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 ** Try to get the *.pot files to the Translation Project at least one week
  70 before a stable release, to give them time to translate them.
  71
  72 ** Tests
  73 See above.
  74
  75 ** Update the foreign files
  76 Running `./bootstrap' in the top level should update them all for you.
  77 This covers PO files too.  Sometimes a PO file contains problems that
  78 causes it to be rejected by recent Gettext releases; please report
  79 these to the Translation Project.
  80
  81 ** Update NEWS
  82 The version number, *and* the date of the release (including for
  83 betas).
  84
  85 ** Update ChangeLog
  86 Should have an entry similar to `Version 1.49b.'.
  87 Check all this in once `make distcheck' passes.
  88
  89 ** make alpha
  90 Running `make alpha' is absolutely perfect for beta releases: it makes
  91 the tarballs, the xdeltas, and prepares (in /tmp/) a proto
  92 announcement.  It is so neat, that that's what I use anyway for
  93 genuine releases, but adjusting things by hand (e.g., the urls in the
  94 announcement file, the ChangeLog which is not needed etc.).
  95
  96 If it fails, you're on your own...
  97
  98 It requires GNU Make.
  99
 100 ** Upload
 101 Put the tarballs/xdeltas where they should be.  Or put it somewhere,
 102 and send the URL to ftp-upload@gnu.org.
 103
 104 ** Bump the version number
 105 In configure.ac.  Run `make', check this in.
 106
 107 ** Announce
 108 Complete/fix the announcement file, and send it at least to
 109 info-gnu@gnu.org (if a real release, or a ``serious beta''),
 110 bug-bison@gnu.org, help-bison@gnu.org, bison-patches@gnu.org,
 111 and translation@iro.umontreal.ca.
 112
 113 Send the same announcement on the comp.compilers newsgroup by sending
 114 email to compilers@iecc.com.  Do not make any Cc as the moderator will
 115 throw away anything cross-posted or Cc'ed.  It really needs to be a
 116 separate message.
 117
 118
 119 -----
 120
 121 Copyright (C) 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 122
 123 This file is part of GNU Bison.
 124
 125 GNU Bison is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 126 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 127 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
 128 any later version.
 129
 130 GNU Bison is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 131 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 132 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 133 GNU General Public License for more details.
 134
 135 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 136 along with GNU Bison; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the Free
 137 Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
 138 02110-1301, USA.