cdist/docs/man/cdist-hacker.rst

Hacking
=======

Welcome
-------
Welcome dear hacker! I invite you to a tour of pointers to
get into the usable configuration mangament system, cdist.

The first thing to know is probably that cdist is brought to
you by people who care about how code looks like and who think
twice before merging or implementing a feature: Less features
with good usability are far better than the opposite.


Reporting bugs
--------------
If you believe you've found a bug and verified that it is
in the latest version, drop a mail to the cdist mailing list,
subject prefixed with "[BUG] " or create an issue on github.


Coding conventions (everywhere)
-------------------------------
If something should be better done or needs to fixed, add the word FIXME
nearby, so grepping for FIXME gives all positions that need to be fixed.

Indention is 4 spaces (welcome to the python world).


How to submit stuff for inclusion into upstream cdist
-----------------------------------------------------
If you did some cool changes to cdist, which you value as a benefit for
everybody using cdist, you're welcome to propose inclusion into upstream.

There are though some requirements to ensure your changes don't break others
work nor kill the authors brain:

- All files should contain the usual header (Author, Copying, etc.)
- Code submission must be done via git
- Do not add cdist/conf/manifest/init - This file should only be touched in your
  private branch!
- Code to be included should be branched of the upstream "master" branch

   - Exception: Bugfixes to a version branch

- On a merge request, always name the branch I should pull from
- Always ensure **all** manpages build. Use **./build man** to test.
- If you developed more than **one** feature, consider submitting them in
  separate branches. This way one feature can already be included, even if
  the other needs to be improved.

As soon as your work meets these requirements, write a mail
for inclusion to the mailinglist **cdist at cdist -- at -- l.schottelius.org**
or open a pull request at http://github.com/telmich/cdist.


How to submit a new type
------------------------
For detailled information about types, see `cdist type <cdist-type.html>`_.

Submitting a type works as described above, with the additional requirement
that a corresponding manpage named man.text in asciidoc format with
the manpage-name "cdist-type__NAME" is included in the type directory
AND asciidoc is able to compile it (i.e. do NOT have to many "=" in the second
line).

Warning: Submitting "exec" or "run" types that simply echo their parameter in
**gencode** will not be accepted, because they are of no use. Every type can output
code and thus such a type introduces redundant functionality that is given by
core cdist already.


Example git workflow
---------------------
The following workflow works fine for most developers

.. code-block:: sh

    # get latest upstream master branch
    git clone https://github.com/telmich/cdist.git

    # update if already existing
    cd cdist; git fetch -v; git merge origin/master

    # create a new branch for your feature/bugfix
    cd cdist # if you haven't done before
    git checkout -b documentation_cleanup

    # *hack*
    *hack*

    # clone the cdist repository on github if you haven't done so

    # configure your repo to know about your clone (only once)
    git remote add github git@github.com:YOURUSERNAME/cdist.git

    # push the new branch to github 
    git push github documentation_cleanup

    # (or everything)
    git push --mirror github

    # create a pull request at github (use a browser)
    # *fixthingsbecausequalityassurancefoundissuesinourpatch*
    *hack*

    # push code to github again
    git push ... # like above

    # add comment that everything should be green now (use a browser)

    # go back to master branch
    git checkout master

    # update master branch that includes your changes now
    git fetch -v origin
    git diff master..origin/master
    git merge origin/master

If at any point you want to go back to the original master branch, you can
use **git stash** to stash your changes away::

.. code-block:: sh

    # assume you are on documentation_cleanup
    git stash

    # change to master and update to most recent upstream version
    git checkout master
    git fetch -v origin
    git merge origin/master

Similar when you want to develop another new feature, you go back
to the master branch and create another branch based on it::

.. code-block:: sh

    # change to master and update to most recent upstream version
    git checkout master
    git fetch -v origin
    git merge origin/master

    git checkout -b another_feature

(you can repeat the code above for as many features as you want to develop
in parallel)