1 ================================================================
4 * This file attempts to describe the rules to use when hacking
7 * Don't put this file into the distribution. Don't mention it in the
11 ================================================================
14 * If you incorporate a change from somebody on the net:
15 First, if it is a large change, you must make sure they have signed the
16 appropriate paperwork.
17 Second, be sure to add their name and email address to THANKS
19 * If a change fixes a test, mention the test in the ChangeLog entry.
21 * If somebody reports a new bug, mention his name in the ChangeLog entry
22 and in the test case you write. Put him into THANKS.
24 * The correct response to most actual bugs is to write a new test case
25 which demonstrates the bug. Then fix the bug, re-run the test suite,
26 and check everything in.
28 * Some files in the automake package are not owned by automake. These
29 files should never be edited here. These files are
31 INSTALL (autoconf-patches@gnu.org),
32 config.guess, config.sub (config-patches@gnu.org),
33 texinfo.tex (bug-texinfo@gnu.org),
34 Most of them are updated before release with `make fetch'.
36 * Changes other than bug fixes must be mentioned in NEWS
39 ================================================================
42 * We've adopted the convention that internal AC_SUBSTs should be
43 named with a leading `am__', and internally generated targets should
44 be named with a leading `am--'. This convention is very new
45 (as of Feb 7 2001) and so it isn't yet universally used. But all
46 new code should use it.
48 We used to use `_am_' as the prefix for an internal AC_SUBST.
49 However, it turns out that NEWS-OS 4.2R complains if a Makefile
50 variable begins with `_'. Yay for them. I changed the target
51 naming convention just to be safe.
53 ================================================================
56 * Always use $(...) and not ${...}
58 * Use `:', not `true'. Use `exit 1', not `false'.
60 * Use `##' comments liberally. Comment anything even remotely
63 * Never use basename or dirname. Instead use sed
65 * Do not use `cd' within back-quotes, use `$(am__cd)' instead.
66 Otherwise the directory name may be printed, depending on CDPATH.
67 More generally, do not ever use plain `cd' together with a relative
68 directory that does not start with a dot, or you might end up in one
71 * For install and uninstall rules, if a loop is required, it should be
72 silent. Then the body of the loop itself should print each
73 "important" command it runs. The printed commands should be preceded
77 ================================================================
78 = Editing automake.in and aclocal.in
80 * Indent using GNU style. For historical reasons, the perl code
81 contains portions indented using Larry Wall's style (perl-mode's
82 default), and other portions using the GNU style (cperl-mode's
83 default). Write new code using GNU style.
85 * Don't use & for function calls, unless required.
86 The use of & prevents prototypes from being checked.
87 Just as above, don't change massively all the code to strip the
88 &, just convert the old code as you work on it, and write new
94 ================================================================
97 * To regenerate dependent files created by aclocal and automake,
98 use the `bootstrap' script. It uses the code from the source
99 tree, so the resulting files (aclocal.m4 and Makefile.in) should
100 be the same as you would get if you install this version of
101 automake and use it to generate those files. Be sure to have the
102 latest stable version of Autoconf installed.
104 * Dependent files aclocal.m4, configure and Makefile.in in all
105 directories should be up to date in the git repository, so that
106 the changes in them can be easily noticed and analyzed.
108 * The git tree currently carries a number of branches: master for the
109 current development, and release branches named branch-X.Y. The maint
110 branch serves as common ground for both master and the active release
111 branches. Changes intended for both should be applied to maint, which
112 should then be merged to release branches and master, of course after
113 suitable testing. It is advisable to merge only after a set of related
114 commits have been applied.
116 * Example work flow for patches to maint:
118 # 1. Checkout the "maint" branch:
121 # 2. Apply the patch(es) with "git am" (or create them with $EDITOR):
123 # 2a. Run required tests, if any ...
125 # 3. Merge maint into branch-1.11:
126 git checkout branch-1.11
128 # 3a. Run required tests, if any ...
130 # 4. Redo steps 3 and 3a for master:
135 # 5. Push the maint and master branches:
136 git push --dry-run origin maint branch-1.11 master
137 # if all seems ok, then actually push:
138 git push origin maint branch-1.11 master
140 * For bug fixes of long-standing bugs, it may be useful to commit them to
141 a new branch based off of the commit that introduced the bug, and merge
142 this bugfix branch into active branches that descend from the buggy commit.
144 * There may be a number of longer-lived feature branches for new developments.
145 They should be based off of a common ancestor of all active branches to
146 which the feature should be merged later. The next branch may serve as
147 common ground for feature merging and testing, should they not be ready
150 * For merges from branches other than maint, prefer 'git merge --log' over
151 plain 'git merge', so that a later 'git log' gives an indication of which
152 actual patches were merged even when they don't appear early in the list.
154 * master and release branches should not be rewound, i.e., should always
155 fast-forward, except maybe for privacy issues. The maint branch should not
156 be rewound except maybe after retiring a release branch or a new stable
157 release. For next, and for feature branches, the announcement for the
158 branch should document rewinding policy.
160 * In order for rebasing and merging of ChangeLog entries to work seamlessly,
161 install and configure git-merge-changelog, currently available as gnulib
164 ================================================================
167 * Use "make check" and "make maintainer-check" liberally
169 * Make sure each test file is executable
171 * Use `keep_testdirs=yes' to keep test directories for successful
174 ================================================================
177 * Fetch new versions of the files that are maintained by the FSF.
178 Commit. Unfortunately you need an FSF account to do this.
179 (You can also use `make fetch', but that is still woefully incomplete.)
181 * Update NEWS. For an alpha release, update README-alpha.
183 * Update the version number in configure.ac.
184 (The idea is that every other alpha number will be a net release.
185 The repository will always have its own "odd" number so we can easily
186 distinguish net and repo versions.)
190 * Run ./bootstrap, ./configure, make.
192 * Run `make release-stats' if release statistics in doc/automake.texi
193 have not been updated yet.
195 * Run `make git-release'.
196 This will run distcheck to create the tarballs, commit the last
197 NEWS/configure.ac/ChangeLog changes, tag the repository, sign
198 the tarballs, and upload them.
199 Use `make GNUPLOADFLAGS="--user key" git-release' to sign with
202 * Update version number in configure.ac to next alpha number.
203 Re-run ./bootstrap and commit.
205 * Don't forget to `git push' your changes so they appear in the public
208 * Update the web pages at sources.redhat.com:
209 - bump version in index.rst,
210 - add entry to news.rst,
211 - run `make' to update .html files,
215 make html MAKEINFOFLAGS=--no-split
216 - copy automake.html and automake.pdf to web cvs,
217 - add ChangeLog entry and commit.
219 * Update the manuals at www.gnu.org:
222 wget "http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/~checkout~/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs.sh"
223 wget "http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/~checkout~/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs_template"
224 sh ./gendocs.sh --email bug-automake@gnu.org automake "GNU Automake"
225 - copy manuals recursively to web cvs,
227 - Check for link errors, fix them, recheck until convergence:
228 <http://validator.w3.org/checklink>
230 * Send announcement at least to autotools-announce@gnu.org, and
231 automake@gnu.org. If not an alpha, announcement must also go to
232 info-gnu@gnu.org. Copy this announcement into the NEWS feed at
233 <https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/automake>.
237 Copyright (C) 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
239 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
240 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
241 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
244 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
245 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
246 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
247 GNU General Public License for more details.
249 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
250 along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.