#
# README.developers
#
-# $Id$
-#
This file is intended to provide a few tips for anyone doing development on nmh.
Developers who learn things "the hard way" about the nmh codebase (as opposed to
local info best encoded in a comment) are encouraged to share their wisdom here.
-The topics are organized alphabetically.
+Following a commit checklist, the topics are organized alphabetically.
+----------------
+commit checklist
+----------------
---------------
-autoconf files
---------------
+1. code updated?
+2. test added?
+3. make distcheck passed?
+4. man page and other documentation updated?
+5. docs/pending-release-notes updated?
+6. should commit message reference bug report?
+7. update/close bug report (with commit id)?
+8. notify nmh-users?
+
+
+---------------------------------
+C library/system call usage notes
+---------------------------------
+* Use m_mktemp2() or m_mktemp() instead of mkstemp(3) (see section on
+ nmh temporary files below).
+* Use m_unlink() instead of unlink(3).
+* Use done() instead of _exit(3) except after a fork(3).
+
+
+-------------------------
+autoconf & automake files
+-------------------------
+
+If you wish to change the `configure' script, the generated Makefile
+or other related files, you'll need to first install GNU m4, available
+from <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/m4/>, then GNU autoconf
+(<ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/autoconf/>) and GNU automake
+(<ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/automake/>). Nmh is currently using a
+minimum of autoconf 2.68 and automake 1.12.
+
+Most of the configure-related files are automatically generated.
+The only files you should need to manually edit are configure.ac
+and any autoconf macros in the m4 directory. Don't, for instance,
+edit config.h.in. Though it is an input file from the point of
+view of the users (and the configure script) it is an output file
+from the point of view of the developers (and the autoconf script).
+
+If you wish to add a new autoconf macro, it should be placed in it's
+own file and put in the m4 directory; aclocal will automatically pick
+it up and automake will add it to the distribution target automatically.
+
+If you wish to make changes to the Makefile, you will need to edit
+Makefile.am. See the automake documentation if you need further help.
+You should always check changes to Makefile.am by using "make distcheck".
+
+Note that the automatically generated autotools files (such as config.h.in,
+Makefile.in, and configure), are NOT kept in git. Thus, when you check out
+a git tree, you need to run the autogen.sh script before you can build
+anything:
-If you wish to change the `configure' script or its related files, you'll need
-to first install GNU m4, available from <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/m4/> and then
-GNU autoconf (<ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/autoconf/>).
-
-Most of the configure-related files are automatically generated. The only files
-you should need to manually edit are acconfig.h and configure.in. Don't, for
-instance, edit config.h.in. Though it is an input file from the point of view
-of the users (and the configure script) it is an output file from the point of
-view of the developers (and the autoconf script).
-
-If you do change acconfig.h or configure.in and want to `cvs commit' them, be
-sure to regenerate the output files and commit them as well. The easiest way to
-regenerate the files is to simply run `make' -- it'll do the necessary calls of
-autoconf and autoheader and will do a `./config.status --recheck', which will
-exercise your new configure script.
-
-When you commit the configure-related files, it's very important to commit them
-in the right order. The timestamps on the files in the CVS archive are based on
-the current time at the moment they were committed -- the timestamps from the
-local files you commit are not copied over. If you commit the files in the
-wrong order, you'll cause unnecessary calls of `autoconf' to occur when people
-try to `make' their copies of the latest CVS source. These people may be
-end-users who don't have any interest in changing the configure-related files
-and don't have autoconf installed. They'll be unable to make without playing
-around with `touch'.
-
-The correct procedure to commit the configure-related files is:
-
- % cvs commit acconfig.h aclocal.m4 configure.in
- % autoheader; autoconf; date > stamp-h.in
- % cvs commit config.h.in configure stamp-h.in
-
-The reason for the three-step commit is that configure.in contains the RCS $Id
-keyword, so when you commit it, a new version is written locally. Therefore,
-the autoconf regeneration should be held off until after the commit, or your
-local stamp-h.in will become out-of-sync with the CVS version (granted, not that
-big a deal). For the second step, you're doing the same commands as a
-`make reset' would do, but using that command would require extra configure runs
-to make Makefile be up-to-date.
-
-If you haven't changed all the files noted above, just commit the ones you have
-changed, in the stated order (for instance, configure.in, then configure and
-stamp-h.in).
+ % ./autogen.sh
-------------------
Following is a list of nmh's directories along with a brief description of the
purpose of each one. Meanings are given for the abbreviations, but note that
these meanings are just informed guesses as to what the MH developers were
-thinking.
+thinking.
./
The top-level directory. Contains files like README and INSTALL.
Contains utility files for the `configure' process. Ordinarily nothing in
here needs to be messed with.
-doc/
+docs/
Contains more specialized documentation, such as this file and
the FAQ.
"mts" stands for "Message Transfer Service". Source files specific to the
different MTSs go in the subdirectories.
-mts/mmdf/ (deprecated)
- "mmdf" stands for "Multichannel Memorandum Distribution Facility". It is an
- alternative to sendmail used primarily on SCO UNIX.
-
-mts/sendmail/ (deprecated: handled by mts.conf)
- When nmh is configured --with-mts=sendmail, the files in this directory are
- used.
-
mts/smtp/
When nmh is configured to just talk to an SMTP server over TCP/IP, the
source in this directory is compiled.
"sbr" stands for "subroutine(s)". For the most part, each source file in
this directory contains a single function with the same name as the source
file. These functions are of general use and are called from throughout
- nmh.
+ nmh.
+
+SPECS/
+ Contains files such as RPM specs.
+
+test/
+ The num unit test suite.
+
+tools/
+ "tools" contains tools, scripts, and supporting files used by the
+ developers while writing, debugging, and testing the code.
uip/
"uip" stands for "User Interface Programs". Most nmh commands have a file
<command>sbr.c which contains additional subroutines called from <command>.c
(which would contain not much else besides main()).
-zotnet/ (deprecated)
- Files in this hierarchy were either written by or moved here by UCI
- (University of California, Irvine) after they took over MH from the Rand
- Corporation. "Zot!" is the sound effect made by the anteater in the "B.C."
- comic strip when its tongue lashes out at ants. The anteater is UCI's
- official mascot. Not sure whether UCInet was once called ZotNet...
-zotnet/bboards/ (deprecated)
- UCI added Bulletin Board functionality to MH with the `bbc' command. This
- functionality has been removed from nmh but apparently files in this
- directory are still needed for other purposes.
+---
+git
+---
+
+As of December 2010, nmh has switched to using git for revision control
+instead of CVS. While the topic of git is beyond the scope of this FAQ,
+to get started with git & nmh, you can run the following command to checkout
+the nmh repository (with read-only access to it):
+
+ % git clone git://git.savannah.nongnu.org/nmh.git
+
+That will create a workspace called nmh. To update that workspace
+with changes to the master, cd to it and run:
+
+ % git pull
+
+If you are a project member and want write access to the repository,
+you'll have to checkout with the following command instead of the one
+above:
+
+ % git clone <username>@git.sv.nongnu.org:/srv/git/nmh.git
+
+We suggest using git pull --rebase instead of the default merge for
+git pull. If you don't want to add the --rebase option every time,
+you can tell git pull to always rebase in your nmh workspace by
+cd'ing to it and running the following command:
-zotnet/mf/ (deprecated, now in sbr/)
- "mf" stands for "Mail Filter". The filtering in this case apparently refers
- to translation between different address and mailbox formats.
+ % git config --bool branch.master.rebase true
-zotnet/mts/ (deprecated, now in sbr/)
- MTS code not specific to any single MTS apparently goes here.
+And you'll probably want the following, also, so that --rebase applies
+to any new branches that you create:
-zotnet/tws/ (deprecated, now in sbr/)
- "tws" apparently stands for "time with structure", a rather odd phrase.
- This directory used to be the place for date and time manipulation code, but
- currently nothing in here is compiled. There are new, more portable
- versions of the key files in h/ and sbr/, and this directory will soon go
- away completely.
+ % git config branch.autosetuprebase always
-------------------------------------------------------
nmh conditionally uses a local definition with the same name as the OS function
(e.g. snprintf()). For other functions, developers need to avoid the OS
versions and always use the nmh-supplied function. Here is a list of such
-functions:
+functions:
OS function nmh-local version to use instead
=========== ================================
getpass() nmh_getpass()
+-------------------
+nmh temporary files
+-------------------
+
+To create a temporary file, use m_mktemp2() or m_mktemp(). They use
+mkstemp(3), but they also register the temporary file for removal on
+program termination. So, do not use mkstemp() directly.
+
+To further support this, nmh_init() must be called at the beginning of
+main(). And, if a child process is not going to immediately call one
+of the exec(3) functions or _exit(3) after a fork(3), it should call
+unregister_for_removal(0). Finally, nmh_init() sets up signal handlers
+for several signals: these signal handlers should not be disabled.
+
+
+--------------
+nmh test suite
+--------------
+
+The nmh test suite is run through the Makefile, with "make check"
+or "make distcheck".
+
+In the nmh test suite, nmh programs to be tested should be invoked
+through the run_test or run_prog shell functions defined in
+test/common.sh.
+
+To enable the use of valgrind, where available, set the environment
+variable NMH_VALGRIND to a non-null value. However, a separate
+environment variable, VALGRIND_ME, triggers the use of valgrind in
+test/inc/test-eom-align because it greatly extends the duration of
+that test.
+
+If valgrind complains about "serious error when reading debuginfo"
+from a library, either update or remove the debuginfo package for
+the offending library.
+
+
-------------
releasing nmh
-------------
-To make a public release of nmh (we'll use version 1.0.4 and my mhost.com
-account, danh, as examples here):
+To make a public release of nmh (we'll use version 1.5 as the example
+here; the convention for release candidates is to use something like
+"1.5-RC1"):
- 1. % echo 1.0.4 > VERSION
- % date +"%e %B %Y" > DATE
- (DATE should contain something like "30 December 2000")
+ 1. Create a release branch. The convention is to name release branches
+ with the name "<version>-release".
+
+ % git branch 1.5-release
+
+ Note you are still on the master branch at this point. Mark the
+ current revision as the branchpoint for the new release branch:
+
+ % git tag -a -m "This tag marks the point where we started the branch for 1.5" 1.5-branchpoint
- 2. Put a comment like "Released nmh-1.0.4." in the ChangeLog.
+ Now mark the master branch with a post-release version number (the
+ convention here is to use VERSION+dev as the version number).
- 3. % cvs commit ChangeLog VERSION DATE
+ % echo 1.5+dev > VERSION
+ % git commit VERSION
+ % git push
+ % git push --tags
- 4. % cvs tag nmh-1_0_4
- (cvs treats dots specially, so underscores are substituted here.)
+ Then do:
+
+ % git checkout 1.5-release
+
+ You are now on the 1.5 release branch.
+
+ 2. % echo 1.5 > VERSION
+ % date +"%e %B %Y" > DATE
+ (DATE should contain something like "30 December 2000")
- 5. % make nmhdist
+ 3. % git commit VERSION DATE; git push
- 6. Untar nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz and `diff -r' it vs. your CVS tree. Make sure no
- files got left out of the distribution that should be in it (due to someone
- forgetting to update the DIST variables in the Makefiles).
+ 4. % git tag -a 1.5 -m 'Releasing nmh-1.5.'
+ % git push --tags
- 7. If you have root access on your machine, it's good at this point to do:
+ Note that the new convention for tagging is to simply tag with the
+ version number (tag formats in the past have varied).
- % chown -R 0:0 nmh-1.0.4
- % tar cvf nmh-1.0.4.tar nmh-1.0.4
- % gzip nmh-1.0.4.tar
+ 5. % make distcheck
- If you leave the files in the archive as being owned by yourself, your UID
- may coincide with one of a user on a machine where nmh is being installed,
- making it possible for that user to Trojan the nmh code before the system
- administrator finishes installing it.
+ If you want to check the distribution build with some particular
+ configure options, set the DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS variable.
+ E.g.:
- 8. Make sure your new tarball uncompresses and untars with no problem. Make
- sure you can configure, make, and install nmh from it.
+ % make distcheck DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS=--with-cyrus-sasl
- 9. If all is well and your tarball is final, go back to your CVS tree and do:
+ 6. Upload the distribution file to savannah. You can automate this process
+ by doing:
- % echo 1.0.4+dev > VERSION
+ % make upload SAVANNAH_USERNAME=username
-10. Put a comment like "Upped the version number to 1.0.4+dev until the next nmh
- release." in the ChangeLog.
+ This will automatically call gpg to sign the release. You can bypass
+ this step by setting the SKIP_GPG_SIG variable.
-11. % cvs commit ChangeLog VERSION
+ 7. Update the http://www.nongnu.org/nmh/ homepage. (It lives in the CVS
+ 'webpages repository'; see https://savannah.nongnu.org/cvs/?group=nmh)
-12. If possible, make an MD5 hash and/or a PGP signature of nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz.
+ 8. Add a news item to the savannah nmh page. You'll have to submit it first
+ and then separately approve it (under News->Manage).
-13. % scp -p nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz* danh@mhost.com:/var/ftp/pub/nmh
+ 9. Send the release announcement email to the following places:
+ nmh-workers@nongnu.org
+ nmh-announce@nongnu.org
+ exmh-users@redhat.com
+ exmh-workers@redhat.com
+ mh-e-users@lists.sourceforge.net
-14. Send an announcement to exmh-users@redhat.com, exmh-workers@redhat.com,
- mh-users@ics.uci.edu, and nmh-announce@mhost.com. If the release fixes
- significant security holes, also send an announcement to
- bugtraq@securityfocus.com. The exmh lists require you to be subscribed in
- order to post. Note that you don't need to post separately to comp.mail.mh,
- as the mh-users mailing list is apparently bidirectionally gatewayed to it.
+ If the release fixes significant security holes, also send an announcement
+ to bugtraq@securityfocus.com. The exmh lists require you to be subscribed
+ in order to post. Note that you don't need to post separately to
+ comp.mail.mh, as the mh-users mailing list is apparently bidirectionally
+ gatewayed to it.
Preferably, the announcement should contain the MD5 hash generated above,
- and should be PGP-signed. It should include the FTP URL for the tarball as
+ and should be PGP-signed. It should include the URL for the tarball as
well as the URL of the website. It should contain a brief summary of
- visible changes, as well as the URL of the cvsweb diff page that would show
- a detailed list of changes. The changes between 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 would be
- shown by:
+ visible changes, as well as the URL of the git diff page that would show
+ a detailed list of changes. The changes between 1.5 and 1.4 would be
+ shown by [this is just a guess, I don't know anything about cgit, and
+ it assumes that we tag with nmh-x_x-release from now on]:
- http://www.mhost.com/cgi-bin/cvsweb/nmh/ChangeLog?r1=1.40&r2=1.71
+ http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/nmh.git/diff/?h=nmh-1_5-release?h=nmh-1_4-release
projects / nmh / blobdiff