1 ================================================================
4 * This file attempts to describe the rules to use when hacking
7 ================================================================
10 * The correct response to most actual bugs is to write a new test case
11 which demonstrates the bug. Then fix the bug, re-run the test suite,
12 and check everything in.
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 commit message.
20 If a change fixes a bug registered in the Automake debbugs tracker,
21 mention the bug number in the commit message.
23 * If somebody reports a new bug, mention his name in the commit message
24 and in the test case you write. Put him into THANKS.
26 * When documenting a non-trivial idiom or example in the manual, be
27 sure to add a test case for it, and to reference such test case from
28 a proper Texinfo comment.
30 * Some files in the automake package are not owned by automake; these
31 files are listed in the $(FETCHFILES) variable in Makefile.am. They
32 should never be edited here. Almost all of them can be updated from
33 respective upstreams with "make fetch" (this should be done especially
34 before releases). The only exception is the 'lib/COPYING' (from FSF),
35 which should be updated by hand whenever the GPL gets updated (which
36 shouldn't happen that often anyway :-)
38 * Changes other than bug fixes must be mentioned in NEWS. Important
39 bug fixes should be mentioned in NEWS, too.
41 ================================================================
44 * We've adopted the convention that internal AC_SUBSTs should be
45 named with a leading 'am__', and internally generated targets
46 should be named with a leading 'am--'. This convention, although
47 in place from at least February 2001, isn't yet universally used.
48 But all new code should use it.
50 We used to use '_am_' as the prefix for an internal AC_SUBST.
51 However, it turns out that NEWS-OS 4.2R complains if a Makefile
52 variable begins with the underscore character. Yay for them.
53 I changed the target naming convention just to be safe.
55 ================================================================
58 * Always use $(...) and not ${...}
60 * Use ':', not 'true'. Use 'exit 1', not 'false'.
62 * Use '##' comments liberally. Comment anything even remotely
65 * Never use basename or dirname. Instead use sed.
67 * Do not use 'cd' within back-quotes, use '$(am__cd)' instead.
68 Otherwise the directory name may be printed, depending on CDPATH.
69 More generally, do not ever use plain 'cd' together with a relative
70 directory that does not start with a dot, or you might end up in one
73 * For install and uninstall rules, if a loop is required, it should be
74 silent. Then the body of the loop itself should print each
75 "important" command it runs. The printed commands should be preceded
78 * Ensure install rules do not create any installation directory where
79 nothing is to be actually installed. See automake bug#11030.
81 ================================================================
82 = Editing automake.in and aclocal.in
84 * Indent using GNU style. For historical reasons, the perl code
85 contains portions indented using Larry Wall's style (perl-mode's
86 default), and other portions using the GNU style (cperl-mode's
87 default). Write new code using GNU style.
89 * Don't use & for function calls, unless required.
90 The use of & prevents prototypes from being checked.
91 Just as above, don't change massively all the code to strip the
92 &, just convert the old code as you work on it, and write new
95 ================================================================
98 * To regenerate dependent files created by aclocal and automake,
99 use the 'bootstrap' script. It uses the code from the source
100 tree, so the resulting files (aclocal.m4 and Makefile.in) should
101 be the same as you would get if you install this version of
102 automake and use it to generate those files. Be sure to have the
103 latest stable version of Autoconf installed. If such version is
104 not installed as "autoconf", pass it explicitly (along with the
105 accompanying "autom4te") when calling 'bootstrap' and 'configure'.
107 $ AUTOCONF=autoconf2.68 AUTOM4TE=autom4te2.68 ./bootstrap
108 $ ./configure AUTOCONF=autoconf2.68 AUTOM4TE=autom4te2.68
110 * Dependent files aclocal.m4, configure and Makefile.in in all
111 directories should be up to date in the git repository, so that
112 the changes in them can be easily noticed and analyzed.
114 * The git tree currently carries a number of branches: master for the
115 current development, and release branches named branch-X.Y. The maint
116 branch serves as common ground for both master and the active release
117 branches. Changes intended for both should be applied to maint, which
118 should then be merged to release branches and master, of course after
119 suitable testing. It is advisable to merge only after a set of related
120 commits have been applied.
122 * Example work flow for patches to maint:
124 # 1. Checkout the "maint" branch:
127 # 2. Apply the patch(es) with "git am" (or create them with $EDITOR):
129 # 2a. Run required tests, if any ...
131 # 3. Merge maint into branch-1.11:
132 git checkout branch-1.11
134 # 3a. Run required tests, if any ...
136 # 4. Redo steps 3 and 3a for master:
141 # 5. Push the maint and master branches:
142 git push --dry-run origin maint branch-1.11 master
143 # if all seems ok, then actually push:
144 git push origin maint branch-1.11 master
146 * When fixing a bug (especially a long-standing one), it may be useful
147 to commit the fix to a new temporary branch based off the commit that
148 introduced the bug. Then this "bugfix branch" can be merged into all
149 the active branches descending from the buggy commit. This offers a
150 simple way to fix the bug consistently and effectively.
152 * There may be a number of longer-lived feature branches for new developments.
153 They should be based off of a common ancestor of all active branches to
154 which the feature should or might be merged later. The next branch may
155 serve as common ground for feature merging and testing, should they not
156 be ready for master yet.
158 * For merges from branches other than maint, prefer 'git merge --log' over
159 plain 'git merge', so that a later 'git log' gives an indication of which
160 actual patches were merged even when they don't appear early in the list.
162 * master and release branches should not be rewound, i.e., should always
163 fast-forward, except maybe for privacy issues. The maint branch should not
164 be rewound except maybe after retiring a release branch or a new stable
165 release. For next, and for feature branches, the announcement for the
166 branch should document rewinding policy.
168 ================================================================
169 = Writing a good commit message
171 * Here is the general format that Automake's commit messages are expected
172 to follow. See the further points below for clarifications and minor
175 topic: brief description (this is the "summary line")
177 <reference to relevant bugs, if any>
179 Here goes a more detailed explanation of why the commit is needed,
180 and a general overview of what it does, and how. This section is
181 optional, but you are expected to provide it more often than not.
183 And if the detailed explanation is quite long or detailed, you can
184 want to break it in more paragraphs.
186 Then you can add references to relevant mailing list discussions
187 (if any), with proper links. But don't take this as an excuse for
188 writing incomplete commit messages! The "distilled" conclusions
189 reached in such discussions should have been placed in the
192 Finally, here you can thank people that motivated or helped the
193 change. So, thanks to John Doe for bringing up the issue, and to
194 J. Random Hacker for providing suggestions and testing the patch.
196 <detailed list of touched files>
198 * The <detailed list of touched files> is mandatory but for the most
199 trivial changes, and should follows the GNU guidelines for ChangeLog
200 entries (described explicitly in the GNU Coding Standards); it might
201 be something of this sort:
203 * some/file (func1): Improved frobnication.
204 (func2): Adjusted accordingly.
205 * another/file (foo, bar): Likewise.
206 * tests/foo.tap: New test.
207 * tests/Makefile.am (TESTS): Add it.
209 * If your commit fixes an automake bug registered in the tracker (say
210 numbered 1234), you should put the following line after the summary
213 This change fixes automake bug#1234.
215 * If your commit is just related to the given bug report, but does not
216 fix it, you might want to add a line like this instead:
218 This change is related to automake bug#1234.
220 * When referring to older commits, use 'git describe' output as pointer.
221 But also try to identify the given commit by date and/or summary line
222 if possible. Examples:
224 Since yesterday's commit, v1.11-2019-g4d2bf42, ...
226 ... removed in commit 'v1.11-1674-g02e9072' of 01-01-2012,
227 "dist: ditch support for lzma"...
229 ================================================================
232 * Use "make check" and "make maintainer-check" liberally.
234 * Make sure each test file is executable.
236 * Export the 'keep_testdirs' environment variable to "yes" to keep
237 test directories for successful tests also.
239 * Use perl coverage information to ensure your new code is thoroughly
240 tested by your new tests.
242 * See file 'tests/README' for more information.
244 ================================================================
247 * The steps outlined here are meant to be followed for alpha and stable
248 releases as well. Where differences are expected, they will be
249 explicitly described.
251 * Fetch new versions of the files that are maintained by the FSF.
252 Commit. Unfortunately you need an FSF account to do this.
253 (You can also use "make fetch", but that is still woefully incomplete.)
257 * Update the version number in configure.ac.
258 (The idea is that every other alpha number will be a net release.
259 The repository will always have its own "odd" number so we can easily
260 distinguish net and repo versions.)
263 ./bootstrap && ./configure && make && make check && make distcheck
265 * Run "make git-tag-release".
266 This will run the maintainer checks, check that the NEWS file is
267 up-to-date, check that the local git repository and working tree
268 are clean and up-to-date, and create a proper signed git tag for
269 the release (based on the contents of $(VERSION)).
271 * Run "make git-upload-release".
272 This will first verify that you are releasing from a tagged version
273 and that the local git repository and working tree are clean and
274 up-to-date, and will then run "make dist" to create the tarballs,
275 and invoke the 'gnupload' script sign and upload them to the correct
276 locations. In case you need to sign with a non-default key, you can
277 use "make GNUPLOADFLAGS='--user KEY' git-upload-release".
279 * Update version number in configure.ac to next alpha number.
280 Re-run ./bootstrap and commit.
282 * Don't forget to "git push" your changes so they appear in the public
285 * For stable releases, update the manuals at www.gnu.org:
288 wget "http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/~checkout~/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs.sh"
289 wget "http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/~checkout~/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs_template"
290 sh ./gendocs.sh --email bug-automake@gnu.org automake "GNU Automake"
291 - copy manuals recursively to web cvs,
293 - Check for link errors, fix them, recheck until convergence:
294 <http://validator.w3.org/checklink>
296 * Send the announcement at least to <autotools-announce@gnu.org> and
297 <automake@gnu.org>. If the release is a stable one, the announcement
298 must also go to <info-gnu@gnu.org>; if it is an alpha or beta release,
299 announcement should be sent also to <platform-testers@gnu.org>, to
300 maximize the possibility of early testing on exotic or proprietary
301 systems. Finally, copy the announcement into the NEWS feed at
302 <https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/automake>.
306 Copyright (C) 2003-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
308 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
309 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
310 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
313 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
314 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
315 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
316 GNU General Public License for more details.
318 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
319 along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.