HACKING

   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
   7 Everything 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:
  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
  29
  30 * Hacking
  31
  32 ** Visible changes
  33 Which include serious bug fixes, must be mentioned in NEWS.
  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.
  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
  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
  70 See above.
  71
  72 ** Update the foreign files
  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.
  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
 106 info-gnu@gnu.org (if a real release, or a ``serious beta''),
 107 bug-bison@gnu.org, help-bison@gnu.org, bison-patches@gnu.org,
 108 and translation@iro.umontreal.ca.
 109
 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.
 114
 115
 116 -----
 117
 118 Copyright (C) 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 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
 134 Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
 135 02110-1301, USA.