[Meta] - Windows XP builds might start to fail permanently

[OPNA2608]

Qt5.5 downloads (last version with XP support) are dead

Qt have removed all of their prebuilt versions of Qt5 < version 5.9. This includes Qt5.5, the latest possible version for XP-targeting builds. /.github/workflows/windows-xp.yml still works due to caching, but once that cache gets invalidated (which i believe can happen via repository inactivity too?), it's probably dead for good.

I've opened this meta-ish issue so we can potentially discuss what to do about this, if / once that cache eventually does die. I see afew potential options:

1. Use AppVeyor for all XP tests & automatic releases
   This would need some additional changes to have a fourth, proper, XP-targeting CONFIG+=release build on AppVeyor, only triggered by a tagged commit & uploading its release archive to the release entry that the GitHub Actions builds will have created.

2. Trusted user / developer building XP releases (regular tests is most likely too much to demand) on a privately-owned system & append to releases page
   Not sure how I'd feel about this, but a potential option nonetheless.

3. Only AppVeyor testing
   Requires the least effort on our side: Only distribute the unoptimised debug builds.

4. Build our own Qt5.5
   Absolutely madness, unlikely to happen.

5. Abandon XP tests & releases
   The worst option out of them all. My CI fetching scripts have been a crutch since forever, AppVeyor is the only comfortable way for testing this build scenario that's left.

[rerrahkr]

1. Use AppVeyor for all XP tests & automatic releases

It's desireble I think, but after a quick look at the appveyor reference, I couldn't find out how to condition deployment, so I don't mind fetching the release artifact manually.

I made a draft of settings where the release job will work only when a tag is published.

diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
index 55d8243..72743e5 100644
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ b/.appveyor.yml
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@ branches:
   only:
     - master
 
-# Do not build on tags
-skip_tags: true
-
 # Skipping commits with particular message or from specific user
 skip_commits:
     message: /Created.*\.(png|jpg|jpeg|bmp|gif|md)/       # Regex for matching commit message
@@ -41,7 +38,8 @@ environment:
       PLATFORM: windows
       DEST: BambooTracker-v%APPVEYOR_BUILD_VERSION%-dev-windows.zip
       MAKE: mingw32-make
-    # Windows XP
+      RELEASE_BUILD: false
+    # Windows XP (Debug)
     - APPVEYOR_JOB_NAME: for Windows XP
       APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE: Visual Studio 2013
       COMPILER: C:\Qt\Tools\mingw492_32\bin
@@ -49,11 +47,36 @@ environment:
       PLATFORM: windows-xp
       DEST: BambooTracker-v%APPVEYOR_BUILD_VERSION%-dev-windows-xp.zip
       MAKE: mingw32-make
+      RELEASE_BUILD: false
+    # Windows XP (Release)
+    - APPVEYOR_JOB_NAME: for Windows XP (Release)
+      APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE: Visual Studio 2013
+      COMPILER: C:\Qt\Tools\mingw492_32\bin
+      QT: C:\Qt\5.5\mingw492_32\bin
+      PLATFORM: windows-xp
+      DEST: BambooTracker-v%APPVEYOR_BUILD_VERSION%-windows-xp.zip
+      MAKE: mingw32-make
+      RELEASE_BUILD: true
     - APPVEYOR_JOB_NAME: for macOS
       APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE: macOS-Mojave
       PLATFORM: macos
       DEST: BambooTracker-v$APPVEYOR_BUILD_VERSION-dev-macos.zip
       MAKE: make
+      RELEASE_BUILD: false
+
+for:
+-
+  # Debug
+  matrix:
+    only:
+      - RELEASE_BUILD: false
+  skip_tags: true
+-
+  # Release
+  matrix:
+    only:
+      - RELEASE_BUILD: true
+  skip_non_tags: true
 
 # scripts that run after cloning repository
 install:
@@ -80,7 +103,8 @@ before_build:
 # to run your custom scripts instead of automatic MSBuild
 build_script:
   - ps: |
-      qmake.exe BambooTracker.pro PREFIX=..\target CONFIG+=debug CONFIG+=console CONFIG+=nostrip
+      $QMAKE_CONFIGS = if ($env:RELEASE_BUILD) { "CONFIG+=release CONFIG-=debug" } else { "CONFIG+=debug CONFIG+=console CONFIG+=nostrip" }
+      Invoke-Expression ("qmake.exe BambooTracker.pro PREFIX=..\target " + $QMAKE_CONFIGS)
       Invoke-Expression ($env:MAKE + " -j2")
   - sh: |
       qmake BambooTracker.pro PREFIX=../target CONFIG+=debug CONFIG+=console CONFIG+=nostrip LIBS+=-L"$JACKLIB" INCLUDEPATH+="$JACKINC" CONFIG+=install_flat
@@ -107,8 +131,9 @@ after_build:
   - sh: bash ../scripts/package_osx.sh
   - cd ..
   - ps: |
-      mv target BambooTracker-v"$env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_VERSION"-dev-"$env:PLATFORM"
-      7z a -tzip "$env:DEST" BambooTracker-v"$env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_VERSION"-dev-"$env:PLATFORM"
+      $DEV_LAB = if ($env:RELEASE_BUILD) { "-" } else { "-dev-" }
+      mv target BambooTracker-v"$env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_VERSION$DEV_LAB$env:PLATFORM"
+      7z a -tzip "$env:DEST" BambooTracker-v"$env:APPVEYOR_BUILD_VERSION$DEV_LAB$env:PLATFORM"
   - sh: |
       mv target BambooTracker-v"$APPVEYOR_BUILD_VERSION"-dev-"$PLATFORM"
       7z a -tzip "$DEST" BambooTracker-v"$APPVEYOR_BUILD_VERSION"-dev-"$PLATFORM"

I'm not sure if this works, as appveyor can't be tested in this repository.

[OPNA2608]

I'll try to test your diff on my fork later today.

[OPNA2608]

branches:
   only:
     - master

also needs the tag name

    - /v\d*\.\d*\.\d*/

see Branches and Tags:

Despite the option name, only and except is applied to tag names too, so the above example using only would cause tags not trigger the build.

---

And instances of

if ($env:RELEASE_BUILD)

need to check for a string matching "true" instead

if ($env:RELEASE_BUILD -ieq "true")

AppVeyor seems to set that variable to "true"/"false", not $true/$false, which always evaluates to $true in those checks and applies release settings to all builds:

In PowerShell, Strings can be evaluated as Booleans. If a string is ZERO length – it is false, otherwise it is TRUE. “FALSE” has 5 characters so it is TRUE.

[rerrahkr]

Until 1e67a3e, a new XP job is added to appveyor and remove old GH Actions workflow. Thanks for your help!