X-Git-Url: http://git.marmaro.de/?p=mmh;a=blobdiff_plain;f=docs%2FREADME.developers;h=dcec2a73a4971d1c19998ee3a23725b9bdca85b7;hp=f941e38fbcb3041177b9320b7f10688c1bf26d78;hb=641a9d953e86685f9ca2f3da72e9a94e5bcfd69e;hpb=acbaad14892c83d03d91a36c3a1d95526aea26ba diff --git a/docs/README.developers b/docs/README.developers index f941e38..dcec2a7 100644 --- a/docs/README.developers +++ b/docs/README.developers @@ -1,227 +1,99 @@ # # 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. - - --------------- -autoconf files --------------- -If you wish to change the `configure' script or its related files, you'll need -to first install GNU m4, available from and then -GNU autoconf (). Nmh is currently using -a minimum of autoconf 2.54. +This file is intended to provide a few tips for anyone doing development +on mmh. Developers who learn things "the hard way" about the mmh codebase +(as opposed to local info best encoded in a comment) are encouraged to +share their wisdom here. -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). +Absolute beginners should start reading docs/README.start-devel. -Note that the automatically generated autoconf files (such as config.h.in, -stamp-h.in, and configure), are NOT kept in CVS. Thus, when you check out -a CVS tree, you need to do the following things before you can build -anything: - - % autoheader - % autoconf - % date > stamp-h.in ------------------- directory structure ------------------- -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. +Following is a list of mmh'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. ./ - The top-level directory. Contains files like README and INSTALL. + The top-level directory. Contains files like README and INSTALL. config/ - Contains utility files for the `configure' process. Ordinarily nothing in - here needs to be messed with. + Contains utility files for the `configure' process. Ordinarily + nothing in here needs to be messed with, but config/config.c is + very interesting to have a look at. -doc/ +docs/ Contains more specialized documentation, such as this file and the FAQ. etc/ - Contains files, file templates, and scripts to generate files that will be - installed in the ${prefix}/etc directory. Stuff like replcomps. + Contains files, file templates, and scripts to generate files that + will be installed in the ${prefix}/etc directory. Stuff like + replcomps. h/ - Most of nmh's header (.h) files are kept not in the individual source - directories, but in this central location. + Most of mmh's header files are kept in this central location instead + of in the individual source directories. man/ - Contains all the input files that are processed to generate nmh's manual - pages. - -mts/ - "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. + Contains all the input files that are processed to generate mmh's + manual pages. sbr/ - "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. + "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 mmh. uip/ - "uip" stands for "User Interface Programs". Most nmh commands have a file - in this directory named .c containing the code for that command - (e.g. repl.c). In some cases there is also an auxiliary file called - sbr.c which contains additional subroutines called from .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. - -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. - -zotnet/mts/ (deprecated, now in sbr/) - MTS code not specific to any single MTS apparently goes here. - -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. - - -------------------------------------------------------- -nmh-local functions to use in preference to OS versions -------------------------------------------------------- + "uip" stands for "User Interface Programs". Most mmh commands have a + file in this directory named .c containing the code for that + command (e.g. repl.c). In some cases there is also an auxiliary file + called sbr.c which contains additional subroutines called + from .c. -For some system functions whose availability or behavior varies from OS to OS, -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: -OS function nmh-local version to use instead -=========== ================================ -getpass() nmh_getpass() +---------------------- +version control system +---------------------- +As of December 2010, nmh has switched to using git for revision control +instead of CVS. Mmh has stick to git. While the topic of git is beyond +the scope of this FAQ, to get started with git and mmh, you can run the +following command to checkout the mmh repository: -------------- -releasing nmh -------------- + % git clone http://git.marmaro.de/mmh -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"): +That will create a workspace called mmh. To update that workspace +change to it and run: - 1. % echo 1.0.4 > VERSION - % date +"%e %B %Y" > DATE - (DATE should contain something like "30 December 2000") + % git pull - 2. Put a comment like "Released nmh-1.0.4." in the ChangeLog. - 3. % cvs commit ChangeLog VERSION DATE - - 4. % cvs tag nmh-1_0_4 - (cvs treats dots specially, so underscores are substituted here.) - - 5. % make nmhdist - - 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). - - 7. If you have root access on your machine, it's good at this point to do: - - % 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 - - 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. - - 8. Make sure your new tarball uncompresses and untars with no problem. Make - sure you can configure, make, and install nmh from it. - - 9. If all is well and your tarball is final, go back to your CVS tree and do: - - % echo 1.0.4+dev > VERSION - -10. Put a comment like "Upped the version number to 1.0.4+dev until the next nmh - release." in the ChangeLog. - -11. % cvs commit ChangeLog VERSION - -12. 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 - - You can verify the signature with - % gpg --verify nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz.sig nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz - -13. 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* - - Then scp them across: - % scp -p nmh-1.0.4.tar.gz* youruser@dl.sv.nongnu.org:/releases/nmh/ - -14. FIXME -- I suspect that at least some of the mailing lists here are not - correct any more. Needs checking. +-------------- +autoconf files +-------------- - 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 you wish to change the `configure' script or its related files, +you'll need to first install GNU m4 and GNU autoconf. Mmh is currently +using a minimum of autoconf 2.61. - 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 - 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: +Most of the configure-related files are automatically generated. The +only files you should need to manually edit are `acconfig.h' and +`configure.ac'. 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). - http://www.mhost.com/cgi-bin/cvsweb/nmh/ChangeLog?r1=1.40&r2=1.71 +Note that the automatically generated autoconf files (such as +`config.h.in', `stamp-h.in', and `configure'), are NOT kept in the +version control system. Thus, when you check out the source tree, +you need to run the `autogen.sh' script before you can build anything: -15. Add a news item to the savannah nmh page. You'll have to submit it first - and then separately approve it (under News->Manage). + % ./autogen.sh -16. Update the http://www.nongnu.org/nmh/ homepage. (It lives in the 'webpages - repository'; see https://savannah.nongnu.org/cvs/?group=nmh)