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Nimbus Features
A feature, in Nimbus, is a configuration that outlines a set of properties that define the experimentable aspects of a feature. Each feature should be distinct, and standalone from other features.
Nimbus works by outlining available features in the nimbus.fml.yaml file. This file has three main sections:
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about- identifying the client for Nimbus -
channels- outlining the available channels for building/setting defaults for -
include- outlining the various features to include in the file at build time
Feature files are found in the nimbus-features directory from the root of the repo. For ease of working & maintaining features, each feature should be placed in its own file. Each feature file is composed of several sections:
| Section | Optional | Description |
|---|---|---|
features |
No | Contains the feature in the file |
objects |
Yes | Outlines the custom objects for the specific feature |
enums |
Yes | Outlines the custom enums for the specific feature |
If objects or enums don't contain anything, they may be omitted from the file.
When creating a new feature, please use the iOSNimbusFeatureUtility.
Some external documentation on Nimbus features can be found here. However, setting up a new feature in code is fairly simple, if these steps are followed.
- Use the iOSNimbusFeatureUtility to add a feature
- Either add the feature to the FeatureFlagManager, if it's a feature flag, or create a separate feature layer governing that feature as required.
- Use the layer in the app.
This utility should be used for managing the nimbus.fml.yaml file, and currently provides the ability to add a feature and update the file. To use it, use the following command at the root level of the repository in your terminal. Note that an argument is required.
$ sh iOSNimbusFeatureUtility.sh --argument
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
--add featureNameFeature |
This creates a feature file named featureNameFeature.yaml in the nimbus-features directory. It also adds a template to that file for a new feature. featureName should be camelCase and should have the suffix Feature. This will then also run the --update command, so it's not necessary to run it yourself. |
--update |
This updates the nimbus.fml.yaml file with the feature that currently exist in the nimbus-features directory. |
To edit a feature, open the respective feature's file in the nimbus-features directory, and proceed to edit the feature.
To edit a feature simply means to add or remove a variable, as well as adding or removing objects or enums as necessary.
Note: the top level feature name should not be changed unless working with a Nimbus engineer to make sure the old name is removed from the database, as this is currently a manual process.