GNU Libtool *********** 1. Introduction =============== This file attempts to describe the processes we use to maintain libtool, and is not part of a release distribution. 2. Maintenance Notes ==================== * If you incorporate a change from somebody on the net: If it is a large change, you must make sure they have signed the appropriate paperwork, and be sure to add their name and email address to THANKS * If a change fixes a test, mention the test in the ChangeLog entry. * If somebody reports a new bug, mention his name in the ChangeLog entry and in the test case you write. * The correct response to most actual bugs is to write a new test case which demonstrates the bug. Then fix the bug, re-run the test suite, and check everything in. * Some files in the libtool package are not owned by libtool. These files should never be edited here. These files are: COPYING INSTALL config/ + config.guess + config.sub + depcomp + install-sh + mdate-sh + missing + texinfo.tex doc/ + fdl.texi libltdl/ + COPYING.LIB The ones that are important for a release can be udated with, `make -fMakefile.maint fetch' (or `make -f../Makefile.maint fetch' if you are running from a VPATH build directory, where `../' is the relative path to the directory with `configure' in it). * Changes other than bug fixes must be mentioned in NEWS 3. Test Suite ============= * Use "make check" liberally, on as many platforms as you can. Use as many compilers and linkers you can. 4. Naming ========= * We've adopted the convention that exported Autoconf macros should be named with a leading `LT_' and be documented in the libtool manual. Internal macros begin with `_LT_' if they are visible to aclocal, or potentially part of an AC_DEFUN/AC_REQUIRE path, or else `_lt_' if they are very low level. This convention was only introduced just before libtool-2.0, so there may still be exceptions in the existing code. But all new code should use it. * All shell variables used internally by libtool's Autoconf macros should be named with the a leading `lt_' (not that they cannot clash with the `_lt_' macro namespace). 5. Editing 'ChangeLog' ====================== * When in doubt, check that emacs can syntax-color properly in change-log-mode. And preferably use emacs 'C-x 4 a' (add-change-log-entry-other-window) to open ChangeLog with an appropriate new template. * If this change is by a different author, or on a different date to the last entry start a new entry at the top of the file with the format (note two spaces between each field): yyyy-mm-dd Name of Author * If more than one person collaborated on the change, additional authors can be listed on subsequent lines, thus: yyyy-mm-dd Name of Main Author , Name of Contributor * Where a change author did not supply a copyright assignment, but the changes they submitted were sufficiently trivial to commit in any case (see the GCS for guidelines on this), then flag this against their name in the header, thus: yyyy-mm-dd Name of Author (tiny change) * In ChangeLog.2004 and earlier, 'Name of Author' was sometimes the name of the author of the ChangeLog when the person who made the change being documented didn't supply one. In that case separated from the previous field by a blank line and indented by 1 tab (note, only 1 space between fields here) you will see: From Author of Actual Change : As of now, don't do that anymore, since the GNU Coding Standards say that the author of the change must be credited in the main entry header for legal purposes. * Preferably the next part should be a description of the overall purpose of the change, separated from the header by a blank line, indented by 1 tab, and filled at column 72. The last character of the description should be a colon, :. * Changes to each file come next. Each new file starts on a new line, indented by 1 tab and starting with an asterisk and a space. Multiple files can be listed here relative to $top_srcdir, and comma separated. Names of functions (or sections as appropriate) to which the change applies should be named inside parentheses and comma separated. If this goes beyond column 72, then parens should be closed and re-opened on the next line: * file, another/file, test/testcases/foo.test (func_foo) (func_bar, func_baz): Description of changes. * If the change does not apply to particular functions (or sections), the section list can be omitted: * file, another/file, test/testcases/foo.test: General changes. * If the changes are particular to certain architectures, they should be listed after the functions in square brackets: * file, another/file (func_foo) [linux, solaris]: Description of changes. * Subsequent changes in other files that are related to the same overall enhancement or bugfix should be listed concurrently, without blank lines. Always start a fresh line for a new file: * file, another/file (func_foo) [linux, solaris]: Description of changes. * doc/foo.texi (Invoking Foo): Document. * NEWS: Updated. * If the change is in response to a problem reported by someone other than the author, then credit them at the end of the description with: Reported by Reporter Name . * See the GNU Coding Standards document for more details on ChangeLog formatting. 2005-01-08 Ralf Wildenhues (tiny change), Peter O'Gorman This is the overall description of the purpose of this change and any useful background for a model ChangeLog entry: * HACKING: Updated copyright. This isn't attached to a particular section of the file, so it comes first. (Editing 'ChangeLog'): New section. This applies to the same file, but since it applies to a particular section it starts on a new line. (Introduction, Maintenance Notes, Test Suite, Naming) (Editing '.am' Files): If I had changed all these sections in the same way, I can list them like this, being careful to close and reopen the parentheses when starting a new line. The colon only comes after the last section before this description. * NEWS: Updated. Reported by Bob Friesenhahn . 6. Editing `.am' Files ====================== * Always use $(...) and not ${...} * Use `:', not `true'. Use `exit 1', not `false'. * Use `##' comments liberally. Comment anything even remotely unusual. * Never use basename or dirname. Instead use sed. * Do not use `cd' within back-quotes, use `$(lt__cd)' instead. Otherwise the directory name may be printed, depending on CDPATH. * In general, if a loop is required, it should be silent. Then the body of the loop itself should print each "important" command it runs. 7. Editing `.m4sh' Files ======================== * Use shell functions, but be careful not to assume local scope for variable names. Don't use `return', instead echo the result of a function and call it from within backquotes. * Function names should be prefixed `func_', the function header should look like this: # func_foo [ OPTIONS ] # Description of what func_foo does and returns. func_foo () { $opt_debug # contents of func_foo ... } The `$opt_debug' is used to enable shell tracing (Korn shells reset this on function entry). * For functions that are called frequently, if you need to return a value, don't cause unneccessary forking of the shell using echo as described above; instead set the return value in a variable named after the called function with a suffix of `_result'. For example the function `func_quote_for_eval' stores its return value in the variable `$func_quote_for_eval_result'. * Although sh-indentation is set to 2 (by the `Local Variables:' block at the end of .m4sh files), the left margin of the body of shell functions should begin indented by 4 spaces. 8. Editing `.m4' Files ====================== * Be careful with both `echo' and `$ECHO'. As the latter may be one of echo print -r printf %s\n $CONFIG_SHELL $0 --fallback-echo it may not have more than one argument, its value may not be eval'ed and the argument may not start with a `-'. As a rule of thumb, use echo .. for literal (constant) strings without leading hyphen and no backslashes within, $ECHO ".." for strings without leading hyphen, $ECHO "X.." | $Xsed otherwise. 9. Abstraction layers in libltdl ================================ * The libltdl API uses a layered approach to differentiate internal and external interfaces, among other things. To keep the abstraction consistent, files in a given layer may only use APIs from files in the lower layers. The exception to this is lt__glibc.h which serves a dual purpose, as explained later. * At the bottom of the stack we have the system abstraction layer, which tries to smooth over the cracks where there are differences between host systems and compilers. config.h is generated at configure time and is not installed; lt_system.h is an installed file and cannot use macros from config.h: lt_system.h ../config.h * Next up is the libc abstraction layer, which provides a uniform api to various system libc interfaces that differ between hosts supported by libtool. Typically, the files that implement this layer begin: #if defined(HAVE_CONFIG_H) # include HAVE_CONFIG_H #endif #include "lt_system.h" Or if they are installed headers that must work outside the libtool source tree, simply: #include This layer's interface is defined by files that are usually named with a leading `lt__': ,------------. ,-----------. ,------. ,-------. |lt__dirent.h| |lt__alloc.h| |argz.h| |slist.h| +------------+ +-----------+ +------+ +-------+ |lt__dirent.c| |lt__alloc.c| |argz.c| |slist.c| `------------' `-----------' `------' `-------' The exceptions here are argz.h and slist.h which are used independently of libltdl in other projects. * There is also a sub-layer that can be used either by the headers that implement it, in which case its function is to avoid namespace clashes when linked with the GNU C library; Or it can be included by code that wants to program against a glibc like interface, where it also serves the function of pulling in all the glibc-like functionality used by libltdl from a single: #include It consists of the single file: lt__glibc.h * The next layer are the subsystems of the exported libltdl API, which are defined by files that are named with a leading `lt_' (no double underscore!): ,----------. ,-------------. |lt_error.h| |lt_dlloader.h| +----------+ +-------------+ |lt_error.c| |lt_dlloader.c| `----------' `-------------' * The top layer of the stack is the libltdl API proper, which includes the subsystems automatically: ,------. |ltdl.h| +------+ |ltdl.c| `------' * And finally, there is an additional internal only layer (as evidenced by the `lt__' prefix to the filename!) that defines additional internal interfaces that are not exported to libltdl clients, but are shared between internal files: lt__private.h 10. Release Procedure ==================== * If you are a libtool maintainer, but have not yet registered your gpg public key and (preferred) email address with the FSF, send an email, preferably GPG-signed, to that includes the following: (a) name of package(s) that you are the maintainer for, and your preferred email address. (b) an ASCII armored copy of your GnuPG key, as an attachment. ("gpg --export -a YOUR_KEY_ID > mykey.asc" should give you this.) When you have received acknowledgement of your message, the proper GPG keys will be registered on ftp-upload.gnu.org and only then will you be authorized to upload files to the FSF ftp machines. * Make sure you have wget installed. * Make sure you have a copy of xdelta installed, and a copy of the previous release tarball in the build directory. * Make sure your locale is sane, e.g. by exporting LC_ALL=C. * Double check that serial number updates in public m4 files weren't forgotten since last release (they should be updated in CVS along with commits that require it so that users can work with CVS snapshots). * Double check that libltdl version number updates weren't forgotten since last release (they should be updated in CVS along with commits that require it so that users can work with CVS snapshots). * Update the version number in configure.ac. See http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/contribute.html for details of the numbering scheme. * Update NEWS, ChangeLog. * Run ./bootstrap. * Have some tea. If you are running on less than 3.6GHz CPU, order a pizza too ;-) * Run ./configure (or create a build directory first and run configure from there, if you want to keep the build tree separate). * Run `make -fMakefile.maint fetch' (or `make -f../Makefile.maint fetch' if you are running from a VPATH build directory, where `../' is the relative path to the directory with `configure' in it), which will fetch new versions of the files that are maintained outside of libtool. * Run `make distcheck' and `make distcheck DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS=--disable-ltdl-install'. If there are any problems, fix them and start again. * Run ./commit from the source tree. * Run `make -fMakefile.maint cvs-dist' (or `make -f../Makefile.maint cvs-dist' if you are running from a VPATH build directory, where `../' is the relative path to the directory with `configure' in it), which will build a release tarball (with `make distcheck'), tag the tree with release-$(VERSION) and generate the gpg signature files. * Run 'make -f[../]Makefile.maint deltas' (pass LASTRELEASE=maj.min[.mic[alpha]] if needed) to create both diff and xdelta files between the previous release tarball and the new with detached gpg signature files and clear signed directive files. * Upload release tarball, diff file and xdelta file, plus their associated detached gpg signature files and clear signed directive files to ftp-upload.gnu.org. If the upload is destined for ftp.gnu.org, then the files should be placed in the /incoming/ftp directory. If the upload is an alpha release destined for alpha.gnu.org, then the files should be placed in the /incoming/alpha directory. * Send announcement to libtool@gnu.org and autotools-announce@gnu.org, if not an alpha send to info-gnu@gnu.org as well. * Update version number in configure.ac to next alpha number. See http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/contribute.html for details of the numbering scheme. * Update NEWS, ChangeLog. * Run ./commit. * Update the webpages, libtool.html will need to indicate the latest release number and the news page should get a HTMLified copy of your release announcement. * If not an alpha, replace manual.html with the new one (generate with `make -f[../]Makefile.maint web-manual'). 11. Alpha release note template =============================== To: libtool@gnu.org, autotools-announce@gnu.org Subject: GNU Libtool @VERSION@ released (alpha release). The Libtool Team is pleased to announce alpha release @VERSION@ of GNU Libtool. GNU Libtool hides the complexity of using shared libraries behind a consistent, portable interface. GNU Libtool ships with GNU libltdl, which hides the complexity of loading dynamic runtime libraries (modules) behind a consistent, portable interface. Here are the compressed sources: ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2 Here are the xdeltas and diffs against libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@: ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta Here are the gpg detached signatures: ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz.sig ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2.sig ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz.sig ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta.sig You should download the signature named after any tarball you download, and then verify its integrity with, for example: gpg --verify libtool-@VERSION.tar.gz.sig Here are the MD5 and SHA1 checksums: @MD5SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz @MD5SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2 @MD5SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz @MD5SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2 @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta This release has @SUMMARY_OF_IMPROVEMENTS_SINCE_LAST_RELEASE_ON_THIS_BRANCH@. This release was bootstrapped with @BOOTSTRAP_TOOLS_WITH_VERSIONS@, but is useable with @COMPATIBLE_AUTOTOOL_VERSIONS@ in your own projects. Alternatively, you can fetch the unbootstrapped sourcecode from anonymous cvs by using the following commands: $ export CVS_RSH=ssh $ cvs -z3 -d :ext:anoncvs@savannah.gnu.org:/cvsroot/libtool \ co -r @CVS_RELEASE_TAG@ libtool You will then need to have recent (possibly as yet unreleased) versions of Automake and Autoconf installed to bootstrap the checked out sources yourself. New in @VERSION@: @RELEASE_DATE@ @EXCERPT_FROM_NEWS_FILE@ Please report bugs to , along with the verbose output of any failed test groups, and the output from `./libtool --help.' 12. Full release note template ============================== To: info-gnu@gnu.org Cc: libtool@gnu.org, autotools-announce@gnu.org Subject: GNU Libtool @VERSION@ released. The Libtool Team is pleased to announce the release of GNU Libtool @VERSION@. GNU Libtool hides the complexity of using shared libraries behind a consistent, portable interface. GNU Libtool ships with GNU libltdl, which hides the complexity of loading dynamic runtime libraries (modules) behind a consistent, portable interface. This release has @SUMMARY_OF_IMPROVEMENTS_SINCE_LAST_RELEASE_ON_THIS_BRANCH@. New in @VERSION@: @RELEASE_DATE@ @EXCERPT_FROM_NEWS_FILE@ libtool-@VERSION@ is available now from ftp.gnu.org, along with diffs and xdeltas against libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@ that are also available from ftp.gnu.org. Please use a mirror to reduce stress on the main gnu machine: http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html Here are the compressed sources: ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2 Here are the xdeltas and diffs against libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@: ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta Here are the gpg detached signatures: ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz.sig ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2.sig ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz.sig ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta.sig You should download the signature named after any tarball you download, and then verify its integrity with, for example: gpg --verify libtool-@VERSION.tar.gz.sig Here are the MD5 and SHA1 checksums: @MD5SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz @MD5SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2 @MD5SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz @MD5SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.gz @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@VERSION@.tar.bz2 @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.diff.gz @SHA1SUM@ libtool-@PREV_RELEASE_VERSION_ON_THIS_BRANCH@-@VERSION@.xdelta This release was bootstrapped with @BOOTSTRAP_TOOLS_WITH_VERSIONS@, but is useable with @COMPATIBLE_AUTOTOOL_VERSIONS@ in your own projects. Alternatively, you can fetch the unbootstrapped sourcecode from anonymous cvs by using the following commands (just hit return when you are prompted for the password): $ export CVS_RSH=ssh $ cvs -z3 -d :ext:anoncvs@savannah.gnu.org:/cvsroot/libtool \ co -r @CVS_RELEASE_TAG@ libtool You will then need to have the latest release versions of Automake (@AUTOMAKE_VERSION@) and Autoconf (@AUTOCONF_VERSION@) installed to bootstrap the checked out sources yourself. Please report bugs to , along with the verbose output of any failed test groups, and the output from `./libtool --help.' -- Copyright (C) 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc. The canonical source of this file is maintained with the GNU Libtool package. Report bugs to bug-libtool@gnu.org. GNU Libtool is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. As a special exception to the GNU General Public License, if you distribute this file as part of a program or library that is built using GNU libtool, you may include it under the same distribution terms that you use for the rest of that program. GNU Libtool is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with GNU Libtool; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA Local Variables: mode: text fill-column: 72 End: