Re: TianoCore-docs GitBook Documentation Process

[Laszlo Ersek <lersek@redhat.com>]

Hi Mike,

On 07/08/17 02:37, Kinney, Michael D wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I have added wiki pages that provide an overview of the GitBook documentation
> process for TianoCore related documents.  These wiki pages are attached to the
> EDK II Template Specification repository.  The link to the approved RFC on this
> topic is also provided.
> 
> https://github.com/tianocore-docs/edk2-TemplateSpecification/wiki
> 
> https://github.com/tianocore-docs/edk2-TemplateSpecification/wiki/TianoCore-Documents-GitBook-Overview#introduction
> 
> I have also added a link to this content from the EDK II Specification wiki page: 
> 
> https://github.com/tianocore/tianocore.github.io/wiki/EDK-II-Specifications
> 
> Please review and provide feedback if there are steps that are missing or need clarification.

This is a large set of articles, it must have been a lot of work!

I have four questions/ideas:


(1) The article at
<https://github.com/tianocore-docs/edk2-TemplateSpecification/wiki/TianoCore-Documents-Services>
says,

  3. Join the TianoCore-Docs organization on GitHub

Can you send an invite? :) On the org page
<https://github.com/tianocore-docs/>, I looked for a button saying
"request an invite" or some such, but came up empty.

So what is the github way for joining an organization? I guess the org
can send out invites at will, but "solicitation" in the other direction
has to occur off-site? (Such as on this mailing list?)


(2) The article at
<https://github.com/tianocore-docs/edk2-TemplateSpecification/wiki/TianoCore-Documents-GitBook-Overview>
explains that there is some kind of (automated) syncing from the
tianocore-docs repos to GitBook.com.

In case I'm looking at one of the official document git repos on GitHub,
such as <https://github.com/tianocore-docs/SecurityAdvisory>, what is
the fastest way to see an HTML rendered "DRAFT" (matching the master
branch) on GitBook.com? Is there some URL pattern that one can compose
manually, or is there a way to search for the book quickly on GitBook.com?

In
<https://github.com/tianocore-docs/edk2-TemplateSpecification/wiki/TianoCore-Documents-Releasing>,
I see

  7. Wait a few minutes and verify that the released version of the
     document has been published by the GitBook server

Verify how?

Hmmm... OK, so I think I found the links. They are on this page:

https://github.com/tianocore/tianocore.github.io/wiki/EDK-II-Draft-Specification

The HTML link patterns are like:

https://edk2-docs.gitbooks.io/edk-ii-build-specification/
https://edk2-docs.gitbooks.io/edk-ii-dec-specification/
https://edk2-docs.gitbooks.io/edk-ii-inf-specification/

I think this is a bit cumbersome. What do you think of the following
suggestion: in each document source code repository, modify the
README.md file so that at the top, it offer a set of links, saying:

    View this DRAFT specification rendered as:
    [HTML] -> link points to gitbook.com
    [PDF] -> link points directly to PDF download from gitbook.com


(3) (This is somewhat similar to (2).)

Assuming I make a local docs change, and push it to my personal fork on
GitHub, how can I review that change on GitBook.com, rendered as HTML
(or, say, PDF)?

The article at
<https://github.com/tianocore-docs/edk2-TemplateSpecification/wiki/TianoCore-Documents-Editing>
says,

  14. Push branch to developer's fork of the documents repository
      * GitBook project linked to developer's fork of the document can
        also be setup and used to review the changes and formatting
        before sending patch review email to the community.

How can I do this linking?

(I'm aware that a local npm / gitbook toolchain can be used for
reviewing the rendered output locally, but I'm curious about this
"remote rendering" service too.)

In particular, the article at
<https://github.com/tianocore-docs/edk2-TemplateSpecification/wiki/TianoCore-Documents-Services>
does not say that a developer can, or should, register an account
separately on GitBook.com, and set up periodic pulls for his/her
personal GitHub repos. Is that how it's supposed to work? (I'm just
guessing.)

... Hmmm okay, according to <https://www.gitbook.com/>, at least a
separate account doesn't appear necessary.

Reiterating the above README.md idea, the DeLuxe solution would be if we
could place some kind of macro near the top of the README.md file that
would automatically point to the GitBook.com rendering of the
*referring* repository. So if you clicked the link while viewing an
official source repo of the tianocore-docs org, GitBook.com would give
you a rendering of that, but if you clicked the same link in a personal
src repo, GitBook.com would provide a rendering of *that*.

Anyway, this level of automation is not necessary, I'd just like to
understand what the most direct way is to get GitBook.com render any
branch from either an official docs repo, or a personal docs repo.


(4) It would be nice if the (semi-)live renderings on GitBook.com
automatically displayed the git commit hash of the source that's been
rendered.

I see there's a timestamp, for example at
<https://edk2-docs.gitbooks.io/edk-ii-dec-specification/content/>:

     DRAFT FOR REVIEW
     04/27/2017 01:14:37

But: there is no time zone, plus I don't know what event that timestamp
identifies. Patch authorship date? Patch commit date? Pull date?
Rendering date? A commit hash would be better. (Not sure if we can do
anything about this; perhaps this would be a new GitBook.com feature.)


Sorry if (some of) these questions are already explained in the Wiki,
it's quite a bit of info to absorb at once :)

Thanks!
Laszlo