[QC-230] Allow to specify a full path of a library (#225)

* Allow to specify a full path of a library

* Add link in the documentation

* One needs to have matching ROOT, O2 and GCC versions

* fix a merge leftover

* Delete duplicated entries in TOC in README

* Delete duplicated content in Advanced.md

* retrigger the build tests

Author: knopers8

Framework/src/Checker.cxx

@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 #include "QualityControl/Checker.h"
 
+// Boost
+#include <boost/filesystem/path.hpp>
 // ROOT
 #include <TClass.h>
 #include <TSystem.h>
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@ using namespace o2::configuration;
 using namespace o2::monitoring;
 using namespace o2::quality_control::core;
 using namespace o2::quality_control::repository;
+namespace bfs = boost::filesystem;
 
 namespace o2::quality_control::checker
 {
@@ -204,7 +207,7 @@ void Checker::loadLibrary(const std::string libraryName)
     return;
   }
 
-  std::string library = "lib" + libraryName;
+  std::string library = bfs::path(libraryName).is_absolute() ? libraryName : "lib" + libraryName;
   // if vector does not contain -> first time we see it
   if (std::find(mLibrariesLoaded.begin(), mLibrariesLoaded.end(), library) == mLibrariesLoaded.end()) {
     mLogger << "Loading library " << library << AliceO2::InfoLogger::InfoLogger::endm;

Framework/src/TaskFactory.cxx

@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@
 #include <TClass.h>
 #include <TROOT.h>
 #include <TSystem.h>
+// Boost
+#include <boost/filesystem/path.hpp>
+
+namespace bfs = boost::filesystem;
 
 namespace o2::quality_control::core
 {
@@ -29,7 +33,7 @@ TaskInterface* TaskFactory::create(TaskConfig& taskConfig, std::shared_ptr<Objec
   QcInfoLogger& logger = QcInfoLogger::GetInstance();
 
   // Load the library
-  std::string library = "lib" + taskConfig.moduleName;
+  std::string library = bfs::path(taskConfig.moduleName).is_absolute() ? taskConfig.moduleName : "lib" + taskConfig.moduleName;
   logger << "Loading library " << library << AliceO2::InfoLogger::InfoLogger::endm;
   int libLoaded = gSystem->Load(library.c_str(), "", true);
   if (libLoaded < 0) {

README.md

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ For a general overview of our (O2) software, organization and processes, please
       * [Use MySQL as QC backend](doc/Advanced.md#use-mysql-as-qc-backend)
       * [Local CCDB setup](doc/Advanced.md#local-ccdb-setup)
       * [Local QCG (QC GUI) setup](doc/Advanced.md#local-qcg-qc-gui-setup)
+      * [Developing QC modules on a machine with FLP suite](doc/Advanced.md#developing-qc-modules-on-a-machine-with-flp-suite)
       * [Information Service](doc/Advanced.md#information-service)
       * [Configuration files details](doc/Advanced.md#configuration-files-details)
    * [Frequently Asked Questions](doc/FAQ.md)

doc/Advanced.md

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
       * [Use MySQL as QC backend](#use-mysql-as-qc-backend)
       * [Local CCDB setup](#local-ccdb-setup)
       * [Local QCG (QC GUI) setup](#local-qcg-qc-gui-setup)
+      * [Developing QC modules on a machine with FLP suite](#developing-qc-modules-on-a-machine-with-flp-suite)
       * [Information Service](#information-service)
          * [Usage](#usage)
       * [Configuration files details](#configuration-files-details)
@@ -165,6 +166,28 @@ At the moment, the description of the REST api can be found in this document : h
 
 To install and run the QCG locally, and its fellow process tobject2json, please follow these instructions : https://github.com/AliceO2Group/WebUi/tree/dev/QualityControl#run-qcg-locally
 
+## Developing QC modules on a machine with FLP suite
+
+To load a development library in a setup with FLP suite, specify its full
+path in the config file (e.g. `/etc/flp.d/qc/readout.json`):
+```
+    "tasks": {
+      "QcTask": {
+        "active": "true",
+        "className": "o2::quality_control_modules::skeleton::SkeletonTask",
+        "moduleName": "/home/myuser/alice/sw/BUILD/QualityControl-latest/QualityControl/libQcTstLibrary",
+        ...
+```
+Make sure that:
+- The name "QcTask" stays the same, as changing it might break the 
+workflow specification for AliECS
+- The library is compiled with the same QC, O2, ROOT and GCC version as the 
+ones which are installed with the FLP suite. Especially, the task and check
+interfaces have to be identical.
+- If there are checks applied to MonitorObjects, update the library path in
+the addCheck() functions as well. This will not be necessary when checks are
+configured inside config files.
+
 ## Information Service
 
 The information service publishes information about the tasks currently