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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:
<dl>
<dt><code>docs/</code></dt>
<dd>Assorted documentation.</dd>
<dt><code>man/</code></dt>
<dd>Man pages for man-db's programs.</dd>
<dt><code>manual/</code></dt>
<dd>The man-db manual, written in <code>troff</code>.</dd>
<dt><code>include/</code></dt>
<dd>Header files used throughout the package.</dd>
<dt><code>lib/</code></dt>
<dd>
Basic library files, some of which supplement inadequate C libraries on
various systems and some of which implement utility functions used
throughout the package.
</dd>
<dt><code>libdb/</code></dt>
<dd>
The database access library. Code outside this directory should not know
about specific back-end database implementations.
</dd>
<dt><code>src/</code></dt>
<dd>Source code to the man-db programs themselves.</dd>
<dt><code>tools/</code></dt>
<dd>Miscellaneous add-on scripts.</dd>
<dt><code>po/</code></dt>
<dd>Translations.</dd>
</dl>
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 C99.
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](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
---------------
GitLab merge requests are preferred. Create an account on gitlab.com,
[fork](https://gitlab.com/man-db/man-db/-/forks/new) the repository to your
own account, push your branch, and create a merge request.
If you can't or don't want to use GitLab merge requests, then you can fall
back to sending patches in unified diff format (use `git diff`, or GNU diff
with the -u option) to man-db-devel@nongnu.org (see [subscription
instructions](https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/man-db-devel)).
Revision control
----------------
man-db is revision-controlled using [git](https://git-scm.com/). The archive
may be fetched from here using `git clone`, and merge requests are accepted
in the usual way:
https://gitlab.com/man-db/man-db
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. Pushing the tag should cause the GitLab CI machinery to upload a
preliminary tarball for translators to the [package
registry](https://gitlab.com/man-db/man-db/-/packages). Send this to the
Translation Project robot, to provide context for `po/man-db.pot`.
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. Once you're ready to release, update `NEWS.md`, and
the `AC_INIT` version number and `date` in `configure.ac`. Commit and
tag.
5. Pushing the tag should cause the GitLab CI machinery to upload the
release tarball to the [package
registry](https://gitlab.com/man-db/man-db/-/packages). GPG-sign that
tarball, and upload the tarball and its signature to Savannah so that the
URLs in the newly-created [GitLab release
notes](https://gitlab.com/man-db/man-db/-/releases) are valid.
6. Announce to wherever seems appropriate.
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