hledger/DEVELOP.md

title
hledger Developer Guide

Developer guide

Quick links:

hledger released version
release notes, hledger-web demo
ready-to-run binaries
hledger, hledger-web, hledger-vty, hledger-chart, hledger-lib packages

hledger development version
Get it, browse it, changes, CHANGES! (turn up your volume)

[developer notes](http://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/NOTES.org), [haddock coverage](http://hledger.org/profs/haddock-coverage), [unit test coverage](http://hledger.org/profs/coverage/hpc_index_fun.html), [benchmark](http://hledger.org/profs/latest.bench), [stale dependencies](http://packdeps.haskellers.com/feed/?needle=hledger) reports
[browse dev API docs](http://hledger.org/api/frames.html) or \

How to..

New contributors of all levels are most welcome. Here are some tips to help you get productive on the hledger project.

how to suggest enhancements

Suggestions and feature requests are easy to make, less easy to research, and hard to implement. And, alas! We don't have a team of sleek, well-fed, idle coders standing by to implement everybody's wishes. (Please help change that).

Wishes are welcome feedback, but we don't want them to pile up and obscure bugs and other developer priorities, so we manage them with discussion and optionally as cards on a trello board. The current recommendation is

1. discuss/research first
   Is your wish already on the trello wishlist/planning board or bug tracker ?
   Perhaps discuss it on irc, the mail list or trello ?

2. report wishes on trello, bugs in the bug tracker
   Is it a problem with the released and documented functionality ? report in the bug tracker
   Is it a wish ? add a card on the trello board, if needed

3. don't sweat it
   Or, do what you think best. If a wish does land in the bug tracker, it gets the WISH label.

how to report problems

• check for related issues in the bug tracker or in the mail list archive
• discuss/confirm the issue on irc or list
• report new issues in the bug tracker

how to help with testing

• review and test our documentation and web presence
• download and test the binaries on your platform
• test installing via cabal
• use the tools and test functionality, usability, browser compatibility, ui layout etc.
• check that hledger test reports no failures
• run the developer tests
• discuss/report problems via irc/mail list/bug tracker

how to help with bug tracking

• get to know the bug tracker and its contents
• research and update issues
• some convenient url shortcuts:
  hledger.org/bugs
hledger.org/bugs/new
hledger.org/bugs/N

how to set up for development

1. get an up-to-date ghc, at least 7.0 and preferably 7.6
2. there's probably no need to install the haskell platform now, but you could
3. it's probably worth getting the latest and best cabal: cabal update; cabal install cabal-install
4. ensure you have git installed
5. the hledger Makefile assumes GNU Make, so on some platforms you may need to spell "make" as "gmake"

• get the hledger repo:

    git clone git@github.com:simonmichael/hledger.git
    cd hledger
  

• install packages required to build hledger and add-ons, or as many of them as possible:

    cabal update
    make install
  

  This will also try to cabal install development builds of the hledger executables, so ghc-pkg unregister those afterwards if you don't want that.

• try building with make:

    make bin/hledgerdev
  

  This is usually quicker and simpler than fiddling with multiple cabal packages during development. Note this executable will not be as optimised as the normal cabal build, and has the "dev" suffix as a reminder of this.

• try auto-building with sp:

    make auto   # or autoweb
  

  You'll need to follow the instructions to install sp. This is how I do most hledger development. It will recompile whenever you save changes to source files.

how to get your changes accepted

Follow the usual github workflow:

• fork the main hledger repo on github,
• git clone it to your local machine,
• git commit, after (?) pulling and merging the latest upstream changes
• git push back to github,
• open a pull request on github,
• follow up on any discussion there.

If you're new to this process, help.github.com may be useful.

how to improve the documentation

• get familiar with the website and documentation online, review and test
• get familiar with the site/doc source files (see Makefile)
• set up for hledger development
• send patches with names prefixed with "doc: " (or "site: ")

how to run the tests

• set up for hledger development
• cabal install shelltestrunner
• make test

how to add a test

• identify what to test
• choose the test type: unit ? functional ? benchmark ?
• currently expected to pass or fail ?
• figure out where it goes
• write test, verify expected result
• get it committed

how to fix a bug or add a feature

• research, discuss, validate the issue/feature on irc/list/bug tracker
• look for related tests, run the tests and check they are passing
• add a test ?
• develop a patch
• include any related issue numbers in the patch name, eg: "fix for blah blah (#NNN)"
• get it committed

how to become a contributor

• after getting one or more patches committed, read and sign the contributor list & agreement
• or, ask to be added

how to do code review

• review and discuss new pull requests and commits on github
• set up for development and test the latest changes in your own repo
• read the existing code docs and source
• send feedback or discuss via irc or list

how to help with packaging

• package hledger for linux distros, macports, etc.
• develop mac/windows installers
• find and assist distro packagers/installer developers

how to help with project management

• clarify/update goals and principles
• monitor, report on project progress and performance
• research, compare and report on successful projects, related projects
• identify collaboration opportunities
• marketing, communication, outreach
• release management, roadmap planning

Project overview

A rough overview/blueprint for the hledger project.

mission, principles, goals

The hledger project aims to produce:

• a practical, accessible, dependable tool for end users
• a useful library and toolbox for finance-minded haskell programmers
• a successful, time-and-money-solvent project within a thriving ecosystem of financial software projects.

roles and activities

• newcomer/potential user
• user
• library user
• field tester
• bug wrangler
• support
• documentor
• qa
• developer
• packager
• communicator
• project manager

documentation

• website
• user manual
• developer guide
• code documentation: haddock
• various developer reports
• developer notes outline
• blurbs: in cabal files, module headers, google project, repo message of the day..

quality assurance

• unit tests (HUnit, make unittest)
• functional tests (shelltestrunner, make functest)
• performance tests (simplebench, make bench)
• documentation tests (make haddocktest + manual)
• ui tests (manual)
• installation tests (manual)

code

• the hledger repo is hosted on github.com:

  http://github.com/simonmichael/hledger

  You can also jump there by entering hledger.org/code or code.hledger.org .

Related projects

• I have a few older bits and pieces here
• John Wiegley's ledger inspired hledger.
• Tim Docker's ledger-reports builds on hledger to generate html reports
• beancount is another ledger clone, in python
• h/ledger inspired Uwe Hollerbach's umm
• http://darcsden.com/alex/bill, http://darcsden.com/alex/bill-atomo, http://darcsden.com/alex/bill-scheme - a time-tracking and billing app
• http://darcsden.com/ozamosi/debts - Silly debt tracking webapp
• http://darcsden.com/housetab-multi, housetab.org - a webapp to manage expenses between a group of friends.