[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

** 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 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

This file is part of GNU Bison.

GNU Bison 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 2, or (at your option)
any later version.

GNU Bison 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 GNU Bison; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the Free
Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
02110-1301, USA.
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
	69	** Tests
	70	See above.
	71
	72	** Update the foreign files
e476c87d PE	73	Running `./bootstrap' in the top level should update them all for you.
	74	This covers PO files too. Sometimes a PO file contains problems that
	75	causes it to be rejected by recent Gettext releases; please report
	76	these to the Translation Project.
2ed0e35f AD	77
	78	** Update NEWS
	79	The version number, and the date of the release (including for
	80	betas).
	81
	82	** Update ChangeLog
	83	Should have an entry similar to `Version 1.49b.'.
	84	Check all this in once `make distcheck' passes.
	85
	86	** make alpha
	87	Running `make alpha' is absolutely perfect for beta releases: it makes
	88	the tarballs, the xdeltas, and prepares (in /tmp/) a proto
	89	announcement. It is so neat, that that's what I use anyway for
	90	genuine releases, but adjusting things by hand (e.g., the urls in the
	91	announcement file, the ChangeLog which is not needed etc.).
	92
	93	If it fails, you're on your own...
	94
	95	It requires GNU Make.
	96
	97	** Upload
	98	Put the tarballs/xdeltas where they should be. Or put it somewhere,
	99	and send the URL to ftp-upload@gnu.org.
	100
	101	** Bump the version number
	102	In configure.ac. Run `make', check this in.
	103
	104	** Announce
	105	Complete/fix the announcement file, and send it at least to
597ba9e3	106	info-gnu@gnu.org (if a real release, or a ``serious beta''),
bf46a7c1 PE	107	bug-bison@gnu.org, help-bison@gnu.org, bison-patches@gnu.org,
bf46a7c1 PE	108	and translation@iro.umontreal.ca.
2ed0e35f	109
bf46a7c1 PE	110	Send the same announcement on the comp.compilers newsgroup by sending
	111	email to compilers@iecc.com. Do not make any Cc as the moderator will
	112	throw away anything cross-posted or Cc'ed. It really needs to be a
	113	separate message.
43a91d61	114
2ed0e35f AD	115
	116	-----
	117
e476c87d	118	Copyright (C) 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
2ed0e35f AD	119
	120	This file is part of GNU Bison.
	121
	122	GNU Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
	123	it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
	124	the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
	125	any later version.
	126
	127	GNU Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
	128	but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
	129	MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
	130	GNU General Public License for more details.
	131
	132	You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
	133	along with GNU Bison; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free
0fb669f9 PE	134	Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
0fb669f9 PE	135	02110-1301, USA.