[x3d-public] [x3dom-users] gitlab x3d resources group

Tue Jul 30 14:15:37 PDT 2024

Hi Don, group,

Good to hear that there is a positive experience with Gitlab for the
NPS savage library. Thanks for  the pointer. The STL rendering for the
code browsing UI appears to come with the Gitlab software and seems
three.js based, using the three.js STL loader. The renderers seem to
be here: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/tree/master/app/assets/javascripts/blob
. There was a functioning merge request for a dxf viewer which was not
taken up. There does not seem to be a plug-in system for renderers.

A focus would be the gitlab Pages feature for enabling static web site
hosting and CDN supported serving but of course the main purpose of
gitlab is git based development. The ecosystem concept applies very
much to establishing general purpose "x3d" groups on gitlab and it
would be great to get input from the ecosystem working group. Should
we have a X3D ecosystem gitlab group managed by the working group and
whoever is interested (in an owner, administrator, developer role) ?

I would tend to think of gitlab as a tool to help with X3D ecosystem
integration. Other than help serving x3dom materials, an initial
valuable target for a x3d gitlab group could be a simple curated list
of linked x3d-resources like the commonly found "awesome" lists on
github, in a x3d-awesome project under a x3d-resources group. Projects
can have wikis attached, so the simplest manifestation of such a list
could be community editable wiki.

Scaling up may mean primarily being able to maintain a project and
this means easy access for anybody to help. Having to sign up for
gitlab may be a significant barrier, possibly even prohibitive. For
example, I have had a gitlab account for a long time but have
preferred to focus on github (until now coming up against limitations)
because there was not enough motivation to migrate to gitlab even
though I had already signed up.

Otherwise, gitlab seems to be very suitable for scaling up a project
gradually since it is possible to organize and delegate very flexibly
(groups, subgroups, projects, roles). gitlab.com offers 10GB storage
per project for free which seems generous.

To boil down the thinking, the question for me is currently:

Given that I would likely create and maintain a x3dom-resources gitlab
group to host x3dom materials available under
x3dom-resources.gitlab.io, should I instead or in addition consider
creating a x3d-resources gitlab group with content under
x3d-resources.gitlab.io ?

Given that gitlab projects can live in multiple gitlab groups, I think
I will go ahead with a gitlab x3dom-resources or x3dom-community
gitlab group.

Any feedback or thoughts very welcome,

Andreas

On Tue, Jul 30, 2024 at 5:55 AM Brutzman, Donald (Don) (CIV)
<brutzman at nps.edu> wrote:
>
> Thanks for sharing such great thinking below, Andreas.  Gitlab is super for DevSecOps.
>
> https://about.gitlab.com
>
>
> NPS has a gitlab server at gitlab.nps.edu that we have used to good effect.  Agreed that it appears to have numerous features, we have only used a few but with excellent results.
>
> The Savage model library is both public, maintained in gitlab for version control, and published separately on a different server.  Essentially it is an active archive for a bunch of models produced by NPS students and partners over the years.  It is separate, but maintained identically, as all of the Web3D Consortiums model libraries found in X3D Examples Archives on SourceForge.  All of the X3D QA validation and production tests are comprehensively applied for offline regression checking.
>
> Savage X3D Examples Archive
> The NPS Scenario Authoring and Visualization for Advanced Graphical Environments (SAVAGE) Research Group maintains a large archive of dynamic 3D military models and authoring tools, all open source and built using Extensible 3D (X3D) graphics.
> https://savage.nps.edu/Savage
> https://gitlab.nps.edu/Savage/Savage
> https://gitlab.nps.edu/Savage/Savage/-/blob/master/README.md
>
>
> X3D Resources: Examples: Scene Archives for X3D
> https://www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples/X3dResources.html#Examples
> https://sourceforge.net/p/x3d/code/HEAD/tree/www.web3d.org/x3d/content/examples
>
>
> Suggested important functionality for addition to gitlab:  ability to render .x3d/.x3dv/.wrl models directly when inspecting them on the server.  Such capability already exists for .stl files, for example
>
> https://gitlab.nps.edu/Savage/Savage/-/blob/master/ShipsMilitary/CorvetteMinutemenClassUnitedStates/MinutemenHull.STL
>
>
> Here at NPS, our team will be happy to match and second-check and test whatever rendering or CI/CD or other functionality you might want to pursue.  We will configure our gitlab.nps.edu server accordingly, for Savage models archive, as such best practices emerge.
>
> Regarding long-term activity, what you describe below seems appropriate and likely interesting for Web3D Consortium to support.  Nicholas and Anita are working hard at SIGGRAPH this week and doubtless will be available for further discussion.  Engaging Casey Gomez and the new X3D Ecosystem group is also important.  Each are copied in this message.
>
> X3D Ecosystem
> The X3D Ecosystem Special Interest Group (SIG) brings together industry and 3D graphics expertise to improve the deployment X3D in real-time interactive 3D worlds.
> https://www.web3d.org/new/new/new/new/working-groups/x3d-ecosystem
>
>
> When planning a new project, it is always worthwhile to consider "assume success, then what?"   Will X3D integration with gitlab scale up?  Hmmm.
>
> Looking forward to continued progress for everyone together.  Have fun with X3D! 🙂
>
>
> all the best, Don
>
> --
>
> Don Brutzman  Naval Postgraduate School, Code USW/Br        brutzman at nps.edu
>
> Watkins 270,  MOVES Institute, Monterey CA 93943-5000 USA    +1.831.656.2149
>
> X3D graphics, virtual worlds, navy robotics https://faculty.nps.edu/brutzman
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Andreas Plesch <andreasplesch at gmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, July 29, 2024 8:26 PM
> To: X3D Graphics public mailing list <x3d-public at web3d.org>
> Cc: x3dom mlist <x3dom-users at lists.sourceforge.net>
> Subject: [x3dom-users] gitlab x3d resources group
>
> I would like to get input and feedback on creating a x3d-related group
> under a personal gitlab account (perhaps mine).
>
> The background is that I am contemplating using gitlab for static site
> hosting, for x3dom related material such as development releases,
> documentation, an x3d viewer/in browser editor or a gltf viewer. These
> materials are currently hosted under my personal github account at
> andreasplesch.github.io but I would like to move away from using that.
> Unfortunately, github only allows one account per user or organization
> so I cannot in good faith just create another github account (say
> x3dom-unoffiicial).
>
> Gitlab is similar to github but has more powerful project management
> features even for the free tier. Gitlab also only allows one user per
> account (I believe) but each account can have multiple roots or
> "groups" which themselves then can contain multiple repos. For
> example, I may create an x3dom-unofficial group under my account. If
> used for static website hosting, a  corresponding url would be
> x3dom-unofficial.gitlab.io from which then x3dom related materials
> could be served. "x3dom-resources" could become another group. Gitlab
> groups are collaborative with assigned owner, maintainer, developer,
> user and other roles for invited collaborators.
>
> It is therefore natural to expand on this idea and think about a
> larger "x3d-resources" or similar gitlab group, used as an option for
> hosting of any x3d related resource. The main benefit would perhaps be
> to have the option to share a common url for diverse resources. I
> think this could be seen as complementary to web3d hosted material, so
> maybe a "web3d-aux" group may be more appropriate. A
> x3d-resources.gitlab.io site could then host x3dom related materials
> under x3d-resources.gitlab.io/x3dom, for example. Other materials
> could be served from similar urls. gitlab also supports forwarding
> from a gitlab url to any other url. All gitlab repos can be automated
> using ci runners (on gitlab servers). This is crucial since all
> maintenance would need to be largely automatic.
>
> What are your thoughts on "x3d-*" groups on gitlab ? A potential
> headache due to a potential for x3d confusion or a valuable option to
> perhaps allow for larger participation ?
>
> Thanks for reading and apologies for the longer than anticipated message.
>
> -Andreas
>
> --
> Andreas Plesch
> Waltham, MA 02453
>
>
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--
Andreas Plesch
Waltham, MA 02453