View source for DMelt:Dev/How to contribute

= How to contribute  =

The DataMelt is a collective work of many people dedicated to open-source scientific software.
We are grateful to many authors writing free scientific software for their dedication
to science and open-source analysis tools. Please look at
[man:dev:contributions] for more information about packages included to this project.

= How to get started =

DataMelt is in a constant development. There are several areas where your help is important.
Before considering your involvement in this project, please become a full member [https://datamelt.org/members/selock/user/login.php full member] of this project.
You may notice we charge a small one-time  fee which  goes to the maintenance of this  project (web server) and its mirrors.  After becoming the full member, you should be able to access the most recent source code and the  complete manual of this project. If you are working on the core package (jhplot) or made a significant contribution to the entire project, you may be eligible to waive fees. 

= Development of the core jhplot library =

To submit your code, use the example in the file [https://datamelt.org/contributions.tgz contributions.tgz]. Your  source code should be located in the "src" directory and it should be compiled  by typing "ant" from the directory where the file "build.xml" is located. Make sure that [http://ant.apache.org/ ANT tool] is installed. If the code is properly written, you should see a created jar library and full API in the directory "doc". Use the standard  javadoc comments to explain the meaning of the packages and methods. This is very important since javadoc API will be included to the DataMelt code-assist.

If your code requires the DataMelt (or DataMelt third-party) libraries, you should set the property name="jehep.dir" in the build.xml file to the current location of the
DataMelt (i.e. where the jehep.jar file is located). We would like to encourage you to use already existing DataMelt libraries. If you need some external library, put it in the "lib" directory. Finally, try to follow the [http://java.sun.com/docs/codeconv/html/CodeConvTOC.doc.html Code Conventions] for the Java Programming Language from Oracle.

= Including additional libraries =

You can develop  your own jar library which can be included into the directory "lib/" of the DataMelt version for future distribution. 
The only requirement: you should provide a sufficient number of examples, write a wiki page explaining your work and properly document the source code using javadoc statements. Then contact [dmelt  (AT) jwork.org]. Please do not use codding which require platform-dependent libraries (like Java3D). We will make sure that all credits go to you and your work.

= Improving general documentation =

You can contribute to the general documentation located on this server.
Please get started from [playground: draft] page. Members should be able to edit and create new pages.
When you are ready, please inform [dmelt@jwork.org] and the pages will be inserted into the body of this manual (after some checking).
You will receive  permissions to edit your section.    

=== Extending documentation  ===

You can create additional sections relevant to your expertise. 
Then contact [dmelt@jwork.org] for inclusion into this manual. After the inclusion, you will be able to manage your public page.
  
= Recompiling from source =

<ifauth !@member>
Dmelt was recently posted to: [https://github.com/chekanov/dmelt_jhplot]
</ifauth>

=== Bug reports ===

Finally, you contribution can be restricted to  bug reports.
Bug reports are important and welcome, and people take them seriously.To help make them clear you might try including the following:

* What you did (including detailed steps and a simple code example)
* What you expected to happen
* What actually happened (again including exact quotes of error messages)

Consider using the [https://datamelt.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=1 DMelt bug forum].