improve self identification string

.gitignore

@@ -7,3 +7,5 @@
 doc/html/
 doc/latex/
 .vscode/settings.json
+__pycache__
+/lib/utilities/vcs_identifier_gen.h

README.md

@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ Alternatively the software may be executed in a simulation environment.
 This project uses [PlatformIO](https://platformio.org/) as build system and package manager.
 PlatformIO may be used via a GUI (PlatformIO IDE) or command line interface (PlatformIO Core). The project configuration ([`platformio.ini`](platformio.ini)) is part of this repository.
 
+System requirements:
+
+- [PlatformIO Core](https://docs.platformio.org/en/stable/core/index.html#piocore)
+- optional: [git](https://git-scm.com/) client is used to generate version identifier if project files are in a git clone
+
 In order to use the software (some call it "firmware"), the following steps are required:
 
 1. Build (the default configuration of) the project.

generate_vcs_identifier.py

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+"""
+generate_vcs_identifier.py
+
+This script generates a source file containing a version control system (VCS)
+identifier string. It retrieves the VCS identifier from the 'vcs_utils' module
+and writes it to a specified source file.
+
+This script should be loaded by PlatformIO during the project build and is not
+designed to be run independently.
+"""
+
+from vcs_utils import get_vcs_id, write_vcs_id_to_file
+import os.path
+Import("env")
+
+# Get the source directory path from PlatformIO configuration
+source_dir = env.subst("$PROJECT_DIR")
+
+# Path to the output file within
+output_file = os.path.join(source_dir, 'lib', 'utilities', 'vcs_identifier_gen.h')
+
+vcs_id = get_vcs_id()
+
+if vcs_id:
+    write_vcs_id_to_file(vcs_id, output_file)

lib/utilities/version.hpp

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <optional>
+#if __has_include("vcs_identifier_gen.h")
+#include "vcs_identifier_gen.h"
+constexpr std::optional<const char *> vcsId = VCS_ID;
+#else
+constexpr std::optional<const char *> vcsId = std::nullopt;
+#endif

platformio.ini

@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ build_flags =
 	-DLV_CONF_PATH="${PROJECT_DIR}/lib/3rd_party_adapters/LVGL/lv_conf.h" ; lvgl: use this config file
 	-DBAUD_RATE=${this.monitor_speed}
 monitor_speed = 115200
+extra_scripts =
+	pre:generate_vcs_identifier.py
 
 [env:native]
 platform = native

src/main.cpp

@@ -13,14 +13,15 @@
 #include <user_interaction/guiEngine_factory_interface.hpp>
 #include <user_interaction/keypad_factory_interface.hpp>
 #include <user_interaction/statusindicators_factory_interface.hpp>
+#include <version.hpp>
 
 void setup()
 {
     serial_port::initialize();
     serial_port::cout << "\x1b[20h"; // Tell the terminal to use CR/LF for newlines instead of just CR.
-    static constexpr const auto programIdentificationString = __FILE__ " compiled at " __DATE__ " " __TIME__;
-    serial_port::cout << std::endl
-                      << " begin program '" << programIdentificationString << std::endl;
+    serial_port::cout
+        << std::endl
+        << " begin program version '" << vcsId.value_or("unknown") << "'" << std::endl;
     serial_port::setCallbackForLineReception([](const serial_port::String &commandLine) {
         ProtocolHandler::execute(commandLine.c_str());
     });

vcs_utils.py

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+"""
+vcs_utils.py
+
+This module provides utility functions to retrieve the version control system
+(VCS) identifier using Git and to write it to a file.
+
+The functions handle cases where Git is not installed or the current directory
+is not a Git repository, and handle file write failures gracefully.
+"""
+
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+def get_vcs_id():
+    """
+    Attempts to retrieve the VCS identifier using the 'git describe' command.
+
+    Returns:
+        str: A string containing the VCS identifier if successful, or an empty 
+             string if Git is not available or the directory is not a Git repository.
+
+    This function handles the following exceptions:
+        - subprocess.CalledProcessError: Raised if the 'git' command fails, e.g.,
+          if the current directory is not a Git repository.
+        - FileNotFoundError: Raised if 'git' is not installed or not found in the
+          system's PATH.
+
+    All warnings are printed to stderr.
+    """
+    try:
+        vcs_output = subprocess.run(
+            ["git", "describe", "--always", "--dirty", "--all", "--long"],
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE, text=True, check=True
+        )
+        vcs_string = vcs_output.stdout.strip()
+        return vcs_string
+    except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, FileNotFoundError) as e:
+        # Print the warning to stderr
+        print("Warning: Unable to retrieve VCS description. Error:", str(e), file=sys.stderr)
+        return ""
+
+
+def write_vcs_id_to_file(vcs_id, file_path):
+    """
+    Defines a macro with the given VCS identifier as a string literal to a file.
+
+    Args:
+        vcs_id (str): The VCS identifier string to write to the file.
+        file_path (str): The path to the file to write to.
+
+    If the file exists, it will be overwritten. If writing to the file fails,
+    a warning will be printed to stderr, but the script will not terminate
+    with an error.
+    """
+    try:
+        # Prepare the C-style string definition
+        c_content = f'#define VCS_ID "{vcs_id}"\n'
+
+        # Write the content to the file (overwriting if it exists)
+        with open(file_path, 'w') as file:
+            file.write(c_content)
+
+    except IOError as e:
+        # If writing to the file fails, print the warning to stderr
+        print(f"Warning: Unable to write VCS ID to file '{file_path}'. Error: {str(e)}", file=sys.stderr)