article on data in OpenBMC

[Andrew Geissler]

> On May 22, 2020, at 3:46 PM, Brad Bishop <bradleyb at fuzziesquirrel.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello
> 
> I wrote this article on data in OpenBMC to begin an attempt at making
> it easier to find data, when porting new systems to OpenBMC.  I say
> begin because I only documented three repositories.  The idea is that
> more would be added to the list over time.  My intent would be to add
> this to the docs repository or to the wiki.  I would love to hear any
> feedback on my article or any ideas anyone has on data in OpenBMC.

Nice! Definitely a point of confusion for people so having something
like this to reference and point to the more detailed areas is great.

What’s your vision for this article? A doc repo? A wiki? Wikis def
make it more likely to get updated.

> 
> thx - brad
> 
> ----------------------------------------
> # Data Driven Applications in OpenBMC
> 
> **Purpose:** Describe techniques for finding data in OpenBMC.
> 
> **Intended Audience:** System integrators, system engineers, developers porting
> systems to OpenBMC.
> 
> **Prerequisites:** None
> 
> If you already know the techniques for finding data in OpenBMC, skip ahead to
> [the list of OpenBMC applications with
> data](#list-of-openbmc-applications-with-data).
> 
> ## Techniques for finding data
> ### Runtime configuration files in bitbake metadata
> Some applications consume data in the form of runtime configuration files.
> Runtime means the application loads the configuration data when it is invoked,
> on the target (on the BMC).  Configuration files are `/etc/<packagename>.conf`
> or in `/etc/<packagename>/` in the target's root filesystem.  The format of a
> configuration file is application specific.

Not sure if this doc is the best place but I’d like to see a best practices on
file format (i.e. use .json) and runtime config file locations (i.e. /etc/ /var type 
decisions). Also, the recommendation to make your data runtime config
vs. build time config when possible (to make live debug/test easier).