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1Submitting Patches
2==================
3
4.. _guidelines:
5
6Basic guidelines
7----------------
8
9-  Patches should not mix code changes with code formatting changes
10   (except, perhaps, in very trivial cases.)
11-  Code patches should follow Mesa :doc:`coding
12   conventions <codingstyle>`.
13-  Whenever possible, patches should only affect individual Mesa/Gallium
14   components.
15-  Patches should never introduce build breaks and should be bisectable
16   (see ``Git bisect``.)
17-  Patches should be properly :ref:`formatted <formatting>`.
18-  Patches should be sufficiently :ref:`tested <testing>` before
19   submitting.
20-  Patches should be :ref:`submitted <submit>` via a merge request for
21   :ref:`review <reviewing>`.
22
23.. _formatting:
24
25Patch formatting
26----------------
27
28-  Lines should be limited to 75 characters or less so that Git logs
29   displayed in 80-column terminals avoid line wrapping. Note that
30   ``git log`` uses 4 spaces of indentation (4 + 75 < 80).
31-  The first line should be a short, concise summary of the change
32   prefixed with a module name. Examples:
33
34   ::
35
36      mesa: Add support for querying GL_VERTEX_ATTRIB_ARRAY_LONG
37
38      gallium: add PIPE_CAP_DEVICE_RESET_STATUS_QUERY
39
40      i965: Fix missing type in local variable declaration.
41
42-  Subsequent patch comments should describe the change in more detail,
43   if needed. For example:
44
45   ::
46
47      i965: Remove end-of-thread SEND alignment code.
48
49      This was present in Eric's initial implementation of the compaction code
50      for Sandybridge (commit 077d01b6). There is no documentation saying this
51      is necessary, and removing it causes no regressions in piglit on any
52      platform.
53
54-  A "Signed-off-by:" line is not required, but not discouraged either.
55-  If a patch addresses an issue in GitLab, use the Closes: tag For
56   example:
57
58   ::
59
60      Closes: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/-/issues/1
61
62   Prefer the full URL to just ``Closes: #1``, since the URL makes it
63   easier to get to the bug page from ``git log``
64
65   **Do not use the ``Fixes:`` tag for this!** Mesa already uses
66   ``Fixes:`` for something else.
67   See :ref:`below <fixes>`.
68
69-  If there have been several revisions to a patch during the review
70   process, they should be noted such as in this example:
71
72   ::
73
74      st/mesa: add ARB_texture_stencil8 support (v4)
75
76      if we support stencil texturing, enable texture_stencil8
77      there is no requirement to support native S8 for this,
78      the texture can be converted to x24s8 fine.
79
80      v2: fold fixes from Marek in:
81         a) put S8 last in the list
82         b) fix renderable to always test for d/s renderable
83           fixup the texture case to use a stencil only format
84           for picking the format for the texture view.
85      v3: hit fallback for getteximage
86      v4: put s8 back in front, it shouldn't get picked now (Ilia)
87
88-  If someone tested your patch, document it with a line like this:
89
90   ::
91
92      Tested-by: Joe Hacker <jhacker@foo.com>
93
94-  If the patch was reviewed (usually the case) or acked by someone,
95   that should be documented with:
96
97   ::
98
99      Reviewed-by: Joe Hacker <jhacker@foo.com>
100      Acked-by: Joe Hacker <jhacker@foo.com>
101
102-  When updating a merge request add all the tags (``Acked-by:``, ``Reviewed-by:``,
103   ``Fixes:``, ``Cc: mesa-stable`` and/or other) to the commit messages.
104   This provides reviewers with quick feedback if the patch has already
105   been reviewed.
106
107.. _fixes:
108
109The ``Fixes:`` tag
110------------------
111
112If a patch addresses a issue introduced with earlier commit, that
113should be noted in the commit message. For example::
114
115    Fixes: d7b3707c612 ("util/disk_cache: use stat() to check if entry is a directory")
116
117You can produce those fixes lines by running this command once::
118
119    git config --global alias.fixes "show -s --pretty='format:Fixes: %h (\"%s\")'"
120
121After that, using ``git fixes <sha1>`` will print the full line for you.
122
123The stable tag
124~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
125
126If you want a commit to be applied to a stable branch, you should add an
127appropriate note to the commit message.
128
129Using a ``Fixes:`` tag as described in :ref:`Patch formatting <formatting>`
130is the preferred way to nominate a commit that should be backported.
131There are scripts that will figure out which releases to apply the patch
132to automatically, so you don't need to figure it out.
133
134Alternatively, you may use a "CC:" tag. Here are some examples of such a
135note::
136
137    Cc: mesa-stable
138    Cc: 20.0 <mesa-stable>
139    CC: 20.0 19.3 <mesa-stable>
140
141Using the CC tag **should** include the stable branches you want to
142nominate the patch to. If you do not provide any version it is nominated
143to all active stable branches.
144
145.. _testing:
146
147Testing Patches
148---------------
149
150It should go without saying that patches must be tested. In general, do
151whatever testing is prudent.
152
153You should always run the Mesa test suite before submitting patches. The
154test suite can be run using the 'meson test' command. All tests must
155pass before patches will be accepted, this may mean you have to update
156the tests themselves.
157
158Whenever possible and applicable, test the patch with
159`Piglit <https://piglit.freedesktop.org>`__ and/or
160`dEQP <https://android.googlesource.com/platform/external/deqp/>`__ to
161check for regressions.
162
163As mentioned at the beginning, patches should be bisectable. A good way
164to test this is to make use of the \`git rebase\` command, to run your
165tests on each commit. Assuming your branch is based off
166``origin/master``, you can run:
167
168::
169
170   $ git rebase --interactive --exec "meson test -C build/" origin/master
171
172replacing ``"meson test"`` with whatever other test you want to run.
173
174.. _submit:
175
176Submitting Patches
177------------------
178
179Patches are submitted to the Mesa project via a
180`GitLab <https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa>`__ Merge Request.
181
182Add labels to your MR to help reviewers find it. For example:
183
184-  Mesa changes affecting all drivers: mesa
185-  Hardware vendor specific code: amd, intel, nvidia, ...
186-  Driver specific code: anvil, freedreno, i965, iris, radeonsi, radv,
187   vc4, ...
188-  Other tag examples: gallium, util
189
190Tick the following when creating the MR. It allows developers to rebase
191your work on top of master.
192
193::
194
195   Allow commits from members who can merge to the target branch
196
197If you revise your patches based on code review and push an update to
198your branch, you should maintain a **clean** history in your patches.
199There should not be "fixup" patches in the history. The series should be
200buildable and functional after every commit whenever you push the
201branch.
202
203It is your responsibility to keep the MR alive and making progress, as
204there are no guarantees that a Mesa dev will independently take interest
205in it.
206
207Some other notes:
208
209-  Make changes and update your branch based on feedback
210-  After an update, for the feedback you handled, close the feedback
211   discussion with the "Resolve Discussion" button. This way the
212   reviewers know which feedback got handled and which didn't.
213-  Old, stale MR may be closed, but you can reopen it if you still want
214   to pursue the changes
215-  You should periodically check to see if your MR needs to be rebased
216-  Make sure your MR is closed if your patches get pushed outside of
217   GitLab
218-  Please send MRs from a personal fork rather than from the main Mesa
219   repository, as it clutters it unnecessarily.
220
221.. _reviewing:
222
223Reviewing Patches
224-----------------
225
226To participate in code review, you can monitor the GitLab Mesa `Merge
227Requests <https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/-/merge_requests>`__
228page, and/or register for notifications in your GitLab settings.
229
230When you've reviewed a patch, please be unambiguous about your review.
231That is, state either
232
233::
234
235   Reviewed-by: Joe Hacker <jhacker@foo.com>
236
237or
238
239::
240
241   Acked-by: Joe Hacker <jhacker@foo.com>
242
243Rather than saying just "LGTM" or "Seems OK".
244
245If small changes are suggested, it's OK to say something like:
246
247::
248
249   With the above fixes, Reviewed-by: Joe Hacker <jhacker@foo.com>
250
251which tells the patch author that the patch can be committed, as long as
252the issues are resolved first.
253
254These Reviewed-by, Acked-by, and Tested-by tags should also be amended
255into commits in a MR before it is merged.
256
257When providing a Reviewed-by, Acked-by, or Tested-by tag in a GitLab MR,
258enclose the tag in backticks:
259
260::
261
262   `Reviewed-by: Joe Hacker <jhacker@example.com>`
263
264This is the markdown format for literal, and will prevent GitLab from
265hiding the < and > symbols.
266
267Review by non-experts is encouraged. Understanding how someone else goes
268about solving a problem is a great way to learn your way around the
269project. The submitter is expected to evaluate whether they have an
270appropriate amount of review feedback from people who also understand
271the code before merging their patches.
272
273Nominating a commit for a stable branch
274---------------------------------------
275
276There are several ways to nominate a patch for inclusion in the stable
277branch and release. In order or preference:
278
279- By adding the ``Fixes:`` tag in the commit message as described above, if you are fixing
280  a specific commit.
281- By adding the ``Cc: mesa-stable`` tag in the commit message as described above.
282- By submitting a merge request against the ``staging/year.quarter``
283  branch on GitLab.
284
285Please **DO NOT** send patches to mesa-stable@lists.freedesktop.org, it
286is not monitored actively and is a historical artifact.
287
288If you are not the author of the original patch, please Cc: them in your
289nomination request.
290
291The current patch status can be observed in the :ref:`staging
292branch <stagingbranch>`.
293
294.. _criteria:
295
296Criteria for accepting patches to the stable branch
297---------------------------------------------------
298
299Mesa has a designated release manager for each stable branch, and the
300release manager is the only developer that should be pushing changes to
301these branches. Everyone else should nominate patches using the
302mechanism described above. The following rules define which patches are
303accepted and which are not. The stable-release manager is also given
304broad discretion in rejecting patches that have been nominated.
305
306-  Patch must conform with the :ref:`Basic guidelines <guidelines>`
307-  Patch must have landed in master first. In case where the original
308   patch is too large and/or otherwise contradicts with the rules set
309   within, a backport is appropriate.
310-  It must not introduce a regression - be that build or runtime wise.
311
312   .. note::
313      If the regression is due to faulty piglit/dEQP/CTS/other test
314      the latter must be fixed first. A reference to the offending test(s)
315      and respective fix(es) should be provided in the nominated patch.
316
317-  Patch cannot be larger than 100 lines.
318-  Patches that move code around with no functional change should be
319   rejected.
320-  Patch must be a bug fix and not a new feature.
321
322   .. note::
323      An exception to this rule, are hardware-enabling "features". For
324      example, :ref:`backports <backports>` of new code to support a
325      newly-developed hardware product can be accepted if they can be
326      reasonably determined not to have effects on other hardware.
327
328-  Patch must be reviewed, For example, the commit message has
329   Reviewed-by, Signed-off-by, or Tested-by tags from someone but the
330   author.
331-  Performance patches are considered only if they provide information
332   about the hardware, program in question and observed improvement. Use
333   numbers to represent your measurements.
334
335If the patch complies with the rules it will be
336:ref:`cherry-picked <pickntest>`. Alternatively the release
337manager will reply to the patch in question stating why the patch has
338been rejected or would request a backport. The stable-release manager
339may at times need to force-push changes to the stable branches, for
340example, to drop a previously-picked patch that was later identified as
341causing a regression). These force-pushes may cause changes to be lost
342from the stable branch if developers push things directly. Consider
343yourself warned.
344
345.. _backports:
346
347Sending backports for the stable branch
348---------------------------------------
349
350By default merge conflicts are resolved by the stable-release manager.
351The release maintainer should resolve trivial conflicts, but for complex
352conflicts they should ask the original author to provide a backport or
353de-nominate the patch.
354
355For patches that either need to be nominated after they've landed in
356master, or that are known ahead of time to not not apply cleanly to a
357stable branch (such as due to a rename), using a GitLab MR is most
358appropriate. The MR should be based on and target the
359staging/year.quarter branch, not on the year.quarter branch, per the
360stable branch policy. Assigning the MR to release maintainer for said
361branch or mentioning them is helpful, but not required.
362
363Git tips
364--------
365
366-  ``git rebase -i ...`` is your friend. Don't be afraid to use it.
367-  Apply a fixup to commit FOO.
368
369   .. code-block:: console
370
371      git add ...
372      git commit --fixup=FOO
373      git rebase -i --autosquash ...
374
375-  Test for build breakage between patches e.g last 8 commits.
376
377   .. code-block:: console
378
379      git rebase -i --exec="ninja -C build/" HEAD~8
380