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New Compatibility Database

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 10:38 am
by eersoy93
Hi website developers and other friends! I have a new idea.

I am taking new screenshots and I am editing Tests for 0.3.15 page. But, according to me, tests pages aren't too enough for showing environment data, etc. I think, a new Compatibility Database like Wine AppDB or old Compatibility Database must be on the website.

Thanks for replies.

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:20 pm
by gonzoMD
I also think that this is an important thing.
But let's begin completely new from the ground up.

Here are some facts that I would expect:

- the possibility of changing or deleting unneeded or wrong entries from the database, not every shitty unknown tool someone has written self should be inserted, only official released software. Such Software may be better used for jira issues
- less is more: just add really important information to one entry i.e. Name, Version, Link to official Website(not to app itself in case of proprietary software) Environment {[VBOX],[QEMU],[VMWA],[RHDW]}, Result {[INSTALLS],[STARTS],[WORKS]}.
- IF there are active unresolved Jira issues, Link them
- maybe a special section for the golden apps and automatic entried made from AHK Test results.
- a better support for drivers
- a Message on Frontpage that remembers users for old unmaintained entrys, and inform admins if there are entrys unmaintained more than 3 years, that they can be deleted

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:40 pm
by eersoy93
gonzoMD wrote:I also think that this is an important thing.
But let's begin completely new from the ground up.

Here are some facts that I would expect:

- the possibility of changing or deleting unneeded or wrong entries from the database, not every shitty unknown tool someone has written self should be inserted, only official released software. Such Software may be better used for jira issues
- less is more: just add really important information to one entry i.e. Name, Version, Link to official Website(not to app itself in case of proprietary software) Environment {[VBOX],[QEMU],[VMWA],[RHDW]}, Result {[INSTALLS],[STARTS],[WORKS]}.
- IF there are active unresolved Jira issues, Link them
- maybe a special section for the golden apps and automatic entried made from AHK Test results.
- a better support for drivers
- a Message on Frontpage that remembers users for old unmaintained entrys, and inform admins if there are entrys unmaintained more than 3 years, that they can be deleted
Thanks for reply. :D

I think the new CompatDB has these properties:
  • Test Number [ tXXXX ] (Ex: t5241)
  • Tested Program Name [ Program Name ] (Ex: CCleaner, LibreOffice, Mozilla Firefox)
  • Tested Program Version [ Program Version (String) ] (Ex: 1.0, 2.0a, RC3, 3 alpha 4, 5.0 beta, 2.9.2-svn)
  • Tested Program's Platform [ Program's Platform (String) ] (Ex: Windows (64-bit), Windows (32-bit), Windows (16-bit), DOS)
  • Is the tested program is in RAPPS? [ Yes (Open Source Support Program) | Yes (Offical Software Support) | Yes | No ]
  • Tested on ReactOS Version [ 0.0.7 :D | 0.0.8 | ... | 0.3.17 | TRUNK (rXXXXX) ] (Ex: 0.3.17, TRUNK (r59642) )
  • Tested on ReactOS Version Type [ BootCD | LiveCD | VMware release | VirtualBox release | QEMU release | Bochs release | CLT release | LT release | RCx | RCx LiveCD | Community Edition ] (Ex: Bochs release, RC2 LiveCD)
  • Tested on Environment [ VirtualBox (version string) | VMware Workstation (version string) | VMWare Fusion (version string) | VMWare Player (version string) | QEMU (version string) | Bochs (version string) | Other (name and version string) | Real Hardware ] (Ex: VirtualBox 4.2.16, QEMU 1.5.0, VMWare Player 5.0.2)
  • Description of Real Hardware (if the environment is real hardware)
  • What is the result? [ Works Stable | Works Unstable | Doesn't Work | Crash ]
  • Description of This Test
  • Links to related JIRA bugs of this test (If a bug resolve or close, the bug's link is strikethrough.)
  • Related screenshots of this test
  • Related videos of this test

Also, I think the new CompatDB UI has these features:
  • Only registered users can create a test entry.
  • A registered user can edit or delete own entry.
  • A "Discussion About This Test" area in each entry.
  • A advanced categoric search interface (The categories are: Test Number, Tested Program Name, Tested Program Version, Is the tested program is ReactOS App?, Tested on ReactOS Version, Tested on ReactOS Version Type, Tested on Environment, Description of Real Hardware, What is the result?, Description of This Test, Links to related JIRA bugs of this test)
In addition, I think the test pages on ReactOS Development Wiki (Ex: http://www.reactos.org/wiki/Tests_for_0.3.15) are unnecessaryable if the new CompatDB and CompatDB UI has been created.

NOTE: Thanks gonzoMD for my this post. You are reply your suggestions. :D

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:57 pm
by oldman
Tested on Environment [VirtualBox (version string) | VMware Workstation (version string) | VMWare Fusion (version string) | VMWare Player (version string) | QEMU (version string) | Bochs (version string) |]
What about real hardware!

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 1:50 pm
by eersoy93
I'll not update my previous post no longer, except adjusting with your suggesitons.

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:47 pm
by eersoy93
That post has been updated.

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:04 pm
by ArmyMan007
I think that's a great idea, but I think instead of entering a new list with golden apps we should use the apps in the ROS downloader application as our testing apps while trying to reduce the number of apps. 80 testing apps is WAY over the line in my opinion...

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:45 pm
by milon
That's a good idea. We could have a Golden Apps category (or similar) in RAPPS.

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 10:49 pm
by ArmyMan007
milon wrote:That's a good idea. We could have a Golden Apps category (or similar) in RAPPS.
Don't we already have these "Golden Apps"? I mean all the Golden Apps ARE within RAPPS anyway, I say we should just reduce the number of them. And I think we should definitely focus on the applications themselves, NOT the version of these apps (i.e FF 3.XXX and FF 19.XXX)

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 11:55 pm
by Black_Fox
ArmyMan007 wrote:I think we should definitely focus on the applications themselves, NOT the version of these apps (i.e FF 3.XXX and FF 19.XXX)
The focus on a precise version of a GoldenApp is basic principle of why there are GoldenApps. One and the same version is used on multiple ROS revisions, so when regression shows, it's clearly caused by a bug in ROS and not by a bug (or a change in behaviour) in the new version of the app. Precisely FF is a good example of this - v2 was fine a long time, while v3 was broken. Now v3 is kind of fine too and now v23 (or whatever number it is now) is broken :-)

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:14 am
by ArmyMan007
Black_Fox wrote:The focus on a precise version of a GoldenApp is basic principle of why there are GoldenApps. One and the same version is used on multiple ROS revisions, so when regression shows, it's clearly caused by a bug in ROS and not by a bug (or a change in behavior) in the new version of the app. Precisely FF is a good example of this - v2 was fine a long time, while v3 was broken. Now v3 is kind of fine too and now v23 (or whatever number it is now) is broken :-)
While I understand the concept and the principle behind the idea of GoldenApps (and thanks for the heads up :) ) I still think we should at least focus on only one or two versions of the same application, or maybe focus on one specific version and continue testing every new stable version (i.e FF 3.XXX and the latest stable FF release). If we keep track of many versions we end up with a list of about 80+ without being able to actually catch up with the latest version.

Don't get me wrong, testing a lot of applications is useful and beneficial, but we can't focus on every single version of an application. Not to mention the fact that we need to test many other applications and our discussion only revolves around one application at the time being, which is Firefox.

I think that in order for us to do this right, we have to divide the compatibility datebase into different categories, and choose the top 4 or 5 applications (2 versions per application). For example: Having an internet category with the top 5 application: IE (latest stable release and an older version), FF (same principle), Chrome (you know the drill...), Oprea and TOR (just as an idea). This will lead to a small yet effective database which we can all work on, with less-to-no hassle at all.
Other categories could include: games, kids, video, music and so on.

Sorry for the long post :P

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 7:36 pm
by SomeGuy
I used to love testing applications in ReactOS and reporting the results in the Compatibility DB. But since it was removed, I haven't bothered testing. I would have helped clean up the crap entries if anyone had let me.

The old Compatibility DB was very easy to use and browse but it had no facility for editing or removing entries. Kind of surprised it didn't get filled with spam!

The benefit of a Compatibility DB to the ReactOS project is that it could bring in site visitors that are searching for information about that particular application. And it was the perfect place to store tips and tricks about getting an application running. That, in turn might inspire people to try ReactOS and not get as discouraged when something doesn't work. The downside is that right now a lot of stuff just doesn't work, and compatiblity can fluctuate on a daily basis.

In the case of ReactOS, it is often useful to test older versions, because often older versions are known to work better or at all. But for the more popular applications, there needed to be some way to clean up or restrict which versions to test and specify what needed to be tested. More confusingly, sometimes minor invisible differences (like a "b" update or different language) can make a huge difference - and that needed to be specified.

Anyway, the "Golden Apps" have a somewhat different purpose from general compatiblity testing. Those are more thoroughly tested by developers, and functionality regressions tracked independently of newer application versions over a long period of time. So the devs wouldn't have much direct use for a Compatiblity DB, but it could serve as a subset of that information for more common folks.

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2014 8:11 pm
by eersoy93
I want "new" CompatDB. The old one is outdated and unmaintained.

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2014 8:20 pm
by eersoy93

Re: New Compatibility Database

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2014 9:36 pm
by Black_Fox
I think the "ReactOS Version Type" field contains redundant information in current state. The VirtualBox/VMware situation is already described in "Environment " field, in version type there could be "bootcd-dbg", "livecd-rel", "bootcd-dbgwin", but for the unexperienced there could still be a type "Release".