HACKING(3)

NAME
HACKING.pod - contributing to TAP::Harness

ABOUT
This is the guide for TAP::Harness internals contributors (developers, testers, documenters.)

If you are looking for more information on how to use TAP::Harness, you probably want <http://testanything.org/wiki/index.php/TAP::Parser_Cookbook> instead.

Getting Started
See the resources section in META.yml or Build.PL for links to the project mailing list, bug tracker, svn repository, etc.

For ease of reference, at the time of writing the SVN repository was at:

  http://svn.hexten.net/tapx

To get the latest version of trunk:

  git clone git://github.com/Perl-Toolchain-Gang/Test-Harness.git

For best results, read the rest of this file, check RT for bugs which scratch your itch, join the mailing list, etc.

Formatting

  perltidy
The project comes with a ".perltidyrc", which perltidy will automatically use if the project root is your working directory. This is setup by default to read and write the perl code on a pipe. To configure your editor:

•   vim

    In ".vimrc", you can add the following lines:

     nnoremap <Leader>pt :%!perltidy -q<cr> " only work in 'normal' mode
     vnoremap <Leader>pt :!perltidy -q<cr>  " only work in 'visual' mode

    In other words, if your "Leader" is a backslash, you can type "\pt" to reformat the file using the ".perltidyrc". If you are in visual mode (selecting lines with shift-v), then only the code you have currently have selected will be reformatted.

•   emacs

    For emacs, you can use this snippet from Sam Tregar (<http://use.perl.org/~samtregar/journal/30185>):

     (defun perltidy-region ()
        "Run perltidy on the current region."
        (interactive)
        (save-excursion
          (shell-command-on-region (point) (mark) "perltidy -q" nil t)
          (cperl-mode)))

     (defun perltidy-all ()
        "Run perltidy on the current region."
        (interactive)
        (let ((p (point)))
          (save-excursion
            (shell-command-on-region (point-min) (point-max) "perltidy -q" nil t)
            )
          (goto-char p)
          (cperl-mode)))

     (global-set-key "\M-t" `perltidy-region)
     (global-set-key "\M-T" `perltidy-all)

Tests and Coverage
...

Writing for Compatibility
...

Use TAP::Object
TAP::Object is the common base class to all TAP::* modules, and should be for any that you write.

Exception Handling
Exceptions should be raised with Carp:

  require Carp;
  Carp::croak("Unsupported syntax version: $version");

  require Carp;
  Carp::confess("Unsupported syntax version: $version");

Deprecation cycle
Any documented sub that needs to be changed or removed (and would therefore cause a backwards-compat issue) must go through a deprecation cycle to give developers a chance to adjust:

  1. Document the deprecation
  2. Carp a suitable message
  3. Release
  4. Change the code
  5. Release

Documentation
The end-user and API documentation is all in the 'lib/' directory. In .pm files, the pod is "inline" to the code. See perlpod for more about pod.

  Pod Commands
For compatibility's sake, we do not use the =head3 and =head4 commands.

"=head1 SECTION"
    Sections begin with an "=head1" command and are all-caps.

      NAME
      VERSION
      SYNOPSIS
      CONSTRUCTOR
      METHODS
      CLASS METHODS
      SOME OTHER SORT OF METHODS
      SEE ALSO

"=head2 method"
    The "=head2" command documents a method. The name of the method should have no adornment (e.g. don't C<method> or C<method($list, $of, $params)>.)

    These sections should begin with a short description of what the method does, followed by one or more examples of usage. If needed, elaborate on the subtleties of the parameters and context after (and/or between) the example(s).

      =head2 this_method

      This method does some blah blah blah.

        my @answer = $thing->this_method(@arguments);

      =head2 that_thing

      Returns true if the thing is true.

        if($thing->that_thing) {
          ...
        }

"=item parameter"
    Use "=item" commands for method arguments and parameters (and etc.) In most html pod formatters, these do not get added to the table-of-contents at the top of the page.

  Pod Formatting Codes

L<Some::Module>
    Be careful of the wording of "L<Some::Module>". Older pod formatters would render this as "the Some::Module manpage", so it is best to either word your links as ""(see <Some::Module> for details.)"" or use the "explicit rendering" form of ""<Some::Module|Some::Module>"".

  VERSION
The version numbers are updated by Perl::Version.

  DEVELOPER DOCS/NOTES
The following "formats" are used with "=begin"/"=end" and "=for" commands for pod which is not part of the public end-user/API documentation.

note
    Use this if you are uncertain about a change to some pod or think it needs work.

      =head2 some_method

        ...

      =for note
        This is either falsely documented or a bug -- see ...

developer
      =begin developer

      Long-winded explanation of why some code is the way it is or various
      other subtleties which might incite head-scratching and WTF'ing.

      =end developer

deprecated
      =for deprecated
        removed in 0.09, kill by ~0.25

Committing to Subversion
If you have commit access, please bear this in mind.

Development is done either on trunk or a branch, as appropriate:

If it's something that might be controversial, break the build or take a long time (more than a couple of weeks) to complete then it'd probably be appropriate to branch. Otherwise it can go in trunk.

If in doubt discuss it on the mailing list before you commit.