Do you have a contribution? We welcome contributions, but please ensure that you read the following information before issuing a pull request. Also refer back to this document as a checklist before issuing your pull request. This will save time for everyone.
If you don't understand what a pull request is, or how to submit one, please refer to the help documentation provided by GitHub.
If you aren't sure if your contribution is needed or necessary, please visit the support forum before attempting to submit a pull request or a ticket.
We require every commit to be tracked via our bug database. It is useful, before you get too far, that you have checked that your issue isn't already known, otherwise addressed? If you think it is a valid defect or enhancement, please open a new ticket before submitting your pull request.
If your desired contribution is more than a non-trivial fix, you should discuss it on the contributor's mailing list. If you currently are not a member, you can request to be added.
We require all contributions, to be covered under the Dojo Foundation's Contributor License Agreement. This can be done electronically and essentially ensures that you are making it clear that your contributions are your contributions, you have the legal right to contribute and you are transferring the copyright of your works to the Dojo Foundation.
If you are an unfamiliar contributor to the committer assessing your pull request, it is best to make it clear how you are covered by a CLA in the notes of the pull request. The committer will verify your status.
If your GitHub user id you are submitting your pull request from differs from the Dojo Community ID or e-mail address which you have signed your CLA under, you should specifically note what you have your CLA filed under (and for CCLA that you are listed under your companies authorised contributors).
The following are the general steps you should follow in creating a pull request. Subsequent pull requests only need to follow step 3 and beyond:
- Fork the repository on GitHub
- Clone the forked repository to your machine
- Create a "feature" branch in your local repository
- Make your changes and commit them to your local repository
- Rebase and push your commits to your GitHub remote fork/repository
- Issue a Pull Request to the official repository
- Your Pull Request is reviewed by a committer and merged into the repository
Note While there are other ways to accomplish the steps using other tools, the examples here will assume the most
actions will be performed via the git command line.
When logged into your GitHub account, and you are viewing one of the main repositories, you will see the Fork button. Clicking this button will show you which repositories your can fork to. Choose your own account. Once the process finishes, you will have your own repository that is "forked" from the GitHub one.
Forking is a GitHub term and not a git term. Git is a wholly distributed source control system and simply worries about local and remote repositories and allows you to manage your code against them. GitHub then adds this additional layer of structure of how repositories can relate to each other.
Once you have successfully forked your repository, you will need to clone it locally to your machine:
$ git clone --recursive [email protected]:username/dojox.gitThis will clone your fork to your current path in a directory named dojox.
It is important that you clone recursively for dojox, demos or util because some of the code is contained in
submodules. You won't be able to submit your changes to the repositories that way though. If you are working on any of
these sub-projects, you should contact those project leads to see if their workflow differs.
You should also setup the upstream repository. This will allow you to take changes from the "master" repository
and merge them into your local clone and then push them to your GitHub fork:
$ cd dojo
$ git remote add upstream [email protected]:dojo/dojox.git
$ git fetch upstreamThen you can retrieve upstream changes and rebase on them into your code like this:
$ git pull --rebase upstream masterFor more information on maintaining a fork, please see the GitHub Help article Fork a Repo and information on rebasing from git.
The easiest workflow is to keep your master branch in sync with the upstream branch and do not locate any of your own commits in that branch. When you want to work on a new feature, you then ensure you are on the master branch and create a new branch from there. While the name of the branch can be anything, it can often be easy to use the ticket number you might be working on. For example:
$ git checkout -b t12345 master
Switched to a new branch 't12345'You will then be on the feature branch. You can verify what branch you are on like this:
$ git status
# On branch t12345
nothing to commit, working directory cleanNow you just need to make your changes. Once you have finished your changes (and tested them) you need to commit them to your local repository (assuming you have staged your changes for committing):
$ git status
# On branch t12345
# Changes to be committed:
# (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
#
# modified: somefile.js
#
$ git commit -m "Corrects some defect, fixes #12345, refs #12346"
[t12345 0000000] Corrects some defect, fixes #12345, refs #12346
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)If you have been working on your contribution for a while, the upstream repository may have changed. You may want to ensure your work is on top of the latest changes so your pull request can be applied cleanly:
$ git pull --rebase upstream masterWhen you are ready to push your commit to your GitHub repository for the first time on this branch you would do the following:
$ git push -u origin t12345After the first time, you simply need to do:
$ git pushIn order to have your commits merged into the main repository, you need to create a pull request. The instructions for this can be found in the GitHub Help Article Creating a Pull Request. Essentially you do the following:
- Go to the site for your repository.
- Click the Pull Request button.
- Select the feature branch from your repository.
- Enter a title and description of your pull request mentioning the corresponding bug database ticket in the description.
- Review the commit and files changed tabs.
- Click
Send Pull Request
You will get notified about the status of your pull request based on your GitHub settings.
Your request will be reviewed. It may be merged directly, or you may receive feedback or questions on your pull request.
Having your contribution accepted is more than just the mechanics of getting your contribution into a pull request, there are several other things that are expected when contributing to the Dojo Toolkit which are covered below.
Dojo has a very specific coding style. All pull requests should adhere to this.
Dojo has an inline API documentation called DojoDoc. Any pull request should ensure it has updated the inline documentation appropriately or added the appropriate inline documentation.
If the pull request changes the functional behaviour or is fixing a defect, the unit test cases should be modified to reflect this. The committer reviewing your pull request is likely to request the appropriate changes in the test cases. Dojo utilises its own test harness called D.O.H. and is available as part of the dojo/util repository.
It is expected that you will have tested your changes against the existing test cases and appropriate platforms prior to submitting your pull request.
All of your submissions are licensed under a dual "New" BSD/AFL license.
Unless you have been working with contributing to Dojo for a while, expect a a significant amount of feedback on your pull requests. We are a very passionate community and even the committers often will provide robust feedback to each other about their code. Don't be offended by such feedback or feel that your contributions aren't welcome, it is just that we are quite passionate and Dojo has a long history with many things that are the "Dojo-way" which may be unfamiliar to those who are just starting to contribute.