7 This file attempts to describe the processes we use to maintain libtool,
8 and is not part of a release distribution.
13 * If you incorporate a change from somebody on the net:
14 If it is a large change, you must make sure they have signed the
15 appropriate paperwork, and be sure to add their name and email
18 * If a change fixes a test, mention the test in the ChangeLog entry.
20 * If somebody reports a new bug, mention his name in the ChangeLog entry
21 and in the test case you write.
23 * The correct response to most actual bugs is to write a new test case
24 which demonstrates the bug. Then fix the bug, re-run the test suite,
25 and check everything in.
27 * Some files in the libtool package are not owned by libtool. These
28 files should never be edited here. These files are:
43 The ones that are important for a release can be udated with,
44 `make -fMakefile.maint fetch' (or `make -f../Makefile.maint fetch'
45 if you are running from a VPATH build directory, where `../' is the
46 relative path to the directory with `configure' in it).
48 * Changes other than bug fixes must be mentioned in NEWS
54 * Use "make check" liberally, on as many platforms as you can. Use as
55 many compilers and linkers you can.
61 * We've adopted the convention that exported Autoconf macros should be
62 named with a leading `LT_' and be documented in the libtool manual.
63 Internal macros begin with `_LT_' if they are visible to aclocal, or
64 potentially part of an AC_DEFUN/AC_REQUIRE path, or else `_lt_' if
65 they are very low level. This convention was only introduced just
66 before libtool-2.0, so there may still be exceptions in the existing
67 code. But all new code should use it.
69 * All shell variables used internally by libtool's Autoconf macros
70 should be named with the a leading `lt_' (not that they cannot clash
71 with the `_lt_' macro namespace).
74 5. Editing 'ChangeLog'
75 ======================
77 * When in doubt, check that emacs can syntax-color properly in
78 change-log-mode. And preferably use emacs 'C-x 4 a'
79 (add-change-log-entry-other-window) to open ChangeLog with an
80 appropriate new template.
82 * If this change is by a different author, or on a different date to the
83 last entry start a new entry at the top of the file with the format
84 (note two spaces between each field):
86 yyyy-mm-dd Name of Author <email@address>
88 * If more than one person collaborated on the change, additional
89 authors can be listed on subsequent lines, thus:
91 yyyy-mm-dd Name of Main Author <email@address>,
92 Name of Contributor <another@email.address>
94 * Where a change author did not supply a copyright assignment, but the
95 changes they submitted were sufficiently trivial to commit in any case
96 (see the GCS for guidelines on this), then flag this against their
97 name in the header, thus:
99 yyyy-mm-dd Name of Author <email@address> (tiny change)
101 * In ChangeLog.2004 and earlier, 'Name of Author' was sometimes the name
102 of the author of the ChangeLog when the person who made the change
103 being documented didn't supply one. In that case separated from
104 the previous field by a blank line and indented by 1 tab (note, only
105 1 space between fields here) you will see:
107 From Author of Actual Change <email@address>:
109 As of now, don't do that anymore, since the GNU Coding Standards say
110 that the author of the change must be credited in the main entry
111 header for legal purposes.
113 * Preferably the next part should be a description of the overall
114 purpose of the change, separated from the header by a blank line,
115 indented by 1 tab, and filled at column 72. The last character of the
116 description should be a colon, :.
118 * Changes to each file come next. Each new file starts on a new line,
119 indented by 1 tab and starting with an asterisk and a space. Multiple
120 files can be listed here relative to $top_srcdir, and comma separated.
121 Names of functions (or sections as appropriate) to which the change
122 applies should be named inside parentheses and comma separated. If
123 this goes beyond column 72, then parens should be closed and re-opened
126 * file, another/file, test/testcases/foo.test (func_foo)
127 (func_bar, func_baz): Description of changes.
129 * If the change does not apply to particular functions (or sections),
130 the section list can be omitted:
132 * file, another/file, test/testcases/foo.test: General changes.
134 * If the changes are particular to certain architectures, they should be
135 listed after the functions in square brackets:
137 * file, another/file (func_foo) [linux, solaris]: Description of
140 * Subsequent changes in other files that are related to the same overall
141 enhancement or bugfix should be listed concurrently, without blank
142 lines. Always start a fresh line for a new file:
144 * file, another/file (func_foo) [linux, solaris]: Description of
146 * doc/foo.texi (Invoking Foo): Document.
149 * If the change is in response to a problem reported by someone other
150 than the author, then credit them at the end of the description with:
152 Reported by Reporter Name <email@address>.
154 * See the GNU Coding Standards document for more details on ChangeLog
158 2005-01-08 Ralf Wildenhues <Ralf.Wildenhues@gmx.de> (tiny change),
159 Peter O'Gorman <peter@pogma.com>
161 This is the overall description of the purpose of this change
162 and any useful background for a model ChangeLog entry:
164 * HACKING: Updated copyright. This isn't attached to a
165 particular section of the file, so it comes first.
166 (Editing 'ChangeLog'): New section. This applies to the same
167 file, but since it applies to a particular section it starts on
169 (Introduction, Maintenance Notes, Test Suite, Naming)
170 (Editing '.am' Files): If I had changed all these sections in
171 the same way, I can list them like this, being careful to close
172 and reopen the parentheses when starting a new line. The colon
173 only comes after the last section before this description.
175 Reported by Bob Friesenhahn <bfriesen@simple.dallas.tx.us>.
178 6. Editing `.am' Files
179 ======================
181 * Always use $(...) and not ${...}
183 * Use `:', not `true'. Use `exit 1', not `false'.
185 * Use `##' comments liberally. Comment anything even remotely unusual.
187 * Never use basename or dirname. Instead use sed.
189 * Do not use `cd' within back-quotes, use `$(am__cd)' instead.
190 Otherwise the directory name may be printed, depending on CDPATH.
192 * In general, if a loop is required, it should be silent. Then the body
193 of the loop itself should print each "important" command it runs.
196 7. Editing `.m4sh' Files
197 ========================
199 * Use shell functions, but be careful not to assume local scope for
200 variable names. Don't use `return', instead echo the result of a
201 function and call it from within backquotes.
203 * Function names should be prefixed `func_'.
205 * For functions that are called frequently, if you need to return a
206 value, don't cause unneccessary forking of the shell using echo as
207 described above; instead set the return value in a variable named
208 after the called function with a suffix of `_result'. For example
209 the function `func_quote_for_eval' stores its return value in the
210 variable `$func_quote_for_eval_result'.
212 * Although sh-indentation is set to 2 (by the `Local Variables:' block
213 at the end of .m4sh files), the left margin of the body of shell
214 functions should begin indented by 4 spaces.
217 8. Abstraction layers in libltdl
218 ================================
220 * The libltdl API uses a layered approach to differentiate internal and
221 external interfaces, among other things. To keep the abstraction
222 consistent, files in a given layer may only use APIs from files in the
223 lower layers. The exception to this is lt__glibc.h which serves a
224 dual purpose, as explained later.
226 * At the bottom of the stack we have the system abstraction layer,
227 which tries to smooth over the cracks where there are differences
228 between host systems and compilers. config.h is generated at
229 configure time and is not installed; lt_system.h is an installed
230 file and cannot use macros from config.h:
232 lt_system.h ../config.h
234 * Next up is the libc abstraction layer, which provides a uniform api
235 to various system libc interfaces that differ between hosts supported
236 by libtool. Typically, the files that implement this layer begin:
238 #if defined(HAVE_CONFIG_H)
239 # include HAVE_CONFIG_H
241 #include "lt_system.h"
243 Or if they are installed headers that must work outside the libtool
246 #include <libltdl/lt_system.h>
248 This layer's interface is defined by files that are usually named with
251 ,------------. ,-----------. ,------. ,-------.
252 |lt__dirent.h| |lt__alloc.h| |argz.h| |slist.h|
253 +------------+ +-----------+ +------+ +-------+
254 |lt__dirent.c| |lt__alloc.c| |argz.c| |slist.c|
255 `------------' `-----------' `------' `-------'
257 The exceptions here are argz.h and slist.h which are used
258 independently of libltdl in other projects.
260 * There is also a sub-layer that can be used either by the headers that
261 implement it, in which case its function is to avoid namespace clashes
262 when linked with the GNU C library; Or it can be included by code that
263 wants to program against a glibc like interface, where it also serves
264 the function of pulling in all the glibc-like functionality used by
265 libltdl from a single:
267 #include <libltdl/lt__glibc.h>
269 It consists of the single file:
273 * The next layer are the subsystems of the exported libltdl API, which
274 are defined by files that are named with a leading `lt_' (no double
277 ,----------. ,-------------.
278 |lt_error.h| |lt_dlloader.h|
279 +----------+ +-------------+
280 |lt_error.c| |lt_dlloader.c|
281 `----------' `-------------'
284 * The top layer of the stack is the libltdl API proper, which includes
285 the subsystems automatically:
293 * And finally, there is an additional internal only layer (as evidenced
294 by the `lt__' prefix to the filename!) that defines additional
295 internal interfaces that are not exported to libltdl clients, but are
296 shared between internal files:
304 * If you are a libtool maintainer, but have not yet registered your
305 gpg public key and (preferred) email address with the FSF, send an
306 email, preferably GPG-signed, to <ftp-upload@gnu.org> that includes
309 (a) name of package(s) that you are the maintainer for, and your
310 preferred email address.
312 (b) an ASCII armored copy of your GnuPG key, as an attachment.
313 ("gpg --export -a YOUR_KEY_ID > mykey.asc" should give you
316 When you have received acknowledgement of your message, the proper GPG
317 keys will be registered on ftp-upload.gnu.org and only then will you be
318 authorized to upload files to the FSF ftp machines.
320 * Make sure you have wget installed.
322 * Make sure you have a copy of xdelta installed, and a copy of the previous
323 release tarball in the build directory.
325 * Update the version number in configure.ac.
326 See http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/contribute.html for details of
327 the numbering scheme.
329 * Update NEWS, ChangeLog.
333 * Have some tea. If you are running on less than 3.6GHz CPU, order
336 * Run ./configure (or create a build directory first and run configure
337 from there, if you want to keep the build tree separate).
339 * Run `make -fMakefile.maint fetch' (or `make -f../Makefile.maint fetch'
340 if you are running from a VPATH build directory, where `../' is the
341 relative path to the directory with `configure' in it), which will
342 fetch new versions of the files that are maintained outside of
345 * Run `make distcheck'. If there are any problems, fix them and start
348 * Run ./commit from the source tree.
350 * Run `make -fMakefile.maint cvs-dist' (or `make -f../Makefile.maint
351 cvs-dist' if you are running from a VPATH build directory, where `../'
352 is the relative path to the directory with `configure' in it), which
353 will build a release tarball (with `make distcheck'), tag the tree
354 with release-$(VERSION) and generate the gpg signature files.
356 * Run 'make -f[../]Makefile.maint deltas' (pass
357 LASTRELEASE=min.maj[.mic[alpha]] if needed) to create both diff and
358 xdelta files between the previous release tarball and the new with
359 detached gpg signature files and clear signed directive files.
361 * Upload release tarball, diff file and xdelta file, plus their associated
362 detached gpg signature files and clear signed directive files to
363 ftp-upload.gnu.org. If the upload is destined for ftp.gnu.org, then the
364 files should be placed in the /incoming/ftp directory. If the upload is
365 an alpha release destined for alpha.gnu.org, then the files should be
366 placed in the /incoming/alpha directory.
368 * Send announcement to libtool@gnu.org and autotools-announce@gnu.org,
369 if not an alpha send to info-gnu@gnu.org as well.
371 * Update version number in configure.ac to next alpha number.
372 See http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/contribute.html for details of
373 the numbering scheme.
375 * Update NEWS, ChangeLog.
379 * Update the webpages, libtool.html will need to indicate the latest
380 release number and the news page should get a HTMLified copy of your
381 release announcement.
383 * If not an alpha, replace manual.html with the new one
384 (generate with `make -f[../]Makefile.maint web-manual').
388 10. Alpha release note template
389 ===============================
391 To: libtool@gnu.org, autotools-announce@gnu.org
392 Subject: GNU Libtool @VERSION@ released (alpha release).
394 The Libtool Team is pleased to announce alpha release @VERSION@ of GNU
397 GNU Libtool hides the complexity of using shared libraries behind a
398 consistent, portable interface. GNU Libtool ships with GNU libltdl,
399 which hides the complexity of loading dynamic runtime libraries
400 (modules) behind a consistent, portable interface.
402 Here are the compressed sources:
404 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz
405 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2
407 Here are the xdeltas and diffs against libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@:
409 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz
410 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta
412 Here are the gpg detached signatures:
414 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz.sig
415 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2.sig
416 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz.sig
417 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta.sig
419 You should download the signature named after any tarball you download,
420 and then verify its integrity with, for example:
422 gpg --verify libtool-@VERSION.tar.gz.sig
424 Here are the MD5 and SHA1 checksums:
426 @MD5SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz
427 @MD5SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2
428 @MD5SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz
429 @MD5SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta
430 @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz
431 @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2
432 @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz
433 @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta
435 This release has @SUMMARY_OF_IMPROVEMENTS_SINCE_LAST_RELEASE_ON_THIS_BRANCH@.
437 This release was bootstrapped with @BOOTSTRAP_TOOLS_WITH_VERSIONS@,
438 but is useable with @COMPATIBLE_AUTOTOOL_VERSIONS@ in your own
441 Alternatively, you can fetch the unbootstrapped sourcecode from
442 anonymous cvs by using the following commands:
445 $ cvs -z3 -d :ext:anoncvs@savannah.gnu.org:/cvsroot/libtool \
446 co -r @CVS_RELEASE_TAG@ libtool
448 You will then need to have recent (possibly as yet unreleased) versions
449 of Automake and Autoconf installed to bootstrap the checked out
452 New in @VERSION@: @RELEASE_DATE@
454 @EXCERPT_FROM_NEWS_FILE@
456 Please report bugs to <bug-libtool@gnu.org>, along with the verbose
457 output of any failed test groups, and the output from `./libtool --help.'
461 11. Full release note template
462 ==============================
465 Cc: libtool@gnu.org, autotools-announce@gnu.org
466 Subject: GNU Libtool @VERSION@ released.
468 The Libtool Team is pleased to announce the release of GNU Libtool
471 GNU Libtool hides the complexity of using shared libraries behind a
472 consistent, portable interface. GNU Libtool ships with GNU libltdl,
473 which hides the comlexity of loading dynamic runtime libraries
474 (modules) behind a consistent, portable interface.
476 This release has @SUMMARY_OF_IMPROVEMENTS_SINCE_LAST_RELEASE_ON_THIS_BRANCH@.
478 New in @VERSION@: @RELEASE_DATE@
480 @EXCERPT_FROM_NEWS_FILE@
482 libtool-@VERSION@ is available now from ftp.gnu.org, along with
483 diffs and xdeltas against libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@
484 that are also available from ftp.gnu.org. Please
485 use a mirror to reduce stress on the main gnu machine:
487 http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html
489 Here are the compressed sources:
491 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz
492 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2
494 Here are the xdeltas and diffs against libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@:
496 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz
497 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta
499 Here are the gpg detached signatures:
501 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz.sig
502 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2.sig
503 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz.sig
504 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta.sig
506 You should download the signature named after any tarball you download,
507 and then verify its integrity with, for example:
509 gpg --verify libtool-@VERSION.tar.gz.sig
511 Here are the MD5 and SHA1 checksums:
513 @MD5SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz
514 @MD5SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2
515 @MD5SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz
516 @MD5SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta
517 @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz
518 @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2
519 @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz
520 @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta
522 This release was bootstrapped with @BOOTSTRAP_TOOLS_WITH_VERSIONS@,
523 but is useable with @COMPATIBLE_AUTOTOOL_VERSIONS@ in your own
526 Alternatively, you can fetch the unbootstrapped sourcecode from
527 anonymous cvs by using the following commands (just hit return when
528 you are prompted for the password):
531 $ cvs -z3 -d :ext:anoncvs@savannah.gnu.org:/cvsroot/libtool \
532 co -r @CVS_RELEASE_TAG@ libtool
534 You will then need to have the latest release versions of Automake
535 (@AUTOMAKE_VERSION@) and Autoconf (@AUTOCONF_VERSION@) installed to
536 bootstrap the checked out sources yourself.
538 Please report bugs to <bug-libtool@gnu.org>, along with the verbose
539 output of any failed test groups, and the output from `./libtool --help.'
543 Copyright (C) 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
545 The canonical source of this file is maintained with the
546 GNU Libtool package. Report bugs to bug-libtool@gnu.org.
548 GNU Libtool is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
549 modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
550 published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
551 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
553 As a special exception to the GNU General Public License,
554 if you distribute this file as part of a program or library that
555 is built using GNU libtool, you may include it under the same
556 distribution terms that you use for the rest of that program.
558 GNU Libtool is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
559 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
560 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
561 General Public License for more details.
563 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
564 along with GNU Libtool; if not, write to the Free Software
565 Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA