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Entire Firebug source base has been moved on github.com last week and we are also adopting a new GIT development workflow. So far, everyone has been truly excited by this change and I believe that it's also much better way how to collaborate with other coders. Firebug is an open source project after all.

So, for those who are interested at forking Firebug repository, issuing a pull request, developing Firebug extension, etc. here are some basic things to know before you start.

Firebug Repository

There are already several repositories in Firebug's account, but the one you are probably interested the most is firebug

https://github.com/firebug/firebug

The structure of the repo is following:

  • extension Firebug extension directory
  • tests Firebug automated test files and test harness - FBTest
  • trace Firebug tracing console - FBTrace

Here is how to clone the repository (read only):

$ git clone git://github.com/firebug/firebug.git
$ cd firebug/extension

Run Firebug From Source

The extension directory contains Firebug extension files and so, you can run Firebug off of it. It's also the best way how to quickly check your code changes.

  1. Locate your Firefox profile folder
  2. Open extensions/ folder, create if it doesn't exist.
  3. Create a new text file and put the full path to your development folder inside. (e.g. C:\firebug\extension\ or ~/firebug/extension/). Windows users should retain the OS' slash direction, and everyone should remember to include a closing slash and remove any trailing spaces.
  4. Save the file with Firebug ID as it's name firebug@software.joehewitt.com

Now you can modify the code base, restart Firefox (with Firebug extension installed) and see your changes live.

Build Firebug XPI

You probably don't need this that often, but you can also easily build Firebug XPI package. All you need is Apache Ant installed on your machine.

$ cd firebug/extension
$ ant

The result XPI file should be located in ./release directory.

Push!

And now the most interesting part. You fixed a bug or implemented new API you need in your extension and you want us to pull your changes, commit into Firebug master branch and release! Let's see what you need to do.

Update: it's useful to create a separate branch for every contribution you make. (related to #4 and #5)

  1. First, you need a GitHub account. It's simple and all the cool kids are already there 😉
  2. Fork Firebug repository (see how to fork a repo).
  3. Clone your fork onto your local machine (your URL will be different):
    $ git clone git@github.com:janodvarko/firebug.git
  4. Create a new branch, make your changes, stage/add modified files (e.g. firebug.js) and commit:
    $ cd firebug/extension
    $ git checkout -b myNewAPI
    # Make your changes in firebug.js file now
    $ git add content/firebug/firebug.js
    $ git commit -m "New API for my extension"
  5. Push to origin (your public fork), the local branch myNewAPI to the remote branch myNewAPI:
    $ git push -u origin myNewAPI
  6. Send a pull request. We'll review your changes and accept if all is OK!

Our release cycle is quick (a release at least every other week) so, your changes can be publicly available pretty soon!

Or Create a Patch

If you don't like github.com from some reason you can always create read-only clone (see at the beginning of this post), make your changes and generate a patch:

$ git diff > my-new-api.js

... or using svn:

$ svn diff > my-new-api.js

Finally, create a new issue report (Firebug official issue list is still at the same location) and attach your patch. Again, we'll review your changes and accept if all is OK!

Further Resources


Rss Commenti

50 Comments

  1. Step 4 should be to create a branch for the specific contribution they are submitting. This makes things easier for users contributing.

    git checkout -b improvingxthing

    Github collects in the same pull request all the commits you made to a branch(ex master). If you need to contribute to two separated things, there is no way to separate the pull request if you made all the changes in master.

    ( correct me if I'm wrong. )

    #1 tito
  2. Also, when pushing you need to select the branch name

    git push -u origin improvingxthing

    #2 tito
  3. Nice catch! So, if I understand correctly, the contributor should (a) create a branch (b) push it to the forked repo and (c) send the pull request from the branch, correct?

    And new branch should be created for every new contributed feature so, they can be separated from each other (which is also important for the review process).

    #3 Honza
  4. "Firebug is an open source project after all."

    That's why it goes to be hosted by a closed-source for-profit development platform, right?

    #4 Robert Kaiser
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  6. @Robert: Let me rephrase: That's why it goes to be hosted by a successful social coding oriented platform - to make the collaboration among contributors easier.

    #6 Honza
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  10. @Honza, correct!
    Github will recognize the different branches and will create a dedicated "send pull request" button for each different branch, directly from your repo.
    Update the instructions! This is important. Also the correct command to push a branch is:

    git push origin improvingxthing:improvingxthing

    This means to push to origin, the local branch improvingxthing to the remote branch improvingxthing

    Regards,

    #10 tito
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  17. @tito: Instructions updated, thanks! One question: isn't "git push origin myNewAPI:myNewAPI" the same as "git push origin myNewAPI"?

    Honza

    #17 Honza
  18. [...] developer Jan Odvarko says the move to GitHub has been smooth so far and will offer interested developers “a much better [...]

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  19. @honza, Looks like it is the same thing. I think is a little bit more easy to understand what are you doing.

    I'm not sure about the usage of "-u" arg. It seems to add a tracking branch. I need to investigate that on a git marthon 😀
    Regards

    #19 tito
  20. git push origin some-feature

    should be enough

    Git ready has a lot of handy good tips for the daily use

    http://gitready.com/beginner/2009/02/02/push-and-delete-branches.html

    Thomas

    #20 Thomas
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  22. @tito, Thomas: thanks, I have updated the post.
    Honza

    #22 Honza
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