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diff --git a/docs/HACKING b/docs/HACKING new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b675f9f --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/HACKING @@ -0,0 +1,182 @@ +Hacking on man-db +================= + +man-db is not a large or particularly complicated project, but there is +still plenty for an interested developer to contribute. Here's a very brief +guide on how to get started. + + +Directory layout +---------------- + +The source tree looks something like this, ignoring some directories added +by autoconf, automake, gettext, and gnulib: + + docs/ + Assorted documentation. + man/ + Man pages for man-db's programs. + manual/ + The man-db manual, written in troff. + include/ + Header files used throughout the package. + lib/ + Basic library files, some of which supplement inadequate C libraries on + various systems and some of which implement utility functions used + throughout the package. + libdb/ + The database access library. Code outside this directory should not know + about specific back-end database implementations. + src/ + Source code to the man-db programs themselves. + tools/ + Miscellaneous add-on scripts. + po/ + Translations. + + +Coding style +------------ + +Each indent is a single tab. Brace style is K&R. Each function name is +separated from the following opening parenthesis by a single space. (All +this is almost certainly controversial somewhere, but it's as close as +you'll get to a prevailing style here.) + +Keep all code within 80 columns (counting tabs as 8). This can sometimes be +a little tight with the deep indent; think of it as a useful discipline to +stop indentation levels getting out of hand. :-) (This rule is currently +broken for argp option declarations, for the sake of other kinds of +readability. This may change.) + +If you're editing existing code and it differs from any of the above, stick +with whatever the existing code does. Likewise, if in doubt, find similar +code and use its style. Maintaining a consistent style is important for +general readability, and is more important than any individual point. It's +also the easiest way to avoid long and tedious debates about "correct" +style. + + +Facilities and portability +-------------------------- + +man-db uses Gnulib to provide portability support and utility functions +common to many GNU packages (although man-db is not itself a GNU package), +while the lib/ directory provides some other utility functions specific to +man-db. Please make use of these facilities where available. In particular, +there are various functions beginning with 'x' which check the return values +from the system's memory allocation calls, which you should use instead of +their non-'x' siblings. + +appendstr() provides manageable string concatenation. Use it where +appropriate. Remember to terminate its argument list with a NULL. In many +cases, xasprintf() from Gnulib may be more readable. + +If you're calling any of the is*() or to*() functions in <ctype.h>, please +do so via the CTYPE() macro in include/manconfig.h to ensure that the +argument type is correct. + +You may assume C89 (e.g. no need to support K&R-style function definitions), +but please do not assume C99 (e.g. do not use nested functions or // +comments). However, it's OK to use C99 runtime facilities that are provided +by Gnulib, such as <stdbool.h>. + + +Testing +------- + +There is a small test suite in src/tests/, as well as basic tests in man/ to +ensure that man-db's own manual pages format without errors. Tests for new +bug fixes are not *required*, but are generally a good idea. + +Various test library facilities are available in src/tests/testlib.sh. Feel +free to extend this as necessary. + + +Things to do +------------ + +docs/TODO has a number of outstanding projects. Things near the bottom are +usually more detailed and accurate. + +The Debian bug tracking system has a number of outstanding reports on man-db +at <https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?pkg=man-db;ordering=upstream>. + +Much of the work needed on man-db is for maintainability. Patches that take +difficult-to-understand code with hairy memory allocation and replace it +with clean, obvious, and reliable code are most welcome, especially if they +introduce new abstractions which are of more general use. The replacement of +splitline() with the page_description interface is a good example of this. + +Work on porting to platforms other than GNU/Linux is welcome. It's been a +while since serious effort in that direction has been invested in man-db. +Most of the code should be quite portable, but the occasional teething +problem would not be a surprise. + + +Sending patches +--------------- + +Please send patches in unified diff format (use 'git diff', or GNU diff with +the -u option) to man-db-devel@nongnu.org. See +https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/man-db-devel for subscription +instructions. + + +Revision control +---------------- + +man-db is revision-controlled using git (https://git-scm.com/). The archive +may be fetched from here using 'git clone': + + https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/man-db.git + +To browse changes or source code in a web browser, use this URL instead: + + https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/man-db.git + +Members of the man-db project on Savannah can commit directly by pushing to +this URL: + + ssh://git.sv.gnu.org/srv/git/man-db.git + +Otherwise, since git is a distributed revision control system, you are of +course free to make and publish branches which can then be merged into the +main tree. See the git documentation for further details. + +Generated files should be added to .gitignore and should not be committed to +revision control. + + +Release process +--------------- + +1. Update the AC_INIT version number in configure.ac to "x.y.z-pre1". Commit + and tag. + +2. Run ./release.sh to produce a preliminary tarball for translators. This + doesn't have to be particularly well-tested or even compile; it's only + there to provide context for po/man-db.pot. Send this to the Translation + Project robot. + +3. Wait a couple of weeks for a reasonable number of translation updates to + arrive. During this time, test until your eyeballs fall out, but try to + avoid changing any translated messages. + +4. Ensure that NEWS and docs/man-db.lsm are up to date. Commit. + +5. Update the AC_INIT version number and 'date' in configure.ac, but don't + commit yet. + +6. Run ./release.sh, which will spit out a tarball. Test it. + +7. Commit the changes from step 5. + +8. Tag everything. + +9. Run ./release.sh. This is the distribution tarball; test it as thoroughly + as you can. + +10. Upload the tarball to Savannah. + +11. Announce to wherever seems appropriate. |