[bison.git] / HACKING

-*- outline -*-

This file attempts to describe the rules to use when hacking Bison.
Don't put this file into the distribution.  Don't mention it in the
ChangeLog.

Everything related to the development of Bison is on Savannah:

	http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/bison/


* Administrivia

** If you incorporate a change from somebody on the net:
First, if it is a large change, you must make sure they have signed
the appropriate paperwork.  Second, be sure to add their name and
email address to THANKS.

** If a change fixes a test, mention the test in the ChangeLog entry.

** Bug reports
If somebody reports a new bug, mention his name in the ChangeLog entry
and in the test case you write.  Put him into THANKS.

The correct response to most actual bugs is to write a new test case
which demonstrates the bug.  Then fix the bug, re-run the test suite,
and check everything in.


* Hacking

** Visible changes
Which include serious bug fixes, must be mentioned in NEWS.

** Translations
Only user visible strings are to be translated: error messages, bits
of the .output file etc.  This excludes impossible error messages
(comparable to assert/abort), and all the --trace output which is
meant for the maintainers only.


* Test suite

** make check
Use liberally.

** Release checks
Try to run the test suite with more severe conditions before a
release:

- Configure the package with --enable-gcc-warnings, so that one checks
  that 1. Bison compiles cleanly, 2. the parsers it produces compile
  cleanly too.

- run `make maintainer-check' which:
  - runs `valgrind -q bison' to run Bison under Valgrind.
  - runs the parsers under Valgrind.
  - runs the test suite with G++ as C compiler...

- Change tests/atlocal/CFLAGS to add your preferred options.  For
  instance, `-traditional' to check that the parsers are K&R.  Note
  that it does not make sense for glr.c, which should be ANSI,
  but currently is actually GNU C, nor for lalr1.cc, which anyway is
  not exercised yet in the test suite.


* Release Procedure

** Try to get the *.pot files to the Translation Project at least one week
before a stable release, to give them time to translate them.

** Tests
See above.

** Update the foreign files
Running `./bootstrap' in the top level should update them all for you.
This covers PO files too.  Sometimes a PO file contains problems that
causes it to be rejected by recent Gettext releases; please report
these to the Translation Project.

** Update NEWS
The version number, *and* the date of the release (including for
betas).

** Update ChangeLog
Should have an entry similar to `Version 1.49b.'.
Check all this in once `make distcheck' passes.

** make alpha
Running `make alpha' is absolutely perfect for beta releases: it makes
the tarballs, the xdeltas, and prepares (in /tmp/) a proto
announcement.  It is so neat, that that's what I use anyway for
genuine releases, but adjusting things by hand (e.g., the urls in the
announcement file, the ChangeLog which is not needed etc.).

If it fails, you're on your own...

It requires GNU Make.

** Upload
Put the tarballs/xdeltas where they should be.  Or put it somewhere,
and send the URL to ftp-upload@gnu.org.

** Bump the version number
In configure.ac.  Run `make', check this in.

** Announce
Complete/fix the announcement file, and send it at least to
info-gnu@gnu.org (if a real release, or a ``serious beta''),
bug-bison@gnu.org, help-bison@gnu.org, bison-patches@gnu.org,
and translation@iro.umontreal.ca.

Send the same announcement on the comp.compilers newsgroup by sending
email to compilers@iecc.com.  Do not make any Cc as the moderator will
throw away anything cross-posted or Cc'ed.  It really needs to be a
separate message.


-----

Copyright (C) 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

This file is part of GNU Bison.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
Commit	Line	Data
2ed0e35f AD	1	-- outline --
	2
	3	This file attempts to describe the rules to use when hacking Bison.
	4	Don't put this file into the distribution. Don't mention it in the
	5	ChangeLog.
	6
f414d77d AD	7	Everything related to the development of Bison is on Savannah:
	8
	9	http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/bison/
	10
	11
2ed0e35f AD	12	* Administrivia
	13
	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
	16	the appropriate paperwork. Second, be sure to add their name and
	17	email address to THANKS.
	18
	19	** If a change fixes a test, mention the test in the ChangeLog entry.
	20
	21	** Bug reports
	22	If somebody reports a new bug, mention his name in the ChangeLog entry
	23	and in the test case you write. Put him into THANKS.
	24
	25	The correct response to most actual bugs is to write a new test case
	26	which demonstrates the bug. Then fix the bug, re-run the test suite,
	27	and check everything in.
	28
f414d77d	29
427c0dda AD	30	* Hacking
427c0dda AD	31
2ed0e35f AD	32	** Visible changes
2ed0e35f AD	33	Which include serious bug fixes, must be mentioned in NEWS.
427c0dda AD	34
	35	** Translations
	36	Only user visible strings are to be translated: error messages, bits
	37	of the .output file etc. This excludes impossible error messages
	38	(comparable to assert/abort), and all the --trace output which is
	39	meant for the maintainers only.
2ed0e35f AD	40
	41
	42	* Test suite
	43
	44	** make check
	45	Use liberally.
	46
	47	** Release checks
	48	Try to run the test suite with more severe conditions before a
	49	release:
	50
	51	- Configure the package with --enable-gcc-warnings, so that one checks
	52	that 1. Bison compiles cleanly, 2. the parsers it produces compile
	53	cleanly too.
	54
f377f69f AD	55	- run `make maintainer-check' which:
f377f69f AD	56	- runs `valgrind -q bison' to run Bison under Valgrind.
1f1b791b	57	- runs the parsers under Valgrind.
f377f69f	58	- runs the test suite with G++ as C compiler...
2ed0e35f AD	59
	60	- Change tests/atlocal/CFLAGS to add your preferred options. For
	61	instance, `-traditional' to check that the parsers are K&R. Note
	62	that it does not make sense for glr.c, which should be ANSI,
	63	but currently is actually GNU C, nor for lalr1.cc, which anyway is
	64	not exercised yet in the test suite.
	65
2ed0e35f AD	66
	67	* Release Procedure
	68
ddc65ffd PE	69	** Try to get the *.pot files to the Translation Project at least one week
	70	before a stable release, to give them time to translate them.
	71
2ed0e35f AD	72	** Tests
	73	See above.
	74
	75	** Update the foreign files
e476c87d PE	76	Running `./bootstrap' in the top level should update them all for you.
	77	This covers PO files too. Sometimes a PO file contains problems that
	78	causes it to be rejected by recent Gettext releases; please report
	79	these to the Translation Project.
2ed0e35f AD	80
	81	** Update NEWS
	82	The version number, and the date of the release (including for
	83	betas).
	84
	85	** Update ChangeLog
	86	Should have an entry similar to `Version 1.49b.'.
	87	Check all this in once `make distcheck' passes.
	88
	89	** make alpha
	90	Running `make alpha' is absolutely perfect for beta releases: it makes
	91	the tarballs, the xdeltas, and prepares (in /tmp/) a proto
	92	announcement. It is so neat, that that's what I use anyway for
	93	genuine releases, but adjusting things by hand (e.g., the urls in the
	94	announcement file, the ChangeLog which is not needed etc.).
	95
	96	If it fails, you're on your own...
	97
	98	It requires GNU Make.
	99
	100	** Upload
	101	Put the tarballs/xdeltas where they should be. Or put it somewhere,
	102	and send the URL to ftp-upload@gnu.org.
	103
	104	** Bump the version number
	105	In configure.ac. Run `make', check this in.
	106
	107	** Announce
	108	Complete/fix the announcement file, and send it at least to
597ba9e3	109	info-gnu@gnu.org (if a real release, or a ``serious beta''),
bf46a7c1 PE	110	bug-bison@gnu.org, help-bison@gnu.org, bison-patches@gnu.org,
bf46a7c1 PE	111	and translation@iro.umontreal.ca.
2ed0e35f	112
bf46a7c1 PE	113	Send the same announcement on the comp.compilers newsgroup by sending
	114	email to compilers@iecc.com. Do not make any Cc as the moderator will
	115	throw away anything cross-posted or Cc'ed. It really needs to be a
	116	separate message.
43a91d61	117
2ed0e35f AD	118
	119	-----
	120
ddc65ffd	121	Copyright (C) 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
2ed0e35f AD	122
	123	This file is part of GNU Bison.
	124
f16b0819	125	This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
2ed0e35f	126	it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
f16b0819 PE	127	the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
f16b0819 PE	128	(at your option) any later version.
2ed0e35f	129
f16b0819	130	This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
2ed0e35f AD	131	but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
	132	MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
	133	GNU General Public License for more details.
	134
	135	You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
f16b0819	136	along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.