EVOLUTION-MANAGER

Edit File: README.contrib

If you're interested in contributing to this program, here are some guidelines. Mail patches to gpsbabel-code@lists.sourceforge.net for consideration and integration. Rules to Live By ---------------- Standards are good. ISO C++, Qt, and POSIX are greatly preferred to adding more libraries or implementing your own hash maps or other common functions. You may find format_skeleton.c and filter_skeleton.c in the source tree to be helpful examples. Just add meat! Compilers complain for a reason. Code shouldn't emit warnings. The entire world doesn't run <your OS here>. We regularly test this code on at least five different OSes. If you find yourself wanting to insert compiler or OS specific magic, please resist. We try to keep a consistent convention in code that's "ours". We aren't interested in trying to convert zlib or jeeps to it, but in general we prefer: int mumble(int whatever) { <2spaces>if (whatevever) { <4spaces>return blah; <2spaces>} } Formatting can be done with astyle using the included style file astylerc with the command "astyle --options=astylerc {source files}". astyle is available at http://astyle.sourceforge.net/ The corresponding astyle settings for this are provided in our source tree in the file named 'astylerc' Submitting Patches ------------------ If you are creating a new target you should submit patches (use "svn diff" to create patches) to the following files: * Yourcode.c and/or Yourcode.h - this is the code required to do your conversions and any support files that your code requires. * vecs.c - an updated vecs.c file implementing your conversion code into GPSBabel. * Makefile.in - an updated Makefile telling the compiler how to build and link your conversion into GPSBabel * testo.d/$TARGET - an updated script that tests your conversion (this should produce no output if all is good, see the current testo script for examples) * YourOutput - a sample file of code produced by your function (used in testo and lives in a directory called "reference"). * Documentation - see below. Please ensure that you are building and testing against the latest code from the top of the CVS tree and that any code you modify is the latest version from the CVS - Note: code changes sometimes occur frequently! Documentation ------------- HTML and text documentation are generated automatically from DocBook source located in the "xmldoc" directory. That directory contains two subdirectories of interest: "formats" and "filters". If your contribution adds or affects a format, you'll want to be in the "formats" directory. Otherwise, you'll want to be in the "filters" directory. You should contribute a file called "yourname.xml", where "yourname" is the name you would give on the command-line to invoke your new format or filter. For example, the arc filter is documented in "filters/arc.xml". This file contains a general description of your format or filter, any limitations in your support for it, and anything else the end user should know. For file formats, links to manufacturers' websites are encouraged. The contents of this file are not valid or even well-formed XML on their own; they are included into a larger framework. If you know DocBook, you should ensure that the contents of this file will validate if included in a <section>. If you do not know DocBook, see the other files in this directory for examples or see http://docbook.org/tdg/en/html/docbook.html for the gory details. Tags of interest will almost certainly include <para> for paragraphs, <ulink url="..."> for web links, and <screen format="linespecific"> for example command lines. For each option supported by your format or filter, you should also contribute a file in the "options" subdirectory called "yourname-youroption.xml", again using the names you would use on the command line to invoke your format or filter with that particular option. For example, the "distance" option to the "arc" filter is documented in "filters/options/arc-distance.xml". These files are similar to the general description above, and should meet the same validation requirements. As of this writing, there are two formats that violate this rule: Magellan serial and Microsoft Streets & Trips. Because those formats have the same names as other formats, their descriptions are located in "magellan1.xml" and "msroute1.xml" respectively. These are special cases, and you should do your best to ensure that they remain the only special cases. Note that the automated framework already includes the name and description of your format and its options as described in vecs.c and yourcode.c, so there is no need to repeat that information in your documentation. Enjoy! Robert Lipe, robertlipe@gpsbabel.org