Octave client-api

[oheim]

This is a new client API for Octave, the client API is licensed under GPLv3 (in agreement with Octave).

The current state is a working solution which is compatible with the MATLAB client API. More functions from the C++ client API will be added soon.

How Tos:

• Create an Octave package release: make -C client-api/Octave
• Installation in Octave: pkg install vibes-0.2.0.tar.gz
• Usage in Octave

pkg load vibes
vibes.beginDrawing
vibes.drawBox (0, 1, 0, 1)
pkg load interval
x = infsupdec (0, 3)
y = sin (x) + 42
vibes.drawBox (x, y, "blue")

Open issues:

• The license for the bundled C++ client API is unclear LICENSE missing #93

[dvinc]

Thanks for the great work @oheim. We need to provide a GPLv3 compatible license to VIBes C++ API before merging. I think there won't be any issues with the contributors to concess a GPLv3 license. We'll discuss this in #93.

[oheim]

I have tried to compile the Octave client-api on the Travis/Mac machines.

brew tap homebrew/science
brew install octave --without-java

There is no bottle for octave, so this would build Octave from source. After 10 minutes of compiling Octave, the Travis job times out and gets canceled. For now we can't compile this client-api for Mac in Travis. Efforts to release an Octave binary for Mac are on their way in the Octave community.

[oheim]

Please consider adding the generated Client API Documentation to the webpage. You can create it with make -C client-api/Octave html (need to have Octave installed).

[oheim]

Before merging this, we should consider the following option: We could host this client-api at Octave-Forge and integrate it as a submodule into this repository. This would allow users to use the pkg install -forge vibes inside Octave.

@dvinc, @nicolaje, what do you think?

[nicolaje]

@oheim I generally have a mitigated experience with Git submodules, it is particularly derouting for people unexperienced with git.
However, most user won't have to use Git even if they want to build VIBes from source, as they can download a Zip package of the sources from GitHub. So if it makes it easier for Octave users, I would go for your solution.

[oheim]

@nicolaje, It is also possible to not use a submodule and do the development here at the VIBes project. This is certainly easier.

The downstream repository at Octave-Forge would simply pull any changes at release time and then be synchronized.

[oheim]

Now there is a clone of the repository at https://sourceforge.net/p/octave/vibes/
This fulfills the requirements to also publish the octave client-api at Octave-Forge. Please merge as soon as you seem fit.

[oheim]

@dvinc I guess it is save to merge now. I will prepare a release at Octave Forge as soon as possible.

https://sourceforge.net/p/octave/package-releases/258/