Add pixi support in the robotology-superbuild

.gitattributes

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# GitHub syntax highlighting
+pixi.lock linguist-language=YAML linguist-generated=true

.github/workflows/pixi-ci.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+name: Pixi CI Workflow
+
+on:
+  # on demand
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      delete_pixi_lock:
+        description: 'If true, delete pixi.lock, to test against the latest version of dependencies.'
+        required: true
+        default: 'false'
+  pull_request:
+  schedule:
+  # * is a special character in YAML so you have to quote this string
+  # Execute a "nightly" build twice a week 2 AM UTC
+  - cron:  '0 2 * * 2,5'
+
+jobs:
+  build-with-pixi:
+    name: '[pixi:${{ matrix.os }}]'
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        build_type: [Release]
+        os: [ubuntu-22.04, macos-13, macos-14, windows-2019]
+
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+    # On periodic jobs and when delete_pixi_lock option is true, delete the pixi.lock to check that the project compiles with latest version of dependencies
+    - name: Delete pixi.lock on scheduled jobs or if delete_pixi_lock is true
+      if: github.event_name == 'schedule' || (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && github.event.inputs.delete_pixi_lock == 'true')
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        rm pixi.lock
+
+    - name: Print used environment
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        env
+
+    - uses: prefix-dev/[email protected]
+
+    - name: Build
+      shell: bash -l {0}
+      run: |
+        # Avoid YCM complaining that the git user is not set
+        # Eventually we could consider removing that check in YCM
+        git config --global user.name PixiGHA User
+        git config --global user.email [email protected]
+        pixi run build-all

.github/workflows/pixi-update-lock.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+name: Update pixi lock file
+
+on:
+  # on demand
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  auto-update:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - uses: prefix-dev/[email protected]
+        with:
+          pixi-version: "latest"
+          cache: false
+      - name: Update pixi lock file
+        run: |
+          rm pixi.lock
+          pixi install
+      - uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v5
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          branch: update/pixi-lock
+          title: Update pixi lock file
+          commit-message: "Update `pixi.lock`"
+          body: Update pixi dependencies to the latest version.
+          author: "GitHub <[email protected]>"

.gitignore

@@ -12,3 +12,8 @@ CTestTestfile.cmake
 *kdev*
 /src/
 *.user
+# pixi environments
+.pixi
+*.egg-info
+# build directory used by pixi
+/.build/

README.md

@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ For the list of actually available tags, see the [GitHub's releases page](https:
 
 Once you cloned the repo, to go forward you can follow the different instructions on how to install robotology-superbuild from the source code, depending on your operating system and the package manager you want to use to install the required dependencies:
 * [**Linux with dependencies provided by apt**](#linux-from-source-with-dependencies-provided-by-apt): use the superbuild on Debian/Ubuntu distributions installing the dependencies with apt,
-* [**Linux, macOS or Windows with dependencies provided by conda-forge**](#linux-macos-or-windows-from-source-with-dependencies-provided-by-conda-forge): use the superbuild on any supported operating system, installing the dependencies with conda package manager,
+* [**Linux, macOS or Windows with dependencies provided by conda-forge**](#linux-macos-or-windows-from-source-with-dependencies-provided-by-conda-forge): use the superbuild on any supported operating system, installing the dependencies with conda or pixi package manager,
 * [**Windows Subsystem For Linux**](#windows-subsystem-for-linux-from-source): use the superbuild on [Windows Subsystem For Linux](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/about).
 
 The exact versions of the operating systems supported by the robotology-superbuild follow the one supported by the YARP library, that are documented in https://github.com/robotology/yarp/blob/master/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md#supported-systems .
@@ -203,7 +203,9 @@ If for any reason you do not want to use the provided `setup.sh` script and you
 
 ## Linux, macOS or Windows from source with dependencies provided by conda-forge
 
-Please refer to [`doc/conda-forge.md`](doc/conda-forge.md) document for instruction on how to compile the superbuild from source using the conda-forge provided dependencies, in particular the [`Source Installation`](doc/conda-forge.md#source-installation) section.
+If you want to use the `conda` package manager refer to [`doc/conda-forge.md`](doc/conda-forge.md) document for instruction on how to compile the superbuild from source using the conda-forge provided dependencies, in particular the [`Source Installation`](doc/conda-forge.md#source-installation) section.
+
+Otherwise, if you want to use the `pixi` package manager to install and build the superbuild, refer to the [`doc/pixi.md`](doc/pixi.md) document.
 
 ## Windows Subsystem for Linux from source
 

doc/conda-forge.md

@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ For some [profile](doc/cmake-options.md#profile-cmake-options) or [dependency](d
 
 To install python and the other required dependencies when using `conda-forge` provided dependencies, use:
 ~~~
-conda install -c conda-forge python numpy swig pybind11 pyqt matplotlib h5py tornado u-msgpack-python pyzmq ipython gst-plugins-good gst-plugins-bad pyqtwebengine qtpy pyyaml
+conda install -c conda-forge python pip numpy swig pybind11 pyqt matplotlib h5py tornado u-msgpack-python pyzmq ipython gst-plugins-good gst-plugins-bad pyqtwebengine qtpy pyyaml
 ~~~
 
 #### `ROBOTOLOGY_USES_PCL_AND_VTK`

doc/pixi.md

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# pixi
+
+Pixi is a package management tool for developers, tt allows the developer to install libraries and applications in a reproducible way. For more information about pixi a, check [pixi's website](https://pixi.sh/).
+
+IF you have pixi installed, to compile the superbuild with all options enabled, just run the following commands:
+
+~~~
+git clone https://github.com/robotology/robotology-superbuild/
+cd robotology-superbuild
+pixi run build-all
+~~~
+
+This creates a CMake build of the superbuild in the `robotology-superbuild/.build` folder.
+
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> All the dependencies of the superbuild are automatically downloaded and installed in the `robotology-superbuild/.pixi` directory by pixi itself. If you are on Windows, the only additional dependency that you need to install manually is the VS2019 C++ compiler installed in your system.
+
+> [!WARNING]
+> Due to the high number of threads created by robotology-superbuild's project for compilation, it can happen that the build stops as the system run out of memory. In that case, run again `pixi run build-all` and the build will resume from the point at which it halted.
+
+
+After this process completly successfully, you can access all the software compiled by the superbuild by moving in the `robotology-superbuild` directory and run `pixi run <command>` (to launch a single command) or `pixi shell` (to open a terminal in which the superbuild software is available).
+
+For example, to run the `idyntree-model-info` program, you can run:
+
+~~~
+pixi run idyntree-model-info
+~~~
+
+or:
+
+~~~
+pixi shell
+idyntree-model-info
+~~~
+
+If you want to customize the CMake options of the superbuild, you can modify them by running `pixi run build` (that will not enable any specific option), and then modify the cmake options of the superbuild via the command:
+
+~~~
+pixi run ccmake -B.build
+~~~