reformatted to be similar to the FAQ to make it look nicer on the site:
http://curl.haxx.se/docs/contribute.html
diff --git a/docs/CONTRIBUTE b/docs/CONTRIBUTE
index ad718bc..a569a6e 100644
--- a/docs/CONTRIBUTE
+++ b/docs/CONTRIBUTE
@@ -10,16 +10,46 @@
mind when you decide to contribute to the project. This concerns new features
as well as corrections to existing flaws or bugs.
-Join the Community
+ 1. Learning cURL
+ 1.1 Join the Community
+ 1.2 License
+ 1.3 What To Read
+
+ 2. cURL Coding Standards
+ 2.1 Naming
+ 2.2 Indenting
+ 2.3 Commenting
+ 2.4 Line Lengths
+ 2.5 General Style
+ 2.6 Non-clobbering All Over
+ 2.7 Platform Dependent Code
+ 2.8 Write Separate Patches
+ 2.9 Patch Against Recent Sources
+ 2.10 Document
+ 2.11 Test Cases
+
+ 3. Pushing Out Your Changes
+ 3.1 Write Access to CVS Repository
+ 3.2 How To Make a Patch
+ 3.3 How to get your changes into the main sources
+
+==============================================================================
+
+1. Learning cURL
+
+1.1 Join the Community
Skip over to http://curl.haxx.se/mail/ and join the appropriate mailing
list(s). Read up on details before you post questions. Read this file before
you start sending patches! We prefer patches and discussions being held on
the mailing list(s), not sent to individuals.
+ Before posting to one of the curl mailing lists, please read up on the mailing
+ list etiquette: http://curl.haxx.se/mail/etiquette.html
+
We also hang out on IRC in #curl on irc.freenode.net
-License
+1.2. License
When contributing with code, you agree to put your changes and new code under
the same license curl and libcurl is already using unless stated and agreed
@@ -43,14 +73,16 @@
give credit but also to keep a trace back to who made what changes. Please
always provide us with your full real name when contributing!
-What To Read
+1.3 What To Read
Source code, the man pages, the INTERNALS document, TODO, KNOWN_BUGS, the
most recent CHANGES. Just lurking on the libcurl mailing list is gonna give
you a lot of insights on what's going on right now. Asking there is a good
idea too.
-Naming
+2. cURL Coding Standards
+
+2.1 Naming
Try using a non-confusing naming scheme for your new functions and variable
names. It doesn't necessarily have to mean that you should use the same as in
@@ -61,7 +93,7 @@
See the INTERNALS document on how we name non-exported library-global
symbols.
-Indenting
+2.2 Indenting
Please try using the same indenting levels and bracing method as all the
other code already does. It makes the source code a lot easier to follow if
@@ -70,7 +102,7 @@
using spaces only (no tabs) and having the opening brace ({) on the same line
as the if() or while().
-Commenting
+2.3 Commenting
Comment your source code extensively using C comments (/* comment */), DO NOT
use C++ comments (// this style). Commented code is quality code and enables
@@ -78,16 +110,16 @@
replaced when someone wants to extend things, since other persons' source
code can get quite hard to read.
-Line Lengths
+2.4 Line Lengths
We try to keep source lines shorter than 80 columns.
-General Style
+2.5 General Style
Keep your functions small. If they're small you avoid a lot of mistakes and
you don't accidentally mix up variables etc.
-Non-clobbering All Over
+2.6 Non-clobbering All Over
When you write new functionality or fix bugs, it is important that you don't
fiddle all over the source files and functions. Remember that it is likely
@@ -96,14 +128,14 @@
functionality, try writing it in a new source file. If you fix bugs, try to
fix one bug at a time and send them as separate patches.
-Platform Dependent Code
+2.7 Platform Dependent Code
Use #ifdef HAVE_FEATURE to do conditional code. We avoid checking for
particular operating systems or hardware in the #ifdef lines. The
HAVE_FEATURE shall be generated by the configure script for unix-like systems
and they are hard-coded in the config-[system].h files for the others.
-Separate Patches
+2.8 Write Separate Patches
It is annoying when you get a huge patch from someone that is said to fix 511
odd problems, but discussions and opinions don't agree with 510 of them - or
@@ -114,14 +146,14 @@
description exactly what they correct so that all patches can be selectively
applied by the maintainer or other interested parties.
-Patch Against Recent Sources
+2.9 Patch Against Recent Sources
Please try to get the latest available sources to make your patches
against. It makes the life of the developers so much easier. The very best is
if you get the most up-to-date sources from the CVS repository, but the
latest release archive is quite OK as well!
-Document
+2.10 Document
Writing docs is dead boring and one of the big problems with many open source
projects. Someone's gotta do it. It makes it a lot easier if you submit a
@@ -132,16 +164,7 @@
ASCII files. All HTML files on the web site and in the release archives are
generated from the nroff/ASCII versions.
-Write Access to CVS Repository
-
- If you are a frequent contributor, or have another good reason, you can of
- course get write access to the CVS repository and then you'll be able to
- check-in all your changes straight into the CVS tree instead of sending all
- changes by mail as patches. Just ask if this is what you'd want. You will be
- required to have posted a few quality patches first, before you can be
- granted write access.
-
-Test Cases
+2.11 Test Cases
Since the introduction of the test suite, we can quickly verify that the main
features are working as they're supposed to. To maintain this situation and
@@ -150,7 +173,18 @@
test case that verifies that it works as documented. If every submitter also
posts a few test cases, it won't end up as a heavy burden on a single person!
-How To Make a Patch
+3. Pushing Out Your Changes
+
+3.1 Write Access to CVS Repository
+
+ If you are a frequent contributor, or have another good reason, you can of
+ course get write access to the CVS repository and then you'll be able to
+ check-in all your changes straight into the CVS tree instead of sending all
+ changes by mail as patches. Just ask if this is what you'd want. You will be
+ required to have posted a few quality patches first, before you can be
+ granted write access.
+
+3.2 How To Make a Patch
Keep a copy of the unmodified curl sources. Make your changes in a separate
source tree. When you think you have something that you want to offer the
@@ -170,15 +204,15 @@
For unix-like operating systems:
- http://www.gnu.org/software/patch/patch.html
- http://www.gnu.org/directory/diffutils.html
+ http://www.gnu.org/software/patch/patch.html
+ http://www.gnu.org/directory/diffutils.html
For Windows:
- http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/patch.htm
- http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/diffutils.htm
+ http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/patch.htm
+ http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/diffutils.htm
-How to get your patches into the libcurl sources
+3.3 How to get your changes into the main sources
1. Submit your patch to the curl-library mailing list
