Refactor variables in release workflows #200
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GitHub Actions workflows are used to automatically generate beta tester and production builds of the project. A separate build is generated for each of the target host types. This is done using a job matrix, which creates a parallel run of the workflow job for each target. The matrix defines variables that provide the data that is specific to each job. The variable names used previously did not clearly communicate their nature: - The variable for the task name was named "os" - The variables for the build filename components used the term "artifact", which is ambiguous in this context where the term is otherwise used to refer to the completely unrelated workflow artifacts These variable names made it very difficult for anyone not intimately familiar with the workings of the workflow to understand its code.
Multiple commands in the release workflow include the path of the folder that contains the build output. Previously, the complex folder name was specified redundantly in each instance. The readability and maintainability of the workflow is improved by using an environment variable to define the folder name in a single place, then referencing that environment variable in each of the individual commands that use the path.
…flow The package filename is referenced in multiple places in the release workflow. In order to avoid code duplication, it is defined once as an environment variable, then that variable referenced in each of the instances where the filename is needed. Previously, this was done by first defining and referencing a shell environment variable at the point of the first usage, then defining a workflow environment variable and referencing that in the second usage. The maintainability and readability of the workflow is improved by using a single workflow environment variable, defined in the step dedicated to defining such variables, then referencing it consistently in all usages.
per1234
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type: enhancement
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GitHub Actions workflows are used to automatically generate beta tester and production builds of the project.
While starting the work to update the workflow code for compatibility with the breaking change introduced in the latest versions of the actions/upload-artifact action (#171), I found that it was quite difficult to follow the workflow code due to the way some variables were defined. The refactoring proposed here is intended to improve the maintainability and readability of the workflows:
Use more meaningful variable names
A separate build is generated for each of the target host types. This is done using a job matrix, which creates a parallel run of the workflow job for each target. The matrix defines variables that provide the data that is specific to each job.
The variable names used previously did not clearly communicate their nature:
These variable names made it very difficult for anyone not intimately familiar with the workings of the workflow to understand its code.
Use workflow environment variables to reduce code duplication
Multiple commands in the notarization step of the "Release" workflow include the path of the folder that contains the build output, and the filename of the package.
Previously, there was some code duplication and inconsistency in how these were referenced.
This is improved on through the consistent use of workflow environment variables.