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Contributing to Loader

We welcome contributions to Loader, in the form of issues, bug fixes, or suggestions for enhancements. This document sets out our guidelines and best practices for such contributions.

It's based on the Contributing to Open Source Projects Guide.

Submitting bugs

Due diligence

Before submitting a bug, please do the following:

  • Perform basic troubleshooting steps:

    • Make sure you're on the latest version. If you're not on the most recent version, your problem may have been solved already! Upgrading is always the best first step. You should be able to tell which version you have by comparing the copy of CHANGELOG.md in your version with the latest on GitHub.
    • Search the issue tracker to make sure it's not a known issue. If you don't find a pre-existing issue, consider checking the wiki in case the problem is non-bug-related.

What to put in your bug report

Make sure your report gets the attention it deserves: bug reports with missing information may be ignored or punted back to you, delaying a fix. The below constitutes a bare minimum; more info is almost always better:

  • What version of Python are you using? For example, are you using Python 2.7.3, Python 3.3.1, PyPy 2.0?
  • What operating system are you using? Windows (7, 8, 32-bit, 64-bit,), Mac OS X, (10.7.4, 10.9.0), Linux (which distribution, which version?) Again, more detail is better.
  • Which version or versions of the software are you using? Ideally, you've followed the advice above and are on the latest version, but please confirm this.
  • How can the we recreate your problem? Imagine that we have never used Loader before and have downloaded it for the first time. Exactly what steps do we need to take to reproduce your problem?
    • If possible or appropriate, pare down your problem until the simplest case remains where your problem can be seen. Not only can indicate that the problem is not a bug, it will help us fix the bug more quickly.

Contributing changes

Version control branching

  • Always make a new branch for your work, no matter how small. This makes it easy for others to take just that one set of changes from your repository, in case you have multiple unrelated changes floating around.

    • Don't submit unrelated changes in the same branch/pull request! If it is not possible to review your changes quickly and easily, we may reject your request.

  • Base your new branch off of the appropriate branch on the main repository:

    • In general the released version of Loader is based on the master (default) branch whereas development work is done under other non-default branches. Unless you are sure that your issue affects a non-default branch, base your branch off the master one.

  • Note that depending on how long it takes for the dev team to merge your patch, the copy of master you worked off of may get out of date!

    • If you find yourself 'bumping' a pull request that's been sidelined for a while, make sure you rebase or merge to latest master to ensure a speedier resolution.

Code formatting

  • Please follow the coding conventions and style used in the Loader repository.
  • Loader endeavours to follow the PEP-8 guidelines but we don't mind longer lines ('E501 line too long' can normally be ignored).

Documentation isn't optional

Pull requests without adequate documentation will be rejected. By "documentation" we mean:

  • New features should ideally include updates to prose documentation, including useful in-code comments and examples in the wiki.
  • All submissions should have a changelog entry crediting the contributor and/or any individuals instrumental in identifying the problem.

Suggesting Enhancements

We welcome suggestions for enhancements, but reserve the right to reject them if they do not follow future plans for Loader.