Last Updated: 2.6.2012

The core of the Cyclus nuclear fuel cycle simulator from the University of Wisconsin - Madison is intended to be a simulation framework upon which to develop innovative fuel cycle simulations.

To see user and developer documentation for this code, please visit the Cyclus Homepage.

Copyright (c) 2010-2012, University of Wisconsin Computational Nuclear Engineering Research Group
 All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

  - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
    this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

  - Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

  - Neither the name of the University of Wisconsin Computational
    Nuclear Engineering Research Group nor the names of its
    contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
    from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

The Cyclus Homepage has much more detailed guides and information. This Readme is intended to be a quick reference for building cyclus for the first time.

The Cyclus code requires the following software and libraries.

An overview of some more complicated package builds and installations (e.g. lapack, teuchos, etc.) can be found at the Cyclus Homepage

In order to facilitate future compatibility with multiple platforms, Cyclus is built using Cmake. This relies on CMake version 2.6 or higher and the CMakeLists.txt file in src/. It is recommended that you use CMake to build the Cyclus executable external to the source code. To do this, execute the following steps:

.../core/$ mkdir build
.../core/$ cd build
.../core/build$ cmake ../src

You should see output like this:

...
...
>> -- Configuring done
>> -- Generating done
>> -- Build files have been written to: .../core/build
/core/build$ make cyclus
>> Scanning dependencies of target cyclus
...
...
>> [100%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/cyclus.dir/SourceFac.cpp.o
>> Linking CXX executable cyclus
>> [100%] Built target cyclus

Now, you can make cyclus, and run it with some input file, for this example, call it input.xml:

.../core/build$ make
.../core/build$ ./cyclus input.xml

The Cyclus Homepage has much more detailed guides and information. If you intend to develop for Cyclus, please visit it to learn more.

Note that "blessed" repository refers to the primary `cyclus/core` repository.

As you do your development, push primarily only to your own fork. Push to the blessed repository (usually the "develop" branch) only after:

• You have pulled the latest changes from the blessed repository.
• You have completed a logical set of changes.
• Cyclus compiles with no errors.
• All tests pass.
• Cyclus input files run as expected.
• (recommended) your code has been reviewed by another developer.

Code from the "develop" branch generally must pass even more rigorous checks before being integrated into the "master" branch. Hotfixes would be a possible exception to this.

• Use a branching workflow similar to the one described at http://progit.org/book/ch3-4.html.

• The "develop" branch is how core developers will share (generally compilable) progress when we are not yet ready for the code to become 'production'.

• Keep your own "master" and "develop" branches in sync with the blessed repository's "master" and "develop" branches. The master branch should always be the 'stable' or 'production' release of cyclus.

  • Pull the most recent history from the blessed repository "master" and/or "develop" branches before you merge changes into your corresponding local branch. Consider doing a rebase pull instead of a regular pull or 'fetch and merge'. For example:

    git checkout develop
    git pull --rebase blessed develop
    

  • Only merge changes into your "master" or "develop" branch when you are ready for those changes to be integrated into the blessed repository's corresponding branch.

• As you do development on topic branches in your own fork, consider rebasing the topic branch onto the "master" and/or "develop" branches after pulls from the blessed repository rather than merging the pulled changes into your branch. This will help maintain a more linear (and clean) history. Please see caution about rebasing below. For example:

  git checkout [your topic branch]
  git rebase develop
  

• In general, every commit (notice this is not 'every push') to the "develop" and "master" branches should compile and pass tests. This means that when you are ready to move changes from one of your topic branches into the "develop" branch, you should use a NON-fast-forward merge. For example:

  git checkout develop
  git merge --no-ff [your topic branch]
  

  Possible exceptions to this 'no fast-forward' merge include:

  • your topic branch consists of only one (compileable and passes tests) commit.
  • every commit in your topic branch is compileable and passes tests.

• NEVER merge the "master" branch into the "develop" branch. Changes should only flow to the "master" branch from the "develop" branch.

• DO NOT rebase any commits that have been pulled/pushed anywhere else other than your own fork (especially if those commits have been integrated into the blessed repository. You should NEVER rebase commits that are a part of the 'master' branch. If you do, you will be flogged publicly.

• Make sure that you are pushing/pulling from/to the right branches. When in doubt, use the following syntax:

  git push [remote] [from-branch]:[to-branch]
  

  and (note that pull always merges into the current checked out branch):

  git pull [remote] [from-branch]