[BUG] When building nuttx-apps, CI Workflow checks out the Incorrect Branch of nuttx repo

[lupyuen]

Description / Steps to reproduce the issue

1. When compiling the Release Branch of nuttx-apps, our CI Workflow nuttx-apps/build.yml checks out the Master Branch of nuttx repo, which is incorrect: {Bp-2655} examples: fix noteprint compile error  nuttx-apps#2770 (comment)

   the CI does not use the right branch
   modified: boards/arm/mps/mps3-an547/configs/ap/defconfig
   modified: boards/arm/mps/mps3-an547/configs/bl/defconfig
   we do not have those configs in releases/12.7

2. This comes from the arm-05 log: https://github.com/apache/nuttx-apps/actions/runs/11518661640/job/32069572079#step:7:96

   Configuration/Tool: mps3-an547/bl,CONFIG_ARM_TOOLCHAIN_GNU_EABI
     Normalize mps3-an547/bl
   83d82
   < # CONFIG_NSH_DISABLE_WAIT is not set
   Saving the new configuration file
   On branch master
   Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

   Changes not staged for commit:
     (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
     (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
	   modified:   boards/arm/mps/mps3-an547/configs/bl/defconfig

3. This happens because mps3-an547:bl doesn't exist in the releases/12.7 branch. (It exists in master)

4. Fetch-Source Log shows that CI is indeed checking out the Master Branch of nuttx repo (instead of releases/12.7): https://github.com/apache/nuttx-apps/actions/runs/11518661640/job/32069568370#step:3:66

   /usr/bin/git checkout --progress --force -B master refs/remotes/origin/master
   

5. Which might be caused by a typo in nuttx-apps/build.yml: https://github.com/apache/nuttx-apps/blob/master/.github/workflows/build.yml#L92

         - name: Checkout nuttx repo
           uses: actions/checkout@v4
           with:
             repository: apache/nuttx
             ref: ${{ steps.gittargets.outputs.os_ref }}

6. The workflow above says we are checking out Branch os_ref. But os_ref is undefined! It's actually named name: https://github.com/apache/nuttx-apps/blob/master/.github/workflows/build.yml#L85

     Fetch-Source:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       steps:
         - name: Determine Target Branches
             ...
             echo "name=$OS_REF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
             echo "app_ref=$APPS_REF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

7. I propose to change name to os_ref:

             echo "os_ref=$OS_REF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
             echo "app_ref=$APPS_REF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

8. Tracking back to the original code: It seems plausible that there's a typo: https://github.com/apache/nuttx/pull/9289/files

             echo ::set-output name=os_ref::$OS_REF
             echo ::set-output name=apps_ref::$APPS_REF

   Suspiciously became:

             echo "name=$OS_REF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
             echo "app_ref=$APPS_REF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

9. Note the apps_ref vs app_ref. I patched it to apps_ref (which needs to be backported to releases/12.7 of nuttx-apps)

   • build.yml: Check out the correct branch of nuttx-apps #13806

10. In our Test Repo for nuttx-apps: Changing name to os_ref seems to work OK: https://github.com/lupyuen5/label-nuttx-apps/actions/runs/11528123257/job/32094821811#step:3:57

/usr/bin/git checkout --progress --force -B releases/12.7 refs/remotes/origin/releases/12.7

Hi @simbit18: Do you agree with my findings? Do you think it will cause issues in the NuttX Repo when we change name to os_ref? Thanks!

On which OS does this issue occur?

[OS: Linux]

What is the version of your OS?

CI Workflow

NuttX Version

master

Issue Architecture

[Arch: all]

Issue Area

[Area: Other]

Verification

• I have verified before submitting the report.

[lupyuen]

Update: We should never apply this fix to releases/12.7 of nuttx-apps. It will fail because the Newer CI Jobs don't exist in releases/12.7 of nuttx repo: arm64_01.dat, x86_64-01.dat, risc-v-03.dat, etc

+ /github/workspace/sources/nuttx/tools/testbuild.sh -A -N -R -S -j 4 -e '-Wno-cpp -Werror' testlist/arm64-01.dat
ERROR: No readable file exists at testlist/arm64-01.dat

https://github.com/lupyuen5/label-nuttx-apps/actions/runs/11528123257/job/32094855996#step:7:81

In Future: We should always backport the Latest CI Jobs tools/ci/testlist/*.dat to the releases branch. Right now things are a little messy because we're cutting GitHub Runners: #14376

[simbit18]

Hi @lupyuen yes, I think so too that there is a typo due to this change github actions
https://github.blog/changelog/2022-10-11-github-actions-deprecating-save-state-and-set-output-commands/

maybe after coming out of the 30/10 tunnel it would be better to create a workflow release with everything (docker, macos, msys2 and msvc)
build_dev.yml -> development
release.yml -> release
what do you think ?

[lupyuen]

Thanks @simbit18! Yep let's reorg the CI Workflow after 30 Oct. I'm keen to hear your ideas, maybe you can share an outline of the proposed workflow? Thanks :-)