Testing

To create and publish a dependency, installer, or runner, 2 stages of testing are required:

• Making it work
• Testing via local manifest

Even if it seems easy to package and you feel confident doing it without testing, please don’t. Tests are essential to ensure a safe and functional environment for the user.

Making it work

Surely the most obvious phase: before packaging something, you need to make sure that it is possible to install and that it works as expected.

Basic concepts and requirements

Each dependency must be tested with the official Bottles Soda runner to ensure compatibility as this is provided from the very first launch of Bottles.

Use a clean new bottle using the Custom environment to avoid other dependencies/installers to interfere with your tests.

If the dependency is offered by a Service Pack or otherwise a large installer that installs multiple resources, try to extract the contents and place the necessary files manually. This is a delicate operation, we advise you to read on WineDB if there are specific instructions.

Try to make it work

Here are some tips to start testing dependency:

• save all the procedures you perform, even the smallest changes because you will need them for the dependency manifest
• simply try running the vendor’s official installer
• if the installer doesn’t work, check in the WineDB if the dependency needs a specific Windows version, other dependencies or tweaks
• if the installer doesn’t work, try to extract the resources and place them manually in the correct folder(s)
• try a program that uses that dependency to make sure everything works

When everything is working, you can making the dependency manifest. Refer to the dependency or installer structure for more information.

Testing via local manifest

The second stage of testing is to test the dependency/installer using your manifest.

Clone the local repository

First, you need to make a local repository. You can create this in your own but we recommend that you clone the git repository to ensure the structure and have access to other dependencies/installers in case yours requires them:

for dependencies

git clone https://github.com/bottlesdevs/dependencies.git

for components

git clone https://github.com/bottlesdevs/components.git

for installers

git clone https://github.com/bottlesdevs/programs.git

Place manifests

Place your manifest in the right folder:

for dependencies

• Essentials/
• Fonts/

for components

• the appropriate subfolder

for installers

• Games/
• Software/
• place icons and any other needed files int a subfolder under data/

and update the index.yml file with your dependency/installer:

package_name: # the file name of the manifest, should be the same of Name in the manifest
  Description: My awesome package # the one-line-snall-description
  Category: Essentials # the category (should respect the category path where it is placed)

Launch bottles

To use the local repository, you need to launch Bottles using the appropriate environment variable.

for dependencies

PERSONAL_DEPENDENCIES pointing to your personal repository:

# for local files
PERSONAL_DEPENDENCIES=file:///path/to/dependencies/ flatpak run com.usebottles.bottles
# for a networked git repository
PERSONAL_DEPENDENCIES=https://github.com/USER/dependencies/raw/main flatpak run com.usebottles.bottles

for components (runners, dxvk etc)

PERSONAL_COMPONENTS pointing to your personal repository:

# for local files
PERSONAL_COMPONENTS=file:///path/to/components/ flatpak run com.usebottles.bottles
# for a networked git repository
PERSONAL_COMPONENTS=https://github.com/USER/components/raw/main flatpak run com.usebottles.bottles

for installers

PERSONAL_INSTALLERS pointing to your local repository:

# for local files
PERSONAL_INSTALLERS=file:///path/to/programs/ flatpak run com.usebottles.bottles
# for a networked git repository
PERSONAL_INSTALLERS=https://github.com/USER/programs/raw/main flatpak run com.usebottles.bottles

Then, try to install the dependency/installer/runner/.. in a new bottle using the appropriate section.

If that doesn’t work, check the terminal where you launched Bottles from and search for errors. If they are not present it means that there is some problem in the steps of your manifest and you will have to check the instructions for any missing or errors (including typing).