Add docu for deployers and a simple example

examples.rst

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Examples
 
    examples/conanfile/conanfile
    examples/extensions/commands/custom_commands
+   examples/extensions/deployers/custom_deployers
    examples/tools/cmake/cmake
    examples/tools/files/files
    examples/tools/meson/meson

examples/extensions/deployers/custom_deployers.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+.. _examples_extensions_deployers:
+
+
+
+
+Custom deployers
+================
+
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 2
+
+
+   sources/custom_deployer_sources

examples/extensions/deployers/sources/custom_deployer_sources.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+.. examples_extensions_deployers_sources:
+
+Copy sources from all your dependencies
+=======================================
+
+
+
+Please, first of all, clone the sources to recreate this project. You can find them in the
+`examples2.0 repository <https://github.com/conan-io/examples2>`_ in GitHub:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $ git clone https://github.com/conan-io/examples2.git
+    $ cd examples2/examples/extensions/deployers/sources
+
+
+In this example we are going to see how to create and use a custom deployer.
+This deployer copies all the source files from your dependencies and puts them into a specific output folder
+
+.. note::
+
+    To better understand this example, it is highly recommended to have previously read the :ref:`Deployers <reference_extensions_deployer_direct_deploy>` reference.
+
+
+Locate the deployer
+-------------------
+
+In this case, the deployer is located in the same directory as our example conanfile,
+but as shown in :ref:`Deployers <reference_extensions_deployer_direct_deploy>` reference,
+Conan will look for the specified deployer in a few extra places in order, namely:
+
+#. Absolute paths
+#. Relative to cwd
+#. In the ``[CONAN_HOME]/extensions/deploy`` folder
+#. Built-in deployers
+
+
+Run it
+------
+
+For our example, we have a simple recipe that lists both ``zlib`` and ``mcap`` as requirements.
+With the help of the ``tools.build:download_source=True`` conf, we can force the invocation of its ``source()`` method,
+which will ensure that sources are available even if no build needs to be carried out.
+
+Now, you should be able to use the new deployer in both ``conan install`` and ``conan graph`` commands for any given recipe:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $ conan graph info . -c tools.build:download_source=True --deploy=sources_deploy
+
+
+Inspecting the command output we can see that it copied the sources of our direct dependencies ``zlib`` and ``mcap``,
+**plus** the sources of our transitive dependencies, ``zstd``and ``lz4`` to a ``dependencies_sources`` folder.
+After this is done, extra preprocessing could be done to accomplish more specific needs.
+
+Code tour
+---------
+
+The **source_deploy.py** file has the following code:
+
+
+
+.. code-block:: python
+    :caption: **sources_deploy.py**
+
+    from conan.tools.files import copy
+    import os
+
+
+    def deploy(graph, output_folder):
+        for name, dep in graph.root.conanfile.dependencies.items():
+            copy(graph.root.conanfile, "*", dep.folders.source_folder, os.path.join(output_folder, "dependency_sources", str(dep)))
+
+
+deploy()
+++++++++
+
+The ``deploy()`` method is called by Conan, and gets both a dependency graph and an output folder path as arguments.
+It iterates all the dependencies of our recipe and copies every source file to their respective folders
+under ``dependencies_sources`` using :ref:`conan.tools.copy<conan_tools_files_copy>`.

reference/extensions/deployers.rst

@@ -1,5 +1,76 @@
 .. _reference_extensions_deployers:
 
 Deployers
----------
+=========
 
+Deployers are a mechanism to facilitate copying files form one folder, usually the Conan cache, to user folders.
+While Conan provides two built-in ones (``full_deploy`` and ``direct_deploy``), users can easily manage their own
+with ``conan config install``.
+
+Deployers run before generators, and they can change the target folders.
+For example, if the ``--deploy=full_deploy`` deployer runs before ``CMakeDeps``,
+the files generated by ``CMakeDeps`` will point to the local copy in the user folder done by the ``full_deploy`` deployer,
+and not to the Conan cache. Multiple deployers can be specified by supplying more than one ``--deploy=`` argument,
+and they will be ran in order of appearance.
+
+Deployers can be multi-configuration. Running ``conan install . --deploy=full_deploy`` repeatedly for different profiles
+can achieve a fully self-contained project, including all the artifacts, binaries, and build files.
+This project will be completely independent of Conan and no longer require it at all to build.
+
+
+Built-in deployers
+------------------
+
+.. _reference_extensions_deployer_full_deploy:
+
+full_deploy
+^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Deploys each package folder of every dependency to your recipe's ``output_folder`` in a subfolder tree based on:
+
+#. The build context
+#. The dependency name and version
+#. The build type
+#. The build arch
+
+Then every dependency will end up in a folder such as:
+
+``[OUTPUT_FOLDER]/host/dep/0.1/Release/x86_64``
+
+
+.. _reference_extensions_deployer_direct_deploy:
+
+direct_deploy
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Same as ``full_deploy``, but only processes your recipe's *direct* dependencies.
+
+
+Custom deployers
+----------------
+
+Custom deployers can be managed via ``conan config install``. When looking for a specific deployer,
+Conan will look in these locations for the deployer in the following order:
+
+#. Absolute paths
+#. Relative to cwd
+#. In the ``[CONAN_HOME]/extensions/deploy`` folder
+#. As built-in deployers
+
+Conan will look for a ``deploy()`` method to call for each installed file.
+The function signature of your custom deployers should be as follows:
+
+
+.. code-block:: python
+    :caption: **my_custom_deployer.py**
+
+    def deploy(graph, output_folder: str):
+
+(Note that the arguments are passed as named parameters, so both the ``graph`` and ``output_folder`` names are mandatory)
+
+You can access your conanfile object with ``graph.root.conanfile``.
+See :ref:`ConanFile.dependencies<conan_conanfile_model_dependencies>` for information on how to iterate over its dependencies.
+Your custom deployer can now be invoked as if it were a built-in deployer using the filename in which it's found,
+in this case ``conan install . --deploy=my_custom_deployer``. Note that supplying the **.py** extension is optional.
+
+See the :ref:`custom deployers<examples_extensions_deployers>` section for examples on how to implement your own deployers.