Are librarymanager and boardmanager links still clickable with IDE v2?

[PaulZC]

Describe the problem

With IDE v1.8 Library Manager, we could include clickable links in examples which would open the library manager or board manager automatically.

With IDE v2, the only option seems to be to follow the link in a web browser, which then fails:

My question is: is there a new format for clickable library and board manager links in examples?

Thanks!
Paul

To reproduce

Add a clickable link to an example and click it:

//Click here to get the library: http://librarymanager/All#SparkFun_u-blox_GNSS

Expected behavior

The library manager used to open (with v1.8) - with v2 it does not... (Sad times!)

Additional context

No response

Issue checklist

• I searched for previous reports in the issue tracker
• My report contains all necessary details

[kittaakos]

I need the spec on how this should work in IDE2. @cmaglie or @per1234, could you please link how the pathname and hash should be translated to a library/boards manager query? Thank you!

Update:

• Should this work only in .ino files,
• .ino + .pde,
• any additional files,
• only in source files,
• in header files,
• or the combination of any from above.

[per1234]

Here is the specification @kittaakos:

https://arduino.github.io/arduino-cli/dev/sketch-specification/#libraryboards-manager-links

So path will have a value of either librarymanager or boardsmanager.
The hash is the search term that should be pre-filled in Library Manager or Boards Manager.

I guess it should be supported in any files. Arduino IDE supports it in .ino, header, and source files, but there is no precedent for Markdown and AsciiDoc because Arduino IDE 1.x doesn't open those. But I don't see any harm in supporting it in those files as well. So I would go with whatever is the easiest to implement and maintain.

[kittaakos]

Here is the specification @kittaakos:

https://arduino.github.io/arduino-cli/dev/sketch-specification/#libraryboards-manager-links

So path will have a value of either librarymanager or boardsmanager. The hash is the search term that should be pre-filled in Library Manager or Boards Manager.

Thank you! Unfortunately, the spec does not cover @PaulZC's request:

http://librarymanager/All#SparkFun_u-blox_GNSS

First,librarymanager and boardsmanager are the authority of the URL. Here, pathname is All and not librarymanager/boardsmanager. I assume that is the equivalent of the Type dropdown from the IDE2.

Secondly, should the URL resolver support Topic for the library manager? If yes, how?

[PaulZC]

Hi @kittaakos (& @per1234 ),

Thank you for looking at this.

Something to think about, regarding the hash, is how underscores are interpreted. I believe underscores should be interpreted as spaces when performing the search. We'd like to get back to the place where //http://librarymanager/All#SparkFun_u-blox_GNSS finds the SparkFun u-blox GNSS library.

Very best wishes,
Paul

[per1234]

pathname is All and not

I forgot about that. I left it out of the sketch specification because it never worked (it might appear to work from the "All" example, but that is the default selection of the menu). You can throw anything you like in that path and "All" will still be selected in Arduino IDE 1.x.

But it is in use out in the wild so the URIs with path must at least be supported.

I assume that is the equivalent of the Type dropdown from the IDE2.

It seems like it from the DropdownUpdatableLibrariesItem/DropdownUpdatableCoresItem names in the code, but I can't follow it from there so @cmaglie or @facchinm would have to verify:

arduino/Arduino@b99ab40

should the URL resolver support Topic for the library manager?

The real use case for this is to help the user to install a specific library dependency of a sketch. The problem is that the keyword search might return multiple libraries, so it helps, but still leaves some room for ambiguity. Adding Topic filtering helps with that, but doesn't solve it. For example, if I was to do something like this:

// Install the Servo library via Library Manager
// if using the Arduino IDE, click here: http://librarymanager/All/Device%20Control#Servo

The user is still going to get a lot of results. I think the sorting for exact match proposed in #1106 would be much more helpful for this use case than the Topic filter.

---

I haven't seen any examples of use cases of these URIs that would benefit from the intended use of the Topic filter. For example:

// If you would like to see a list of display libraries created by SparkFun or for SparkFun products, click here:
// http://librarymanager/All/Display#SparkFun

Do you see a use case for being able set the Topic filter via the URI @PaulZC?

[PaulZC]

The real use case for this is to help the user to install a specific library dependency of a sketch.

Agreed. That's absolutely it. The user can copy a code snippet from a SF Hook-Up Guide and - with one click - install the relevant library or board package.

Do you see a use case for being able set the Topic filter via the URI?

Sure. That would be really nice-to-have. The Sensors category would be a huge one for us. Thanks!!

[kittaakos]

I understand the importance of backward compatibility, and I can make IDE2 resolve the links as IDE 1.x, but the specification should be improved in the long run. It has flaws.

• Why http scheme?
• Why not use a query string for the query (instead of enumerating Type and Topic). The lib manager would force users always to include the Type (All) before the Category.
• Query strings must be URL encoded instead of using any magical _ to ' ' mapping.

Something like this could be better than the 1.x version:

arduino://manager/library/?topic=Sensor&type=All&query=SparkFun%20u-blox%20GNSS

IDE2 could help to generate such URLs.

[per1234]

Something like this could be better than the 1.x version

I agree. The old system was poorly designed.

magical _ to ' ' mapping.

There isn't any mapping in the link system. Those underscores end up in the search field. It is the Arduino IDE 1.x Library Manager search that is able to find the libraries even with the underscores.

[kittaakos]

There isn't any mapping in the link system. Those underscores end up in the search field.

Thank you for the clarification 👍