[Geotools-devel] Automated code formatting

[Andrea A. <and...@al...>]

Hi Martin,
I'm writing you because tonight we discussed again automated code 
formatting.
Facts:
* almost everybody uses some kind of automated formatting from its IDE
   (you're the only one I know of that still formats the code by hand)
* nobody uses exactly the same formatting style (I, for example format 
at 130
   columns because I do have 17" tft monitors that can handle it)
* this has resulted in a big problem for branch merging, because the 
same file
   in different branches do contain differences related to both real 
changes (few)
   and different formatting (lots)

I can put automated formatting in the build using the jalopy plugin from 
mojo.codehaus.org.
The problem is, how do we handle your code? Options:
a) we find out every single <pre> something in the comments, and add the 
exclusions for
    jalopy. Yet, if you have some other table formatted code, I can't 
spot it automatically
b) we could tell jalopy not to format stuff in the java packages you 
manage. Big problem
    thought, the coverage branch impacts on these modules and it's full 
of code formatting
    changes (we can't really blame people for doing so, the developer's 
guide states that
    everything must be jalopy formatted: 
http://docs.codehaus.org/display/GEOT/5.1+Coding+Conventions
    (Each developer should setup Jalopy in their prefered IDE and then 
import this project's coding convensions, jalopygeotools.xml 
<http://docs.codehaus.org/download/attachments/4612/jalopygeotools.xml?version=2>)

What do you think? This issue is the last roadblock against the merge of 
the two major
branches we have, coverage and fm.

Cheers
Andrea