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1-*- outline -*-
2
3This file attempts to describe the rules to use when hacking Bison.
4Don't put this file into the distribution. Don't mention it in the
5ChangeLog.
6
7Everything related to the development of Bison is on Savannah:
8
9 http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/bison/
10
11
12* Administrivia
13
14** If you incorporate a change from somebody on the net:
15First, if it is a large change, you must make sure they have signed
16the appropriate paperwork. Second, be sure to add their name and
17email address to THANKS.
18
19** If a change fixes a test, mention the test in the ChangeLog entry.
20
21** Bug reports
22If somebody reports a new bug, mention his name in the ChangeLog entry
23and in the test case you write. Put him into THANKS.
24
25The correct response to most actual bugs is to write a new test case
26which demonstrates the bug. Then fix the bug, re-run the test suite,
27and check everything in.
28
29
30* Hacking
31
32** Visible changes
33Which include serious bug fixes, must be mentioned in NEWS.
34
35** Translations
36Only user visible strings are to be translated: error messages, bits
37of the .output file etc. This excludes impossible error messages
38(comparable to assert/abort), and all the --trace output which is
39meant for the maintainers only.
40
41
42* Test suite
43
44** make check
45Use liberally.
46
47** Release checks
48Try to run the test suite with more severe conditions before a
49release:
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
55- run `make maintainer-check' which:
56 - runs `valgrind -q bison' to run Bison under Valgrind.
57 - runs the parsers under Valgrind.
58 - runs the test suite with G++ as C compiler...
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
66
67* Release Procedure
68
69** Tests
70See above.
71
72** Update the foreign files
73Running `./bootstrap' in the top level should update them all for you.
74This covers PO files too. Sometimes a PO file contains problems that
75causes it to be rejected by recent Gettext releases; please report
76these to the Translation Project.
77
78** Update NEWS
79The version number, *and* the date of the release (including for
80betas).
81
82** Update ChangeLog
83Should have an entry similar to `Version 1.49b.'.
84Check all this in once `make distcheck' passes.
85
86** make alpha
87Running `make alpha' is absolutely perfect for beta releases: it makes
88the tarballs, the xdeltas, and prepares (in /tmp/) a proto
89announcement. It is so neat, that that's what I use anyway for
90genuine releases, but adjusting things by hand (e.g., the urls in the
91announcement file, the ChangeLog which is not needed etc.).
92
93If it fails, you're on your own...
94
95It requires GNU Make.
96
97** Upload
98Put the tarballs/xdeltas where they should be. Or put it somewhere,
99and send the URL to ftp-upload@gnu.org.
100
101** Bump the version number
102In configure.ac. Run `make', check this in.
103
104** Announce
105Complete/fix the announcement file, and send it at least to
106info-gnu@gnu.org (if a real release, or a ``serious beta''),
107bug-bison@gnu.org, help-bison@gnu.org, bison-patches@gnu.org,
108and translation@iro.umontreal.ca.
109
110Send the same announcement on the comp.compilers newsgroup by sending
111email to compilers@iecc.com. Do not make any Cc as the moderator will
112throw away anything cross-posted or Cc'ed. It really needs to be a
113separate message.
114
115
116-----
117
118Copyright (C) 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
119
120This file is part of GNU Bison.
121
122GNU Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
123it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
124the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
125any later version.
126
127GNU Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
128but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
129MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
130GNU General Public License for more details.
131
132You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
133along with GNU Bison; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free
134Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
13502110-1301, USA.