Use of driver-metadata file in Android Things

Question

So, in the repository of Android Things contrib-drivers, there's a .driver-metadata file in every folder. Like in these: https://github.com/androidthings/contrib-drivers/blob/master/rainbowhat/.driver-metadata

Can anyone tell me exactly what they're used for?

Thanks in Advance!

Answer 1

If I'm not wrong, it could be a tool by Google used to autogenerate the table of available drivers in their README in the repository.

It says here: https://github.com/androidthings/contrib-drivers/commit/194d09e8f4f0e0d5f8e0eef78ea26bdc8fa4fb5a 
that each of the drivers created the type from the .driver-metadata file:

TYPE="RGB LED strip"

matches the column type in the README table:

| RGB LED strip |

Further, if a .driver-metadata has another key like value of sample, then this is also in the table (and if it isn't, then there's no sample link).

From Google's perspective, this could mean that if a driver was added or updated, it'll automatically get notified about it irrespective of where the change happens.

Although, you should really check with someone from Google to confirm this. :P