Simplify names.
[bison.git] / 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.
5
6 Everything related to the development of Bison is on Savannah:
7
8 http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/bison/
9
10
11 * Administrivia
12
13 ** If you incorporate a change from somebody on the net:
14 First, if it is a large change, you must make sure they have signed
15 the appropriate paperwork. Second, be sure to add their name and
16 email address to THANKS.
17
18 ** If a change fixes a test, mention the test in the ChangeLog entry.
19
20 ** Bug reports
21 If somebody reports a new bug, mention his name in the ChangeLog entry
22 and in the test case you write. Put him into THANKS.
23
24 The correct response to most actual bugs is to write a new test case
25 which demonstrates the bug. Then fix the bug, re-run the test suite,
26 and check everything in.
27
28 ** You may find it useful to install the git-merge-changelog merge driver:
29
30 http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=gnulib.git;a=blob;f=lib/git-merge-changelog.c
31
32 When following the generic installation instructions there, keep in mind that
33 your clone of Bison's git repository already contains appropriate
34 .gitattributes files, and running Bison's bootstrap script will make the
35 necessary changes to .git/config.
36
37
38 * Hacking
39
40 ** Visible changes
41 Which include serious bug fixes, must be mentioned in NEWS.
42
43 ** Translations
44 Only user visible strings are to be translated: error messages, bits
45 of the .output file etc. This excludes impossible error messages
46 (comparable to assert/abort), and all the --trace output which is
47 meant for the maintainers only.
48
49
50 * Test suite
51
52 ** make check
53 Use liberally.
54
55 ** Release checks
56 Try to run the test suite with more severe conditions before a
57 release:
58
59 - Configure the package with --enable-gcc-warnings, so that one checks
60 that 1. Bison compiles cleanly, 2. the parsers it produces compile
61 cleanly too.
62
63 - run `make maintainer-check' which:
64 - runs `valgrind -q bison' to run Bison under Valgrind.
65 - runs the parsers under Valgrind.
66 - runs the test suite with G++ as C compiler...
67
68 - run `make maintainer-push-check', which runs `make maintainer-check'
69 while activating the push implementation and its pull interface wrappers
70 in many test cases that were originally written to exercise only the
71 pull implementation. This makes certain the push implementation can
72 perform every task the pull implementation can.
73
74 - run `make maintainer-xml-check', which runs `make maintainer-check'
75 while checking Bison's XML automaton report for every working grammar
76 passed to Bison in the test suite. The check just diffs the output of
77 Bison's included XSLT style sheets with the output of --report=all and
78 --graph.
79
80 - Change tests/atlocal/CFLAGS to add your preferred options. For
81 instance, `-traditional' to check that the parsers are K&R. Note
82 that it does not make sense for glr.c, which should be ANSI,
83 but currently is actually GNU C, nor for lalr1.cc.
84
85
86 * Release Procedure
87
88 ** Try to get the *.pot files to the Translation Project at least one week
89 before a stable release, to give them time to translate them.
90
91 ** Tests
92 See above.
93
94 ** Update the foreign files
95 Running `./bootstrap' in the top level should update them all for you.
96 This covers PO files too. Sometimes a PO file contains problems that
97 causes it to be rejected by recent Gettext releases; please report
98 these to the Translation Project.
99
100 ** Update README
101 Make sure the information in this file is current. Most notably, make sure it
102 recommends a version of GNU M4 that is compatible with the latest Bison
103 sources.
104
105 ** Update NEWS
106 The version number, *and* the date of the release (including for
107 betas).
108
109 ** Update ChangeLog
110 Should have an entry similar to `Version 1.49b.'.
111
112 ** Update configure.ac
113 Be sure PACKAGE_COPYRIGHT_YEAR is up-to-date.
114
115 ** Tag the release
116 Before Bison will build with the right version number, you must tag the release
117 in git. Do this after all other changes. The command is similar to:
118
119 git tag -a v2.3b
120
121 The log message can be simply:
122
123 Bison 2.3b
124
125 ** Push
126 Once `make distcheck' passes, push your changes and the tag.
127 `git push' without arguments will not push the tag.
128
129 ** make alpha
130 FIXME: `make alpha' is not maintained and is broken. These
131 instructions need to be replaced or removed.
132
133 Running `make alpha' is absolutely perfect for beta releases: it makes
134 the tarballs, the xdeltas, and prepares (in /tmp/) a proto
135 announcement. It is so neat, that that's what I use anyway for
136 genuine releases, but adjusting things by hand (e.g., the urls in the
137 announcement file, the ChangeLog which is not needed etc.).
138
139 If it fails, you're on your own...
140
141 It requires GNU Make.
142
143 ** Upload
144 The generic GNU upload procedure is at:
145
146 http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/maintain.html#Automated-FTP-Uploads
147
148 After following the instructions there to register your information so you're
149 permitted to upload, here's a brief reminder of how to roll the tarballs and
150 upload them:
151
152 *** make distcheck
153 *** gpg -b bison-2.3b.tar.gz
154 *** In a file named `bison-2.3b.tar.gz.directive', type:
155
156 version: 1.1
157 directory: bison
158 filename: bison-2.3b.tar.gz
159
160 *** gpg --clearsign bison-2.3b.tar.gz.directive
161 *** ftp ftp-upload.gnu.org # Log in as anonymous.
162 *** cd /incoming/alpha # cd /incoming/ftp for full release.
163 *** put bison-2.3b.tar.gz # This can take a while.
164 *** put bison-2.3b.tar.gz.sig
165 *** put bison-2.3b.tar.gz.directive.asc
166 *** Repeat all these steps for bison-2.3b.tar.bz2.
167
168 ** Announce
169 To generate a template announcement file:
170
171 make RELEASE_TYPE=alpha gpg_key_ID=F125BDF3 announcement
172
173 where alpha can be replaced by beta or major and F125BDF3 should be replaced
174 with your key ID. For an example of how to fill out the template, search the
175 mailing list archives for the most recent release announcement.
176
177 Complete/fix the announcement file, and send it at least to
178 info-gnu@gnu.org (if a real release, or a ``serious beta''),
179 bug-bison@gnu.org, help-bison@gnu.org, bison-patches@gnu.org,
180 and coordinator@translationproject.org.
181
182 Send the same announcement on the comp.compilers newsgroup by sending
183 email to compilers@iecc.com. Do not make any Cc as the moderator will
184 throw away anything cross-posted or Cc'ed. It really needs to be a
185 separate message.
186
187 ** Bump the version number
188 In configure.ac. Run `make'. So that developers don't accidentally add new
189 items to the old NEWS entry, create a new empty NEWS entry something like:
190
191 Changes in version ?.? (????-??-??):
192
193 Push these changes.
194
195
196 -----
197
198 Copyright (C) 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
199
200 This file is part of GNU Bison.
201
202 This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
203 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
204 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
205 (at your option) any later version.
206
207 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
208 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
209 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
210 GNU General Public License for more details.
211
212 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
213 along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.