Introduction#

About Conestack#

Conestack is an organization that develops a collection of interrelated Python packages for building web applications. The project provides a layered architecture from low-level data structures up to full-featured web application components.

All packages are open source and hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/conestack.

Package Families#

The codebase consists of three main package families, each building on the previous layer:

node.* - Tree Data Structures (Foundation Layer)

The node package provides tree/node data structures using ordered dictionaries. Extensions provide backends for various storage systems:

  • node - Core tree data structures

  • node.ext.directory - Directory/file system trees

  • node.ext.fs - File system nodes

  • node.ext.ldap - LDAP directory trees

  • node.ext.ugm - User/Group management abstractions

  • node.ext.yaml - YAML file storage

  • node.ext.zodb - ZODB persistent storage

yafowil.* - Form Library (UI Layer)

YAFOWIL (Yet Another Form Widget Library) provides a powerful form generation and processing framework:

  • yafowil - Core form library

  • yafowil.bootstrap - Bootstrap CSS framework integration

  • yafowil.webob - WebOb request/response integration

  • yafowil.yaml - YAML-based form definitions

  • yafowil.widget.* - Widget extensions (ace, array, autocomplete, chosen, color, cron, datetime, dict, dynatree, image, location, multiselect, richtext, select2, slider, tiptap, wysihtml5)

cone.* - Web Application Framework (Application Layer)

The Cone framework builds on Pyramid to provide a complete web application stack:

  • cone.app - Main web application framework

  • cone.tile - Tile-based UI composition system

  • cone.ugm - User/Group management UI

  • cone.ldap - LDAP backend integration

  • cone.sql - SQL database integration

  • cone.zodb - ZODB backend integration

  • cone.calendar - Calendar functionality

  • cone.charts - Chart visualizations

  • cone.fileupload - File upload handling

  • cone.firebase - Firebase integration

  • cone.maps - Map widgets

  • cone.tokens - Token management

Supporting Packages

  • odict - Ordered dictionary implementation

  • plumber - Pipeline/plumbing pattern implementation

  • webresource - Web resource (JS/CSS) management

  • treibstoff - JavaScript/TypeScript utilities for cone.app

The Monorepo#

This repository is a monorepo development environment that manages 50+ packages simultaneously. It uses mxdev and mxmake for build orchestration.

Directory Structure#

conestack/
├── sources/          # All package source code (Git checkouts)
├── mx.ini            # Package repository configuration
├── Makefile          # Generated build targets
├── venv/             # Python virtual environment
├── openldap/         # Local OpenLDAP server (for tests)
├── docs/             # This documentation
└── scripts/          # Build and validation scripts

Each package in sources/ is checked out from its own Git repository. The mx.ini file defines which repositories to check out and which branches to use.

Build System#

The build system consists of two tools:

  • mxdev - Checks out source repositories from GitHub and generates requirements files

  • mxmake - Generates the Makefile with orchestrated build targets

The virtual environment uses uv as the package installer for improved performance.

Working with the Repository#

Initial Setup#

# Install system dependencies (Debian/Ubuntu)
make system-dependencies

# Full project install
make install

# Or step by step:
make mxenv        # Create virtual environment
make sources      # Checkout all source repositories
make mxfiles      # Generate dependency files
make packages     # Install all packages

Running Tests#

# Run all tests across all packages
make test

# Run coverage
make coverage

Tests requiring LDAP functionality need the OpenLDAP installation, which can be built with make openldap.

Working with Individual Packages#

Each package in sources/ is its own Git repository:

  1. Changes in sources/package-name/ affect that package’s repository

  2. Use Git commands inside the specific package directory for commits

  3. Packages are installed in development mode (editable install)

  4. The root mx.ini defines which branch each package uses

Note

Packages in sources/ may contain their own nested mxmake setup from standalone development. When working from the root conestack directory, ignore these nested structures.

Cleanup Commands#

# Clean build artifacts (keeps sources)
make clean

# Remove sources directory too
make purge

# Clean specific components
make mxenv-clean      # Remove virtual environment
make packages-clean   # Uninstall packages
make sources-purge    # Remove checked out sources

Working with Documentation#

Building Documentation#

The documentation uses Sphinx and is located in the docs/ directory:

cd docs
make html

The built documentation will be in docs/build/html/.

Documentation Structure#

  • Introduction - This overview document

  • Version Overview - Summary of version sets and their characteristics

  • Conestack 1.0/2.0/3.0 - Detailed package versions for each release

  • Version Mapping - Complete version history across all releases

  • Package Validation - QA process for release preparation

Python Version Support#

  • Conestack 1.0: Python 2.7, Python 3.7-3.11

  • Conestack 2.0: Python 3.10-3.14

  • Conestack 3.0: Python 3.10-3.14

The minimum Python version for current development is 3.10.

Further Reading#

  • Individual package documentation on PyPI and ReadTheDocs

  • GitHub repositories at https://github.com/conestack

  • Version-specific documentation in this guide

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