documentation/patches.sgml

   1   <chapter id="patches">
   2     <title>Submitting Patches</title>
   3
   4     <para>
   5       Written by &name-albert-den-haan; <email>&email-albert-den-haan;</email>
   6     </para>
   7     <sect1 id="patch-format">
   8       <title>Patch Format</title>
   9
  10       <para>
  11         Your patch should include:
  12       </para>
  13
  14       <itemizedlist>
  15         <listitem>
  16           <para>
  17             A meaningfull subject (very short description of patch)
  18           </para>
  19         </listitem>
  20          <listitem>
  21           <para>
  22             A long (paragraph) description of what was wrong and what is now
  23             better (and now broken :). (recomended)
  24           </para>
  25         </listitem>
  26         <listitem>
  27           <para>
  28             Change Log: A short description of what was changed.
  29           </para>
  30         </listitem>
  31         <listitem>
  32           <para>
  33             Your contact information ( Name/Handle and e-mail )
  34           </para>
  35         </listitem>
  36         <listitem>
  37           <para>
  38             The patch in <command>diff -u</command> format (it happens...)
  39           </para>
  40         </listitem>
  41       </itemizedlist>
  42
  43       <para>
  44         <command>cvs diff -u</command> works great for the common case
  45         where a file is edited.  However, if you add or remove a file
  46         <command>cvs diff</command> will not report that correctly so
  47         make sure you explicitly take care of this rare case.
  48       </para>
  49       <para>
  50         For additions: mention that you have some new files and
  51         include them as either separate attachments or by appending
  52         the <command>diff -u /dev/null /my/new/file</command> output of them
  53         to any <command>cvs diff -u</command> output you may have.
  54         Alternatively, use <command>diff -Nu olddir/ newdir/</command>
  55         in case of multiple new files to add.
  56       </para>
  57       <para>
  58         For removals, list the files.
  59       </para>
  60       <para>
  61         Since wine is constantly changing due to development it is strongly
  62         recomended that you use cvs for patches, if you cannot use cvs for
  63         some reason, you can submit patches against the latest tarball.
  64         To do this make a copy of the files that you will be modifying and
  65         <command>diff -u</command> against the old file. I.E.
  66       </para>
  67       <screen>
  68 diff -u file.old file.c > file.txt
  69       </screen>
  70     </sect1>
  71
  72     <sect1 id="Style-notes">
  73       <title>Some notes about style</title>
  74
  75       <para>
  76         There are a few conventions that about coding style that have been
  77         adopted over the years of development. The rational for these
  78         <quote>rules</quote> is explained for each one.
  79       </para>
  80       <itemizedlist>
  81         <listitem>
  82         <para>
  83           No HTML mail please. It is considered bad netiquette as it uglifies
  84           the message, and is not viewable by many of the subscribers.
  85         </para>
  86         </listitem>
  87          <listitem>
  88         <para>
  89            Only one change set per patch. Patches should address only one
  90            bug/problem at a time. If a lot of changes need to be made then it
  91            is perfered to break it into a series of patches. This makes it
  92            easier to find regressions.
  93         </para>
  94         </listitem>
  95         <listitem>
  96         <para>
  97           Tabs are not forbidden but are defined as 8 characters and the usual
  98           amount of indentation is 4 characters.
  99         </para>
 100         </listitem>
 101         <listitem>
 102         <para>
 103           C++ style comments are discouraged since some compilers choke on
 104           them.
 105         </para>
 106         </listitem>
 107         <listitem>
 108         <para>
 109           Commenting out a block of code is usually done by enclosing it in
 110           <command>#if 0 ... #endif</command> Statements. For example.
 111         </para>
 112         <screen>
 113 /* note about reason for commenting block */
 114 #if 0
 115 code
 116 code /* comments */
 117 code
 118 #endif
 119         </screen>
 120         <para>
 121           The reason for using this method is that it does not require that
 122           you edit comments that may be inside the block of code.
 123         </para>
 124         </listitem>
 125         <listitem>
 126         <para>
 127           Patches should be inlined (if you can configure your email client to
 128           not wrap lines), or attached as plain text attachements so they can
 129           be read inline. This may mean some more work for you. However it
 130           allows others to review your patch easily and decreases the chances
 131           of it being overlooked or forgotten.
 132         </para>
 133         </listitem>
 134         <listitem>
 135         <para>
 136           Code is usually limited to 80 columns. This helps prevent mailers
 137           mangling patches by line wrap. Also it generally makes code easier
 138           to read.
 139         </para>
 140         </listitem>
 141       </itemizedlist>
 142       <sect2 id="Inline-Attachments-with-OE">
 143         <title>Inline attachments with Outlook Express</title>
 144         <para>
 145           Outlook Express is notorious for mangleing attachements. Giving the
 146           patch a <filename>.txt</filename> extention and attaching will solve
 147           the problem for most mailers including Outlook. Also, there is a way
 148           to enable Outlook Express send <filename>.diff</filename>
 149           attachmnets.
 150         </para>
 151         <para>
 152           You need following two things to make it work.
 153         </para>
 154         <orderedlist>
 155           <listitem>
 156           <para>
 157             Make sure that <filename>.diff</filename> files have \r\n line
 158             ends, because if OE detects that there is no \r\n line endings it
 159             switches to quoted-printable format attachments.
 160           </para>
 161           </listitem>
 162           <listitem>
 163           <para>
 164             Using regedit add key "Content Type" with value "text/plain"
 165             to the .diff extension under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (same as for .txt
 166             extension). This tells OE to use Content-Type: text/plain instead
 167             of application/octet-stream.
 168           </para>
 169           </listitem>
 170         </orderedlist>
 171         <para>
 172           Item #1 is important. After you hit "Send" button, go to "Outbox"
 173           and using "Properties" verify the message source to make sure that
 174           the mail has correct format. You might want to send several test
 175           emails to yourself too.
 176         </para>
 177       </sect2>
 178     </sect1>
 179
 180     <sect1 id="patch-quality">
 181       <title>Quality Assurance</title>
 182
 183       <para>
 184         (Or, "How do I get Alexandre to apply my patch quickly so I
 185         can build on it and it will not go stale?")
 186       </para>
 187       <para>
 188         Make sure your patch applies to the current CVS head
 189         revisions.  If a bunch of patches are commited to CVS that may
 190         affect whether your patch will apply cleanly then verify that
 191         your patch does apply!   <command>cvs update</command> is your
 192         friend!
 193       </para>
 194       <para>
 195         Save yourself some embarasment and run your patched code
 196         against more than just your current test example.  Experience
 197         will tell you how much effort to apply here.
 198       </para>
 199
 200     </sect1>
 201   </chapter>
 202
 203 <!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file
 204 Local variables:
 205 mode: sgml
 206 sgml-parent-document:("wine-doc.sgml" "set" "book" "part" "chapter" "")
 207 End:
 208 -->