Contributor/Committer tips

Coding style

Without getting religious about coding style guidelines, it is pleasant and productive if all code follows more or less the same style. Basically, just do the same as the current sources, and follow the standard Java conventions (ClassNamesLikeThis, static finals in uppercase, etc). Opening braces are on the same line. Use some whitespace, e.g. write x = 5 + 3, not x=5+3.

One special point that requires attention: use spaces for indentation, do not use tabs. For Java sources, we use 4 spaces, for XML 2 spaces.

Subversion configuration

Edit the file ~/.subversion/config

Make sure the following line is not commented out:

enable-auto-props = yes

In the section [auto-props], add the following entries:

*.js = svn:eol-style=native
*.xml = svn:eol-style=native
*.java = svn:eol-style=native
*.txt = svn:eol-style=native
*.xconf = svn:eol-style=native
*.xweb = svn:eol-style=native
*.xmap = svn:eol-style=native
*.properties = svn:eol-style=native
*.css = svn:eol-style=native
*.xsl = svn:eol-style=native
*.xsd = svn:eol-style=native
*.dtd = svn:eol-style=native
*.ent = svn:eol-style=native

Submitting a patch

Always start from an SVN checkout to edit sources. This can be the trunk, where the main development is happening, or a maintenance branch.

See the information on getting the sources.

When you want to contribute changes as a patch, go to the root of the Daisy source tree, and enter:

svn diff > mypatch.txt

This will create a file called mypatch.txt containing all the changes you made to the source tree. You can make a diff of just some files by listing them after the diff command.

• It is recommended to have a look in the patch file to see if it doesn't contain irrelevant changes.
• Before doing a diff, do an "svn update" to make sure you have the latest code
• Generally it is a good idea to discuss changes beforehand on the mailing list.
• See the SVN book to learn more about subversion.

If you have created new files that are not yet in the subversion repository, you need to add them first using svn add, before doing svn diff:

svn add path-to-new-file

You can then add your patch as an issue in Jira. A good description/motivation about your patch will help to get it applied.

Thanks in advance for your contribution!