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] or [io.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 [io.js]: https://iojs.org/
  31 [gulp]: https://github.com/gulpjs/gulp
  32
  33 ## Getting started
  34
  35 ### How to build and install the latest version from source
  36
  37 1. Follow the installation instructions above.
  38
  39 2. Run `npm run gulp -- xpi`.
  40
  41 3. Install `build/VimFx.xpi` in Firefox by doing one of the following:
  42
  43    - Dragging and dropping it.
  44    - Pressing ctrl+o and choosing it.
  45    - Using “Install from file…” in the top-right menu in the Add-ons Manager.
  46
  47 ### Development
  48
  49 1. Create a new [Firefox profile] for development.
  50
  51 2. Install the [Extension Auto-Installer] add-on in your development profile.
  52
  53 An easy workflow is code, `gulp`, test, repeat. (Use `gulp -t` to also run the
  54 unit tests.)
  55
  56 If you’re having problems, don’t forget to try `npm update`. Your problem might
  57 be in a dependency and already have been fixed.
  58
  59 [Firefox Profile]: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
  60 [Extension Auto-Installer]: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/autoinstaller
  61
  62
  63 ## Gulp tasks
  64
  65 [gulp] is the task runner used to automate most of the common VimFx tasks.
  66
  67 The tasks are defined in [gulpfile.coffee]. They are summarized in the follwing
  68 sub-sections.
  69
  70 (There are a few more tasks defined in [gulpfile.coffee], but they are only used
  71 internally by other tasks.)
  72
  73 [gulpfile.coffee]: ../gulpfile.coffee
  74
  75 ### Building
  76
  77 - `gulp build` creates the `build/` directory. It is basically a copy of the
  78   `extension/` directory, with some of the files being compiled. For example,
  79   the `.coffee` files compiled to `.js`.
  80
  81 - `gulp xpi` runs `gulp build` and then zips the `build/` directory into
  82   `build/VimFx.xpi`.
  83
  84 - `gulp push` (or just `gulp`) runs `gulp xpi` and then pushes `build/VimFx.xpi`
  85   to `http://localhost:8888`, which causes the [Extension Auto-Installer] to
  86   automatically install it. (No need to restart Firefox.)
  87
  88 - Use the `--test` or `-t` option to include the unit test files. The output of
  89   the tests are `console.log`ed. See the browser console, or start Firefox from
  90   the command line to see it.
  91
  92 - `gulp clean` removes the `build/` directory.
  93
  94 ### Management
  95
  96 - `gulp lint` lints all `.coffee` files.
  97
  98 - `gulp sync-locales` syncs locales. See the [“Syncing locales”][sync-locales]
  99   section below for more information.
 100
 101 [sync-locales]: #syncing-locales
 102
 103 ### Helpers
 104
 105 - `gulp faster` compiles `gulpfile.coffee` to `gulpfile.js`. If you run `gulp` a
 106   lot and wish it ran faster, just tell it and it will! You’ll have to remember
 107   to re-run it whenever gulpfile.coffee is updated, though.
 108
 109 - `gulp help.html` dumps VimFx’s Keyboard Shortcuts dialog into `help.html`. You
 110   can then open up `help.html` in Firefox and style it live using the Style
 111   Editor! You can even press the “Save” button when done to save your changes!
 112
 113 ### Release
 114
 115 See the [“Making a release”][release] section below for more information.
 116
 117 - `gulp release` tags things with a new version number.
 118
 119 - `gulp changelog` prints changelog entries from `CHANGELOG.md` as HTML to
 120   stdout.
 121
 122 - `gulp readme` prints `README.md` as HTML to stdout.
 123
 124 [release]: #making-a-release
 125
 126
 127 ## Syncing locales
 128
 129 This is usually not done by translators, but by developers who change, add or
 130 remove features that involves localized text.
 131
 132 If you add, remove or reorder translations in a file, do so in _one_ of the
 133 locales (one that is easy for you to test—but always write new translations in
 134 English!). If you modified the en-US locale, run `gulp sync-locales --en-US` (or
 135 just `gulp sync-locales`). Substitute “en-US” with a locale of choice if needed.
 136 That rewrites all other locales so that:
 137
 138 - Old translations are removed.
 139 - New translations are added (in English).
 140 - All translations appear in the same order.
 141
 142 If you modify an existing translation in a file and want to update all other
 143 locales to use the new wording:
 144
 145 - If possible, edit all other locales by hand to save as much translated text as
 146   possible.
 147
 148 - Otherwise:
 149
 150   1. Before modifying existing translations, copy the file in question and add
 151      the extension `.old` to the filename. For example, copy a
 152      `vimfx.properties` file to `vimfx.properties.old`.
 153   2. Make your modifications (in for example `vimfx.properties`, leaving
 154      `vimfx.properties.old` intact).
 155   3. Run `gulp sync-locales`. It does the same thing as before, except that if a
 156      translation has changed compared to an `.old`-file, the newly changed
 157      translation is used in all locales, replacing what was there before.
 158   4. Remove the `.old`-file.
 159
 160 Note that `gulp sync-locales` requires every translation to be in a single line.
 161 In other words, do not line-wrap translations. Also don’t bother adding comments
 162 when translating locale files, since they’ll likely be removed by `gulp
 163 sync-locales`.
 164
 165
 166 ## Making a release
 167
 168 Before making a release, it might be wise to:
 169
 170 - Run `npm update` and/or `npm outdated` to see if there are any updates to
 171   dependencies. Investigate what’s new and test!
 172 - Run `gulp sync-locales` to make sure that no translation has been left behind.
 173 - Inspect the `build/` directory to see that nothing strange has been included
 174   or generated by `gulp build`.
 175
 176 Steps:
 177
 178 1. Add a list of changes since the last version at the top of `CHANGELOG.md`.
 179
 180 2. Update the version in `package.json` (see `CONTRIBUTING-CODE.md` about
 181    versioning), and, if needed, the minimum Firefox version.
 182
 183 3. Run `gulp release`, which does the following for you:
 184
 185   - Adds a heading with the new version number and today’s date at the top of
 186     CHANGELOG.md.
 187   - Commits CHANGELOG.md and package.json.
 188   - Tags the commit.
 189
 190 4. Run `gulp xpi` to rebuild with the new version number.
 191
 192 5. Push to github. Don’t forget to push the tag!
 193
 194 6. Make a “release” out of the new tag on github, and attach VimFx.xpi to it.
 195
 196 7. Publish on addons.mozilla.org. Add the release notes list as HTML. `gulp
 197    changelog` prints the latest changelog entry as HTML. `gulp changelog -2`
 198    prints the latest two (etc). The latter is useful if publishing a new version
 199    before the last published version had been reviewed; then the new version
 200    should contain both changelog entries.
 201
 202 The idea is to use the contents of `README.md` as the add-on descripton on
 203 addons.mozilla.org. You can print it as HTML by runnning `gulp readme`.