colony: A Python repository from Hive Solutions

The Colony Framework is an open-source plugin framework specification. Its implementations provide a component model at runtime, enabling plugins to be installed, started, stopped, updated, and uninstalled without having to stop the application container. The framework heavily relies on the Inversion of Control principle, making it easier for application components to discover and interact with each other.

Colony's goal is to simplify the process of creating modular applications by offering a unified, simplified model for component development. This can have practical applications in a variety of fields, ranging from modular enterprise software to application mashing.

Quick start

Handicraft

Install Colony using pip install colony
Run the command RUN_MODE=devel colony

Virtualenv

Start and activate the environment using virtualenv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
Install Colony in the system using pip install colony
Deploy the console package using cpm install console_interface
Run your new colony using the command RUN_MODE=devel colony

Docker

Create a new directory to serve as the base for the build mkdir colony && cd colony
Retrieve the Dockerfile from the repo using wget https://github.com/hivesolutions/colony/raw/master/assets/docker/Dockerfile
Create the new docker image using docker build --tag self/colony .
Execute colony with docker run -e RUN_MODE=devel -i -t self/colony

To actually do something useful, look into How to Establish your Colony in 3 Easy Steps

Installation

For development

Set PYTHONPATH to the colony/src path so that the Python source files may be included
Set PATH to the colony/scripts/pypi to use the provided base scripts

For production

Installation via pip: pip install colony

Configuration

Name	Type	Default	Description
RUN_MODE	`str`	`development`	The mode in which the Colony will be running.
LOGGING_LOGSTASH	`bool`	`False`	If the Logstash logging adapter should be enabled.

Usage

Most of the colony operations are run through the cpm command:

cpm clone <target> - clones the base colony instance into the target directory (new project)
cpm cleanup <target> - cleans the current instance, removing extra files
cpm pack <target> - packs the current instance into a .zip file
cpm generate [target] <...> - generates a .json descriptor file for the provided Python file and then runs the build operation for the generated .json file, effectively building the package item
cpm build [descriptor] <...> - builds the target .json descriptor file into a package file
cpm deploy [package] - deploys the target .cbx file into the current instance
cpm info [package] - prints information about the package to the standard output
cpm install [name] <...> - installs the package with the provided name from the remote repositories
cpm upgrade - updates the complete set of packages deployed in the instance
cpm require [path] <...> - installs the complete set of packages defined in the requirements file
cpm upload [target] <repo> - generates a package for the provided path and then uploads it to the currently configured primary repository or another repository if defined

Testing

To run the complete set of available tests for the deployment, use either colony test or MODE=test colony and Colony Manager will boot directly to unit testing and exit in error in case at least one test fails.

Features

Runtime modularity.
No restart is required for deploying new plugins or updating or reconfiguring existing ones.
Simplified component model (easy to create a plugin, even easier to combine existing ones).
Capabilities: simple extension points that allow your plugins to take advantage of future plugins that adhere to the capability API.
Dependencies: simplified dependency management, declare the id of the plugin your plugin needs to function, and the plugin manager will ensure your plugin only gets loaded when the conditions are met.
Most importantly, runs Colony Plugins.

And remember, this is just the base runtime. To understand what you can do with Colony, browse the Colony Plugins repository.