Development:Reviewing

Patch review in the Camino Project works a bit differently than in the rest of the Mozilla project. This document outlines the review process in Camino and whom to ask for reviews.

How Many Reviews?

Typically, Camino requires three reviews on a patch before it is committed to the cvs repository: two normal reviews and one super-review. This rule can be overridden by any of the super-reviewers. The reason Camino requires two normal reviews is for greater visibility and to give reviewers a better understanding of more code.

Requesting Review

When requesting review, always request an initial review from one of the reviewers listed below and then, *after* (and only after) receiving review+ from two of them, request super-review from one of the super-reviewers.

It's a good idea to "target" a specific reviewer or super-reviewer; patches set to review? or superreview? with no email address entered in the corresponding Requestee: box tend to get lost. Check the list below to see which reviewer(s) have expertise in the area(s) your patch touches; you will often get a review more quickly that way. You can also check [bonsai's cvs log] for the file(s) you're hacking and [bonsai's cvs blame] for the lines of code you're changing to see which reviewers have hacked or reviewed that code before.

Also check the queue (reviews, super-reviews) to see which reviewers are "backed up" before requesting review or super-review; you might also ask on irc if the reviewer can do a review/super-review first. If you are unsure of whom to ask or have other questions, please ask on #camino on irc.

Make sure your patch applies, builds, and works on the current trunk before requesting reviews (all development should be done on the trunk and backported to the branches if applicable). For patches which will land on one or more branches, verify that the Mac OS X and/or Gecko functions you use are available.

For instance, while the trunk and MOZILLA_1_8_BRANCH (Camino 1.1.x) support only Mac OS X 10.3.0 and above, Camino 1.0.x must support Mac OS X 10.2.8 as well and must use Mac OS X functions that are available in the 10.2.8 SDK. Similarly, many Gecko functions available on the trunk are either greatly enhanced over their counterparts on the MOZILLA_1_8_BRANCH, and many Gecko functions on the trunk do not exist at all on the MOZILLA_1_8_BRANCH.

In any case where a patch is intended for landing on the trunk and the branch(es), you should ensure that the trunk patch will both apply properly and work on the branch(es); if not, you need to supply branch version(s) of the patch.

To request review, set the review drop-down menu for your patch to ? and then fill in the reviewer's email address in the Requestee field (you can do this when attaching your patch, or afterwards by clicking on the Edit link next to your patch in the bug's attachment table).

Code style

Link to Mozilla coding style guidelines as well as create some for Camino, so we avoid Bug 308942 comment 8 and 14 and Bug 228840 comments 15, 16, 18, and 19.

• Mozilla Coding Style Guide
• License block for new files

Also link to Hacking Mozilla general intro somewhere in our contributor introduction

All new code should conform to Camino's style guidelines, which is a descendent of the Mozilla style guidelines (per decree by our leader):

if (foo) {
  bar;
  blam;
}
else {
  baz;
  zap;
}

Braces for single statements are optional (and discouraged, but some still include them).

Proper patch format

Use cvs diff -u8N for patches to Camino code. Diffs should be done from /mozilla/camino or /mozilla for consistency and ease of application by reviewers and committers.

To make a patch including a new file, first add

/Foo.h/0/dummy timestamp//

to path/to/file/CVS/Entries then diff as normal.

Localizable.strings

Any UI string that appears in the code rather than in a nib needs to have an entry in Localizable.strings (or, in rare instances, a preference pane's Localizable.strings or one of the other .strings files).

If you make additions or changes to the Localizable.strings file, make a clear note in your comment when attaching your patch, indicating which strings should be added or changed. Do not attempt to diff the file (.strings files are UTF-16, which diff does not understand properly), and do not attach changed Localizable.strings files (which tend to become stale and cause regressions).

It is also helpful to add a note to the bug's Status Whiteboard field pointing to the comment with the latest strings changes, e.g. [new strings in comment 23].

Use “curly quotes” in the actual strings.

Project (Camino.xcode) changes

Currently, making project changes needs to happen using Xcode 1.5, specifically when adding files. After making any project changes, simply diff the project file as well and include it in your patch.

Removing files can be done by hand if you don't have Xcode 1.5, but this isn't recommended because removing the obvious entries for files will still leave non-obvious entries in the project file and cause crashes/build failures.

We expect to update to an Xcode 2.1 project file in the near future.

Nib changes

Attach any changed nibs in a .zip archive (separate from the actual patch). Also upload a screenshot of the nib as it appears in the compiled app, using Cmd-shift-4 then space (to get a window-only screenshot). Some reviewers will want to re-create your changed nib before checkin, so make sure you indicate changes if they aren't obvious. Nibs only need a single review, but any significant changes should be discussed thoroughly on the bug and on IRC if possible. Bugs that contain only nib changes (cosmetic bugs) should request a super review; otherwise, they are unnecessary.

When editing nibs, be sure to follow the guidelines in Development:Editing Nibs.

Reviewers and Owners

Camino doesn't have traditional "module owners" like the rest of the Mozilla project does. However, below is a list of areas of code or functionality in Camino and reviewers/super-reviewers who are comfortable in those areas (items in bold are not formal Bugzilla components).

• Ad-blocking: smokey, smfr
• Bookmarks: smorgan, cl
• Build Config: mento
• Cocoa UI: BruceD, Wevah, murph
• Downloading: kreeger
• Gecko-related changes/CH-embedding: hwaara, kreeger, smorgan
• History: smfr, smorgan
• HTML Form Controls: smfr, smokey (forms.css changes), cl (forms.css changes)

  forms.css changes require a Mozilla sr (smfr); "controversial" ones require approval from dbaron

• Input Methods (IME): smfr
• Location Bar & Autocomplete:
• Nib changes: smokey (primarily layout/style and access conformance), froodian
• Page Layout:
• Plugins: smfr
• RSS/feeds: kreeger
• Tabbed Browsing: smorgan, delliott, aschulm
• Translations: ludo

Do not let the list above limit your choice of reviewers; all regular Camino contributors can review any patch (with the exceptions listed below; also, a reviewer may decline to review certain patches due to schedule issues or if the patch is fairly complex and touches code the reviewer is very unfamiliar with).

In addition to the reviewers listed above, initial reviews can be requested from max, jpellico or josh. smokey does not review code changes, but will test patches and make Xcode 1.5 project changes. (Asaf Romano [Mano]'s review is also accepted in Camino, but he is not currently reviewing Camino patches. Simon Fraser [smfr] is not currently reviewing or super-reviewing Camino patches.)

Website changes can be reviewed by ss, max, or Wevah.

“Super” Reviews

There are four people who can give super-reviews in Camino, the four project leads: Mike Pinkerton, Simon Fraser, Mark Mentovai, and Josh Aas (Simon Fraser is not currently reviewing or super-reviewing Camino patches). A super-reviewer can review a patch in any part of Camino. Additionally, Stuart Morgan can be targeted for super-review on any simple or moderate-sized patch with little Gecko impact.

Nib changes do not typically require super-review; reviewers should test the nib thoroughly to make sure it satisfies all the conditions in the Nib changes section above. Nib changes taking place without an associated code change should get approval from a super-reviewer, however.

Checking In

After a patch has review+ from two reviewers and superreview+ from one of the Camino leads, it needs to be checked in.

Check-ins for Camino can be made by any of the super-reviewers listed above as well as froodian, hwaara and kreeger (note that josh and smfr are not currently checking in Camino patches, nor, with some exceptions, will pinkerton or mento check in patches they have not written).

If no one is around to check in your patch after it has received the requisite approvals, add [needs checkin] to the bug's Status Whiteboard field and one of the committers should notice and land your patch within a day or so.

Also note that the mozilla/camino directory hierarchy is open for approved Camino check-ins regardless of the state of various trees and branches, with a few exceptions (tagging of major branches, red Camino tinderboxen, etc.).

A tip for checking in nibs

Sometimes a person who doesn't have CVS access will post a new or updated nib on a bug that needs to be checked in. The problem with this is that since a nib is technically a directory, there is a CVS folder inside the nib. If you attempt to checkin a nib that has been accessed with someone who has the CVSROOT set as ":pserver:anonymous@cvs-mirror.mozilla.org:/cvsrooot", you will receive an authorization error from cvs. The problem is that the CVS/Root file is set as the anonymous CVSROOT, not your "user%email.com@cvs.mozilla.org:/cvsroot" CVSROOT. The easiest way to fix this problem is to copy a Root file from one of the directories you have pulled to and paste it inside the Something.nib/CVS folder.

Trunk/branch mismatches

Sometimes (due mostly to Gecko changes on the trunk) the trunk and branch versions of a patch will diverge and you can't use cross-commit to land both places. If you're confident the branch patch has been well-tested and don't have a branch tree, you can pull just the files you need to commit (rather than pull an entire tree).

1. Set up your cvs environment as normal (i.e., export cvsroot)
2. cvs co -r MOZILLA_1_8_BRANCH -d myfolder mozilla/camino/src/browser/foo mozilla/camino/PreferencePanes/Naviagtion/bar

   where MOZILLA_1_8_BRANCH is the branch tag, myfolder is the folder in which you want the stub tree to live, and foo and bar are the files contained in the patch

3. Apply the patch and commit the files "as normal"

Backing out a patch

Sometimes you accidentally commit something that shouldn't have landed yet, or sometimes (hopefully rarely) you commit something that breaks the tree and needs to be backed out. To back out a patch, follow these steps:

1. If you need to back out something only on the branch and have no branch tree (i.e., you check in using cross-commit), follow the steps above to grab a "stub" branch tree of the files the patch touched.
2. Consult bonsai for the correct backout command(s) to pull files (one per file) to run

   The "Show commands which could be used to back out these changes" link at the top of the appropriate bonsai page will give you the appropriate command, in the form of
   cvs update -j1.17.2.4 -j1.17.2.3 mozilla/camino/src/embedding/CHClickListener.mm
   There will be one command per file (this particular example is a branch file, as you can see from the multiple sub-versions; the current [bad] version of the file is listed first and the previous [good] version is second)

3. touch each file
4. cvs diff -u the file(s) to sanity-check that the bad changes have been reverted in your local copy of the files
5. cvs commit "as normal"; this will commit a new copy of the file(s) with the incorrect change backed out