path: root/util/autoconf/standards.info-1

This is Info file ../standards.info, produced by Makeinfo-1.55 from the
input file ../standards.texi.

START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Standards: (standards).        GNU coding standards.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

   GNU Coding Standards Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994 Free Software
Foundation, Inc.

   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that
the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
permission notice identical to this one.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a
translation approved by the Free Software Foundation.


File: standards.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Preface,  Prev: (dir),  Up: (dir)

Version
*******

   Last updated 21 September 1994.

* Menu:

* Preface::			About the GNU Coding Standards
* Reading Non-Free Code::	Referring to Proprietary Programs
* Contributions::		Accepting Contributions
* Change Logs::			Recording Changes
* Compatibility::		Compatibility with Other Implementations
* Makefile Conventions::	Makefile Conventions
* Configuration::		How Configuration Should Work
* Source Language::		Using Languages Other Than C
* Formatting::			Formatting Your Source Code
* Comments::			Commenting Your Work
* Syntactic Conventions::	Clean Use of C Constructs
* Names::			Naming Variables and Functions
* Using Extensions::		Using Non-standard Features
* System Functions::            Portability and "standard" library functions
* Semantics::			Program Behavior for All Programs
* Errors::			Formatting Error Messages
* Libraries::			Library Behavior
* Portability::			Portability As It Applies to GNU
* User Interfaces::		Standards for Command Line Interfaces
* Documentation::		Documenting Programs
* Releases::			Making Releases


File: standards.info,  Node: Preface,  Next: Reading Non-Free Code,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

About the GNU Coding Standards
******************************

   The GNU Coding Standards were written by Richard Stallman and other
GNU Project volunteers.  Their purpose is to make the GNU system clean,
consistent, and easy to install.  This document can also be read as a
guide to write portable, robust and reliable programs.  It focuses on
programs written in C, but many of the rules and principles are useful
even if you write in another programming language.  The rules often
state reasons for writing in a certain way.

   Corrections or suggestions regarding this document should be sent to
`gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu'.  If you make a suggestion, please include a
suggested new wording for it; our time is limited.  We prefer a context
diff to the `standards.texi' or `make-stds.texi' files, but if you
don't have those files, please mail your suggestion anyway.

   This release of the GNU Coding Standards was last updated 21
September 1994.


File: standards.info,  Node: Reading Non-Free Code,  Next: Contributions,  Prev: Preface,  Up: Top

Referring to Proprietary Programs
*********************************

   Don't in any circumstances refer to Unix source code for or during
your work on GNU!  (Or to any other proprietary programs.)

   If you have a vague recollection of the internals of a Unix program,
this does not absolutely mean you can't write an imitation of it, but
do try to organize the imitation internally along different lines,
because this is likely to make the details of the Unix version
irrelevant and dissimilar to your results.

   For example, Unix utilities were generally optimized to minimize
memory use; if you go for speed instead, your program will be very
different.  You could keep the entire input file in core and scan it
there instead of using stdio.  Use a smarter algorithm discovered more
recently than the Unix program.  Eliminate use of temporary files.  Do
it in one pass instead of two (we did this in the assembler).

   Or, on the contrary, emphasize simplicity instead of speed.  For some
applications, the speed of today's computers makes simpler algorithms
adequate.

   Or go for generality.  For example, Unix programs often have static
tables or fixed-size strings, which make for arbitrary limits; use
dynamic allocation instead.  Make sure your program handles NULs and
other funny characters in the input files.  Add a programming language
for extensibility and write part of the program in that language.

   Or turn some parts of the program into independently usable
libraries.  Or use a simple garbage collector instead of tracking
precisely when to free memory, or use a new GNU facility such as
obstacks.


File: standards.info,  Node: Contributions,  Next: Change Logs,  Prev: Reading Non-Free Code,  Up: Top

Accepting Contributions
***********************

   If someone else sends you a piece of code to add to the program you
are working on, we need legal papers to use it--the same sort of legal
papers we will need to get from you.  *Each* significant contributor to
a program must sign some sort of legal papers in order for us to have
clear title to the program.  The main author alone is not enough.

   So, before adding in any contributions from other people, tell us so
we can arrange to get the papers.  Then wait until we tell you that we
have received the signed papers, before you actually use the
contribution.

   This applies both before you release the program and afterward.  If
you receive diffs to fix a bug, and they make significant change, we
need legal papers for it.

   You don't need papers for changes of a few lines here or there, since
they are not significant for copyright purposes.  Also, you don't need
papers if all you get from the suggestion is some ideas, not actual code
which you use.  For example, if you write a different solution to the
problem, you don't need to get papers.

   I know this is frustrating; it's frustrating for us as well.  But if
you don't wait, you are going out on a limb--for example, what if the
contributor's employer won't sign a disclaimer?  You might have to take
that code out again!

   The very worst thing is if you forget to tell us about the other
contributor.  We could be very embarrassed in court some day as a
result.


File: standards.info,  Node: Change Logs,  Next: Compatibility,  Prev: Contributions,  Up: Top

Change Logs
***********

   Keep a change log for each directory, describing the changes made to
source files in that directory.  The purpose of this is so that people
investigating bugs in the future will know about the changes that might
have introduced the bug.  Often a new bug can be found by looking at
what was recently changed.  More importantly, change logs can help
eliminate conceptual inconsistencies between different parts of a
program; they can give you a history of how the conflicting concepts
arose.

   Use the Emacs command `M-x add-change' to start a new entry in the
change log.  An entry should have an asterisk, the name of the changed
file, and then in parentheses the name of the changed functions,
variables or whatever, followed by a colon.  Then describe the changes
you made to that function or variable.

   Separate unrelated entries with blank lines.  When two entries
represent parts of the same change, so that they work together, then
don't put blank lines between them.  Then you can omit the file name
and the asterisk when successive entries are in the same file.

   Here are some examples:

     * register.el (insert-register): Return nil.
     (jump-to-register): Likewise.
     
     * sort.el (sort-subr): Return nil.
     
     * tex-mode.el (tex-bibtex-file, tex-file, tex-region):
     Restart the tex shell if process is gone or stopped.
     (tex-shell-running): New function.
     
     * expr.c (store_one_arg): Round size up for move_block_to_reg.
     (expand_call): Round up when emitting USE insns.
     * stmt.c (assign_parms): Round size up for move_block_from_reg.

   It's important to name the changed function or variable in full.
Don't abbreviate them; don't combine them.  Subsequent maintainers will
often search for a function name to find all the change log entries that
pertain to it; if you abbreviate the name, they won't find it when they
search.  For example, some people are tempted to abbreviate groups of
function names by writing `* register.el ({insert,jump-to}-register)';
this is not a good idea, since searching for `jump-to-register' or
`insert-register' would not find the entry.

   There's no need to describe the full purpose of the changes or how
they work together.  It is better to put such explanations in comments
in the code.  That's why just "New function" is enough; there is a
comment with the function in the source to explain what it does.

   However, sometimes it is useful to write one line to describe the
overall purpose of a large batch of changes.

   You can think of the change log as a conceptual "undo list" which
explains how earlier versions were different from the current version.
People can see the current version; they don't need the change log to
tell them what is in it.  What they want from a change log is a clear
explanation of how the earlier version differed.

   When you change the calling sequence of a function in a simple
fashion, and you change all the callers of the function, there is no
need to make individual entries for all the callers.  Just write in the
entry for the function being called, "All callers changed."

   When you change just comments or doc strings, it is enough to write
an entry for the file, without mentioning the functions.  Write just,
"Doc fix."  There's no need to keep a change log for documentation
files.  This is because documentation is not susceptible to bugs that
are hard to fix.  Documentation does not consist of parts that must
interact in a precisely engineered fashion; to correct an error, you
need not know the history of the erroneous passage.


File: standards.info,  Node: Compatibility,  Next: Makefile Conventions,  Prev: Change Logs,  Up: Top

Compatibility with Other Implementations
****************************************

   With certain exceptions, utility programs and libraries for GNU
should be upward compatible with those in Berkeley Unix, and upward
compatible with ANSI C if ANSI C specifies their behavior, and upward
compatible with POSIX if POSIX specifies their behavior.

   When these standards conflict, it is useful to offer compatibility
modes for each of them.

   ANSI C and POSIX prohibit many kinds of extensions.  Feel free to
make the extensions anyway, and include a `--ansi' or `--compatible'
option to turn them off.  However, if the extension has a significant
chance of breaking any real programs or scripts, then it is not really
upward compatible.  Try to redesign its interface.

   Many GNU programs suppress extensions that conflict with POSIX if the
environment variable `POSIXLY_CORRECT' is defined (even if it is
defined with a null value).  Please make your program recognize this
variable if appropriate.

   When a feature is used only by users (not by programs or command
files), and it is done poorly in Unix, feel free to replace it
completely with something totally different and better.  (For example,
vi is replaced with Emacs.)  But it is nice to offer a compatible
feature as well.  (There is a free vi clone, so we offer it.)

   Additional useful features not in Berkeley Unix are welcome.
Additional programs with no counterpart in Unix may be useful, but our
first priority is usually to duplicate what Unix already has.


File: standards.info,  Node: Makefile Conventions,  Next: Configuration,  Prev: Compatibility,  Up: Top

Makefile Conventions
********************

   This chapter describes conventions for writing the Makefiles for GNU
programs.

* Menu:

* Makefile Basics::
* Utilities in Makefiles::
* Standard Targets::
* Command Variables::
* Directory Variables::


File: standards.info,  Node: Makefile Basics,  Next: Utilities in Makefiles,  Up: Makefile Conventions

General Conventions for Makefiles
=================================

   Every Makefile should contain this line:

     SHELL = /bin/sh

to avoid trouble on systems where the `SHELL' variable might be
inherited from the environment.  (This is never a problem with GNU
`make'.)

   Different `make' programs have incompatible suffix lists and
implicit rules, and this sometimes creates confusion or misbehavior.  So
it is a good idea to set the suffix list explicitly using only the
suffixes you need in the particular Makefile, like this:

     .SUFFIXES:
     .SUFFIXES: .c .o

The first line clears out the suffix list, the second introduces all
suffixes which may be subject to implicit rules in this Makefile.

   Don't assume that `.' is in the path for command execution.  When
you need to run programs that are a part of your package during the
make, please make sure that it uses `./' if the program is built as
part of the make or `$(srcdir)/' if the file is an unchanging part of
the source code.  Without one of these prefixes, the current search
path is used.

   The distinction between `./' and `$(srcdir)/' is important when
using the `--srcdir' option to `configure'.  A rule of the form:

     foo.1 : foo.man sedscript
             sed -e sedscript foo.man > foo.1

will fail when the current directory is not the source directory,
because `foo.man' and `sedscript' are not in the current directory.

   When using GNU `make', relying on `VPATH' to find the source file
will work in the case where there is a single dependency file, since
the `make' automatic variable `$<' will represent the source file
wherever it is.  (Many versions of `make' set `$<' only in implicit
rules.)  A makefile target like

     foo.o : bar.c
             $(CC) -I. -I$(srcdir) $(CFLAGS) -c bar.c -o foo.o

should instead be written as

     foo.o : bar.c
             $(CC) -I. -I$(srcdir) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@

in order to allow `VPATH' to work correctly.  When the target has
multiple dependencies, using an explicit `$(srcdir)' is the easiest way
to make the rule work well.  For example, the target above for `foo.1'
is best written as:

     foo.1 : foo.man sedscript
             sed -e $(srcdir)/sedscript $(srcdir)/foo.man > $@


File: standards.info,  Node: Utilities in Makefiles,  Next: Standard Targets,  Prev: Makefile Basics,  Up: Makefile Conventions

Utilities in Makefiles
======================

   Write the Makefile commands (and any shell scripts, such as
`configure') to run in `sh', not in `csh'.  Don't use any special
features of `ksh' or `bash'.

   The `configure' script and the Makefile rules for building and
installation should not use any utilities directly except these:

     cat cmp cp echo egrep expr grep
     ln mkdir mv pwd rm rmdir sed test touch

   Stick to the generally supported options for these programs.  For
example, don't use `mkdir -p', convenient as it may be, because most
systems don't support it.

   The Makefile rules for building and installation can also use
compilers and related programs, but should do so via `make' variables
so that the user can substitute alternatives.  Here are some of the
programs we mean:

     ar bison cc flex install ld lex
     make makeinfo ranlib texi2dvi yacc

   Use the following `make' variables:

     $(AR) $(BISON) $(CC) $(FLEX) $(INSTALL) $(LD) $(LEX)
     $(MAKE) $(MAKEINFO) $(RANLIB) $(TEXI2DVI) $(YACC)

   When you use `ranlib', you should make sure nothing bad happens if
the system does not have `ranlib'.  Arrange to ignore an error from
that command, and print a message before the command to tell the user
that failure of the `ranlib' command does not mean a problem.

   If you use symbolic links, you should implement a fallback for
systems that don't have symbolic links.

   It is ok to use other utilities in Makefile portions (or scripts)
intended only for particular systems where you know those utilities to
exist.


File: standards.info,  Node: Standard Targets,  Next: Command Variables,  Prev: Utilities in Makefiles,  Up: Makefile Conventions

Standard Targets for Users
==========================

   All GNU programs should have the following targets in their
Makefiles:

`all'
     Compile the entire program.  This should be the default target.
     This target need not rebuild any documentation files; Info files
     should normally be included in the distribution, and DVI files
     should be made only when explicitly asked for.

`install'
     Compile the program and copy the executables, libraries, and so on
     to the file names where they should reside for actual use.  If
     there is a simple test to verify that a program is properly
     installed, this target should run that test.

     The commands should create all the directories in which files are
     to be installed, if they don't already exist.  This includes the
     directories specified as the values of the variables `prefix' and
     `exec_prefix', as well as all subdirectories that are needed.  One
     way to do this is by means of an `installdirs' target as described
     below.

     Use `-' before any command for installing a man page, so that
     `make' will ignore any errors.  This is in case there are systems
     that don't have the Unix man page documentation system installed.

     The way to install Info files is to copy them into `$(infodir)'
     with `$(INSTALL_DATA)' (*note Command Variables::.), and then run
     the `install-info' program if it is present.  `install-info' is a
     script that edits the Info `dir' file to add or update the menu
     entry for the given Info file; it will be part of the Texinfo
     package.  Here is a sample rule to install an Info file:

          $(infodir)/foo.info: foo.info
          # There may be a newer info file in . than in srcdir.
                  -if test -f foo.info; then d=.; \
                   else d=$(srcdir); fi; \
                  $(INSTALL_DATA) $$d/foo.info $@; \
          # Run install-info only if it exists.
          # Use `if' instead of just prepending `-' to the
          # line so we notice real errors from install-info.
          # We use `$(SHELL) -c' because some shells do not
          # fail gracefully when there is an unknown command.
                  if $(SHELL) -c 'install-info --version' \
                     >/dev/null 2>&1; then \
                    install-info --infodir=$(infodir) $$d/foo.info; \
                  else true; fi

`uninstall'
     Delete all the installed files that the `install' target would
     create (but not the noninstalled files such as `make all' would
     create).

`clean'
     Delete all files from the current directory that are normally
     created by building the program.  Don't delete the files that
     record the configuration.  Also preserve files that could be made
     by building, but normally aren't because the distribution comes
     with them.

     Delete `.dvi' files here if they are not part of the distribution.

`distclean'
     Delete all files from the current directory that are created by
     configuring or building the program.  If you have unpacked the
     source and built the program without creating any other files,
     `make distclean' should leave only the files that were in the
     distribution.

`mostlyclean'
     Like `clean', but may refrain from deleting a few files that people
     normally don't want to recompile.  For example, the `mostlyclean'
     target for GCC does not delete `libgcc.a', because recompiling it
     is rarely necessary and takes a lot of time.

`realclean'
     Delete everything from the current directory that can be
     reconstructed with this Makefile.  This typically includes
     everything deleted by `distclean', plus more: C source files
     produced by Bison, tags tables, Info files, and so on.

     One exception, however: `make realclean' should not delete
     `configure' even if `configure' can be remade using a rule in the
     Makefile.  More generally, `make realclean' should not delete
     anything that needs to exist in order to run `configure' and then
     begin to build the program.

`TAGS'
     Update a tags table for this program.

`info'
     Generate any Info files needed.  The best way to write the rules
     is as follows:

          info: foo.info
          
          foo.info: foo.texi chap1.texi chap2.texi
                  $(MAKEINFO) $(srcdir)/foo.texi

     You must define the variable `MAKEINFO' in the Makefile.  It should
     run the `makeinfo' program, which is part of the Texinfo
     distribution.

`dvi'
     Generate DVI files for all TeXinfo documentation.  For example:

          dvi: foo.dvi
          
          foo.dvi: foo.texi chap1.texi chap2.texi
                  $(TEXI2DVI) $(srcdir)/foo.texi

     You must define the variable `TEXI2DVI' in the Makefile.  It should
     run the program `texi2dvi', which is part of the Texinfo
     distribution.  Alternatively, write just the dependencies, and
     allow GNU Make to provide the command.

`dist'
     Create a distribution tar file for this program.  The tar file
     should be set up so that the file names in the tar file start with
     a subdirectory name which is the name of the package it is a
     distribution for.  This name can include the version number.

     For example, the distribution tar file of GCC version 1.40 unpacks
     into a subdirectory named `gcc-1.40'.

     The easiest way to do this is to create a subdirectory
     appropriately named, use `ln' or `cp' to install the proper files
     in it, and then `tar' that subdirectory.

     The `dist' target should explicitly depend on all non-source files
     that are in the distribution, to make sure they are up to date in
     the distribution.  *Note Making Releases: (standards)Releases.

`check'
     Perform self-tests (if any).  The user must build the program
     before running the tests, but need not install the program; you
     should write the self-tests so that they work when the program is
     built but not installed.

   The following targets are suggested as conventional names, for
programs in which they are useful.

`installcheck'
     Perform installation tests (if any).  The user must build and
     install the program before running the tests.  You should not
     assume that `$(bindir)' is in the search path.

`installdirs'
     It's useful to add a target named `installdirs' to create the
     directories where files are installed, and their parent
     directories.  There is a script called `mkinstalldirs' which is
     convenient for this; find it in the Texinfo package.You can use a
     rule like this:

          # Make sure all installation directories (e.g. $(bindir))
          # actually exist by making them if necessary.
          installdirs: mkinstalldirs
                  $(srcdir)/mkinstalldirs $(bindir) $(datadir) \
                                          $(libdir) $(infodir) \
                                          $(mandir)


File: standards.info,  Node: Command Variables,  Next: Directory Variables,  Prev: Standard Targets,  Up: Makefile Conventions

Variables for Specifying Commands
=================================

   Makefiles should provide variables for overriding certain commands,
options, and so on.

   In particular, you should run most utility programs via variables.
Thus, if you use Bison, have a variable named `BISON' whose default
value is set with `BISON = bison', and refer to it with `$(BISON)'
whenever you need to use Bison.

   File management utilities such as `ln', `rm', `mv', and so on, need
not be referred to through variables in this way, since users don't
need to replace them with other programs.

   Each program-name variable should come with an options variable that
is used to supply options to the program.  Append `FLAGS' to the
program-name variable name to get the options variable name--for
example, `BISONFLAGS'.  (The name `CFLAGS' is an exception to this
rule, but we keep it because it is standard.)  Use `CPPFLAGS' in any
compilation command that runs the preprocessor, and use `LDFLAGS' in
any compilation command that does linking as well as in any direct use
of `ld'.

   If there are C compiler options that *must* be used for proper
compilation of certain files, do not include them in `CFLAGS'.  Users
expect to be able to specify `CFLAGS' freely themselves.  Instead,
arrange to pass the necessary options to the C compiler independently
of `CFLAGS', by writing them explicitly in the compilation commands or
by defining an implicit rule, like this:

     CFLAGS = -g
     ALL_CFLAGS = -I. $(CFLAGS)
     .c.o:
             $(CC) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(ALL_CFLAGS) $<

   Do include the `-g' option in `CFLAGS', because that is not
*required* for proper compilation.  You can consider it a default that
is only recommended.  If the package is set up so that it is compiled
with GCC by default, then you might as well include `-O' in the default
value of `CFLAGS' as well.

   Put `CFLAGS' last in the compilation command, after other variables
containing compiler options, so the user can use `CFLAGS' to override
the others.

   Every Makefile should define the variable `INSTALL', which is the
basic command for installing a file into the system.

   Every Makefile should also define the variables `INSTALL_PROGRAM'
and `INSTALL_DATA'.  (The default for each of these should be
`$(INSTALL)'.)  Then it should use those variables as the commands for
actual installation, for executables and nonexecutables respectively.
Use these variables as follows:

     $(INSTALL_PROGRAM) foo $(bindir)/foo
     $(INSTALL_DATA) libfoo.a $(libdir)/libfoo.a

Always use a file name, not a directory name, as the second argument of
the installation commands.  Use a separate command for each file to be
installed.


File: standards.info,  Node: Directory Variables,  Prev: Command Variables,  Up: Makefile Conventions

Variables for Installation Directories
======================================

   Installation directories should always be named by variables, so it
is easy to install in a nonstandard place.  The standard names for these
variables are as follows.

   These two variables set the root for the installation.  All the other
installation directories should be subdirectories of one of these two,
and nothing should be directly installed into these two directories.

`prefix'
     A prefix used in constructing the default values of the variables
     listed below.  The default value of `prefix' should be `/usr/local'
     (at least for now).

`exec_prefix'
     A prefix used in constructing the default values of some of the
     variables listed below.  The default value of `exec_prefix' should
     be `$(prefix)'.

     Generally, `$(exec_prefix)' is used for directories that contain
     machine-specific files (such as executables and subroutine
     libraries), while `$(prefix)' is used directly for other
     directories.

   Executable programs are installed in one of the following
directories.

`bindir'
     The directory for installing executable programs that users can
     run.  This should normally be `/usr/local/bin', but write it as
     `$(exec_prefix)/bin'.

`sbindir'
     The directory for installing executable programs that can be run
     from the shell, but are only generally useful to system
     administrators.  This should normally be `/usr/local/sbin', but
     write it as `$(exec_prefix)/sbin'.

`libexecdir'
     The directory for installing executable programs to be run by other
     programs rather than by users.  This directory should normally be
     `/usr/local/libexec', but write it as `$(exec_prefix)/libexec'.

   Data files used by the program during its execution are divided into
categories in two ways.

   * Some files are normally modified by programs; others are never
     normally modified (though users may edit some of these).

   * Some files are architecture-independent and can be shared by all
     machines at a site; some are architecture-dependent and can be
     shared only by machines of the same kind and operating system;
     others may never be shared between two machines.

   This makes for six different possibilities.  However, we want to
discourage the use of architecture-dependent files, aside from of object
files and libraries.  It is much cleaner to make other data files
architecture-independent, and it is generally not hard.

   Therefore, here are the variables makefiles should use to specify
directories:

`datadir'
     The directory for installing read-only architecture independent
     data files.  This should normally be `/usr/local/share', but write
     it as `$(prefix)/share'.  As a special exception, see `$(infodir)'
     and `$(includedir)' below.

`sysconfdir'
     The directory for installing read-only data files that pertain to a
     single machine-that is to say, files for configuring a host.
     Mailer and network configuration files, `/etc/passwd', and so
     forth belong here.  All the files in this directory should be
     ordinary ASCII text files.  This directory should normally be
     `/usr/local/etc', but write it as `$(prefix)/etc'.

     Do not install executables in this directory (they probably belong
     in `$(libexecdir)' or `$(sbindir))'.  Also do not install files
     that are modified in the normal course of their use (programs
     whose purpose is to change the configuration of the system
     excluded).  Those probably belong in `$(localstatedir)'.

`sharedstatedir'
     The directory for installing architecture-independent data files
     which the programs modify while they run.  This should normally be
     `/usr/local/com', but write it as `$(prefix)/com'.

`localstatedir'
     The directory for installing data files which the programs modify
     while they run, and that pertain to one specific machine.  Users
     should never need to modify files in this directory to configure
     the package's operation; put such configuration information in
     separate files that go in `datadir' or `$(sysconfdir)'.
     `$(localstatedir)' should normally be `/usr/local/var', but write
     it as `$(prefix)/var'.

`libdir'
     The directory for object files and libraries of object code.  Do
     not install executables here, they probably belong in
     `$(libexecdir)' instead.  The value of `libdir' should normally be
     `/usr/local/lib', but write it as `$(exec_prefix)/lib'.

`infodir'
     The directory for installing the Info files for this package.  By
     default, it should be `/usr/local/info', but it should be written
     as `$(prefix)/info'.

`includedir'
     The directory for installing header files to be included by user
     programs with the C `#include' preprocessor directive.  This
     should normally be `/usr/local/include', but write it as
     `$(prefix)/include'.

     Most compilers other than GCC do not look for header files in
     `/usr/local/include'.  So installing the header files this way is
     only useful with GCC.  Sometimes this is not a problem because some
     libraries are only really intended to work with GCC.  But some
     libraries are intended to work with other compilers.  They should
     install their header files in two places, one specified by
     `includedir' and one specified by `oldincludedir'.

`oldincludedir'
     The directory for installing `#include' header files for use with
     compilers other than GCC.  This should normally be `/usr/include'.

     The Makefile commands should check whether the value of
     `oldincludedir' is empty.  If it is, they should not try to use
     it; they should cancel the second installation of the header files.

     A package should not replace an existing header in this directory
     unless the header came from the same package.  Thus, if your Foo
     package provides a header file `foo.h', then it should install the
     header file in the `oldincludedir' directory if either (1) there
     is no `foo.h' there or (2) the `foo.h' that exists came from the
     Foo package.

     To tell whether `foo.h' came from the Foo package, put a magic
     string in the file--part of a comment--and grep for that string.

   Unix-style man pages are installed in one of the following:

`mandir'
     The directory for installing the man pages (if any) for this
     package.  It should include the suffix for the proper section of
     the manual--usually `1' for a utility.  It will normally be
     `/usr/local/man/man1', but you should write it as
     `$(prefix)/man/man1'.

`man1dir'
     The directory for installing section 1 man pages.

`man2dir'
     The directory for installing section 2 man pages.

`...'
     Use these names instead of `mandir' if the package needs to
     install man pages in more than one section of the manual.

     *Don't make the primary documentation for any GNU software be a
     man page.  Write a manual in Texinfo instead.  Man pages are just
     for the sake of people running GNU software on Unix, which is a
     secondary application only.*

`manext'
     The file name extension for the installed man page.  This should
     contain a period followed by the appropriate digit; it should
     normally be `.1'.

`man1ext'
     The file name extension for installed section 1 man pages.

`man2ext'
     The file name extension for installed section 2 man pages.

`...'
     Use these names instead of `manext' if the package needs to
     install man pages in more than one section of the manual.

   And finally, you should set the following variable:

`srcdir'
     The directory for the sources being compiled.  The value of this
     variable is normally inserted by the `configure' shell script.

   For example:

     # Common prefix for installation directories.
     # NOTE: This directory must exist when you start the install.
     prefix = /usr/local
     exec_prefix = $(prefix)
     # Where to put the executable for the command `gcc'.
     bindir = $(exec_prefix)/bin
     # Where to put the directories used by the compiler.
     libexecdir = $(exec_prefix)/libexec
     # Where to put the Info files.
     infodir = $(prefix)/info

   If your program installs a large number of files into one of the
standard user-specified directories, it might be useful to group them
into a subdirectory particular to that program.  If you do this, you
should write the `install' rule to create these subdirectories.

   Do not expect the user to include the subdirectory name in the value
of any of the variables listed above.  The idea of having a uniform set
of variable names for installation directories is to enable the user to
specify the exact same values for several different GNU packages.  In
order for this to be useful, all the packages must be designed so that
they will work sensibly when the user does so.


File: standards.info,  Node: Configuration,  Next: Source Language,  Prev: Makefile Conventions,  Up: Top

How Configuration Should Work
*****************************

   Each GNU distribution should come with a shell script named
`configure'.  This script is given arguments which describe the kind of
machine and system you want to compile the program for.

   The `configure' script must record the configuration options so that
they affect compilation.

   One way to do this is to make a link from a standard name such as
`config.h' to the proper configuration file for the chosen system.  If
you use this technique, the distribution should *not* contain a file
named `config.h'.  This is so that people won't be able to build the
program without configuring it first.

   Another thing that `configure' can do is to edit the Makefile.  If
you do this, the distribution should *not* contain a file named
`Makefile'.  Instead, include a file `Makefile.in' which contains the
input used for editing.  Once again, this is so that people won't be
able to build the program without configuring it first.

   If `configure' does write the `Makefile', then `Makefile' should
have a target named `Makefile' which causes `configure' to be rerun,
setting up the same configuration that was set up last time.  The files
that `configure' reads should be listed as dependencies of `Makefile'.

   All the files which are output from the `configure' script should
have comments at the beginning explaining that they were generated
automatically using `configure'.  This is so that users won't think of
trying to edit them by hand.

   The `configure' script should write a file named `config.status'
which describes which configuration options were specified when the
program was last configured.  This file should be a shell script which,
if run, will recreate the same configuration.

   The `configure' script should accept an option of the form
`--srcdir=DIRNAME' to specify the directory where sources are found (if
it is not the current directory).  This makes it possible to build the
program in a separate directory, so that the actual source directory is
not modified.

   If the user does not specify `--srcdir', then `configure' should
check both `.' and `..' to see if it can find the sources.  If it finds
the sources in one of these places, it should use them from there.
Otherwise, it should report that it cannot find the sources, and should
exit with nonzero status.

   Usually the easy way to support `--srcdir' is by editing a
definition of `VPATH' into the Makefile.  Some rules may need to refer
explicitly to the specified source directory.  To make this possible,
`configure' can add to the Makefile a variable named `srcdir' whose
value is precisely the specified directory.

   The `configure' script should also take an argument which specifies
the type of system to build the program for.  This argument should look
like this:

     CPU-COMPANY-SYSTEM

   For example, a Sun 3 might be `m68k-sun-sunos4.1'.

   The `configure' script needs to be able to decode all plausible
alternatives for how to describe a machine.  Thus, `sun3-sunos4.1'
would be a valid alias.  So would `sun3-bsd4.2', since SunOS is
basically BSD and no other BSD system is used on a Sun.  For many
programs, `vax-dec-ultrix' would be an alias for `vax-dec-bsd', simply
because the differences between Ultrix and BSD are rarely noticeable,
but a few programs might need to distinguish them.

   There is a shell script called `config.sub' that you can use as a
subroutine to validate system types and canonicalize aliases.

   Other options are permitted to specify in more detail the software
or hardware present on the machine, and include or exclude optional
parts of the package:

`--enable-FEATURE[=PARAMETER]'
     Configure the package to build and install an optional user-level
     facility called FEATURE.  This allows users to choose which
     optional features to include.  Giving an optional PARAMETER of
     `no' should omit FEATURE, if it is built by default.

     No `--enable' option should *ever* cause one feature to replace
     another.  No `--enable' option should ever substitute one useful
     behavior for another useful behavior.  The only proper use for
     `--enable' is for questions of whether to build part of the program
     or exclude it.

`--with-PACKAGE'
     The package PACKAGE will be installed, so configure this package
     to work with PACKAGE.

     Possible values of PACKAGE include `x', `x-toolkit', `gnu-as' (or
     `gas'), `gnu-ld', `gnu-libc', and `gdb'.

     Do not use a `--with' option to specify the file name to use to
     find certain files.  That is outside the scope of what `--with'
     options are for.

`--nfp'
     The target machine has no floating point processor.

`--gas'
     The target machine assembler is GAS, the GNU assembler.  This is
     obsolete; users should use `--with-gnu-as' instead.

`--x'
     The target machine has the X Window System installed.  This is
     obsolete; users should use `--with-x' instead.

   All `configure' scripts should accept all of these "detail" options,
whether or not they make any difference to the particular package at
hand.  In particular, they should accept any option that starts with
`--with-' or `--enable-'.  This is so users will be able to configure
an entire GNU source tree at once with a single set of options.

   You will note that the categories `--with-' and `--enable-' are
narrow: they *do not* provide a place for any sort of option you might
think of.  That is deliberate.  We want to limit the possible
configuration options in GNU software.  We do not want GNU programs to
have idiosyncratic configuration options.

   Packages that perform part of compilation may support
cross-compilation.  In such a case, the host and target machines for
the program may be different.  The `configure' script should normally
treat the specified type of system as both the host and the target,
thus producing a program which works for the same type of machine that
it runs on.

   The way to build a cross-compiler, cross-assembler, or what have
you, is to specify the option `--host=HOSTTYPE' when running
`configure'.  This specifies the host system without changing the type
of target system.  The syntax for HOSTTYPE is the same as described
above.

   Bootstrapping a cross-compiler requires compiling it on a machine
other than the host it will run on.  Compilation packages accept a
configuration option `--build=HOSTTYPE' for specifying the
configuration on which you will compile them, in case that is different
from the host.

   Programs for which cross-operation is not meaningful need not accept
the `--host' option, because configuring an entire operating system for
cross-operation is not a meaningful thing.

   Some programs have ways of configuring themselves automatically.  If
your program is set up to do this, your `configure' script can simply
ignore most of its arguments.


File: standards.info,  Node: Source Language,  Next: Formatting,  Prev: Configuration,  Up: Top

Using Languages Other Than C
****************************

   Using a language other than C is like using a non-standard feature:
it will cause trouble for users.  Even if GCC supports the other
language, users may find it inconvenient to have to install the
compiler for that other language in order to build your program.  So
please write in C.

   There are three exceptions for this rule:

   * It is okay to use a special language if the same program contains
     an interpreter for that language.

     Thus, it is not a problem that GNU Emacs contains code written in
     Emacs Lisp, because it comes with a Lisp interpreter.

   * It is okay to use another language in a tool specifically intended
     for use with that language.

     This is okay because the only people who want to build the tool
     will be those who have installed the other language anyway.

   * If an application is not of extremely widespread interest, then
     perhaps it's not important if the application is inconvenient to
     install.


File: standards.info,  Node: Formatting,  Next: Comments,  Prev: Source Language,  Up: Top

Formatting Your Source Code
***************************

   It is important to put the open-brace that starts the body of a C
function in column zero, and avoid putting any other open-brace or
open-parenthesis or open-bracket in column zero.  Several tools look
for open-braces in column zero to find the beginnings of C functions.
These tools will not work on code not formatted that way.

   It is also important for function definitions to start the name of
the function in column zero.  This helps people to search for function
definitions, and may also help certain tools recognize them.  Thus, the
proper format is this:

     static char *
     concat (s1, s2)        /* Name starts in column zero here */
          char *s1, *s2;
     {                     /* Open brace in column zero here */
       ...
     }

or, if you want to use ANSI C, format the definition like this:

     static char *
     concat (char *s1, char *s2)
     {
       ...
     }

   In ANSI C, if the arguments don't fit nicely on one line, split it
like this:

     int
     lots_of_args (int an_integer, long a_long, short a_short,
                   double a_double, float a_float)
     ...

   For the body of the function, we prefer code formatted like this:

     if (x < foo (y, z))
       haha = bar[4] + 5;
     else
       {
         while (z)
           {
             haha += foo (z, z);
             z--;
           }
         return ++x + bar ();
       }

   We find it easier to read a program when it has spaces before the
open-parentheses and after the commas.  Especially after the commas.

   When you split an expression into multiple lines, split it before an
operator, not after one.  Here is the right way:

     if (foo_this_is_long && bar > win (x, y, z)
         && remaining_condition)

   Try to avoid having two operators of different precedence at the same
level of indentation.  For example, don't write this:

     mode = (inmode[j] == VOIDmode
             || GET_MODE_SIZE (outmode[j]) > GET_MODE_SIZE (inmode[j])
             ? outmode[j] : inmode[j]);

   Instead, use extra parentheses so that the indentation shows the
nesting:

     mode = ((inmode[j] == VOIDmode
              || (GET_MODE_SIZE (outmode[j]) > GET_MODE_SIZE (inmode[j])))
             ? outmode[j] : inmode[j]);

   Insert extra parentheses so that Emacs will indent the code properly.
For example, the following indentation looks nice if you do it by hand,
but Emacs would mess it up:

     v = rup->ru_utime.tv_sec*1000 + rup->ru_utime.tv_usec/1000
         + rup->ru_stime.tv_sec*1000 + rup->ru_stime.tv_usec/1000;

   But adding a set of parentheses solves the problem:

     v = (rup->ru_utime.tv_sec*1000 + rup->ru_utime.tv_usec/1000
          + rup->ru_stime.tv_sec*1000 + rup->ru_stime.tv_usec/1000);

   Format do-while statements like this:

     do
       {
         a = foo (a);
       }
     while (a > 0);

   Please use formfeed characters (control-L) to divide the program into
pages at logical places (but not within a function).  It does not matter
just how long the pages are, since they do not have to fit on a printed
page.  The formfeeds should appear alone on lines by themselves.


File: standards.info,  Node: Comments,  Next: Syntactic Conventions,  Prev: Formatting,  Up: Top

Commenting Your Work
********************

   Every program should start with a comment saying briefly what it is
for.  Example: `fmt - filter for simple filling of text'.

   Please put a comment on each function saying what the function does,
what sorts of arguments it gets, and what the possible values of
arguments mean and are used for.  It is not necessary to duplicate in
words the meaning of the C argument declarations, if a C type is being
used in its customary fashion.  If there is anything nonstandard about
its use (such as an argument of type `char *' which is really the
address of the second character of a string, not the first), or any
possible values that would not work the way one would expect (such as,
that strings containing newlines are not guaranteed to work), be sure
to say so.

   Also explain the significance of the return value, if there is one.

   Please put two spaces after the end of a sentence in your comments,
so that the Emacs sentence commands will work.  Also, please write
complete sentences and capitalize the first word.  If a lower-case
identifer comes at the beginning of a sentence, don't capitalize it!
Changing the spelling makes it a different identifier.  If you don't
like starting a sentence with a lower case letter, write the sentence
differently (e.g., "The identifier lower-case is ...").

   The comment on a function is much clearer if you use the argument
names to speak about the argument values.  The variable name itself
should be lower case, but write it in upper case when you are speaking
about the value rather than the variable itself.  Thus, "the inode
number NODE_NUM" rather than "an inode".

   There is usually no purpose in restating the name of the function in
the comment before it, because the reader can see that for himself.
There might be an exception when the comment is so long that the
function itself would be off the bottom of the screen.

   There should be a comment on each static variable as well, like this:

     /* Nonzero means truncate lines in the display;
        zero means continue them.  */
     int truncate_lines;

   Every `#endif' should have a comment, except in the case of short
conditionals (just a few lines) that are not nested.  The comment should
state the condition of the conditional that is ending, *including its
sense*.  `#else' should have a comment describing the condition *and
sense* of the code that follows.  For example:

     #ifdef foo
       ...
     #else /* not foo */
       ...
     #endif /* not foo */

but, by contrast, write the comments this way for a `#ifndef':

     #ifndef foo
       ...
     #else /* foo */
       ...
     #endif /* foo */