Add a section on how to submit a patch

[perl5.git] / pod / perlrepository.pod

=head1 NAME

perlrepository - Using the Perl source repository

=head1 SYNOPSIS

All of Perl's source code is kept centrally in a Git repository. The
repository contains many Perl revisions from Perl 1 onwards and all
the revisions from Perforce, the version control system we were using
previously. This repository is accessible in different ways.

The full repository takes up about 80MB of disk space. A check out of
blead takes up about 160MB of disk space (including the repository). A
build of blead takes up about 200MB (including the repository and the
check out).

=head1 GETTING ACCESS TO THE REPOSITORY

=head2 READ ACCESS VIA THE WEB

You may access this over the web. This allows you to browse the tree,
see recent commits, search for particular commits and more. You may
access it at:

  http://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git

=head2 READ ACCESS VIA GIT

You will need a copy of Git for your computer. You can fetch a copy of
the repository using the Git protocol (which uses port 9418):

  git clone git://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git perl-git

This clones the repository and makes a local copy in the 'perl-git'
directory.

If your local network does not allow you to use port 9418, then you can
fetch a copy of the repository over HTTP (this is slower):

  git clone http://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git perl-http

This clones the repository and makes a local copy in the 'perl-http'
directory.

=head2 WRITE ACCESS TO THE REPOSITORY

If you are a committer, then you can fetch a copy of the repository that
you can push back on with:

  git clone ssh://perl5.git.perl.org/gitroot/perl.git perl-ssh

This clones the repository and makes a local copy in the 'perl-ssh'
directory.

If you clone using git, which is faster than ssh, then you will need to
modify your config in order to enable pushing. Edit .git/config where
you will see something like:

  [remote "origin"]
  url = git://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git

change that to something like this:

  [remote "origin"]
  url = ssh://perl5.git.perl.org/gitroot/perl.git

NOTE: there are symlinks set up so that the /gitroot is actually optional.

=head1 OVERVIEW OF THE REPOSITORY

Once you have changed into the repository directory, you can inspect it.

The repository contains a few branches:

  % git branch -a
  * blead
    origin/HEAD
    origin/blead
  ...

You can see recent commits:

  % git log

And pull new changes from the repository:

  % git pull

To switch to another branch:

  % git checkout origin/maint-5.8-dor

To switch back to blead:

  % git checkout blead

=head1 SUBMITTING A PATCH

If you have a patch in mind for Perl, you should first get a copy of
the repository:

  % git clone git://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git perl-git

Then change into the directory:

  % cd perl-git

Then make your changes. For example, if Leon Brocard changes his name
to Orange Brocard, we should change his name in the AUTHORS file:

  % perl -pi -e 's{Leon Brocard}{Orange Brocard}' AUTHORS

You can see what files are changed:

  % git status
  # On branch blead
  # Changes to be committed:
  #   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
  #
  #	modified:   AUTHORS
  #


And you can see the changes:

  % git diff
  diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
  index 293dd70..722c93e 100644
  --- a/AUTHORS
  +++ b/AUTHORS
  @@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ 
   Lars Hecking                   <lhecking@nmrc.ucc.ie>
   Laszlo Molnar                  <laszlo.molnar@eth.ericsson.se>
   Leif Huhn                      <leif@hale.dkstat.com>
   Len Johnson                    <lenjay@ibm.net>
  -Leon Brocard                   <acme@astray.com>
  +Orange Brocard                 <acme@astray.com>
   Les Peters                     <lpeters@aol.net>
   Lesley Binks                   <lesley.binks@gmail.com>
   Lincoln D. Stein               <lstein@cshl.org>

Now commit your change locally:

  % git add AUTHORS
  % git commit -m 'Rename Leon Brocard to Orange Brocard'
  Created commit 6196c1d: Rename Leon Brocard to Orange Brocard
   1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)

Now you should create a patch file for all your local changes:

  % git-format-patch origin
  0001-Rename-Leon-Brocard-to-Orange-Brocard.patch

You should now send an email to perl5-porters@perl.org with a
description of your changes, and attach this patch file as an
attachment.