Difference between revisions of "Documentation Improvement"

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These instructions describe the process to change both the ''Tutorial & Concepts Guide'' and the ''Help'' manuals as well as other parts of GnuCash documentation.  
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These instructions describe the process to change the ''Tutorial & Concepts Guide'' and the ''Help'' manuals.  
  
 
If you are interested in translating the documentation, you should read [[Translation#Translating_the_GnuCash_Guide_and_Help|Translating the GnuCash Guide and Help]], too.
 
If you are interested in translating the documentation, you should read [[Translation#Translating_the_GnuCash_Guide_and_Help|Translating the GnuCash Guide and Help]], too.
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==Preface and Introduction -- What to expect==
 
==Preface and Introduction -- What to expect==
  
The documentation update process uses the same software management tools that are used for updating the program itself. This ensures that changes are made consistently and reliably. It does, however, require that documentation contributors learn and use several tools to engage the process. The tools and the process are outlined in this page.
+
The documentation update process uses the same software management tools that are used for updating the program itself. This ensures that changes are made consistently and reliably. This includes using a ''version control system (VCS)'' to coordinate contributions from disparate sources, as well as using ''eXtended Markup Language (XML)'' for the actual edits. It also requires contributors to check their contributions for compatibility by ''compiling'' the documentation before final submission.  
  
Since others could be making changes to the documentation at the same time you are, the GnuCash documentation process employs a ''version control system (VCS),'' called ''git'' to coordinate the disparate contributions. ''Git'' ensures that your changes and those of any others are incorporated efficiently into one final set of source files.
+
;These aspects require that documentation contributors learn and use several specialized tools to engage the process.
  
Before you begin editing the documentation, you need to inform others of your intention to edit the documentation. You do this for GnuCash documentation by ''submitting a bug'' using the online bug tracking system, [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/ bugzilla]. There, you add a Documentation bug for GnuCash, which allows others to see what the problem is, and to offer insight or suggestions on fixes.
+
The tools and the process are outlined in this page.
  
To actually begin editing, you must first ''obtain a copy of the full set of the most recent documentation''. You can obtain a full set using git (see below). Once you have all the documentation you can make changes in any part of the documents that might need them. The most current documents can be seen at [http://code.gnucash.org/docs/ http://code.gnucash.org/docs/].
+
Any changes you make will be inserted into local copies of the source documentation files and subsequently transferred to the main documentation set. These source files use a special markup in XML to provide structure. Later in the process, the XML files are converted to other versions (HTML, PDF, etc.) for viewing. As a documentation support person, your task is to shepherd your modifications through all stages from start to finish.
 
 
Any changes you make will be inserted into your local copies of the source documentation files and subsequently transferred to the main documentation set. These source files use a special markup in XML to provide structure. Later in the process, the XML files are converted to other versions (HTML, PDF, etc.) for viewing. As a documentation support person, your task is to shepherd your modifications through all stages from start to finish.
 
  
 
At each stage, you must validate your changes to assure that they are both valid and have the intended effect, and you must address any errors or unexpected changes that are found.
 
At each stage, you must validate your changes to assure that they are both valid and have the intended effect, and you must address any errors or unexpected changes that are found.
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It may be helpful to become familiar with the references given in the [[Documentation_Update_Instructions#References_to_Supporting_Technologies_Used|REFERENCES]] section below.
 
It may be helpful to become familiar with the references given in the [[Documentation_Update_Instructions#References_to_Supporting_Technologies_Used|REFERENCES]] section below.
  
==The Make Utility==
+
==Setting Up Your System==
Like the programs, the documentation is built using the '''make''' utility.
 
  
In the ''make'' build system there are three important directories:
+
To begin changing the documentation, you will need to set up your system with the proper software. You will need the following software:
* the source directory
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* To manage the change sequence, you will install the ''git'' version control system. See [[Git]] for more on this.
* the build directory
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* To edit the source files, you will need to have a ''text editor''. Any text editor will do, as long as it can save your files without extra markup.
* the installation directory (which can also be more than one directory all under a special directory called the prefix-directory)
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* To stage your changes, you will need an appropriate directory structure. See [[Initializing_Documentation_Build_Environment]] for more.
 +
* To check your changes, you will use the ''make'' utility to compile the documentation locally. See [[The_Make_Utility]] for more on using and installing make.
 +
* To test the linkages between GnuCash and help files in Linux, see [[Test_Documentation_in_Linux]].
  
The ''source'' directory is where your source files are. I.e. '''gnucash-docs''' (the clone of our github repository) with all its subdirectories on your system for documentation. If you want to make changes to the documentation source, you do this in the source directory structure, not the build directory structure.
+
With the proper tools in place, there are a number of additional steps to take to prepare your system. You will need to obtain a local copy of the files from the GnuCash repository, which is called '''cloning'''. The cloned copy is what you will work on.
 
+
To actually begin editing, you must first ''obtain a copy of the full set of the most recent documentation''. You can obtain a full set using [[git]]. Once you have all the documentation, you can make changes in any part of the documents that might need them. The most current documents can be seen at [http://code.gnucash.org/docs/ http://code.gnucash.org/docs/].  
The ''build'' directory is a directory used by the build system to store all files/objects that are generated by the build system. '''make''' is always executed in the build directory or a sub-directory of the build directory. Each make ''recipe'' results in at least one such file or object.
 
 
 
The ''installation'' directory is the location where the generated objects should finally end up when using ''make install''.
 
 
 
For the GnuCash documentation, the make command ''must'' be used with a ''target'' argument which determines which type(s) of the documentation are built. E.g. '''make html''' builds the html files which allow the documentation to be viewed in a web browser. (If no target is specified, make does nothing because the xml files are both the source and the target which yelp needs to display the documentation.) What '''make''' actually does is specified in the contents of make files. These are files called '''Makefile''' (or '''Makefile.am''') and exist in multiple directories of the documentation repository. What they do depends on which directory is current when the ''make'' command is executed. In general, the lower down the build directory tree, the more specific the scope. By changing the current directory, ''make'' can build:
 
* Both the Help & Guide
 
* Either the Help or Guide
 
* Just the Help or Guide for a specific language
 
As building the documentation can take a while, it is best to only build what is needed for your changes.
 
 
 
Typical '''targets''' of the ''make target'' command used for the documentation are:
 
  make check                # use xmllint to validate xml files
 
  make html                # use xsltproc to build the html (web browser) documentation
 
  make pdf                  # use xsltproc to build the pdf documentation
 
  make mobi                # use xsltproc to build the mobi documentation
 
  make epub                # use xsltproc to build the mobi documentation
 
There are additional installation dependencies required for building the pdf and mobi formats.
 
See [http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Documentation_Release_Process#Other_documentation_formats].
 
 
 
To install the built documentation where it can be used for testing the interaction with GnuCash programs:
 
  make install              # See [[#Step 11 Test Documentation in Linux]].
 
 
 
===Installing make===
 
 
 
* Linux: <code>make</code> is usually already installed as part of the default installation packages.
 
* Mac OS X: <code>make</code> and <code>git</code> are provided by either Xcode or the Xcode '''command-line tools'''. To update the documentation, it is not necessary to install the full Xcode package which is currently a download of over 4 GBs. On MacOS 10.8 and later the system should offer to Install just the '''command line tools''' when you issue a command that they supply; <tt>make</tt> or <tt>git</tt> issued in Terminal should do it. If that doesn't work you'll need to download the appropriate command-line tools package from [https://developer.apple.com/download/more/ Apple\'s developer website] where you'll need to sign in with your Apple ID and agree to some terms and conditions if you haven't already set up a developer account.
 
* Windows: It is probably possible but complicated to update the documentation in Windows. [[Windows/Development]] may help. It may be easier to install Linux in a virtual machine like VirtualBox instead.
 
 
 
==The Documentation Change Process -- What and How it happens==
 
  
 +
==The Documentation Change Process==
 
To write GnuCash documentation the following steps must be completed in the order given. When executing any command listed, do not use quotations of any sort around the commands.
 
To write GnuCash documentation the following steps must be completed in the order given. When executing any command listed, do not use quotations of any sort around the commands.
  
 
'''N.B.:''' The instructions below are for a non-committer preparing a patch. If you have commit privileges in the gnucash-docs repository, the git commands you use will be somewhat different. Please see [[Git]]. If you're not familiar with using git, you'll find more details on basic commands and links to documentation there as well. You may prefer one of the many Git GUIs to the command-line instructions here, especially if you use Microsoft Windows.
 
'''N.B.:''' The instructions below are for a non-committer preparing a patch. If you have commit privileges in the gnucash-docs repository, the git commands you use will be somewhat different. Please see [[Git]]. If you're not familiar with using git, you'll find more details on basic commands and links to documentation there as well. You may prefer one of the many Git GUIs to the command-line instructions here, especially if you use Microsoft Windows.
  
 +
===<span id="CreateBug"></span> Create a Bugzilla Documentation Bug===
 +
Create a [http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Bugzilla bugzilla] bug if one does not already exist. See [[Bugzilla]] for more.
 +
 
 +
;Note the bug number.  You will be listed as wanting to be notified any time there is an update to the bug.  You can monitor it until it is confirmed and installed.
  
===Step 1 Create a Bugzilla Bug for the Documentation Change===
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===<span id="UpdateLocal"></span>Update Your Local Copy===
# Create a [http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Bugzilla bugzilla] bug if one does not already exist
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Cloning the documentation copies the most current version of the documentation to your local computer, where you will be able to make your edits. Since others could be making changes to the documentation at the same time you are, the GnuCash documentation process employs the ''git'' VCS to coordinate the disparate contributions. ''Git'' ensures that your changes and those of any others are incorporated efficiently into one final set of source files. See [[Git]] to learn about using ''git''.
#* At this [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/createaccount.cgi URL], register yourself to create an account.
 
#* After your account has been created, Login to the [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=GnuCash section of bugzilla reserved for GnuCash].
 
#* Enter your userid and password and press 'login'.
 
#* After logging in you are at [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi this page] and you can start the bug creation process by answering the questions on the page.
 
#** For Bug Version, most commonly use '''git-maint''', which is used to update the documentation on existing GnuCash features. If you are documenting a new feature (for example, a feature only in a future stable release), use '''git-master'''. See [[Git#Branches|Git - Branches]] for more on this.
 
#** In the comment box, explain the nature of the bug fix.
 
#* When you press commit, bugzilla creates the bug and a unique id for it.
 
# Note the bug number.  You will be listed as wanting to be notified any time there is an update to the bug.  You can monitor it until it is confirmed and installed.
 
 
 
===Step 2 Clone the Documentation===
 
Cloning the documentation copies the most current version of the documentation to your local computer, where you will be able to make your edits. GnuCash uses ''git'' to manage this.  
 
 
 
'''Note:''' In order to use these instructions, you must have [[https://git-scm.com/ git]] installed.
 
 
 
*If you are on a Linux computer, the system will instruct you to download and install the package.
 
*If you are on Windows, you will see something like:
 
:<tt>'git' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.</tt>
 
 
 
If you are new to using git, you may find it useful to read [[Git_For_Newbies|Git For Newbies]] for more information about specific git commands, how they are used in the process of modifying GnuCash, and how to submit changes for review using pull requests (preferred) instead of patches. If you already familiar with git, The [[Git|Git for GnuCash]] page may be more suitable.
 
  
 
For simplicity, this page assumes the local repository will be in folder /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs, but it can be wherever the user prefers.
 
For simplicity, this page assumes the local repository will be in folder /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs, but it can be wherever the user prefers.
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This will copy the documentation to your computer into the folder gnucash-docs.
 
This will copy the documentation to your computer into the folder gnucash-docs.
  
===Step 3 Generate configure Script===
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===<span id="IDLoc4Change"></span>Identify Location for Changes===
This step checks that various ''make'' utilities (autoconf, libtoolize & automake) are installed and builds the '''configure''' script and the '''Makefile.in''' files from the '''configure.ac''' and '''Makefile.am''' files. '''Makefile.in''' files are pseudo Makefile's used by the ''configure'' script with lots of variables that still need final setting.
+
GnuCash stores documentation in one master sequence, but reformats the information in different ways for different platforms. When you build the documentation, you create a copy in final format. To make changes, you need to edit the local repository files, not the build directory files. Once you have located the correct source files, you must identify the passages that need to be changed. Your changes should roughly follow the [http://library.gnome.org/devel/gdp-style-guide/stable/ GNOME Documentation Style Guide] of the [https://live.gnome.org/DocumentationProject/ GNOME Documentation Project].
  cd /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs
 
  ./autogen.sh  # autogen.sh is *always* run in the top-level *source* directory
 
'''autogen.sh''' is platform independent and is used to initiate the whole build system for a given project.
 
 
 
The first time autogen.sh is run, it may complain about ''missing packages'' autoconf, libtoolize or automake. You can usually install the generic packages of the same name using your distribution's package manager. You'll probably also need to install xsltproc. For example, in Ubuntu:
 
  sudo apt-get install autoconf libtoolize automake xsltproc
 
 
 
As a rule of thumb, autogen.sh should be run
 
* the first time you want to initialize the build system and sometimes
 
** you updated at least one of the in <tt>sudo apt</tt> from above mentioned packages or
 
** after changes are made in <tt>configure.ac</tt> or <tt>Makefile.am</tt> files. Frequently those changes are auto detected though.
 
Running autogen.sh when it's not necessary doesn't do harm but it will make the next build take longer.
 
 
 
===Step 4 Make a Build Directory Structure and the Makefiles===
 
Create a ''build'' directory structure to keep the built documentation files separate from the repository directories. This page assumes the ''build'' directory is called '''build''' and is a subdirectory of the repository but that does not have to be so. It can be called whatever suits you, and even be wherever it suits you. Some people create it as a subdirectory to the source directory. Others have it in a completely different location, say to have all builds together under one directory. That is a matter of preference.
 
  cd /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs
 
  mkdir build    # only needed if not previously created
 
  cd build      # configure must be run from the "build" directory
 
  
'''Note''': If you intend to test invoking help from GnuCash programs, you should add the '''--prefix=...''' option to the configure command below now to save having to rerun it later. See [[#Step 11 Test Documentation in Linux]].
+
'''Read the documentation carefully to find exactly where your change belongs.'''  
 
 
If your build directory is a subdirectory of your repository
 
  ../configure
 
Otherwise (depending on where your repository is)
 
  /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/configure  # or use a relative path to run your repository configure script
 
 
 
The ''../configure'' command above will recreate the gnucash-docs directory structure under the current directory (build) but without the source files. It then looks up the installation location for all tools and libraries used and creates the required '''Makefile'''s from the '''Makefile.in''' files. It can enable or disable certain options in the Makefiles based on its findings. ''configure'' can also take extra command line options that can alter what it will include in the Makefiles. You can see these options by running '''configure --help'''. Most of them are not relevant for us, except for the few we invented ourselves like '''--with-mobi'''.
 
 
 
'''configure''' must be run right after autogen.sh. Running it when not really required has no negative side-effect other than that the next build may take longer because more objects will be rebuilt.
 
 
 
===Step 5 Find Update Location===
 
Find the place in the documentation that you want to change (in the repository, not the build directories); identify the file(s) that need to be changed to accomplish your documentation objective. Your changes should roughly follow the [http://library.gnome.org/devel/gdp-style-guide/stable/ GNOME Documentation Style Guide] of the [https://live.gnome.org/DocumentationProject/ GNOME Documentation Project].
 
 
 
This means you have to read the documentation to find exactly where
 
the error is or the best place to insert the additional information
 
that improves the understanding of how the feature works or what its
 
purpose is in the software.
 
  
 
The English '''Help Manual''' source XML files are in
 
The English '''Help Manual''' source XML files are in
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The non-english files are in the corresponding locations with '''C''' replaced by a 2 character language code.
 
The non-english files are in the corresponding locations with '''C''' replaced by a 2 character language code.
  
It will be useful to have either a printed copy or a PDF copy [3] of  
+
It may be useful to have either a printed copy or a PDF copy [3] of  
 
the documentation available for reference.  The PDF is often useful,  
 
the documentation available for reference.  The PDF is often useful,  
 
because it allows using FIND (ctrl-F) to search for key words.  This  
 
because it allows using FIND (ctrl-F) to search for key words.  This  
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interested in has already had a mention or treatment.
 
interested in has already had a mention or treatment.
  
===Step 6 Draft your Update in a Text File===
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===<span id="DraftChanges"></span>Draft Your Changes===
If your changes are few and easily formulated, you should be able to skip this step and proceed to [[#Step 7 - place the draft changes in XML files]].
+
If your changes are few and easily formulated, you should be able to make your changes directly in the source XML files.
 
 
For substantive changes to the documentation it is frequently helpful to develop your ideas in a separate temporary text file. Use a text editor such as [http://www.jedit.org jEdit], which is available for both Linux and Windows operating systems. jEdit has an XML plugin so can also be used for editing XML files.
 
 
 
===Step 7 Place the Draft Changes in XML Files===
 
Insert your changes into the XML file(s) affected.
 
 
 
Note: Edit the source files in the repository directories, not in the ''build'' directories. The various ''make'' commands (run from the build directories), will copy the files from the repository to the build directories.
 
 
 
Make your changes fit the XML tags in the manner of the existing documentation.  Adjust your XML tag structure so that the finished structure appears properly and as you intended in the HTML version of the documentation. Doing this might be easier by using a [http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Data_Formats/Markup_Languages/XML/Tools/Editors/ specific XML Editor]. [http://sourceforge.net/projects/sernafree.mirror/ Serna-Free] is a more-or-less free [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook DocBook] editor which is much easier to use than a plain XML editor, but it introduces a lot of extraneous changes which must be removed before preparing a commit or patch ''You may have to return to this step should step 8 reveal a less than desirable arrangement of the data.''
 
  
It is ''not'' necessary to use comments to denote the start or end of your source modifications. The version control system is used to track changes. One can use the git history to see what has changed. There are graphical tools like gitk or the [https://github.com github] website that help you visualize these changes.
+
If your changes are more extensive, you may find it helpful to develop your ideas in a separate temporary text file. If you use this approach, you will need to insert your changes into the XML file(s) affected. Doing this might be easier by using a [http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Data_Formats/Markup_Languages/XML/Tools/Editors/ specific XML Editor]. Additional resources for XML are listed in the [[#References to Supporting Technologies Used|References]] section for this step.  
  
Because the source documents are saved in XML - or to be more precise [[Glossary#D|DocBook]] - code, all changes need to be added to the source modules in that manner.  Small changes can be made directly into the XML file itself. Larger and extensive changes may first be prepared in a text editor and later inserted into the module(s) in their proper places.  Resources for XML are listed in the [[#References to Supporting Technologies Used|References]] section for this step.
+
Note: Remember to edit the ''source'' files in the ''repository'' directories, not in the ''build'' directories. The various ''make'' commands (run from the build directories), will copy the files from the repository to the build directories.
  
Review the inserted and corrected text to verify that it is presented within the proper XML tags, using existing tags as a guide.
+
The source documents are saved in XML - or to be more precise [[Glossary#D|DocBook]] - code, so all changes need to follow those formatting rules. ''DocBook'' enforces strict rules about tags and markup, so be sure to make your changes fit the XML tags in the manner of the existing documentation.  
  
If text exceeds the vertical text border guides, you should not be alarmed that text outside the vertical border guides would be lost. These border guides show up when the XML module is opened, but are length of line indicators and not warnings that text should be moved within the guides.
+
Examples of commonly-used tags include: ''chapter'', ''segment'', ''sect1'', ''sect2'', ''orderedlist'', ''list item'', ''para'' and their corresponding closing tags. You should also use the '''Definitions''' ''<!ENTITY ...>'' from the main file where ever possible.
  
Apply the modules structural concepts to your own text after you have cut and pasted it into the XML file.  This is done by using the various '''XML tags''' in the existing text: ''chapter'', ''segment'', ''sect1'', ''sect2'', ''orderedlist'', ''list item'', ''para'' (to name just a few) and the corresponding closing tags. You should also use the '''Definitions''' ''<!ENTITY ...>'' from the main file where ever possible.
+
Note: It is ''not'' necessary to use comments to denote the start or end of your source modifications. The version control system is used to track changes.  
  
 
If you are adding or deleting an XML file, for example adding a new chapter or appendix, you also need to update files [guide|help]/[language]/gnucash-{guide|help}.xml and [guide|help]/[language]/Makefile.am,  
 
If you are adding or deleting an XML file, for example adding a new chapter or appendix, you also need to update files [guide|help]/[language]/gnucash-{guide|help}.xml and [guide|help]/[language]/Makefile.am,  
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You can find an introduction to [http://www.docbook.org DocBook] in [http://docbook.org/tdg51/en/html/ch02.html Creating DocBook Documents].
 
You can find an introduction to [http://www.docbook.org DocBook] in [http://docbook.org/tdg51/en/html/ch02.html Creating DocBook Documents].
  
===Step 8 Validate XML Changes===
+
===<span id="ValidateChanges"></span>Validate Your Changes===
 
'''xmllint''' (invoked by '''make check''' in the appropriate '''build''' directory or sub-directory) is used to test that your xml file has no syntax errors or incorrect references to internal sections. The program ''xmllint'' is part of the package '''libxml'''.
 
'''xmllint''' (invoked by '''make check''' in the appropriate '''build''' directory or sub-directory) is used to test that your xml file has no syntax errors or incorrect references to internal sections. The program ''xmllint'' is part of the package '''libxml'''.
  
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If your module(s) are free of XML errors, then the command returns no errors or warnings (if running in a terminal) or an empty file (if redirecting output to a file).
 
If your module(s) are free of XML errors, then the command returns no errors or warnings (if running in a terminal) or an empty file (if redirecting output to a file).
  
===Step 9 Ensure Only the Changes you Expect Have Been Made===
+
===<span id="EnsureExpected"></span>Ensure Only Expected Changes Have Been Made===
This following command will show any changes to unstaged files
+
You should double check that there are no accidental changes to the documentation.
 +
 
 +
The following command will show any changes to unstaged files
 
   git diff
 
   git diff
 
Git status will list all files with differences to the last commit, in categories staged, unstaged, and unknown to git but not matching an ignore pattern.
 
Git status will list all files with differences to the last commit, in categories staged, unstaged, and unknown to git but not matching an ignore pattern.
 
   git status
 
   git status
  
===Step 10 Proofread in HTML===
+
===<span id="Proofread"></span>Proofread in HTML===
 
+
After you have tested the integrity of the XML using xmllint (make check) and have verified that the  
After the XML has been tested for integrity using xmllint (make check) and the  
+
difference file shows the correct changes, then the Guide or Help must be recreated in HTML and the results  
difference file has been determined to contain correct changes and only
+
examined in your browser to verify that the online version appears and reads as expected.
those, then the Guide or Help must be recreated in HTML and the results  
 
examined in your browser to verify that the online version presents an
 
appearance and reads as expected.
 
  
 
Build the Guide or Help file in HTML. Use this command exactly as written in a terminal, from the appropriate directory within the '''build''' directory structure:
 
Build the Guide or Help file in HTML. Use this command exactly as written in a terminal, from the appropriate directory within the '''build''' directory structure:
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   rm -rf "/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build"
 
   rm -rf "/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build"
  
===Step 11 Test Documentation in Linux===
+
===<span id="AddExtras"></span>Add Extra Files===
 
+
Git automatically tracks changes to files it knows are part of the repository. However, if you have added any files that should be included in your commit (xml or others, for example, illustrations), add (stage) them with the command:
For our purposes, &ldquo;Linux&rdquo; means any system that&rsquo;s not Windows or Mac OS X. GnuCash uses Yelp, the GNOME documentation browser, to display its help--both the User Manual and the Concepts Guide. This documentation gets installed in the standard GNOME help directory hierarchy. Although not tested, it's very likely that a cygwin environment on Windows or a fink/homebrew/macports environment on OS X can equally be configured to run these documentation tests. GnuCash as installed from the Windows Installer package or the OS X/Quarz dmg on the other hand can not.
 
 
 
Aside from the above limitations you can test the documentation changes with any installed gnucash, version 2.6 or higher. Of course if you have written context help for a feature that is not present in your installed version of gnucash, you won't be able to test the direct context help button for that feature. You will however still be able to open the new help or guide in general from your installed (2.6+) version of gnucash.
 
 
 
If you want to test the changes you just made to the documentation without interfering with the already-installed versions, you need to install a development version of GnuCash locally first.
 
 
 
To test the changes,
 
(1) install the changed documentation locally, and (2) tell your (locally) installed (2.6+) version of gnucash where to find it.
 
 
 
 
 
If you don&rsquo;t want to test interaction with GnuCash, see [[#11.3 Tell Development GnuCash Where to Find Docs|below]] for a way to do that.
 
 
 
====11.1 Install Development GnuCash Locally====
 
''Remember this can be skipped if you prefer and have version 2.6+ of gnucash installed. It's only required to run context help tests.''
 
 
 
Without any special configuration the default installation directory will be /usr/local/... on Linux based systems. This is usually not a good location during development (or documentation changing), because this would interfere with your stable, running system and that's generally not what you want on a modern system where installing software is usually done via a package manager. So for development purposes we need to tell the build system to use another final location. This is done by running ''configure'' with the --prefix option. The installation directory should meet the following requirements:
 
* it should be a writable location for the user that runs ''make install''
 
* it should not be in the default paths /usr or /usr/local
 
 
 
Build and install GnuCash locally as per [[Building]]. Let's say you've installed GnuCash in
 
  /home/$USER/code/gnucash-install
 
 
 
====11.2 Install Updated Documentation Locally====
 
 
 
Let's say you wish to build your modified documentation in
 
  /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs-install
 
 
 
These are the commands for that:
 
  $ cd /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs
 
  $ ./autogen.sh # First time only, when building from repository copy
 
  $ ./configure --prefix=/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs-install # Add any other needed options...
 
  $ make install
 
 
 
====11.3 Tell Development GnuCash Where to Find Docs====
 
  $ GCASH=/home/$USER/code/gnucash-install          # For convenience if you built gnucash yourself, otherwise:
 
  $ GCASH=/usr                                      # For convenience if you use a default installed gnucash
 
  $ GCASHDOCS=/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs-install # For convenience
 
  $ XDG_DATA_DIRS="$GCASHDOCS/share:$XDG_DATA_DIRS:/usr/local/share:/usr/share" $GCASH/bin/gnucash &
 
 
 
That last line, with XDG_DATA_DIRS, is the crux of it. That environment variable tells GnuCash, among other things, where to look for the documentation. In fact, it tells any tool which uses Yelp (and Yelp itself) where to look for documentation. For example, try the following:
 
  $ XDG_DATA_DIRS="$GCASHDOCS/share:$XDG_DATA_DIRS" yelp ghelp:gnucash-help &
 
 
 
That should open up your development-version GnuCash docs without first starting GnuCash itself. Handy if you don&rsquo;t need to test GnuCash along with the docs--i.e., if you&rsquo;re just updating sections that are already ''in'' the docs.
 
 
 
====11.4 Conclusion====
 
 
 
Now you can update both your local GnuCash and GnuCash docs freely and test their interaction.
 
 
 
===Step 12 Add any Extra Files===
 
Git automatically tracks changes to files it knows are part of the repository. If you have added any files (xml or others e.g. illustrations) that should be included in your commit, add (stage) them by:
 
 
   git add path/to/file
 
   git add path/to/file
 +
 
 
Note:  Do '''NOT''' add file(s) from your ''build'' directory structure.
 
Note:  Do '''NOT''' add file(s) from your ''build'' directory structure.
  
Line 314: Line 176:
 
   git checkout path/to/ignored-file
 
   git checkout path/to/ignored-file
  
===Step 13 Commit your Changes===
+
===<span id="PubAuthor"></span>Publish your Authorship===
 +
 
 +
The first page, which can also be shown as ''About'' of the document is in the file '''<tt>gnucash-</tt>{<tt>guide</tt>|<tt>help</tt>}<tt>-C.omf</tt>'''. OMF means [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Media_Framework Open Media Framework]. Add a maintainer section with your data and check the other items like the date, which also needs an update.
 +
 
 +
Add your name and email address to the file AUTHORS. Create a separate patch for this change and ask to apply this patch also on gnucash/DOCUMENTERS - in both ''maint'' and ''master'' branches. The AUTHORS file can usually be shown in the packet manager while gnucash/DOCUMENTERS is shown in GnuCashs About->Credits->Documenters
 +
 
 +
===<span id="CommitChanges"></span>Commit Your Changes===
 
Once you're satisfied with your changes, it's time to commit them.
 
Once you're satisfied with your changes, it's time to commit them.
 
You can commit everything that's been changed with
 
You can commit everything that's been changed with
Line 338: Line 206:
 
   git log -p path/to/file
 
   git log -p path/to/file
  
===Step 14 Ensure your Local Copy of the Repository is the Same as on Github===
+
==<span id="PullorPatch"></span>Create a Pull Request or a Patch==
A patch should always be made against the most recent revision of the gnucash-docs project in github, so the next step is to get the latest version and re-apply your changes to it:
+
Once you have finalized your changes, you will notify the developer team of your changes, either by creating a [[Git#Pull_Requests|pull request], or by [[Preparing_A_Documentation_Patch|creating and uploading a patch]].
  git pull --rebase
 
Most of the time this will work with no changes needed, but if someone else has committed a change in the same files that you did you'll get conflicts.
 
====Conflict Resolution====
 
<tt>git status</tt> will tell you which files have conflicts, and when you open one of them it will be marked with lines like
 
<<<<<<HEAD
 
...
 
======
 
...
 
>>>>>>Your change summary
 
You'll have to edit each file with conflicts to remove those lines and get the section in between to read the way you want.
 
After you've fixed up a file, use <tt>git add path/to/filename</tt> to register the changes and when you've fixed them all and added them to the index, use <tt>git commit</tt> to re-commit them. This time in the editor you'll see a line
 
Conflicts:
 
followed by a list of the files with conflicts. Be sure to remove those lines from the file, since you've resolved the conflicts.
 
 
 
There are other tools that can simplify cleaning up conflicted files, but they're beyond the scope of this tutorial.
 
 
 
After resolving your conflicts and recommitting, it's wise to re-do steps 8 - 10 to make sure that everything wound up the way you want it.
 
 
 
===Step 15 Prepare your Patch===
 
Once everything is tested and committed, and you're confident that your changes are correct, you're ready to make a patch.
 
A patch file needs to be created for each commit. Each patch file will be named '0001-<your-summary>', substituting the first line from your commit message for <your-summary>, with spaces replaced by hyphens.
 
For example, if one of your commits had a summary "Better explanation of trading accounts",
 
the corresponding patch file name would be <tt>0001-Better-explanation-of-trading-accounts.patch</tt>.
 
 
 
Check how many commits you have made with
 
  git status
 
You can make patches, 1 for each commit, for all commits which are in the current branch but not in the origin branch, with
 
  git format-patch origin
 
Or if you have done only 1 commit, create a patch from your latest commit with
 
  git format-patch HEAD^
 
Or if you have done more than 1 commit, create a patch file for each commit with
 
  git format-patch -n
 
where n is the number of commits for which patches should be created.
 
 
 
===Step 16 Publish your Authorship===
 
 
 
The first page, which can also be shown as ''About'' of the document is in the file '''<tt>gnucash-</tt>{<tt>guide</tt>|<tt>help</tt>}<tt>-C.omf</tt>'''. OMF means [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Media_Framework Open Media Framework]. Add a maintainer section with your data and check the other items like the date, which also needs an update.
 
 
 
Add your name and email address to the file AUTHORS. Create a separate patch for this change and ask to apply this patch also on gnucash/DOCUMENTERS - in both ''maint'' and ''master'' branches. The AUTHORS file can usually be shown in the packet manager while gnucash/DOCUMENTERS is shown in GnuCashs About->Credits->Documenters
 
 
 
===Step 17 Attach Patch to Bug===
 
Attach your patch file(s) to a [[http://bugzilla.gnome.org GnuCash bug report]] and you're done! The relevant people will be automatically notified by email.
 
  
 
==References to Supporting Technologies Used==
 
==References to Supporting Technologies Used==
  
===Step 1===
 
 
[1]  http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Bugzilla
 
[1]  http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Bugzilla
 
===Step 2===
 
 
[2] https://github.com
 
[2] https://github.com
 
===Step 6===
 
 
[3]  http://www.jedit.org/
 
[3]  http://www.jedit.org/
 
===Step 7===
 
 
[4]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook
 
[4]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook
 
 
[5]  http://www.docbook.org/  DocBook: The Definitive Guide
 
[5]  http://www.docbook.org/  DocBook: The Definitive Guide
 
: Some Distributions have it as a package named like ''docbook-tdg''.
 
: Some Distributions have it as a package named like ''docbook-tdg''.
 
 
[6]  http://www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/html/tools-edit.html
 
[6]  http://www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/html/tools-edit.html
 
 
[7]  http://www.netlingo.com/tips/html-code-cheat-sheet.php
 
[7]  http://www.netlingo.com/tips/html-code-cheat-sheet.php
 
 
[8]  http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Git
 
[8]  http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Git
  
== Screenshots and Images ==
+
==Additional Information==
 +
===Screenshots and Images===
 
Screenshots and images for GnuCash documentation must be submitted in ''.png'' '''format''' or in ''.svg'' where applicable. It is better if you can use a '''theme''' similar to ''"Clearlooks"'' for Linux, in order to maintain consistency with existing images. The [https://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=19527 Clearlooks] engine has been the default theme of [https://www.gnome.org/start/2.0/ GNOME 2] since version 2.12.
 
Screenshots and images for GnuCash documentation must be submitted in ''.png'' '''format''' or in ''.svg'' where applicable. It is better if you can use a '''theme''' similar to ''"Clearlooks"'' for Linux, in order to maintain consistency with existing images. The [https://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=19527 Clearlooks] engine has been the default theme of [https://www.gnome.org/start/2.0/ GNOME 2] since version 2.12.
  

Revision as of 10:36, 15 January 2018

These instructions describe the process to change the Tutorial & Concepts Guide and the Help manuals.

If you are interested in translating the documentation, you should read Translating the GnuCash Guide and Help, too.

Preface and Introduction -- What to expect

The documentation update process uses the same software management tools that are used for updating the program itself. This ensures that changes are made consistently and reliably. This includes using a version control system (VCS) to coordinate contributions from disparate sources, as well as using eXtended Markup Language (XML) for the actual edits. It also requires contributors to check their contributions for compatibility by compiling the documentation before final submission.

These aspects require that documentation contributors learn and use several specialized tools to engage the process.

The tools and the process are outlined in this page.

Any changes you make will be inserted into local copies of the source documentation files and subsequently transferred to the main documentation set. These source files use a special markup in XML to provide structure. Later in the process, the XML files are converted to other versions (HTML, PDF, etc.) for viewing. As a documentation support person, your task is to shepherd your modifications through all stages from start to finish.

At each stage, you must validate your changes to assure that they are both valid and have the intended effect, and you must address any errors or unexpected changes that are found.

Since your changes will be carried out by software, there is a difference determination process that identifies exactly what and where changes will be made. This process permits you to be sure that only what you intend will actually be installed. After your changes have been validated locally, you will submit your changes to the project either through a "patch," or by a git "pull request" (both of which will be explained later).

For quality control, any changes you submit will be reviewed by a developer before your changes become official. If everything is accepted without requiring further work, your changes will be applied to the main set of documentation by a developer and you will be notified of that action.

The above brief description outlines the general documentation update process.

It may be helpful to become familiar with the references given in the REFERENCES section below.

Setting Up Your System

To begin changing the documentation, you will need to set up your system with the proper software. You will need the following software:

  • To manage the change sequence, you will install the git version control system. See Git for more on this.
  • To edit the source files, you will need to have a text editor. Any text editor will do, as long as it can save your files without extra markup.
  • To stage your changes, you will need an appropriate directory structure. See Initializing_Documentation_Build_Environment for more.
  • To check your changes, you will use the make utility to compile the documentation locally. See The_Make_Utility for more on using and installing make.
  • To test the linkages between GnuCash and help files in Linux, see Test_Documentation_in_Linux.

With the proper tools in place, there are a number of additional steps to take to prepare your system. You will need to obtain a local copy of the files from the GnuCash repository, which is called cloning. The cloned copy is what you will work on. To actually begin editing, you must first obtain a copy of the full set of the most recent documentation. You can obtain a full set using git. Once you have all the documentation, you can make changes in any part of the documents that might need them. The most current documents can be seen at http://code.gnucash.org/docs/.

The Documentation Change Process

To write GnuCash documentation the following steps must be completed in the order given. When executing any command listed, do not use quotations of any sort around the commands.

N.B.: The instructions below are for a non-committer preparing a patch. If you have commit privileges in the gnucash-docs repository, the git commands you use will be somewhat different. Please see Git. If you're not familiar with using git, you'll find more details on basic commands and links to documentation there as well. You may prefer one of the many Git GUIs to the command-line instructions here, especially if you use Microsoft Windows.

Create a Bugzilla Documentation Bug

Create a bugzilla bug if one does not already exist. See Bugzilla for more.

Note the bug number. You will be listed as wanting to be notified any time there is an update to the bug. You can monitor it until it is confirmed and installed.

Update Your Local Copy

Cloning the documentation copies the most current version of the documentation to your local computer, where you will be able to make your edits. Since others could be making changes to the documentation at the same time you are, the GnuCash documentation process employs the git VCS to coordinate the disparate contributions. Git ensures that your changes and those of any others are incorporated efficiently into one final set of source files. See Git to learn about using git.

For simplicity, this page assumes the local repository will be in folder /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs, but it can be wherever the user prefers.

First, change to your preferred local source code folder.

 cd /home/$USER/code

Next, use the git clone command to download a full set of documentation files from github to your own computer.

 git clone https://github.com/Gnucash/gnucash-docs gnucash-docs

This will copy the documentation to your computer into the folder gnucash-docs.

Identify Location for Changes

GnuCash stores documentation in one master sequence, but reformats the information in different ways for different platforms. When you build the documentation, you create a copy in final format. To make changes, you need to edit the local repository files, not the build directory files. Once you have located the correct source files, you must identify the passages that need to be changed. Your changes should roughly follow the GNOME Documentation Style Guide of the GNOME Documentation Project.

Read the documentation carefully to find exactly where your change belongs.

The English Help Manual source XML files are in

/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/help/C

The English Tutorial and Concepts Guide source XML files are in

/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/guide/C

The non-english files are in the corresponding locations with C replaced by a 2 character language code.

It may be useful to have either a printed copy or a PDF copy [3] of the documentation available for reference. The PDF is often useful, because it allows using FIND (ctrl-F) to search for key words. This can be important to assure yourself that you have covered the existing places in the documentation where the issue you are interested in has already had a mention or treatment.

Draft Your Changes

If your changes are few and easily formulated, you should be able to make your changes directly in the source XML files.

If your changes are more extensive, you may find it helpful to develop your ideas in a separate temporary text file. If you use this approach, you will need to insert your changes into the XML file(s) affected. Doing this might be easier by using a specific XML Editor. Additional resources for XML are listed in the References section for this step.

Note: Remember to edit the source files in the repository directories, not in the build directories. The various make commands (run from the build directories), will copy the files from the repository to the build directories.

The source documents are saved in XML - or to be more precise DocBook - code, so all changes need to follow those formatting rules. DocBook enforces strict rules about tags and markup, so be sure to make your changes fit the XML tags in the manner of the existing documentation.

Examples of commonly-used tags include: chapter, segment, sect1, sect2, orderedlist, list item, para and their corresponding closing tags. You should also use the Definitions <!ENTITY ...> from the main file where ever possible.

Note: It is not necessary to use comments to denote the start or end of your source modifications. The version control system is used to track changes.

If you are adding or deleting an XML file, for example adding a new chapter or appendix, you also need to update files [guide|help]/[language]/gnucash-{guide|help}.xml and [guide|help]/[language]/Makefile.am, then rerun autogen.sh and ../configure.sh. There is no need to update Makefile.in as this is generated by running autogen.sh.

Note
if your update adds new modules to the full set of documentation, you should review all modules in the directory in which you are working (gnucash-docs/help/C or gnucash-docs/guide/C) to determine what changes,if any, need to be made to modules outside your original assessment in step 2.

You can find an introduction to DocBook in Creating DocBook Documents.

Validate Your Changes

xmllint (invoked by make check in the appropriate build directory or sub-directory) is used to test that your xml file has no syntax errors or incorrect references to internal sections. The program xmllint is part of the package libxml.

xmllint starts with the main file gnucash-{guide|help}.xml. The main file references the other xml files in the directory so all are checked.

In a Terminal, change directory to the place in the build directory structure where the changed modules are located:

For example, if you had downloaded the documentation files to a directory called /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs and created a build directory called /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build:

To validate all the guide xml files for only the C (English) language:

 cd /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build/guide/C

To validate all the guide xml files for all languages:

 cd /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build/guide

To validate all the guide and help xml files:

 cd /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build

Then:

 make check

If there are any errors, fix them and repeat this step until no errors are found.

If you are unable to fix an XML error, then go to Mailing_Lists and subscribe to the developers email list gnucash-devel@gnucash.org. If you are not a subscriber, then your email will wait for the list manager to find the time to address emails received from non-subscribers and you will not receive replies from developers unless they explicitly copy you. Send an email to gnucash-devel@gnucash.org asking for help. Provide as much information as possible, including the results of the xmllint command (I.e. the output from make check).

If your module(s) are free of XML errors, then the command returns no errors or warnings (if running in a terminal) or an empty file (if redirecting output to a file).

Ensure Only Expected Changes Have Been Made

You should double check that there are no accidental changes to the documentation.

The following command will show any changes to unstaged files

 git diff

Git status will list all files with differences to the last commit, in categories staged, unstaged, and unknown to git but not matching an ignore pattern.

 git status

Proofread in HTML

After you have tested the integrity of the XML using xmllint (make check) and have verified that the difference file shows the correct changes, then the Guide or Help must be recreated in HTML and the results examined in your browser to verify that the online version appears and reads as expected.

Build the Guide or Help file in HTML. Use this command exactly as written in a terminal, from the appropriate directory within the build directory structure:

 cd [appropriate directory or sub-directory within the build directory structure]
 make html

The above make command will run xsltproc and use an XSL stylesheet (.../xsl/general-customization.xsl) to turn the raw input XML into the output HTML that comprises the online version of the Guide or Help.

The built html files with be placed in an automatically created directory, which if using the example directories will be:

 /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build/<guide|help>/C/gnucash-<guide|help>

Review the results in your browser; if you need to make changes, do so, then check, rebuild and review again.

It's amazing how errors which are obscure in XML--everything is obscure in XML--become blindingly obvious when rendered in the browser. Look for spelling errors, formatting oddness, incomplete tags, and missing or incorrect entities.

To view the results in a web browser, in a file manager (or for Windows: Windows Explorer/File Explorer) double click on either:

 /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build/help/C/gnucash-help/help.html

or

 /home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build/guide/C/gnucash-guide/index.html


Once your inspection shows that the online Guide/Help is now acceptable in all respects, you should make certain that the build directory and its contents are not included in any respect in your patch.

If you are using build as the name of your build subdirectory in your repository directory, as in this example, it is not necessary to remove the build directory as the <repository>/.gitignore file includes build*, so git will ignore it.

To remove the build directory structure, before building the patch, use this terminal command:

 rm -rf "/home/$USER/code/gnucash-docs/build"

Add Extra Files

Git automatically tracks changes to files it knows are part of the repository. However, if you have added any files that should be included in your commit (xml or others, for example, illustrations), add (stage) them with the command:

 git add path/to/file
 

Note: Do NOT add file(s) from your build directory structure.

Here is another way to check your changes. Unless you're a programmer, you're probably not well practiced at examining diffs. If you have touched several files, the first thing to check is

 git status -uno

The -uno tells it to show only the repository files affected by your changes; all of the build products are ignored. Of course, if you've made a new file, that's ignored too, so make sure that all of the files you worked on and only those files are in the list. You can add new files with

 git add path/to/new-file

and revert files that you didn't mean to change with

 git checkout path/to/ignored-file

Publish your Authorship

The first page, which can also be shown as About of the document is in the file gnucash-{guide|help}-C.omf. OMF means Open Media Framework. Add a maintainer section with your data and check the other items like the date, which also needs an update.

Add your name and email address to the file AUTHORS. Create a separate patch for this change and ask to apply this patch also on gnucash/DOCUMENTERS - in both maint and master branches. The AUTHORS file can usually be shown in the packet manager while gnucash/DOCUMENTERS is shown in GnuCashs About->Credits->Documenters

Commit Your Changes

Once you're satisfied with your changes, it's time to commit them. You can commit everything that's been changed with

git commit -a
(-a also causes git to notice and commit any deleted files)

or you can commit a few files at a time with

git add path/to/file
git commit

If you need to make further changes, you can update your commit instead of creating a new one with

 git commit -a --amend

But --amend should only be used as long, as you did not publish your commit by pushing it to some public github repository.

There are even finer-grained ways to pick out bits and pieces to group into a commit, but they're beyond the scope of this tutorial.

When you make a commit git will open a screen editor; which one depends on how you set your environment. The default on most Unixes is vi, but you can select a different one with the $EDITOR environment variable. Use the editor to make a good commit message. It should have a one-line (< 80 character) summary followed by a blank line, and a brief description of the change and its motivation. Don't get carried away here: If you need more than a couple of lines it should have been a smaller change.

The release announcement comes from commit messages, so include any information that should be passed on. You could even say This needs to be mentioned in the release announcement followed by the text you want in the announcement.

To add extra information to a previously pushed commit message, make some trivial change to a comment and write a commit message using the same subject line as the previous commit.

If required, you can check committed changes to a particular file with

 git log -p path/to/file

Create a Pull Request or a Patch

Once you have finalized your changes, you will notify the developer team of your changes, either by creating a [[Git#Pull_Requests|pull request], or by creating and uploading a patch.

References to Supporting Technologies Used

[1] http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Bugzilla [2] https://github.com [3] http://www.jedit.org/ [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DocBook [5] http://www.docbook.org/ DocBook: The Definitive Guide

Some Distributions have it as a package named like docbook-tdg.

[6] http://www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/html/tools-edit.html [7] http://www.netlingo.com/tips/html-code-cheat-sheet.php [8] http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Git

Additional Information

Screenshots and Images

Screenshots and images for GnuCash documentation must be submitted in .png format or in .svg where applicable. It is better if you can use a theme similar to "Clearlooks" for Linux, in order to maintain consistency with existing images. The Clearlooks engine has been the default theme of GNOME 2 since version 2.12.

Screenshots and images added to the GnuCash documentation must fit two purposes: video display (e.g. online) and paper printing (pdf creation). Each has its own way of determining width; video display defines image widths limits in terms of pixels, while print output sets limits on image size based on a ratio of image size and the image's dots per inch (dpi). To successfully prepare an image for each of these uses, you must use two <imageobject> tags, as shown below:

           <imageobject role="html">
             <imagedata fileref="figures/Help_Pref_AccntPeriod.png" format="PNG"
                        srccredit="Cristian Marchi" width="510px"></imagedata>
           </imageobject>
           <imageobject role="fo">
             <imagedata fileref="figures/Help_Pref_AccntPeriod.png" format="PNG"
                        srccredit="Cristian Marchi"></imagedata>
           </imageobject>
The "html" attribute refers to display presentation on screens (the width is limited to 510px), while the "fo" attribute refers to pdf printing.
When you take a screenshot for inclusion in the GnuCash documentation, it should not be resized to 510 pixels width. Instead you should leave it as is, and set the width attribute to 510 pixels for the "html" role. Note that the width tag is not necessary if the image has a width smaller than 510px.

Adjusting an Image's Dots Per Inch

You must take another step to prepare a screenshot for print output: you must set the dots per inch (dpi) correctly. The dpi defines an image's dot density, and thus its overall quality; the higher the dpi, the better the printed image quality. The printing size, dpi and image pixel dimensions are in this relation:

size = pixels / dpi
So if you have a screenshot that is 800x560 pixels with a dpi of 80 you will have the screenshot in the pdf output displayed as 800/80 x 560/80 inches = 10 x 7 inches = 25 x 17.5 cm. (1 inch is about 2.5 cm). The available space in the A4 format pdf output is a maximum of about 15 cm, so you can resize the screenshot by changing its dpi (Note that the US Letter size paper is slightly wider than A4, so images scaled for A4 will also fit on US Letter size paper). Normally if you take a screenshot when the GnuCash window is almost at its minimum, the dpi will be set to 144, which for our example screenshot will result in a print size of:
800/144 x 560/144 inches = 14 x 10 cm 
This will stay inside the available areas.
If the screenshot you are going to add to documentation is wider than 850 pixels, you should increase the dpi above 144 so that its printed size remains less than 15 cm.
The dpi of an image be changed in one of two ways:
  1. Open the screenshot in an image editor (like The Gimp) and select Image->Print Size. In the dialog that opens, set the X and Y resolution to the desired dpi (check that the unit value is set to the desired value - normally pixels/in). Press "Ok" and save the image.
  2. A faster approach uses Imagemagick, a library for image manipulation. From a terminal window, issue the following command:
 convert -units PixelsPerInch -density DPI IN OUT 
where DPI is the desired dpi value (e.g. 144), IN is the input image filename and OUT the output filename (that could be the same as IN).
To convert the dpi of a bunch of images do this from a terminal window:
ls *.png > list
for i in `cat list`; do convert -units PixelsPerInch -density 144 "$i" "$i"; done
The first line creates the file "list" with a list of all png files in the current directory
The second and third lines applies a dpi of 144 to all images listed in the "list" file
Imagemagick lets you also see sizes and pixels per inch from the command line:
 identify -format "%w x %h %x x %y" IMAGE_NAME.FORMAT
For your convenience the bash script adjust-dpi.sh has been included in the gnucash-docs repository that automatically calculates and assigns the right value of dpi to a list of png files. It is stored in the util subdirectory of the repository. To use it open a command line and run the script from the proper figures directory. For example:
 cd guide/pt/figures            # In the repo, NOT the build directory structure
 ../../../util/adjust-dpi.sh
To add your image to the List of Figures at the start of the Help or Tutorial and Concepts Guide, put your screenshot in a figure tag, then rerun ../configure from the build directory. For example:
 <figure pgwide="1">
   <title>This is the text that will appear in the List of Figures</title>
   <screenshot>
   ...
   </screenshot>
 </figure>

Maintenance

In this section are collected all the standards used to work on documentation.

Text conventions

  • There are variable definitions in the main file, which must be used e.g. for future changes to revision numbers, gnucash-guide.xml defines variable vers-stable
<!ENTITY vers-stable "2.6.6">
and appendixa.xml uses this variable like
The process works on &vers-stable; datafiles, and ought to
  • All accounts named must be tagged with <emphasis>: e.g. <emphasis>Expenses:Tax</emphasis>
  • Hyphens and dashes:
To represent a negative number or subtraction:
The typographically correct symbol to use is − (U+2212, &minus;). The ASCII hyphen-minus - (U+002d) is commonly used and is also fine. Whichever you use, be consistent, at least on the whole page.
Examples:
Number negative 1 (−1): &minus;1
Formula GROSS_SALE − TOTALBUY: GROSS_SALE &minus; TOTALBUY
See http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/index.html for guidance on using English language punctuation, including &ndash; and &mdash;.
  • In the current state of this page there are many more. Have a look at the recently reworked chapters. If you have some free time, add them here.

Graphics conventions

all screenshots of the GnuCash windows must be captured under a GNOME Desktop environment with the following settings:

  • GNOME desktop environment
  • Clearlooks theme
  • text besides icon
  • font: Sans. 9 point for application and 11 point for window title