112 lines
5.8 KiB
XML
112 lines
5.8 KiB
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<!DOCTYPE document PUBLIC "-//APACHE//DTD Documentation V1.1//EN" "./dtd/document-v11.dtd">
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<document>
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<header>
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<title>Contribution to POI</title>
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<authors>
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<person name="Nicola Ken Barozzi" email="barozzi@nicolaken.com"/>
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<person name="Marc Johnson" email="mjohnson@apache.org"/>
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<person name="Andrew C. Oliver" email="acoliver@apache.org"/>
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<person name="Tetsuya Kitahata" email="tetsuya.kitahata@nifty.com"/>
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</authors>
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</header>
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<body>
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<section><title>Introduction</title>
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<section><title>Disclaimer</title>
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<p>
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Any information in here that might be perceived as legal information is
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informational only. We're not lawyers, so consult a legal professional
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if needed.
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</p>
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</section>
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<section><title>The Licensing</title>
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<p>
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The POI project is <link href="http://www.opensource.org">OpenSource</link>
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and developed/distributed under the <link
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href="http://www.apache.org/foundation/licence-FAQ.html">
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Apache Software License</link>. Unlike other licenses this license allows
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free open source development; however, it does not require you to release
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your source or use any particular license for your source. If you wish
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to contribute to POI (which you're very welcome and encouraged to do so)
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then you must agree to release the rights of your source to us under this
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license.
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</p>
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</section>
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<section><title>I just signed an NDA to get a spec from Microsoft and I'd like to contribute</title>
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<p>
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In short, stay away, stay far far away. Implementing these file formats
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in POI is done strictly by using public information. Public information
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includes sources from other open source projects, books that state the
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purpose intended is for allowing implementation of the file format and
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do not require any non-disclosure agreement and just hard work.
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We are intent on keeping it
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legal, by contributing patches you agree to do the same.
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</p>
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<p>
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If you've ever received information regarding the OLE 2 Compound Document
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Format under any type of exclusionary agreement from Microsoft, or
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(probably illegally) received such information from a person bound by
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such an agreement, you cannot participate in this project. (Sorry)
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</p>
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<p>
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Those submitting patches that show insight into the file format may be
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asked to state explicitly that they are eligible or possibly sign an
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agreement.
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</p>
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</section>
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</section>
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<section><title>I just want to get involved but don't know where to start</title>
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<ul>
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<li>Read the rest of the website, understand what POI is and what it does,
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the project vision, etc.</li>
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<li>Use POI a bit, look for gaps in the documentation and examples.</li>
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<li>Join the mail lists and share your knowledge with others.</li>
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<li>Get <link href="http://jakarta.apache.org/site/cvsindex.html">CVS</link> and check out the POI source tree</li>
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<li>Documentation is always the best place to start contributing, maybe you found that if the documentation just told you how to do X then it would make more sense, modify the documentation.</li>
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<li>Get used to building POI, you'll be doing it a lot, be one with the build, know its targets, etc.</li>
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<li>Write Unit Tests. Great way to understand POI. Look for classes that aren't tested, or aren't tested on a public/protected method level, start there.</li>
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<li>(HSSF)Get the Excel 97 Developer's Kit - its out of print but its dirt cheap (seen copies for under $15 (US)) used on <link href="http://www.amazon.com">amazon</link>. It explains the Excel file format.</li>
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<li>Submit patches (see below) of your contributions, modifications.</li>
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<li>Fill out new features, see <link href="http://jakarta.apache.org/site/bugs.html">Bug database</link> for suggestions.</li>
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</ul>
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</section>
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<section><title>Submitting Patches</title>
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<p>
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Create patches by getting the latest sources from CVS (the HEAD).
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Alter or add files as appropriate. Then, from the jakarta-poi directiory,
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type cvs diff -u > mypatch.patch. This will capture all of your changes
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in a patch file of the appropriate format. Next, if you've added any
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files, create an archive (tar.bz2 preferred as its the smallest) in a
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path-preserving archive format, relative to your jakarta-poi directory.
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(Note: If you use <link href="http://www.wincvs.org/">WinCVS</link>, move to
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[Admin] -> [Command Line] Menu and type "cvs diff -u" at
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[Enter a cvs line command] input field ([Commandline Settings] Tab),
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while selecting the target directories or files, in order to create
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unified diffs.
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In other words, [Alt+A]+[Alt+C]+[Alt+C] and type "cvs diff -u".)
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You'll attach both files in the next step.
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</p>
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<p>
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Patches are submitted via the <link href="http://jakarta.apache.org/site/bugs.html">Bug Database</link>.
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Create a new bug, set the subject to [PATCH] followed by a brief description. Explain you patch and any special instructions and submit/save it.
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Next, go back to the bug, and create attachements for the patch files you
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created. Be sure to describe not only the files purpose, but its format.
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(Is that ZIP or a tgz or a bz2 or what?).
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</p>
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<p>
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Make sure your patches include the @author tag on any files you've altered
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or created. Make sure you've documented your changes and altered the
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examples/etc to reflect them. Any new additions should have unit tests.
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Lastly, ensure that you've provided approriate javadoc. (see
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<link href="http://jakarta.apache.org/poi/resolutions/res001.html">Coding
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Standards</link>). Patches that are of low quality may be rejected or
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the contributer may be asked to bring them up to spec.
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</p>
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</section>
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</body>
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</document>
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