FLEx Bridge is an add-on to FieldWorks (https://software.sil.org/fieldworks/; https://github.com/sillsdev/FwDocumentation/wiki) that supports using Chorus (https://github.com/sillsdev/chorus) to allow multiple users to share data.

The "big idea" for the bridge system is that clients do not have to know how talk to Chorus directly to do Send/Receive(S/R), or even know that Chorus is involved. The architecture allows for any number of "bridges" between clients and Chorus, with a new bridge being needed for each major kind of xml data (e.g., LIFT or FLEx's fwdata). Each bridge needs to define Handlers for the xml file extensions it will have in its data. Chorus uses those handlers in its work. Each bridge also needs to define Actions, which are the kinds of things it wants to do for S/R.

Language Forge (LF) uses LfMergeBridge to S/R the full FLEx data set (LCModel, fwdata file). LF needs a Windows.Forms-free environment since it runs on a server.

FLEx uses FLEx Bridge to S/R its own data set and for LIFT (also compatible with WeSay). WeSay talks directly to Chorus and does not use FLEx Bridge.

The TriboroughBridge project (named after the RFK Triborough Bridge complex connecting three boroughs in New York) contains pieces that are applicable to both FLEx Bridge (Full LCModel) and LiftBridge (LIFT model, also compatible with WeSay).

See diagram:

FLEx Bridge depends on several assemblies from Chorus and Palaso. Those are installed from nuget.org.

• On Windows, add the following keys to your registry (32-bit OS: omit 'Wow6432Node'):

  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\SIL\Flex Bridge\9]
      "InstallationDir"="C:\Dev\flexbridge\output\Debug\net461"
  

• On Linux, export FLEXBRIDGEDIR=${HOME}/fwrepo/flexbridge/output/Debug/net461

You should be able to build solution FLExBridge.sln from Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition or JetBrains Rider.

You can also build and run tests on both Windows and Linux from the command line by running:

cd build
msbuild /t:Test FLExBridge.proj

• Set an enviroment variable LOCAL_NUGET_REPO with the path to a folder on your computer (or local network) to publish locally-built packages
• See these instructions to enable local package sources
• build /t:pack will pack nuget packages and publish them to LOCAL_NUGET_REPO

Further instructions at https://github.com/sillsdev/libpalaso/wiki/Developing-with-locally-modified-nuget-packages

FLEx Bridge is following the gitflow model for branching

When releasing FLEx Bridge be sure to do the following:

1. Update the version and changelogs / release notes by doing the following.

   • Generate a new Product ID GUID in build/WixPatchableInstaller.targets

   • Edit CHANGELOG.md by editing or adding to the items in the ## [Unreleased] section. This will be published as release notes for users.

   • Run the following build task to fill in debian/changelog and the release notes html from CHANGELOG.md. Replace CHANNEL in the below with Alpha, Beta, or Stable. For a pre-release, pass /p:Release=false as an additional property. Push the results.

     Windows:

     cd build
     build.bat /t:PreparePublishingArtifacts /p:UploadFolder=CHANNEL

     Linux:

     cd build && msbuild FLExBridge.proj /t:PreparePublishingArtifacts /p:UploadFolder=CHANNEL

   • (Ignore this step for now; FLEx Bridge patches cannot be bundled in FLEx patches) Windows: Tag and Pin the FLEx Bridge Installer build on TeamCity, then update the FLEx Bridge Patcher build to depend on that tag.

   • Tag the commit after the PR is merged e.g. git tag v3.2.1 and push the tag to the repository.

2. Build

   • The Windows version is released through two jobs on TeamCity: "Installer" and "Patcher". The first three version numbers come from the version file; the fourth-place version number is always 1 for "Installer" and comes from the build counter for "Patcher". If you need to make a fix before publishing a patch, you can avoid incrementing the version number by setting the build counter back before rerunning the Patcher job.

   • Make a Linux package for release by doing the following:

     • Go to the Jenkins job for this branch of flexbridge.
     • Click Build with Parameters.
     • Change Suite to "main" (or maybe "updates" for a hotfix).
     • Unselect AppendNightlyToVersion.
     • Optionally set Committish to an older commit, such as where the changelog entry was updated.
     • Click Build.