7 This file attempts to describe the processes we use to maintain M4,
8 and is not part of a release distribution.
14 * If you incorporate a change from somebody on the net:
15 If it is a large change, you must make sure they have signed the
16 appropriate paperwork, and be sure to add their name and email
17 address to THANKS. AUTHORS is built from the FSF list of copyright
18 assignments, on fencepost.gnu.org.
20 * If somebody reports a new bug, write a test case, then mention his
21 name in the ChangeLog entry.
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 * Changes with user-visible effects must be mentioned in NEWS.
29 * GNU Coding Standards should be followed:
30 http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/
31 Additionally, while GNU M4 is not yet POSIX compliant, we are trying
32 to get closer to it (although some design decisions state that POSIX
33 compliance should only happen when POSIXLY_CORRECT is in the
34 environment or the -G option was passed on the command line):
35 http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/utilities/m4.html
41 * The master M4 repository is stored in git.
43 * Before you can build from git, you need to bootstrap. This requires a
44 pre-installed version of GNU M4 built from a package, Autoconf 2.60 or
45 later, Automake 1.9.6 or later, and a git checkout of gnulib. A
46 read-only copy of gnulib can be obtained by:
47 git clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/gnulib.git
49 cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@pserver.git.sv.gnu.org:/srv/git/gnulib.git \
52 If you are a member of the savannah group for gnulib, a read-write
53 copy can be obtained by:
54 git clone <savannah-user>@git.sv.gnu.org:/srv/git/gnulib.git
56 * Either add the gnulib directory to your PATH, or run
57 GNULIB_TOOL=path/to/gnulib/gnulib-tool ./bootstrap
59 * When it is time for a release, it is a good idea to bootstrap with
60 official releases of the autotools, rather than git builds, to reduce
61 the pain of a user re-running bootstrap on the packaged M4. However,
62 files installed by Automake should be updated to the latest version
63 from their respective upstream source, rather than the version that
64 shipped with the automake release.
72 liberally, on as many platforms as you can. Use as many compilers and
75 * For branch-1_4, the testsuite is generated from the documentation.
76 All instances of @example in doc/m4.texinfo that are not preceeded by
77 "@comment ignore" are turned into tests in the checks directory.
80 5. Editing 'ChangeLog'
81 ======================
83 * When in doubt, check that emacs can syntax-color properly in
84 change-log-mode. And preferably use emacs 'C-x 4 a'
85 (add-change-log-entry-other-window) to open ChangeLog with an
86 appropriate new template.
88 * If this change is by a different author, or on a different date to the
89 last entry start a new entry at the top of the file with the format
90 (note two spaces between each field):
92 yyyy-mm-dd Name of Author <email@address>
94 * If more than one person collaborated on the change, additional
95 authors can be listed on subsequent lines, thus:
97 yyyy-mm-dd Name of Main Author <email@address>,
98 Name of Contributor <another@email.address>
100 * Where a change author did not supply a copyright assignment, but the
101 changes they submitted were sufficiently trivial to commit in any case
102 (see the GCS for guidelines on this), then flag this against their
103 name in the header, thus:
105 yyyy-mm-dd Name of Author <email@address> (tiny change)
107 * Preferably the next part should be a description of the overall
108 purpose of the change, separated from the header by a blank line,
109 indented by 1 tab, and filled at column 72. The last character of the
110 description should be a colon, :.
112 * Changes to each file come next. Each new file starts on a new line,
113 indented by 1 tab and starting with an asterisk and a space. Multiple
114 files can be listed here relative to $top_srcdir, and comma separated.
115 Names of functions (or sections as appropriate) to which the change
116 applies should be named inside parentheses and comma separated. If
117 this goes beyond column 72, then parens should be closed and re-opened
120 * file, another/file, test/testcases/foo.test (func_foo)
121 (func_bar, func_baz): Description of changes.
123 * If the change does not apply to particular functions (or sections),
124 the section list can be omitted:
126 * file, another/file, test/testcases/foo.test: General changes.
128 * If the changes are particular to certain architectures, they should be
129 listed after the functions in square brackets:
131 * file, another/file (func_foo) [linux, solaris]: Description of
134 * Subsequent changes in other files that are related to the same overall
135 enhancement or bugfix should be listed concurrently, without blank
136 lines. Always start a fresh line for a new file:
138 * file, another/file (func_foo) [linux, solaris]: Description of
140 * doc/foo.texi (Invoking Foo): Document.
143 * If the change is in response to a problem reported by someone other
144 than the author, then credit them at the end of the description with:
146 Reported by Reporter Name <email@address>.
148 * See the GNU Coding Standards document for more details on ChangeLog
155 * If you are an m4 maintainer, but have not yet registered your
156 gpg public key and (preferred) email address with the FSF, send an
157 email, preferably GPG-signed, to <ftp-upload@gnu.org> that includes
160 (a) name of package(s) that you are the maintainer for, and your
161 preferred email address.
163 (b) an ASCII armored copy of your GnuPG key, as an attachment.
164 ("gpg --export -a YOUR_KEY_ID > mykey.asc" should give you
167 When you have received acknowledgement of your message, the proper GPG
168 keys will be registered on ftp-upload.gnu.org and only then will you be
169 authorized to upload files to the FSF ftp machines.
171 * If you do not have access to the mailing list administrative interface,
172 approach the list owners for the password. Be sure to check the lists
173 (esp. bug-m4) for outstanding bug reports also in the list of
174 pending moderation requests. This step is not strictly necessary, but
175 helps, since by default, m4-announce rejects all posts, so you have to
176 get an administrator to allow your announcement through.
178 * Make sure you have wget installed.
180 * Make sure you have a copy of xdelta installed, and a copy of the previous
181 release tarball in the build directory.
183 * Make sure you have GNU make installed.
185 * Make sure you have an up-to-date version of help2man installed.
187 * Make sure your locale is sane, e.g. by exporting LC_ALL=C.
189 * Update the version number in configure.ac.
190 See http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/contribute.html for details of
191 the numbering scheme (m4 uses the same scheme as libtool).
193 * Update NEWS, ChangeLog.
197 * Run ./configure (a VPATH build is not recommended, since several
198 targets in GNUMakefile and Makefile.maint assume an in-tree build for
199 distribution purposes. Normal builds do not suffer from this
200 restriction, and make distcheck ensures VPATH still works).
202 * Run `make'. The file doc/m4.1 needs to exist for a distribution, and
203 be up-to-date with m4 --help output, but `make dist' intentionally
204 does not depend on running a built binary.
206 * Run `make distcheck'. If there are any problems, fix them and start
209 * Run ./commit from the source tree.
211 * TODO - adjust this step to account for git:
212 Run `make cvs-dist', which will build a release tarball (with `make
213 distcheck') and tag the tree with release-$(VERSION).
215 * Run `make deltas' (pass LASTRELEASE=maj.min[.mic[alpha]] if needed) to
216 create both diff and xdelta files between the previous release tarball
219 * Run './gnupload --to [dest].gnu.org:m4 [files]' to create
220 detached gpg signature and clear signed directive files, and upload
221 the combination to the correct location. For an alpha release,
222 gnupload will place files in alpha.gnu.org, in /incoming/alpha, and
223 the xdelta file is not strictly necessary. For a full release,
224 gnupload will place files in ftp.gnu.org, in /incoming/ftp.
226 * Send announcement to m4-discuss@gnu.org, m4-announce@gnu.org, and
227 autotools-announce@gnu.org. If not an alpha send to info-gnu@gnu.org
228 as well. Use the templates below as a starting point. Contact a list
229 administrator for m4-announce in advance to ensure your post will
230 make it through (the list is normally set to silently discard all
231 posts, even from subscribers).
233 * Update version number in configure.ac to next alpha number.
234 See http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/contribute.html for details of
235 the numbering scheme.
237 * Update NEWS, ChangeLog.
241 * For non-alpha releases, update the webpages. Replace manual.html with
242 the new one (generate with `make web-manual').
245 7. Alpha release note template
246 ==============================
248 To: m4-announce@gnu.org, m4-discuss@gnu.org, autotools-announce@gnu.org
249 Subject: GNU M4 @VERSION@ released (alpha release).
251 The GNU M4 Team is pleased to announce alpha release @VERSION@ of GNU
254 GNU `m4' is an implementation of the traditional Unix macro processor.
255 It is mostly SVR4 compatible, although it has some extensions (for
256 example, handling more than 9 positional parameters to macros). `m4'
257 also has built-in functions for including files, running shell commands,
258 doing arithmetic, etc. Autoconf needs GNU `m4' for generating
259 `configure' scripts, but not for running them.
261 Here are the compressed sources:
263 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@VERSION@.tar.gz [@SIZE@]
264 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@VERSION@.tar.bz2 [@SIZE@]
266 Here are the xdeltas and diffs against m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@:
268 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz [@SIZE@]
269 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta [@SIZE@]
271 Here are the gpg detached signatures:
273 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@VERSION@.tar.gz.sig
274 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@VERSION@.tar.bz2.sig
275 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz.sig
276 ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta.sig
278 You should download the signature named after any tarball you download,
279 and then verify its integrity with, for example:
281 gpg --verify m4-@VERSION@.tar.gz.sig
283 If that command fails because you don't have the required public key,
284 then run this command to import it:
286 gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.pgp.net --recv-keys @KEY@
288 Here are the MD5 and SHA1 checksums:
290 @MD5SUM@ m4-@VERSION@.tar.gz
291 @MD5SUM@ m4-@VERSION@.tar.bz2
292 @MD5SUM@ m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz
293 @MD5SUM@ m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta
294 @SHA1SUM@ m4-@VERSION@.tar.gz
295 @SHA1SUM@ m4-@VERSION@.tar.bz2
296 @SHA1SUM@ m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz
297 @SHA1SUM@ m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta
299 This release has @SUMMARY_OF_IMPROVEMENTS_SINCE_LAST_RELEASE_ON_THIS_BRANCH@.
301 This release was bootstrapped with @BOOTSTRAP_TOOLS_WITH_VERSIONS@.
303 Alternatively, you can fetch the unbootstrapped sourcecode from git by
304 using the following commands:
306 $ git clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/m4
307 $ git checkout -b branch @GIT_RELEASE_TAG@
309 You will then need to have recent versions of Automake and Autoconf
310 installed, and a recent checkout of gnulib, in order to bootstrap the
311 checked out sources yourself.
313 New in @VERSION@: @RELEASE_DATE@
315 @EXCERPT_FROM_NEWS_FILE@
317 Please report bugs to <bug-m4@gnu.org>, along with the output of 'make
318 check' and any other information that might be useful in resolving the
322 8. Full release note template
323 =============================
326 To: m4-announce@gnu.org, m4-discuss@gnu.org, autotools-announce@gnu.org
327 Subject: GNU M4 @VERSION@ released.
329 The GNU M4 Team is pleased to announce the release of GNU M4 @VERSION@.
331 GNU `m4' is an implementation of the traditional Unix macro processor.
332 It is mostly SVR4 compatible, although it has some extensions (for
333 example, handling more than 9 positional parameters to macros). `m4'
334 also has built-in functions for including files, running shell commands,
335 doing arithmetic, etc. Autoconf needs GNU `m4' for generating
336 `configure' scripts, but not for running them.
338 This release has @SUMMARY_OF_IMPROVEMENTS_SINCE_LAST_RELEASE_ON_THIS_BRANCH@.
340 New in @VERSION@: @RELEASE_DATE@
342 @EXCERPT_FROM_NEWS_FILE@
344 m4-@VERSION@ is available now from ftp.gnu.org, along with diffs and
345 xdeltas against m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@ that are also
346 available from ftp.gnu.org. Please use a mirror to reduce stress on the
349 http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html
351 Here are the compressed sources:
353 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@VERSION@.tar.gz [@SIZE@]
354 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@VERSION@.tar.bz2 [@SIZE@]
356 Here are the xdeltas and diffs against m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@:
358 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz [@SIZE@]
359 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta [@SIZE@]
361 Here are the gpg detached signatures:
363 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@VERSION@.tar.gz.sig
364 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@VERSION@.tar.bz2.sig
365 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz.sig
366 ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta.sig
368 You should download the signature named after any tarball you download,
369 and then verify its integrity with, for example:
371 gpg --verify m4-@VERSION@.tar.gz.sig
373 If that command fails because you don't have the required public key,
374 then run this command to import it:
376 gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.pgp.net --recv-keys @KEY@
378 Here are the MD5 and SHA1 checksums:
380 @MD5SUM@ m4-@VERSION@.tar.gz
381 @MD5SUM@ m4-@VERSION@.tar.bz2
382 @MD5SUM@ m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz
383 @MD5SUM@ m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta
384 @SHA1SUM@ m4-@VERSION@.tar.gz
385 @SHA1SUM@ m4-@VERSION@.tar.bz2
386 @SHA1SUM@ m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz
387 @SHA1SUM@ m4-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta
389 This release was bootstrapped with @BOOTSTRAP_TOOLS_WITH_VERSIONS@.
391 Alternatively, you can fetch the unbootstrapped sourcecode from git by
392 using the following commands:
394 $ git clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/m4
395 $ git checkout -b branch @GIT_RELEASE_TAG@
397 You will then need to have the latest release versions of Automake
398 (@AUTOMAKE_VERSION@) and Autoconf (@AUTOCONF_VERSION@) installed, as
399 well as a git checkout of gnulib, in order to bootstrap the checked out
402 Please report bugs to <bug-m4@gnu.org>, along with the output of 'make
403 check' and any other information that might be useful in resolving the
408 Copyright (C) 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
410 The canonical source of this file is maintained with the
411 GNU M4 package. Report bugs to bug-m4@gnu.org.
413 GNU M4 is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
414 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
415 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
416 (at your option) any later version.
418 GNU M4 is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
419 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
420 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
421 GNU General Public License for more details.
423 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
424 along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.