helping.html

struts api,学习使用struts必备的文档

The most active Developers may become
<a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/site/roles.html">Committers</a>,
who make the actual decisions about Strut's codebase.
</p>

<p>
If you are new to open source development, see the
<a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/site/getinvolved.html">
How to get involved</a> page the main Jakarta site.
</p>

<p>
A very good place to start is by <strong>reviewing the list of open issues</strong>
and pending feature requests (<a href="#bugs">Bugzilla</a>).
If you see an issue that needs a patch you can write,
feel free to annex your patch.
If you seen an issue that needs a unit test to prove its fixed,
feel free to annex your test case.
If someone has posted a patch to an issue you'd like to see resolved,
apply the patch to your local development copy of Struts.
Then let us know if it works for you, and if it does,
cast your vote for the issue and its patch.
</p>

<p>
If none of the pending issues scratch your itch,
another good place to start is by <strong>contributing unit tests</strong>
for existing features (even those that still work).
</p>

<p>
Our current approach to <a href="kickstart.html#tests">unit testing</a>
works fairly well for exercising most method-level stuff, but does
not really address situations of dynamic behavior -- most particularly the
execution of custom tags for Struts.
You can try to fake what a JSP container does, but a much more reliable
testing regime would actually execute the tag in a real container.
For that purpose, we use the
<a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/cactus">Cactus</a> testing framework,
which re-executes the JUnit-based tests as well to make sure that nothing
bad happens when you switch environments.
Right now, there are very few dynamic tests; ideally, we will have tests
for every tag, that cover every reasonable combination of tag attribute
values (yes, that's a tall order -- the totally lines of test source code
will undoubtedly exceed the totally lines of code in the framework itself
if we achieve this).
</p>

</div>
<h2 id="documentation">How can I contribute to the documentation?</h2>
<div class="indent">

<p>
The only difference is that the documentation is kept in XML rather than Java
source code.
Otherwise, all the same precepts and procedures pertain.
</p>

<p>
The trick to getting started is to download the nightly build and try building
the documentation WAR.
Then try adding your own XML page under doc/ to see if the build succeeds.
If it doesn't, it will report where the bad element is, much like it reports
where a bad programming expression is.
If it does, then your page should be available under target/documentation/.
</p>

<p>
The website portion of the package is the root directory of doc/.
The User Guide portion is under the userGuide/ folder.
If the material you'd to add doesn't fit right in with what's there,
the best thing may to start a new section after the existing material.
The navigation column can be found in the project.xml document.
</p>

<p>
To display markup, substitute &amp;lt; for &lt;.
The unmatched trailing &gt; will be ignored.
Since it is XML, all elements also need to closed.
So elements like &lt;br&gt; and &lt;hr&gt; need to set out as &lt;br/&gt; and &lt;hr/&gt;.
</p>

<p>
Also watch for the length of code samples -
these do not wrap.
If a line is too long, it will force the right margin out past the edge of the
screen or printed page.
</p>

<p>
The stylesheets we use are adequate, but could certainly be improved by an XML
guru, if you happen to one of those.
</p>

</div>
<h2 id="release">So when is the next release coming out?</h2>
<div class="indent">

<p>
Here is the truth regarding releases:
</p>

<p>

Apache products are released on the basis of merit, and ~not~ according
to a strict timetable.
The volunteers devote whatever time they can to work on the product.
But all volunteers have real jobs and real lives, that do take precedence.
Since Struts does not have paid personnel working on the project,
we simply cannot make date-oriented commitments.
</p>

<p>
The bottom line is that Apache takes releases very seriously.
We do not compromise the quality of our software by watching the calendar
(and then ship something ready or not).
A release is ready when it is ready.
</p>

<p>
That may sound flip, but it ~is~ the truth.
The delivery of production-quality, leading-edge software is not something
anyone can prognosticate.
If anyone tries, they are lying to you.
That, we won't do ;-)
</p>

<p>
What we ~will~ do is release all of our development software as soon as it is
developed.
This way you can judge for yourself how quickly the development is proceeding,
and whether what is being developed will meet your needs.
If you need a feature right now, you can use the nightly build, or roll your
own patch.
There are no internal code repositories, private development lists,
secret chat rooms, or conference calls.
What you see is what we got.
If you are following the DEV list, then you know everything the developers
know.
Really, you do.
</p>

<p>
<em>So, what do you tell your team?</em>
If you can ship your application based on the nightly build of your choice,
then consider that an option.
You can still ship yours, even if we don't ship ours,
and you will have access to all the latest patches or enhancements.
(Just like we were working down the hall.)
If you can only ship your application based on a release build of Struts,
then you should base your development on the release build of Struts,
and keep an eye on what is coming down the pipeline.
This way you are at least forewarned and forearmed.
</p>

</div>
<h2 id="release_help">What can I do to help the next release along?</h2>
<div class="indent">

<ul>

<li>
  Most importantly, download the lastest nightly build or development release
  and test it against your own applications.
  Report any and all issues or suspected issues to
  <a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/site/bugs.html">Bugzilla</a>.
  The sooner we resolve any problems, the fewer betas or release candidates
  we will have to distribute before we are done.
  (How do we know when we're done? -- When we run out of issues =:o)
  The sooner we find them, the sooner we are done.)
</li>

<li>
  <strong>Contribute <a href="kickstart.html#tests">unit tests</a>
</strong>.
  The closer we get to a release, the more we worry about breaking something.
  The more tests we have, the more confident we can be when applying patches.
  Tests that prove that a pending issue is actually a bug are the most
  welcome ones.
  But we are eager for any and all tests for any and all features,
  even those that still work =:0).
</li>

<li>
  <strong>Review the list of issues</strong> at <a href="#bugs">Bugzilla</a>.
  If there are any to which you can respond, please do.
  If there any patches posted, feel free to test them your system,
  report the results, and cast your vote if they work.
</li>

<li>
  <strong>Confirm an issue's category and status</strong>.
  Newbies often post feature requests or help-desk questions as "bugs".
  This bloats the list of fixes we (apparently) need to apply before the next
  beta, making it hard to see the forest for the trees.
  If an issue doesn't seem to be categorized correctly, exercise your best
  judgment and change it.
  If one ticket seems like a duplicate of another, go ahead and enter the
  change.
  Every modification to the ticket is echoed to the DEV list and
  automatically subjected to peer review.
  Err on the side of doing.
</li>

<li>
  Use Bugzilla to <strong>vote for issues</strong> you feel should be handled
  first.
  If an issue on your ballot doesn't include a patch, feel free to try coding
  one yourself.
  (In a meritocracy, patches are the only votes that matter.)
  Dozens of developers have contributed code or documentation to Struts.
  You can too =:0)
</li>

<li>
  <strong>Answer questions on the user list.</strong>
  The Committers only have a limited amount of time to volunteer.
  If Developers are supporting each other on the lists,
  the Committers have more time to spend on the next release.
</li>

</ul>

</div>
<h2 id="decisions">Who makes the final decisions regarding Struts</h2>
<div class="indent">

<p>
The management of the Struts product is based on principles and practices used
by creators of the Apache HTTPD server.
Struts follows the
<a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/site/guidelines.html">Project Guidelines</a>
on the main Jakarta site.
</p>

<p>If you are new to this style of development,
the Apache HTTPD Dev list is available in a
<a href="mailto:[e-mail]">digest form</a>.
Even if you are not working on the HTTPD server yourself,
it is interesting to watch how the HTTPD team works on the server.
</p>

<p>
The Struts project has its own <a href="../using.html#Lists">DEV list</a>,
where all of the decisions regarding Struts are made.
Most development takes place via
<a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/site/proposal.html#decisions/voting/items">
Lazy Consensus</a>.
Committers post most changes to the product unilaterally, using their own best
judgment, and only discuss or vote upon controversial matters.
Struts PMC members can veto with cause any change in an unreleased product.
</p>

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