A branding component in Calamares is a description of the product (i.e. distribution) being installed along with a "slideshow" that is displayed during the installation phase of Calamares. This shapes the look of your installation.
A module adds functionality to Calamares; modules may be written in C++ or Python, using Qt Widgets or QML for the UI (with C++) if there is one. Both C++ and Python allow a full control over the target system during the installation.
This repository contains complete examples of branding and some modules for Calamares.
Branding shapes the look of Calamares to your distro
Calamares ships with (just) one default branding component which can be used for testing. The examples here show what can be done with QML in the context of Calamares branding, and provide examples and documentation for the framework that Calamares ships with.
default/is a copy of the default branding included with Calamares.fancy/has navigation buttons and a slide counter.image-slideshow/is a variant of the default branding that implements its own slide element for QML that supports a single image. This is useful for straightforward images-only slideshows (probably moreso than the default slideshow).kaos_branding/is a copy of the KaOS branding component, which has translations and a bunch of fancy graphics for the slideshow. Plus it includes examples of using different QML options for a vertical navigation bar and horizontal sidebar.samegame/is a copy of the Qt Company "Same Game" QML demo. It shows that any QML can be used for branding purposes.
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Branding descriptor The basis of branding is the
branding.descfile, which describes the overall branding. The defaultbranding.descin the Calamares source repository has extensive documentation. You can:- configure strings displayed in Calamares that name your distro
- configure images and colors used
- control the size and placement of the Calamares window on startup
- choose navigation and control panel styles
- select or construct a slideshow to display during long-running installation steps.
See the deployment guide in the Calamares wiki for more details.
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QML files Most parts of the user-interface in Calamares can be done in two ways: as QWidgets and as QML. The QML UI offers more opportunities for designers to produce a unique experience. There are sample QML files compiled in to Calamares for a basic setup, but an alternative can be selected just by putting suitably-named QML files in the Calamares data directory.
This applies to the navigation and progress-panels, too.
See the deployment guide in the Calamares wiki for more details.
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Stylesheets can be applied to some -- or most -- of the QWidgets parts of Calamares.
See the styling paragraph of the deployment guide for more details.
If Calamares is installed, then the Calamares QML support files
are also installed; usually under /usr/local/share/calamares/qml/.
Some branding components need those support files, although a
branding component is free to do whatever is interesting in QML.
The tool for quickly viewing QML files is qmlscene, which is
included with the Qt development tools. It can be used to
preview a Calamares branding component (slideshow) without starting
Calamares. If the component uses translations, you will need to
build the translations first (using Qt Linguist lrelease, or by
using the normal build system for branding components).
Suppose we want to test the Calamares branding component fancy,
which has a root QML file fancy/show.qml. Translations have been
built and are in build/calamares-fancy_nl.qm. Calamares is installed
in the usual location. Then we can run
qmlscene \
-translation build/calamares-fancy_nl.qm \
-I /usr/local/share/calamares/qml \
-geometry 600x400 \
fancy/show.qml
This starts the viewer with the Dutch (nl) translation, using the support files already installed, in a 600x400 pixel window. By doing so, the slideshow can be developed much more quickly (and with more fancy effects) than by going through the Calamares install process every time.
Note that running a QML slideshow inside Calamares is slightly different. Calamares internally can call functions in the slideshow, and can set a property in the slideshow, to indicate that the show is now visible and should start.
The slideshow which is configured in the branding files can have one of two "API styles".
- Version 1 is loaded when the slideshow starts. If the slideshow is large, or contains remote content, then this may be slow. The loading time may be visible as a "white flash" as the QML component is displayed with no background until the slideshow is loaded.
- Version 2 is loaded asynchronously from the moment Calamares is started. This may delay startup a little, but appears more responsive overall.
If the slideshow QML defines functions
onActivate() and onLeave() then those functions
are called when the slideshow becomes visible and when the installation is finished.
These can be used to start and stop timers or sound effects or
whatever.
In addition, if the slideshow QML defines a property
activatedInCalamares then it is set to true
when the slideshow becomes visible, and to false when
the installation is finished. This can also be used to
start timers, etc. The standard Presentation.qml included with
Calamares has such a property.
A slideshow (show.qml) can be entirely independent, with bespoke code,
or it can make use of files shipped as part of Calamares: a Presentation and
a Slide element (and some others). There are also Calamares internals which
can be used from QML:
import calamares.slideshow 1.0for the standard QML slideshow (e.g. Presentation element; use Slide with this or write an API-equivalent element such as the one inimage-slideshow/).import io.calamares.ui 1.0for a Branding object which has an API to get colors and strings that are used elsewhere in Calamares (e.g. to make the slide background the same as the background defined inbranding.desc).
Modules extend the functionality of Calamares for your distro
This repository contains examples of a C++ job module (no UI, runs in the exec phase) and a C++ view module (with UI if listed in the show phase, and may run jobs if listed in the exec phase) and a Python job module (no UI, runs in the exec phase).
- filekeeper is a C++ job module to copy files from the host (live) system to the target system at the end of installation, like logfiles. (This module is made obsolete by the preservefiles module included with Calamares proper)
- freebsddisk is a C++ view module with a QML-based UI. It has no actual functionality, and serves as a test that view modules can be built out-of-tree.
- slowpython is a Python job module that just serves to slow down an installation by delaying a configurable (default 30 seconds) amount of time.
- mobile is a QML view that takes over a number of other view steps. It is specific to mobile phone use, and as of writing used by postmarketOS and Mobian. Among other things, it allows to set up full disk encryption and to configure the default user's password. Read the on-device installer article for more information.
The single macro calamares_add_module_subdirectory()
does all the work. A C++ module will be recognized by
the presence of a CMakeLists.txt in the subdirectory,
while a Python module has a module.desc file.
A C++ module can use the CMake macro calamares_add_plugin()
to list sources, resources, UI files, libraries to link, etc.
This supports both job modules and view modules through
the TYPE parameter of the macro.
The API is documented in the Job.h and ViewModule.h
(there are subclasses for specific kinds of viewmodules)
header files, and in the
developer guide.
The Python module needs a module.desc and a Python file,
usually called main.py which defines a run() function.
The API is loosely documented in the developer guide.
GitHub Issues are one place for discussing Calamares (and Calamares Extensions) if there are concrete problems or a new feature to discuss.
Regular Calamares development chit-chat happens in a Matrix
room, #calamares:kde.org. The conversation is bridged with IRC
on Libera.Chat.
Responsiveness is best during the day
in Europe, but feel free to idle. If you use IRC, DO NOT ask-and-leave. Keep
that chat window open because it can easily take a few hours for
someone to notice a message.
Matrix is persistent, and we'll see your message eventually.
