[Phpwebsite-developers] CVS Standards

[Matthew M. <ma...@tu...>]

Morning all,

A bad day for me for CVS. I implemented a bunch of patches submitted to me
before the person had CVS access. While I was testing them, some other work
was done in CVS. When I did an update, the diffs were so varied, it just
blew up on me. Hence, I lost the patches. I also had trouble testing to see
if I had fixed it because of dB errors that popped up on my CVS copy.

First of all, no one is at fault. It was just bad circumstances and my
implementation of someone else's work that caused me to get lost. However,
these circumstances have caused Brian and I to decide that we need some
standards. I apologize for these taking for so long, but our outside
development has been small in comparison with what we do in-house so the
communication is lacking. On the plus side, it means we are growing, which
we are thankful for.

Without further ado, here are the guidelines.
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If you have not committed in a while, it would be a good idea to wipe out
your copy and perform a new checkout. Update should be sufficient, but I
believe this to be a better way to get started.

Commit when you are reasonably sure your changes work. When testing your
own code, you WILL miss something obvious so you might as well commit it so
someone else can notice it. I don't mind little bugs as long as the code in
your checkout is not getting stale. It means less diffs in the long run.

Watch the database. If you make changes to it make sure they are made to
the CVS database as well. After you finish your spanky module, it is best
not to introduce it to people with a SQL error right off the bat.

If your changes are major (making a module out of a core function), develop
it in a side directory. Let people know you are doing this so they don't
try to make changes to the core. When someone is making a module, THEY have
the priority. Talk to them directly about changes and see if you can help
them.

Get your setup program BEFORE you commit. Whether it be changes to the core
(which will happen less) or to your module, get the setup working. We base
our distros on the CVS copy and the setup should work.

<Slapping my own hand here> Be careful implementing someone else's patches
if they are major. If you do, commit soon. You usually will have little
idea of what is going on as it is not your code. Someone might be working
heavily in that file in the meantime.

Go to phpWebSite and enter what you have or are working on under your
profile. If you want to make changes to the code, find out who it belongs
to FIRST. Then get in touch with them personally. If they do not get back
to you, write Brian, Adam, or I for the final go ahead. BE PATIENT. Not
everyone is on your time line.

--------------------------------------------------------

Now, if I have touched on something you have done, don't get bent out of
shape. I think I have disobeyed every rule I just went over, so this is a
list for EVERYONE.

Finally, we all appreciate everyone's hard work. Thanks for helping us
grow. Please remember to be polite on the mail lists and message boards. As
a developer you are representing phpWebSite and, since it is where we work,
Appalachian State University.

If anyone has anything they want to add to this list, please send it to me
directly and do not post it to this mail list.

Thanks,
Matt
phpWebSite Developer