Build: merge-resistant way of enabling release versions on main branch

Author: greenrobot-team

.gitlab-ci.yml

@@ -16,12 +16,16 @@ image: objectboxio/buildenv-core:2025-07-03 # With JDK 21
 # - ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_signingPassword
 
 variables:
-  OBX_RELEASE:
+  OBX_PUBLISH_RELEASE:
     value: "false"
     options: [ "false", "true" ]
-    description: "Turns on the release flag in the Gradle root build script, which triggers building and publishing a
-                  release of Java libraries to the internal GitLab repository and Maven Central.
+    description: "If enabled, builds and depends on release versions and triggers publishing a
+                  release of the Java library artifacts to the internal GitLab repository and Maven Central.
+                  Don't run multiple times to avoid duplicate artifacts in the GitLab repository.
                   Consult the release checklist before turning this on."
+  # If enabled, builds and depends on release versions. Doesn't publish a release.
+  # See the root Gradle build script for details.
+  OBX_RELEASE: "false"
 
   # Disable the Gradle daemon. Gradle may run in a Docker container with a shared
   # Docker volume containing GRADLE_USER_HOME. If the container is stopped after a job
@@ -50,6 +54,14 @@ workflow:
     # Never create a pipeline when a tag is pushed (to simplify version computation in root build script)
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
       when: never
+    # On main branch, always use release versions as old snapshots of dependencies are deleted
+    - if: $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME == "main"
+      variables:
+        OBX_RELEASE: "true"
+    # To publish a release must use release versions
+    - if: $OBX_PUBLISH_RELEASE == "true"
+      variables:
+        OBX_RELEASE: "true"
     # In all other cases, create a pipeline
     - when: always
 
@@ -166,8 +178,9 @@ publish-maven-internal:
     - linux
     - x64
   rules:
-    # Not for main branch, doing so may duplicate release artifacts (uploaded from publish branch)
-    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"
+    # Not when using release versions and not publishing a release to avoid duplicate artifacts
+    # (GitLab would allow to upload duplicates for a release version)
+    - if: $OBX_RELEASE == "true" && $OBX_PUBLISH_RELEASE != "true"
       when: never
     # Not if triggered by upstream project to save on disk space
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "pipeline"
@@ -188,8 +201,8 @@ publish-maven-central:
     - linux
     - x64
   rules:
-    # Only if release mode is on, only if no previous stages failed
-    - if: $OBX_RELEASE == "true"
+    # Only if publishing a release, only if no previous stages failed
+    - if: $OBX_PUBLISH_RELEASE == "true"
       when: on_success
   before_script:
     - ci/send-to-gchat.sh "$GOOGLE_CHAT_WEBHOOK_JAVA_CI" --thread $CI_COMMIT_SHA "*Releasing Java library:* job $CI_JOB_NAME from branch $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH ($CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA)..."
@@ -209,8 +222,8 @@ package-api-docs:
     - linux
     - x64
   rules:
-    # Only if release mode is on, only if no previous stages failed
-    - if: $OBX_RELEASE == "true"
+    # Only if publishing a release, only if no previous stages failed
+    - if: $OBX_PUBLISH_RELEASE == "true"
       when: on_success
   script:
     - ./gradlew $GITLAB_REPO_ARGS $VERSION_ARGS :objectbox-java:packageJavadocForWeb
@@ -225,7 +238,7 @@ trigger-plugin:
   stage: triggers
   rules:
     # Not when publishing a release
-    - if: $OBX_RELEASE == "true"
+    - if: $OBX_PUBLISH_RELEASE == "true"
       when: never
     # Do not trigger publishing of plugin
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "publish"

build.gradle.kts

@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
 // - sonatypeUsername: Maven Central credential used by Nexus publishing.
 // - sonatypePassword: Maven Central credential used by Nexus publishing.
 // This script supports the following environment variables:
-// - OBX_RELEASE: If set to "true" builds release versions without version postfix.
-//   Otherwise, will build snapshot versions.
+// - OBX_RELEASE: If set to "true" builds and depends on release versions, without branch name and snapshot suffix.
 
 plugins {
     // https://github.com/ben-manes/gradle-versions-plugin/releases
@@ -22,12 +21,11 @@ buildscript {
     // Should only be changed as part of the release process, see the release checklist in the objectbox repo
     val versionNumber = "5.4.1"
 
-    // Release mode should only be enabled when manually triggering a CI pipeline,
-    // see the release checklist in the objectbox repo.
-    // If true won't build snapshots and removes version post fix (e.g. "-dev-SNAPSHOT"),
-    // uses release versions of dependencies.
-    // val isRelease = System.getenv("OBX_RELEASE") == "true"
-    val isRelease = true // On (public) main branch don't use snapshots (publishing is disabled in CI for main branch)
+    // If OBX_RELEASE is set, build and depend on release versions. Doesn't publish a release.
+    // See the release checklist in the objectbox repo on how to publish a release.
+    // If true, Maven artifacts use a release version, so without branch name and snapshot suffix
+    // (such as "-dev-SNAPSHOT"), including for dependencies (such as objectbox-java).
+    val isRelease = System.getenv("OBX_RELEASE") == "true"
 
     // version post fix: "-<value>" or "" if not defined; e.g. used by CI to pass in branch name
     val versionPostFixValue = project.findProperty("versionPostFix")
@@ -49,14 +47,6 @@ buildscript {
     println("version=$obxJavaVersion")
     println("objectboxNativeDependency=$obxJniLibVersion")
 
-    // To avoid duplicate release artifacts on the internal repository,
-    // prevent publishing from branches other than publish, and main (for which publishing is turned off).
-    val isCI = System.getenv("CI") == "true"
-    val branchOrTag = System.getenv("CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME")
-    if (isCI && isRelease && !("publish" == branchOrTag || "main" == branchOrTag)) {
-        throw GradleException("isRelease = true only allowed on publish or main branch, but is $branchOrTag")
-    }
-
     // Versions for third party dependencies and plugins
     val essentialsVersion by extra("3.1.0")
     val junitVersion by extra("4.13.2")