Manifest Definition (pre 5.14)

Note: This page describes the old metadata format (am-application, version 1) that was used up until 5.14. For the current format, please see here. The 5.14 application manager is still able to parse the old format, but Alias Manifests are not supported anymore.

Overview

The package manifest or metadata file, info.yaml, is a YAML file following the same rules as all the other YAML files used in the application manager.

While the application manager can support other file formats, such as XML, currently the only metadata loader implemented is based on YAML.

Dynamically installed applications are described by a single info.yaml file, in their root directory. Built-in applications, that are shipped as part of the System UI can optionally have multiple aliases. This behavior is similar to a Microsoft Windows shortcut, where you can start the same program using a different icon, name, and command line arguments. These files have to be in the same folder as the application's basic info.yaml file and need to be named info-<descriptive name>.yaml. See below for a description of these alias manifests.

Basic Manifest

This is an example of a full-featured info.yaml file, that also shows how you can mix and match classic YAML and JSON style in YAML 1.1 documents:

%YAML 1.1
---
formatVersion: 1
formatType: am-application
---
id: 'com.pelagicore.radio'
icon: 'FM-Radio.png'
name:
  en: "FM Radio"
  de: "UKW-Rundfunk"
code: "radio.qml"

runtime: qml
runtimeParameters: { quitTime: 100 }
documentUrl: "fm"

mimeTypes: [ "x-scheme-handler/x-radio" ]

capabilities:
- cameraAccess
- locationAccess

version: '1.2.1-alpha3'

The fields within the info.yaml file header (first YAML document) are as follows:

Field NameTypeDescription
formatVersionintRequired. Currently always 1.
formatTypestringRequired. Always am-application.

The fields within the info.yaml manifest data (second YAML document) are as follows:

Field NameTypeDescription
idstringThe unique ID of an application represented as a string with a maximum length of 150 characters. This ID can be used to look up information about the application in the ApplicationModel QML Type. Since this ID is used in the file system, only a subset of the printable ASCII characters are allowed: 0-9, a-z, A-Z as well as any of !#$%&'`^~_+-=.,;()[]{}. If you are building a larger system with third party applications, it is good practice to use reverse DNS notation for the application IDs to help keep track of your IDs in the long run. The helper function PackageManager::validateDnsName can help you to enforce this policy from the System UI.
iconstringRequired. The icon's file name. The file must be located in the same directory as info.yaml and can be in any image format that Qt supports.
nameobject Required. An object containing language (string) to display name (string) mappings. The language identifiers need to adhere to the standard POSIX locale definition. For more information, see QLocale. At least one mapping needs to be present. However, it is good practice to supply the English (en) mapping, at least, as a fallback.
codestringRequired. The main executable - interpreted by the runtime.
categorieslist<string>The list of category names the application should be associated with. This is mainly for the automated app-store uploads as well as displaying the application within a fixed set of categories in the System UI.
runtimestringRequired. A runtime ID, referencing a runtime plugin. Currently, qml, qml-inprocess, and native are supported.

For the QML runtimes, the code field needs to point to the main QML file, which should have an ApplicationManagerWindow as a root item.

For the native runtime, the code field can point to an arbitrary executable, which is executed via QProcess::start(). The application manager will run the application with the environment variable QT_QPA_PLATFORM set to wayland.

Note: The application is expected to be a valid Wayland client.

runtimeParametersobjectThis object can contain runtime specific parameters - those are directly handed down to the runtime plugin by the application manager.

See runtime parameters for a full list.

environmentVariablesobjectDeprecated; moved to runtime parameters.
documentUrlstringAn optional default document URL to use if the application is started without specifying a document URL (see ApplicationManager::startApplication).
supportsApplicationInterfaceboolIf set to true the application must implement the ApplicationInterface API. In this case the application manager will wait until the application is connected to the ApplicationInterface on the P2P D-Bus until it marks it as 'running'. For runtimes that support quick launching (like the qml runtime) this is not required as it defaults to true. Otherwise the default is false.
mimeTypeslist<string> An optional array of MIME types the application can handle. The application manager supports the classic file name or content to MIME type matching, as well as URL scheme matching. For more information, see ApplicationManager::openUrl.
capabilitieslist<string>An optional, platform specific list of special access rights for the application. Later, the middleware can query these capabilities and verify them, via the application manager.

Note: The application manager itself does not attach any meaning to this list of strings. Instead, the application manager acts as a trustee between the (digitally signed) application manifest and the (customer specific) middleware; this middleware may require more information about the application it's communicating with and the application manager can act as a trusted source of application capabilities.

versionstringThe version of the application as a string.
openglobjectGives you the possibility to specify the required OpenGL version and/or profile. For more information, see OpenGL Specification.

Note: Specifying an OpenGL configuration that is different from the default OpenGL configuration in the main application manager configuration, disables the use of the quick-launch mechanism for this application.

applicationPropertiesobjectExports user-defined properties (key/value pairs) to the application and the System UI. The actual properties must be listed under the private and protected access control tag; other properties are ignored. These properties are exposed as ApplicationManager::application() to the System UI and as ApplicationInterface::applicationProperties to the QML application:
  • The application has access to private and protected properties. Private keys overwrite identical protected ones.
  • The System UI has access to protected properties only.

While the properties are converted to QVariantMaps, the application manager won't interpret them in any way.

logging/dlt/idstringIf provided, this value is used as the automotive DLT application ID. The ID is limited to four characters, additional characters are discarded. If an ID is not provided, it defaults to 'A' followed by a three digit application number.

Note: For QML runtimes, the ID is "PCLQ" from the very start of the application process, until you change it as described.

logging/dlt/descriptionstringIf provided, it is used as the automotive DLT application description, which allows to augment the short DLT application ID with a more verbose description. If not explicitly provided, a default description is used.
importancerealDeprecated. Use applicationProperties instead.
backgroundModestringDeprecated. Use applicationProperties instead.

The runtimeParameters are specific to the runtimes, so the table below has an additional column that specifies which runtime a configuration option applies to:

NameRuntimesTypeDescription
loadDummyDataqml, qml-in-processboolDeprecated. Automatically load dummy data for the application, using the same algorithm as Qt's qmlscene and qml tools. By default no dummy data is loaded.
importPathsqml, qml-in-processlist<string>A list of paths to add to the QML-engine's import paths. Use of this parameter is equivalent to setting QML2_IMPORT_PATH for a program started from the command line.
resourcesqml, qml-in-processlist<string>Takes a list of Qt resource files (.rcc) or libraries that have resources compiled-in and registers them within the application process. Resources can be accessed with the ":" or "qrc://" file path prefix.
pluginPathsqml, qml-in-processlist<string>A list of paths to add to Qt's library paths, which are used to find plugins. Use of this parameter is equivalent to setting QT_PLUGIN_PATH for a program started from the command line.
argumentsnativelist<string>A list of command line parameters to use when starting the application's executable.
environmentVariablesnative, qmlobjectA simple string-to-string map, describing the environment variables that should be set when spawning the runtime process. You can remove a variable from the default environment by setting it to null.

Note: This feature is meant for development and demos only, as it has the following limitations and side-effects:

  • These variables are completely ignored, if you are running the application manager with security checks enabled.
  • Setting these variables disables the use of the quick launch mechanism for this application.

Alias Manifests

Note: This page describes the old metadata format (am-application, version 1) that was used up until 5.14. For the current format, please see here. The 5.14 application manager is still able to parse the old format, but Alias Manifests are not supported anymore.

This is an example of an alias manifest, info-am.yaml, for the info.yaml file in the Basic Manifest. This way, you can have one single tuner application radio.qml running, that can be started using two different entries, both with different text and icons, in the application launcher.

%YAML 1.1
---
formatVersion: 1
formatType: am-application-alias
---
aliasId: 'com.pelagicore.radio@am'
icon: 'AM-Radio.png'
name:
  en: "AM Radio"
  de: "Langwellenrundfunk"

documentUrl: "x-radio://am"

If you start an alias while the application is already running, it does not start another instance. Only if a documentUrl is set, then does the instance currently running receive the ApplicationInterface::openDocument signal, that contains the respective strings that were set via the documentUrl parameter. Then, the application can change its UI accordingly. The alias manifests have to be in the same folder as the application's info.yaml file and must be named info-<descriptive name>.yaml.

The meaning of the fields within the info-am.yaml file header (first YAML document) is as follows:

Field NameTypeDescription
formatVersionintRequired. Currently always 1.
formatTypestringRequired. Always am-application-alias.

The meaning of the fields within the alias manifest data (second YAML document) is as follows:

Field NameTypeDescription
aliasIdstringRequired. The unique ID for the base application, followed by the @ sign and a unique tag for this alias. This tag has the same character restrictions as the main application ID. See the id field in Basic Manifest.
iconstringRequired. See the icon field in Basic Manifest.
nameobjectRequired. See the name field in Basic Manifest.
documentUrlstringSee the documentUrl in Basic Manifest.

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