toaster now records the recipe files selected for
the runqueue and, after the build completes, acts as a client of the BitBake
server. It calls a new read-only command for each recipe, which uses BitBake’s
normal parser to create a temporary recipe datastore and returns the resolved
variables to Toaster. Toaster then compresses and stores the result in its own
database.

The history-based selection has also been removed, so indirect changes such as
X = "${Y}" are represented correctly. Functions and values requiring inline
Python expansion are currently omitted to avoid execution side effects, so the
result is a safely expanded subset rather than a byte-for-byte equivalent of
bitbake -e.

This approach does require reparsing the runqueue recipes after the build. In a
preliminary cached imx-image-core test, it added approximately 42 seconds
compared with unmodified Toaster. I am continuing to evaluate that cost.

I hope this provides a better compromise by keeping the data out of BitBake’s
normal cache and build flow while allowing Toaster to query BitBake through a
defined API. I do not currently see a less intrusive way for Toaster to obtain
build-specific recipe values.

If the general approach seems viable to you, I can send the incremental changes
for review.

Thank you again for your feedback.

Have a great day,  
Paolo