@setfilename standards.info
@settitle GNU Coding Standards
@c This date is automagically updated when you save this file:
-@set lastupdate July 25, 2000
+@set lastupdate August 29, 2000
@c %**end of header
@ifinfo
@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
-Copyright @copyright{} 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Copyright @copyright{} 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
state reasons for writing in a certain way.
Corrections or suggestions for this document should be sent to
-@email{gnu@@gnu.org}. If you make a suggestion, please include a
+@email{bug-standards@@gnu.org}. If you make a suggestion, please include a
suggested new wording for it; our time is limited. We prefer a context
diff to the @file{standards.texi} or @file{make-stds.texi} files, but if
you don't have those files, please mail your suggestion anyway.
This release of the GNU Coding Standards was last updated
@value{lastupdate}.
+@cindex where to obtain @code{standards.texi}
+@cindex downloading this manual
If you did not obtain this file directly from the GNU project and
recently, please check for a newer version. You can ftp the GNU Coding
Standards from any GNU FTP host in the directory
@node Legal Issues
@chapter Keeping Free Software Free
+@cindex legal aspects
This @value{CHAPTER} discusses how you can make sure that GNU software
avoids legal difficulties, and other related issues.
@node Reading Non-Free Code
@section Referring to Proprietary Programs
+@cindex proprietary programs
+@cindex avoiding proprietary code
Don't in any circumstances refer to Unix source code for or during
your work on GNU! (Or to any other proprietary programs.)
@node Contributions
@section Accepting Contributions
+@cindex legal papers
+@cindex accepting contributions
If the program you are working on is copyrighted by the Free Software
Foundation, then when someone else sends you a piece of code to add to
@node Trademarks
@section Trademarks
+@cindex trademarks
Please do not include any trademark acknowledgements in GNU software
packages or documentation.
@node Design Advice
@chapter General Program Design
+@cindex program design
This @value{CHAPTER} discusses some of the issues you should take into
account when designing your program.
@c making minor changes. In 1990 ANSI then re-adopted ISO standard
@c C. This version of C is known as either ANSI C or Standard C.
+@c A major revision of the C Standard appeared in 1999.
+
@menu
* Source Language:: Which languges to use.
* Compatibility:: Compatibility with other implementations
* Using Extensions:: Using non-standard features
-* Standard C:: Using Standard (ANSI 1989) C features
+* Standard C:: Using Standard C features
@end menu
@node Source Language
@section Which Languages to Use
+@cindex programming languges
When you want to use a language that gets compiled and runs at high
speed, the best language to use is C. Using another language is like
people know C, so more people will find it easy to read and modify the
program if it is written in C.
-So in general it is much better to use use C, rather than the
+So in general it is much better to use C, rather than the
comparable alternatives.
But there are two exceptions to that conclusion:
is written in that language, too. The Emacs editor pioneered this
technique.
+@cindex GUILE
The standard extensibility interpreter for GNU software is GUILE, which
implements the language Scheme (an especially clean and simple dialect
of Lisp). @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/guile/}. We don't reject
@node Compatibility
@section Compatibility with Other Implementations
+@cindex compatibility with C and @sc{posix} standards
+@cindex @sc{posix} compatibility
With occasional exceptions, utility programs and libraries for GNU
should be upward compatible with those in Berkeley Unix, and upward
-compatible with 1989 Standard C if 1989 Standard C specifies their
+compatible with Standard C if Standard C specifies their
behavior, and upward compatible with @sc{posix} if @sc{posix} specifies
their behavior.
When these standards conflict, it is useful to offer compatibility
modes for each of them.
-1989 Standard C and @sc{posix} prohibit many kinds of extensions. Feel
+@cindex options for compatibility
+Standard C and @sc{posix} prohibit many kinds of extensions. Feel
free to make the extensions anyway, and include a @samp{--ansi},
@samp{--posix}, or @samp{--compatible} option to turn them off.
However, if the extension has a significant chance of breaking any real
programs or scripts, then it is not really upward compatible. So you
should try to redesign its interface to make it upward compatible.
+@cindex @code{POSIXLY_CORRECT}, environment variable
Many GNU programs suppress extensions that conflict with @sc{posix} if the
environment variable @code{POSIXLY_CORRECT} is defined (even if it is
defined with a null value). Please make your program recognize this
@node Using Extensions
@section Using Non-standard Features
+@cindex non-standard extensions
Many GNU facilities that already exist support a number of convenient
extensions over the comparable Unix facilities. Whether to use these
already. That would be extremely troublesome in certain cases.
@node Standard C
-@section 1989 Standard C and Pre-Standard C
+@section Standard C and Pre-Standard C
+@cindex @sc{ansi} C standard
1989 Standard C is widespread enough now that it is ok to use its
features in new programs. There is one exception: do not ever use the
-``trigraph'' feature of 1989 Standard C.
+``trigraph'' feature of Standard C.
+
+1999 Standard C is not widespread yet, so please do not require its
+features in programs. It is ok to use its features if they are present.
However, it is easy to support pre-standard compilers in most programs,
so if you know how to do that, feel free. If a program you are
maintaining has such support, you should try to keep it working.
+@cindex function prototypes
To support pre-standard C, instead of writing function definitions in
standard prototype form,
@node Semantics
@section Writing Robust Programs
+@cindex arbitrary limits on data
Avoid arbitrary limits on the length or number of @emph{any} data
structure, including file names, lines, files, and symbols, by allocating
all data structures dynamically. In most Unix utilities, ``long lines
are silently truncated''. This is not acceptable in a GNU utility.
+@cindex @code{NUL} characters
Utilities reading files should not drop NUL characters, or any other
nonprinting characters @emph{including those with codes above 0177}.
The only sensible exceptions would be utilities specifically intended
sequences of bytes that represent multibyte characters, using encodings
such as UTF-8 and others.
+@cindex error messages
Check every system call for an error return, unless you know you wish to
ignore errors. Include the system error text (from @code{perror} or
equivalent) in @emph{every} error message resulting from a failing
utility. Just ``cannot open foo.c'' or ``stat failed'' is not
sufficient.
+@cindex @code{malloc} return value
+@cindex memory allocation failure
Check every call to @code{malloc} or @code{realloc} to see if it
returned zero. Check @code{realloc} even if you are making the block
smaller; in a system that rounds block sizes to a power of 2,
reader loop. This allows the user to kill other processes to free up
virtual memory, and then try the command again.
+@cindex command-line arguments, decoding
Use @code{getopt_long} to decode arguments, unless the argument syntax
makes this unreasonable.
in a directory, use @code{readdir} or some other high-level interface.
These are supported compatibly by GNU.
+@cindex signal handling
The preferred signal handling facilities are the BSD variant of
@code{signal}, and the @sc{posix} @code{sigaction} function; the
alternative USG @code{signal} interface is an inferior design.
behavior. It is up to you whether to support systems where
@code{signal} has only the USG behavior, or give up on them.
+@cindex impossible conditions
In error checks that detect ``impossible'' conditions, just abort.
There is usually no point in printing any message. These checks
indicate the existence of bugs. Whoever wants to fix the bugs will have
errors; if you try to return 256 as the exit status, the parent process
will see 0 as the status, and it will appear that the program succeeded.
+@cindex temporary files
+@cindex @code{TMPDIR} environment variable
If you make temporary files, check the @code{TMPDIR} environment
variable; if that variable is defined, use the specified directory
instead of @file{/tmp}.
@node Libraries
@section Library Behavior
+@cindex libraries
Try to make library functions reentrant. If they need to do dynamic
storage allocation, at least try to avoid any nonreentrancy aside from
@node Errors
@section Formatting Error Messages
+@cindex formatting error messages
+@cindex error messages, formatting
Error messages from compilers should look like this:
@node User Interfaces
@section Standards for Interfaces Generally
+@cindex program name and its behavior
+@cindex behavior, dependent on program's name
Please don't make the behavior of a utility depend on the name used
to invoke it. It is useful sometimes to make a link to a utility
with a different name, and that should not change what it does.
Instead, use a run time option or a compilation switch or both
to select among the alternate behaviors.
+@cindex output device and program's behavior
Likewise, please don't make the behavior of the program depend on the
type of output device it is used with. Device independence is an
important principle of the system's design; do not compromise it merely
@node Graphical Interfaces
@section Standards for Graphical Interfaces
+@cindex graphical user interface
+@cindex gtk
When you write a program that provides a graphical user interface,
please make it work with X Windows and the GTK toolkit unless the
functionality specifically requires some alternative (for example,
separate program which invokes the command-line program.) This is
so that the same jobs can be done from scripts.
+@cindex corba
+@cindex gnome
Please also consider providing a CORBA interface (for use from GNOME), a
library interface (for use from C), and perhaps a keyboard-driven
console interface (for use by users from console mode). Once you are
@node Command-Line Interfaces
@section Standards for Command Line Interfaces
+@cindex command-line interface
+@findex getopt
It is a good idea to follow the @sc{posix} guidelines for the
command-line options of a program. The easiest way to do this is to use
@code{getopt} to parse them. Note that the GNU version of @code{getopt}
special argument @samp{--} is used. This is not what @sc{posix}
specifies; it is a GNU extension.
+@cindex long-named options
Please define long-named options that are equivalent to the
single-letter Unix-style options. We hope to make GNU more user
friendly this way. This is easy to do with the GNU function
option as another way to specify it. This will lead to more consistency
among GNU utilities, and fewer idiosyncracies for users to remember.
+@cindex standard command-line options
All programs should support two standard options: @samp{--version}
and @samp{--help}.
@table @code
+@cindex @samp{--version} option
@item --version
This option should direct the program to print information about its name,
version, origin and legal status, all on standard output, and then exit
successfully. Other options and arguments should be ignored once this
is seen, and the program should not perform its normal function.
+@cindex canonical name of a program
+@cindex program's canonical name
The first line is meant to be easy for a program to parse; the version
number proper starts after the last space. In addition, it contains
the canonical name for this program, in this format:
these notices, if that is inconvenient, since it appeared in the first
line.
+@cindex @samp{--help} option
@item --help
This option should output brief documentation for how to invoke the
program, on standard output, then exit successfully. Other options and
arguments should be ignored once this is seen, and the program should
not perform its normal function.
+@cindex address for bug reports
+@cindex bug reports
Near the end of the @samp{--help} option's output there should be a line
that says where to mail bug reports. It should have this format:
@node Option Table
@section Table of Long Options
+@cindex long option names
+@cindex table of long options
Here is a table of long options used by GNU programs. It is surely
incomplete, but we aim to list all the options that a new program might
want to be compatible with. If you use names not already in the table,
-please send @email{gnu@@gnu.org} a list of them, with their
+please send @email{bug-standards@@gnu.org} a list of them, with their
meanings, so we can update the table.
@c Please leave newlines between items in this table; it's much easier
@node Memory Usage
@section Memory Usage
+@cindex memory usage
-If it typically uses just a few meg of memory, don't bother making any
+If a program typically uses just a few meg of memory, don't bother making any
effort to reduce memory usage. For example, if it is impractical for
other reasons to operate on files more than a few meg long, it is
reasonable to read entire input files into core to operate on them.
@node File Usage
@section File Usage
+@cindex file usage
Programs should be prepared to operate when @file{/usr} and @file{/etc}
are read-only file systems. Thus, if the program manages log files,
@section Formatting Your Source Code
@cindex formatting source code
+@cindex open brace
+@cindex braces, in C source
It is important to put the open-brace that starts the body of a C
function in column zero, and avoid putting any other open-brace or
open-parenthesis or open-bracket in column zero. Several tools look
int truncate_lines;
@end example
+@cindex conditionals, comments for
+@cindex @code{#endif}, commenting
Every @samp{#endif} should have a comment, except in the case of short
conditionals (just a few lines) that are not nested. The comment should
state the condition of the conditional that is ending, @emph{including
@node Syntactic Conventions
@section Clean Use of C Constructs
+@cindex syntactic conventions
+@cindex implicit @code{int}
@cindex function argument, declaring
-Please explicitly declare all arguments to functions.
-Don't omit them just because they are @code{int}s.
+Please explicitly declare the types of all objects. For example, you
+should explicitly declare all arguments to functions, and you should
+declare functions to return @code{int} rather than omitting the
+@code{int}.
@cindex compiler warnings
+@cindex @samp{-Wall} compiler option
Some programmers like to use the GCC @samp{-Wall} option, and change the
code whenever it issues a warning. If you want to do this, then do.
Other programmers prefer not to use @samp{-Wall}, because it gives
should go in a header file. Don't put @code{extern} declarations inside
functions.
+@cindex temporary variables
It used to be common practice to use the same local variables (with
names like @code{tem}) over and over for different values within one
function. Instead of doing this, it is better declare a separate local
fatal ("virtual memory exhausted");
@end example
+@pindex lint
Don't make the program ugly to placate @code{lint}. Please don't insert any
casts to @code{void}. Zero without a cast is perfectly fine as a null
pointer constant, except when calling a varargs function.
@code{enum} rather than @samp{#define}. GDB knows about enumeration
constants.
+@cindex file-name limitations
+@pindex doschk
Use file names of 14 characters or less, to avoid creating gratuitous
problems on older System V systems. You can use the program
@code{doschk} to test for this. @code{doschk} also tests for potential
@node System Portability
@section Portability between System Types
+@cindex portability, between system types
In the Unix world, ``portability'' refers to porting to different Unix
versions. For a GNU program, this kind of portability is desirable, but
So supporting a variety of Unix-like systems is desirable, although not
paramount.
+@pindex autoconf
The easiest way to achieve portability to most Unix-like systems is to
use Autoconf. It's unlikely that your program needs to know more
information about the host platform than Autoconf can provide, simply
Avoid using the format of semi-internal data bases (e.g., directories)
when there is a higher-level alternative (@code{readdir}).
+@cindex non-@sc{posix} systems, and portability
As for systems that are not like Unix, such as MSDOS, Windows, the
Macintosh, VMS, and MVS, supporting them is often a lot of work. When
that is the case, it is better to spend your time adding features that
@node CPU Portability
@section Portability between @sc{cpu}s
+@cindex data types, and portability
+@cindex portability, and data types
Even GNU systems will differ because of differences among @sc{cpu}
types---for example, difference in byte ordering and alignment
requirements. It is absolutely essential to handle these differences.
@code{int} will be less than 32 bits. We don't support 16-bit machines
in GNU.
+Similarly, don't make any effort to cater to the possibility that
+@code{long} will be smaller than predefined types like @code{size_t}.
+For example, the following code is ok:
+
+@example
+printf ("size = %lu\n", (unsigned long) sizeof array);
+printf ("diff = %ld\n", (long) (pointer2 - pointer1));
+@end example
+
+1989 Standard C requires this to work, and we know of only one
+counterexample: 64-bit programs on Microsoft Windows IA-64. We will
+leave it to those who want to port GNU programs to that environment
+to figure out how to do it.
+
+Predefined file-size types like @code{off_t} are an exception: they are
+longer than @code{long} on many platforms, so code like the above won't
+work with them. One way to print an @code{off_t} value portably is to
+print its digits yourself, one by one.
+
Don't assume that the address of an @code{int} object is also the
address of its least-significant byte. This is false on big-endian
machines. Thus, don't make the following mistake:
When calling functions, you need not worry about the difference between
pointers of various types, or between pointers and integers. On most
machines, there's no difference anyway. As for the few machines where
-there is a difference, all of them support 1989 Standard C, so you can
+there is a difference, all of them support Standard C prototypes, so you can
use prototypes (perhaps conditionalized to be active only in Standard C)
to make the code work on those systems.
``correct'' alternative. Be sure @emph{not} to use a prototype for such
functions.
-If you have decided to use 1989 Standard C, then you can instead define
+If you have decided to use Standard C, then you can instead define
@code{error} using @file{stdarg.h}, and pass the arguments along to
@code{vfprintf}.
+@cindex casting pointers to integers
Avoid casting pointers to integers if you can. Such casts greatly
reduce portability, and in most programs they are easy to avoid. In the
cases where casting pointers to integers is essential---such as, a Lisp
@node System Functions
@section Calling System Functions
+@cindex library functions, and portability
+@cindex portability, and library functions
-C implementations differ substantially. 1989 Standard C reduces but does
+C implementations differ substantially. Standard C reduces but does
not eliminate the incompatibilities; meanwhile, many GNU packages still
support pre-standard compilers because this is not hard to do. This
chapter gives recommendations for how to use the more-or-less standard C
terminate either by calling @code{exit} or by returning the integer
status code; make sure it cannot ever return an undefined value.
+@cindex declaration for system functions
@item
Don't declare system functions explicitly.
@code{realloc}---or put these declarations in configuration files
specific to those systems.
+@cindex string library functions
@item
The string functions require special treatment. Some Unix systems have
a header file @file{string.h}; others have @file{strings.h}. Neither
@node Internationalization
@section Internationalization
+@cindex internationalization
+@pindex gettext
GNU has a library called GNU gettext that makes it easy to translate the
messages in a program into various languages. You should use this
library in every program. Use English for the messages as they appear
Normally, the text domain name should be the same as the name of the
package---for example, @samp{fileutils} for the GNU file utilities.
+@cindex message text, and internationalization
To enable gettext to work well, avoid writing code that makes
assumptions about the structure of words or sentences. When you want
the precise text of a sentence to vary depending on the data, use two or
@node Mmap
@section Mmap
+@findex mmap
Don't assume that @code{mmap} either works on all files or fails
for all files. It may work on some files and fail on others.
@node Documentation
@chapter Documenting Programs
+@cindex documentation
A GNU program should ideally come with full free documentation, adequate
for both reference and tutorial purposes. If the package can be
@menu
* GNU Manuals:: Writing proper manuals.
+* Doc Strings and Manuals:: Compiling doc strings doesn't make a manual.
* Manual Structure Details:: Specific structure conventions.
* License for Manuals:: Writing the distribution terms for a manual.
+* Manual Credits:: Giving credit to documentation contributors.
* NEWS File:: NEWS files supplement manuals.
* Change Logs:: Recording Changes
* Man Pages:: Man pages are secondary.
@node GNU Manuals
@section GNU Manuals
-The preferred way to document part of the GNU system is to write a
-manual in the Texinfo formatting language. This makes it possible to
-produce a good quality formatted book, using @TeX{}, and to generate an
-Info file. It is also possible to generate HTML output from Texinfo
-source. See the Texinfo manual, either the hardcopy, or the on-line
-version available through @code{info} or the Emacs Info subsystem
-(@kbd{C-h i}).
+The preferred document format for the GNU system is the Texinfo
+formatting language. Every GNU package should (ideally) have
+documentation in Texinfo both for reference and for learners. Texinfo
+makes it possible to produce a good quality formatted book, using
+@TeX{}, and to generate an Info file. It is also possible to generate
+HTML output from Texinfo source. See the Texinfo manual, either the
+hardcopy, or the on-line version available through @code{info} or the
+Emacs Info subsystem (@kbd{C-h i}).
+
+Nowadays some other formats such as Docbook and Sgmltexi can be
+converted automatically into Texinfo. It is ok to produce the Texinfo
+documentation by conversion this way, as long as it gives good results.
Programmers often find it most natural to structure the documentation
following the structure of the implementation, which they know. But
programs, as well as @code{cmp}. By documenting these programs
together, we can make the whole subject clearer.
-The manual which discusses a program should document all of the
-program's command-line options and all of its commands. It should give
-examples of their use. But don't organize the manual as a list of
+The manual which discusses a program should certainly document all of
+the program's command-line options and all of its commands. It should
+give examples of their use. But don't organize the manual as a list of
features. Instead, organize it logically, by subtopics. Address the
questions that a user will ask when thinking about the job that the
program does.
the framework for a beginner to understand the rest of the manual. The
Bison manual provides a good example of how to do this.
+To serve as a reference, a manual should have an Index that list all the
+functions, variables, options, and important concepts that are part of
+the program. One combined Index should do for a short manual, but
+sometimes for a complex package it is better to use multiple indices.
+The Texinfo manual includes advice on preparing good index entries, see
+@ref{Index Entries, , Making Index Entries, texinfo, The GNU Texinfo
+Manual}, and see @ref{Indexing Commands, , Defining the Entries of an
+Index, texinfo, The GNU Texinfo manual}.
+
Don't use Unix man pages as a model for how to write GNU documentation;
most of them are terse, badly structured, and give inadequate
-explanation of the underlying concepts. (There are, of course
-exceptions.) Also Unix man pages use a particular format which is
+explanation of the underlying concepts. (There are, of course, some
+exceptions.) Also, Unix man pages use a particular format which is
different from what we use in GNU manuals.
Please include an email address in the manual for where to report
Please do not use the term ``illegal'' to refer to erroneous input to a
computer program. Please use ``invalid'' for this, and reserve the term
-``illegal'' for violations of law.
+``illegal'' for activities punishable by law.
+
+@node Doc Strings and Manuals
+@section Doc Strings and Manuals
+
+Some programming systems, such as Emacs, provide a documentation string
+for each function, command or variable. You may be tempted to write a
+reference manual by compiling the documentation strings and writing a
+little additional text to go around them---but you must not do it. That
+approach is a fundamental mistake. The text of well-written
+documentation strings will be entirely wrong for a manual.
+
+A documentation string needs to stand alone---when it appears on the
+screen, there will be no other text to introduce or explain it.
+Meanwhile, it can be rather informal in style.
+
+The text describing a function or variable in a manual must not stand
+alone; it appears in the context of a section or subsection. Other text
+at the beginning of the section should explain some of the concepts, and
+should often make some general points that apply to several functions or
+variables. The previous descriptions of functions and variables in the
+section will also have given information about the topic. A description
+written to stand alone would repeat some of that information; this
+redundance looks bad. Meanwhile, the informality that is acceptable in
+a documentation string is totally unacceptable in a manual.
+
+The only good way to use documentation strings in writing a good manual
+is to use them as a source of information for writing good text.
@node Manual Structure Details
@section Manual Structure Details
+@cindex manual structure
The title page of the manual should state the version of the programs or
packages documented in the manual. The Top node of the manual should
the above patterns. This identifies the node which that item points to
as the node for this purpose, regardless of the node's actual name.
-There will be automatic features for specifying a program name and
-quickly reading just this part of its manual.
+The @samp{--usage} feature of the Info reader looks for such a node
+or menu item in order to find the relevant text, so it is essential
+for every Texinfo file to have one.
If one manual describes several programs, it should have such a node for
-each program described.
+each program described in the manual.
@node License for Manuals
@section License for Manuals
+@cindex license for manuals
Please use the GNU Free Documentation License for all GNU manuals that
are more than a few pages long. Likewise for a collection of short
collection. For a single short document, you can use a very permissive
non-copyleft license, to avoid taking up space with a long license.
+@node Manual Credits
+@section Manual Credits
+@cindex credits for manuals
+
+Please credit the principal human writers of the manual as the authors,
+on the title page of the manual. If a company sponsored the work, thank
+the company in a suitable place in the manual, but do not cite the
+company as an author.
+
@node NEWS File
@section The NEWS File
+@cindex @file{NEWS} file
In addition to its manual, the package should have a file named
@file{NEWS} which contains a list of user-visible changes worth
@node Change Logs
@section Change Logs
+@cindex change logs
Keep a change log to describe all the changes made to program source
files. The purpose of this is so that people investigating bugs in the
@node Style of Change Logs
@subsection Style of Change Logs
+@cindex change logs, style
-Here are some examples of change log entries:
+Here are some simple examples of change log entries, starting with the
+header line that says who made the change and when, followed by
+descriptions of specific changes. (These examples are drawn from Emacs
+and GCC.)
@example
+1998-08-17 Richard Stallman <rms@@gnu.org>
+
* register.el (insert-register): Return nil.
(jump-to-register): Likewise.
* expr.c (store_one_arg): Round size up for move_block_to_reg.
(expand_call): Round up when emitting USE insns.
* stmt.c (assign_parms): Round size up for move_block_from_reg.
-
-* keyboard.c (menu_bar_items, tool_bar_items)
-(Fexecute_extended_command): Deal with `keymap' property.
@end example
It's important to name the changed function or variable in full. Don't
Break long lists of function names by closing continued lines with
@samp{)}, rather than @samp{,}, and opening the continuation with
-@samp{(} as in the example above.
+@samp{(} as in this example:
+
+@example
+* keyboard.c (menu_bar_items, tool_bar_items)
+(Fexecute_extended_command): Deal with `keymap' property.
+@end example
@node Simple Changes
@subsection Simple Changes
log.
When you change the calling sequence of a function in a simple fashion,
-and you change all the callers of the function, there is no need to make
-individual entries for all the callers that you changed. Just write in
-the entry for the function being called, ``All callers changed.''
+and you change all the callers of the function to use the new calling
+sequence, there is no need to make individual entries for all the
+callers that you changed. Just write in the entry for the function
+being called, ``All callers changed''---like this:
@example
* keyboard.c (Fcommand_execute): New arg SPECIAL.
@node Conditional Changes
@subsection Conditional Changes
+@cindex conditional changes, and change logs
+@cindex change logs, conditional changes
C programs often contain compile-time @code{#if} conditionals. Many
changes are conditional; sometimes you add a new definition which is
Indicate the part of a function which changed by using angle brackets
enclosing an indication of what the changed part does. Here is an entry
-for a change in the part of the function that deals with @code{sh}
-commands.
+for a change in the part of the function @code{sh-while-getopts} that
+deals with @code{sh} commands:
@example
* progmodes/sh-script.el (sh-while-getopts) <sh>: Handle case that
@node Man Pages
@section Man Pages
+@cindex man pages
In the GNU project, man pages are secondary. It is not necessary or
expected for every GNU program to have a man page, but some of them do.
@node Managing Releases
@chapter The Release Process
+@cindex releasing
Making a release is more than just bundling up your source files in a
tar file and putting it up for FTP. You should set up your software so
@node Configuration
@section How Configuration Should Work
+@cindex program configuration
+@pindex configure
Each GNU distribution should come with a shell script named
@code{configure}. This script is given arguments which describe the
kind of machine and system you want to compile the program for.
There is a shell script called @file{config.sub} that you can use
as a subroutine to validate system types and canonicalize aliases.
+@cindex optional features, configure-time
Other options are permitted to specify in more detail the software
or hardware present on the machine, and include or exclude optional
parts of the package:
@node Releases
@section Making Releases
+@cindex packaging
Package the distribution of @code{Foo version 69.96} up in a gzipped tar
file with the name @file{foo-69.96.tar.gz}. It should unpack into a
and never changed automatically; non-source files are produced from
source files by programs under the control of the Makefile.
+@cindex @file{README} file
The distribution should contain a file named @file{README} which gives
the name of the package, and a general description of what it does. It
is also good to explain the purpose of each of the first-level
are truncated to @file{foobarha.c} and @file{foobarha.o}, which are
distinct.
+@cindex @file{texinfo.tex}, in a distribution
Include in your distribution a copy of the @file{texinfo.tex} you used
to test print any @file{*.texinfo} or @file{*.texi} files.
@node References
@chapter References to Non-Free Software and Documentation
+@cindex references to non-free material
A GNU program should not recommend use of any non-free program. We
can't stop some people from writing proprietary programs, or stop other
projects / thirdparty / autoconf.git / commitdiff
