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
+----------------
+
+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).
-------------------------
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 2.61 and automake 1.10.
+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
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:
+the nmh repository (with read-only access to it):
% git clone git://git.savannah.nongnu.org/nmh.git
-That will create a workspace call nmh. To update that workspace
+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:
+
+ % git config --bool branch.master.rebase true
+
+And you'll probably want the following, also, so that --rebase applies
+to any new branches that you create:
+
+ % git config branch.autosetuprebase always
-------------------------------------------------------
nmh-local functions to use in preference to OS versions
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".
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
-------------
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; the convention for release candidates
-is to use something like "1.0.4-RC1"):
+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
+ 1. % echo 1.5 > VERSION
% date +"%e %B %Y" > DATE
(DATE should contain something like "30 December 2000")
2. % git commit VERSION DATE; git push
- 3. % git tag -a nmh-1_0_4 -m 'Releasing nmh-1_0_4.'
-
- 4. % make nmhdist
-
- 5. Untar nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz and `diff -r' it vs. your workspace. 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).
-
- 6. If you have root access on your machine, it's good at this point to do:
+ 3. % git tag -a 1.5 -m 'Releasing nmh-1.5.'
- % 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
+ Note that the new convention for tagging is to simply tag with the
+ version number (tag formats in the past have varied).
- 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.
+ 4. % make distcheck
- 7. Make sure your new tarball uncompresses and untars with no problem. Make
- sure you can configure, make, and install nmh from it.
+ If you want to check the distribution build with some particular
+ configure options, set the DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS variable.
+ E.g.:
- 8. If all is well and your tarball is final, go back to your workspace and do:
+ % make distcheck DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS=--with-cyrus-sasl
- % echo 1.0.4+dev > VERSION
+ 5. If all is well and your tarball is final, go back to your workspace and do:
- 9. % git commit VERSION; git push
+ % echo 1.5+dev > VERSION
-10. If possible, make an MD5 hash and/or a PGP signature of nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz.
- Assuming you have gpg set up, this should be:
- % gpg --output nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz.sig --detach-sig nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz
+ 6. % git commit VERSION; git push
- You can verify the signature with
- % gpg --verify nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz.sig nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz
+ 7. Upload the distribution file to savannah. You can automate this process
+ by doing:
-11. Upload the files to savannah. First make sure they are mode 664 so
- they will have the right permissions on the server end
- (see https://savannah.gnu.org/maintenance/SharedDownloadArea)
- % chmod 664 nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz*
+ % make upload SAVANNAH_USERNAME=username
- Then scp them across:
- % scp -p nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz* youruser@dl.sv.nongnu.org:/releases/nmh/
+ This will automatically call gpg to sign the release. You can bypass
+ this step by setting the SKIP_GPG_SIG variable.
-12. Update the http://www.nongnu.org/nmh/ homepage. (It lives in the CVS
+ 8. Update the http://www.nongnu.org/nmh/ homepage. (It lives in the CVS
'webpages repository'; see https://savannah.nongnu.org/cvs/?group=nmh)
-13. Add a news item to the savannah nmh page. You'll have to submit it first
+ 9. Add a news item to the savannah nmh page. You'll have to submit it first
and then separately approve it (under News->Manage).
-14. Send the release announcement email to the following places:
+10. 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
- mh-users@ics.uci.edu *or* comp.mail.mh (there is a bidirectional gateway)
If the release fixes significant security holes, also send an announcement
to bugtraq@securityfocus.com. The exmh lists require you to be subscribed
projects / nmh / blobdiff