documentation/tools.md

   1 <!--
   2 This is part of the VimFx documentation.
   3 Copyright Simon Lydell 2015.
   4 See the file README.md for copying conditions.
   5 -->
   6
   7 # Tools
   8
   9 This section describes how to install and use the tools needed to:
  10
  11 - Build VimFx from source
  12 - Lint code
  13 - Sync locales
  14 - Prepare releases
  15
  16
  17 ## Installation
  18
  19 1. Install [Node.js].
  20
  21 2. Run `npm install` to download dependencies and development dependencies.
  22
  23 3. Optional: Run `npm install -g gulp` to be able to run [`gulp`][gulp] tasks.
  24
  25    If you prefer not to install gulp globally, you can use `npm run gulp`
  26    instead. For example, to create an `.xpi`: `npm run gulp -- xpi`. (Note that
  27    you might need to update `npm` for this to run; try `npm update -g npm`.)
  28
  29 [Node.js]: http://nodejs.org/
  30 [gulp]: https://github.com/gulpjs/gulp
  31
  32 ## Getting started
  33
  34 ### How to build and install the latest version from source
  35
  36 1. Follow the installation instructions above.
  37
  38 2. Run `npm run gulp -- xpi`.
  39
  40 3. Install `build/VimFx.xpi` in Firefox by doing one of the following:
  41
  42    - Dragging and dropping it.
  43    - Pressing ctrl+o and choosing it.
  44    - Using “Install from file…” in the top-right menu in the Add-ons Manager.
  45
  46 **Note:** Since Mozilla added [extension signing] things have gotten a bit more
  47 complicated.
  48
  49 [extension signing]: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Addons/Extension_Signing
  50
  51 ### Development
  52
  53 1. Create a new [Firefox profile] for development.
  54
  55 2. Install the [Extension Auto-Installer] add-on in your development profile.
  56
  57 An easy workflow is code, `gulp`, test, repeat. (Use `gulp -t` to also run the
  58 unit tests.)
  59
  60 If you’re having problems, don’t forget to try `npm update`. Your problem might
  61 be in a dependency and already have been fixed.
  62
  63 [Firefox Profile]: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
  64 [Extension Auto-Installer]: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/autoinstaller
  65
  66
  67 ## Gulp tasks
  68
  69 [gulp] is the task runner used to automate most of the common VimFx tasks.
  70
  71 The tasks are defined in [gulpfile.coffee]. They are summarized in the following
  72 sub-sections.
  73
  74 (There are a few more tasks defined in [gulpfile.coffee], but they are only used
  75 internally by other tasks.)
  76
  77 [gulpfile.coffee]: ../gulpfile.coffee
  78
  79 ### Building
  80
  81 - `gulp build` creates the `build/` directory. It is basically a copy of the
  82   `extension/` directory, with some of the files being compiled. For example,
  83   the `.coffee` files compiled to `.js`.
  84
  85 - `gulp xpi` runs `gulp build` and then zips the `build/` directory into
  86   `build/VimFx.xpi`.
  87
  88 - `gulp push` (or just `gulp`) runs `gulp xpi` and then pushes `build/VimFx.xpi`
  89   to `http://localhost:8888`, which causes the [Extension Auto-Installer] to
  90   automatically install it. (No need to restart Firefox.)
  91
  92 - Use the `--test` or `-t` option to include the unit test files. The output of
  93   the tests are `console.log`ed. See the browser console, or start Firefox from
  94   the command line to see it.
  95
  96 - Use the `--unlisted` or `-u` option to append `-unlisted` to the extension ID.
  97   This is used when adding .xpi files to github releases.
  98
  99 - `gulp clean` removes the `build/` directory.
 100
 101 ### Management
 102
 103 - `gulp lint` lints all `.coffee` files. There’s also `npm run addons-linter` to
 104   run [`addons-linter`] on a freshly built VimFx .xpi.
 105
 106 - `gulp sloc` prints comment and source code line counts.
 107
 108 - `gulp sync-locales` syncs locales. See the [“Syncing locales”][sync-locales]
 109   section below for more information.
 110
 111 [`addons-linter`]: https://github.com/mozilla/addons-linter/
 112 [sync-locales]: #syncing-locales
 113
 114 ### Helpers
 115
 116 - `gulp faster` compiles `gulpfile.coffee` to `gulpfile.js`. If you run `gulp` a
 117   lot and wish it ran faster, just tell it and it will! You’ll have to remember
 118   to re-run it whenever gulpfile.coffee is updated, though.
 119
 120 - `gulp help.html` dumps VimFx’s Keyboard Shortcuts dialog into `help.html`. You
 121   can then open up `help.html` in Firefox and style it live using the Style
 122   Editor! You can even press the “Save” button when done to save your changes!
 123
 124 ### Release
 125
 126 See the [“Making a release”][release] section below for more information.
 127
 128 - `gulp release` tags things with a new version number.
 129
 130 - `gulp changelog` prints changelog entries from `CHANGELOG.md` as HTML to
 131   stdout.
 132
 133 - `gulp readme` prints `README.md` as HTML to stdout.
 134
 135 Tip: Add `--silent` at the end of the gulp command to suppress gulp’s standard
 136 progress output, allowing to pipe stdout to the clipboard.
 137
 138 [release]: #making-a-release
 139
 140
 141 ## Syncing locales
 142
 143 This is usually not done by translators, but by developers who change, add or
 144 remove features that involves localized text.
 145
 146 If you add, remove or reorder translations in a file, do so in _one_ of the
 147 locales (one that is easy for you to test—but always write new translations in
 148 English!). If you modified the en-US locale, run `gulp sync-locales --en-US` (or
 149 just `gulp sync-locales`). Substitute “en-US” with a locale of choice if needed.
 150 That rewrites all other locales so that:
 151
 152 - Old translations are removed.
 153 - New translations are added (in English).
 154 - All translations appear in the same order.
 155
 156 If you modify an existing translation in a file and want to update all other
 157 locales to use the new wording:
 158
 159 - If possible, edit all other locales by hand to save as much translated text as
 160   possible.
 161
 162 - Otherwise:
 163
 164   1. Before modifying existing translations, copy the file in question and add
 165      the extension `.old` to the filename. For example, copy a
 166      `vimfx.properties` file to `vimfx.properties.old`.
 167   2. Make your modifications (in for example `vimfx.properties`, leaving
 168      `vimfx.properties.old` intact).
 169   3. Run `gulp sync-locales`. It does the same thing as before, except that if a
 170      translation has changed compared to an `.old`-file, the newly changed
 171      translation is used in all locales, replacing what was there before.
 172   4. Remove the `.old`-file.
 173
 174 Note that `gulp sync-locales` requires every translation to be in a single line.
 175 In other words, do not line-wrap translations. Also don’t bother adding comments
 176 when translating locale files, since they’ll likely be removed by `gulp
 177 sync-locales`.
 178
 179 If you run `gulp sync-locales` with “en-US” as the base locale, a report is
 180 printed telling how complete all other locales are. Add `--sv-SE?` (note the
 181 question mark) to restrict the report to the “sv-SE” locale (you can of course
 182 substitute with any other locale). In that case, every line (including line
 183 number) that don’t differ compared to “en-US” is also be printed.
 184
 185
 186 ## Making a release
 187
 188 Before making a release, it might be wise to:
 189
 190 - Run `npm update` and/or `npm outdated` to see if there are any updates to
 191   dependencies. Investigate what’s new and test!
 192 - Run `gulp sync-locales` to make sure that no translation has been left behind.
 193 - Inspect the `build/` directory to see that nothing strange has been included
 194   or generated by `gulp build`.
 195
 196 Steps:
 197
 198 1. Add a list of changes since the last version at the top of `CHANGELOG.md`.
 199
 200 2. Update the version in `package.json` (see `CONTRIBUTING-CODE.md` about
 201    versioning), the minimum Firefox version (if needed) and the maximum Firefox
 202    version (ideally to the latest nightly). See [valid Firefox versions].
 203
 204 3. Run `gulp release`, which does the following for you:
 205
 206   - Adds a heading with the new version number and today’s date at the top of
 207     CHANGELOG.md.
 208   - Commits CHANGELOG.md and package.json.
 209   - Tags the commit.
 210
 211 4. Run `gulp xpi` to rebuild with the new version number.
 212
 213 5. Try the just build version, just to be sure.
 214
 215 6. Publish on addons.mozilla.org. Add the release notes list as HTML. `gulp
 216    changelog` prints the latest changelog entry as HTML. `gulp changelog -2`
 217    prints the latest two (etc). The latter is useful if publishing a new version
 218    before the last published version had been reviewed; then the new version
 219    should contain both changelog entries.
 220
 221 7. Push to github. Don’t forget to push the tag! (It’s better to do this after
 222    the publish on addons.mozilla.org, because sometimes its validator complains.
 223    This saves some commits.)
 224
 225 8. Make a “release” out of the new tag on github, and attach an .xpi to it:
 226
 227    1. Create the .xpi by running `gulp xpi --unlisted`.
 228    2. Sign it on AMO.
 229    3. Attach to the release.
 230
 231 The idea is to use the contents of `README.md` as the add-on description on
 232 addons.mozilla.org. You can print it as HTML by running `gulp readme`.
 233
 234 [valid Firefox versions]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/pages/appversions/