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 - Change tests/bison to run `valgrind -q bison' to run Bison under
  56   Valgrind.
  57
  58 - Run the test suite with `./testsuite PREPARSER='valgrind -q' to make
  59   sure the parser behave properly.
  60
  61 - Change tests/atlocal/CFLAGS to add your preferred options.  For
  62   instance, `-traditional' to check that the parsers are K&R.  Note
  63   that it does not make sense for glr.c, which should be ANSI,
  64   but currently is actually GNU C, nor for lalr1.cc, which anyway is
  65   not exercised yet in the test suite.
  66
  67 - Change tests/atlocal/CC to use a C++ compiler.
  68
  69
  70 * Release Procedure
  71
  72 ** Tests
  73 See above.
  74
  75 ** Update the foreign files
  76 Running `make update' in the top level should make it all for you.
  77 This covers PO files too.  Beware that it happens that some PO files
  78 contain serious problems and are rejected by recent Gettext releases:
  79 fix them all, and complain to the Translation Project!
  80
  81 Note that there might be *new* PO files.  Don't forget to update the
  82 whole machinery, which not only includes LINGUAS, but `cvs add'ing the
  83 PO files too.
  84
  85 ** Update NEWS
  86 The version number, *and* the date of the release (including for
  87 betas).
  88
  89 ** Update ChangeLog
  90 Should have an entry similar to `Version 1.49b.'.
  91 Check all this in once `make distcheck' passes.
  92
  93 ** make alpha
  94 Running `make alpha' is absolutely perfect for beta releases: it makes
  95 the tarballs, the xdeltas, and prepares (in /tmp/) a proto
  96 announcement.  It is so neat, that that's what I use anyway for
  97 genuine releases, but adjusting things by hand (e.g., the urls in the
  98 announcement file, the ChangeLog which is not needed etc.).
  99
 100 If it fails, you're on your own...
 101
 102 It requires GNU Make.
 103
 104 ** Upload
 105 Put the tarballs/xdeltas where they should be.  Or put it somewhere,
 106 and send the URL to ftp-upload@gnu.org.
 107
 108 ** Bump the version number
 109 In configure.ac.  Run `make', check this in.
 110
 111 ** Announce
 112 Complete/fix the announcement file, and send it at least to
 113 info@gnu.org (if a real release, or a ``serious beta''),
 114 bison@gnu.org, and translation@iro.umontreal.ca.
 115
 116
 117 -----
 118
 119 Copyright (C) 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 120
 121 This file is part of GNU Bison.
 122
 123 GNU Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 124 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 125 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
 126 any later version.
 127
 128 GNU Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 129 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 130 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 131 GNU General Public License for more details.
 132
 133 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 134 along with GNU Bison; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the Free
 135 Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA
 136 02111-1307, USA.