Re: [PATCH v6 1/2] documentation: add tutorial for first contribution
From: SZEDER Gábor <hidden>
Date: 2019-10-18 16:40:36
On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 12:07:02PM -0700, Emily Shaffer wrote:
+=== Adding a New Command
+
+Lots of the subcommands are written as builtins, which means they are
+implemented in C and compiled into the main `git` executable. Implementing the
+very simple `psuh` command as a built-in will demonstrate the structure of the
+codebase, the internal API, and the process of working together as a contributor
+with the reviewers and maintainer to integrate this change into the system.
+
+Built-in subcommands are typically implemented in a function named "cmd_"
+followed by the name of the subcommand, in a source file named after the
+subcommand and contained within `builtin/`. So it makes sense to implement your
+command in `builtin/psuh.c`. Create that file, and within it, write the entry
+point for your command in a function matching the style and signature:
+
+----
+int cmd_psuh(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+----
+
+We'll also need to add the declaration of psuh; open up `builtin.h`, find the
+declaration for `cmd_push`, and add a new line for `psuh` immediately before it,
+in order to keep the declarations sorted:
+
+----
+int cmd_psuh(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
+----
+
+Be sure to `#include "builtin.h"` in your `psuh.c`.
+
+Go ahead and add some throwaway printf to that function. This is a decent
+starting point as we can now add build rules and register the command.
+
+NOTE: Your throwaway text, as well as much of the text you will be adding over
+the course of this tutorial, is user-facing. That means it needs to be
+localizable. Take a look at `po/README` under "Marking strings for translation".
+Throughout the tutorial, we will mark strings for translation as necessary; you
+should also do so when writing your user-facing commands in the future.
+
+----
+int cmd_psuh(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+{
+ printf(_("Pony saying hello goes here.\n"));
+ return 0;
+}
+----
+
+Let's try to build it. Open `Makefile`, find where `builtin/push.o` is added
+to `BUILTIN_OBJS`, and add `builtin/psuh.o` in the same way next to it in
+alphabetical order. Once you've done so, move to the top-level directory and
+build simply with `make`. Also add the `DEVELOPER=1` variable to turn on
+some additional warnings:
+
+----
+$ echo DEVELOPER=1 >config.mak
+$ make
+----
+
+NOTE: When you are developing the Git project, it's preferred that you use the
+`DEVELOPER` flag; if there's some reason it doesn't work for you, you can turn
+it off, but it's a good idea to mention the problem to the mailing list.
+
+NOTE: The Git build is parallelizable. `-j#` is not included above but you can
+use it as you prefer, here and elsewhere.
+
+Great, now your new command builds happily on its own. But nobody invokes it.
+Let's change that.
+
+The list of commands lives in `git.c`. We can register a new command by adding
+a `cmd_struct` to the `commands[]` array. `struct cmd_struct` takes a string
+with the command name, a function pointer to the command implementation, and a
+setup option flag. For now, let's keep mimicking `push`. Find the line where
+`cmd_push` is registered, copy it, and modify it for `cmd_psuh`, placing the new
+line in alphabetical order.
+
+The options are documented in `builtin.h` under "Adding a new built-in." Since
+we hope to print some data about the user's current workspace context later,
+we need a Git directory, so choose `RUN_SETUP` as your only option.Just leaving a quick note here: an entry about the new command should be added to 'command-list.txt' as well, so it will be included in the list of available commands in 'git help -a' or even in 'git help' and in completion, if the command is marked with the necessary attributes.