====================== Contributing to Scrapy ====================== There are many ways to contribute to Scrapy. Here are some of them: * Blog about Scrapy. Tell the world how you're using Scrapy. This will help newcomers with more examples and the Scrapy project to increase its visibility. * Report bugs and request features in the `ticket tracker`_, trying to follow the guidelines detailed in `Reporting bugs`_ below. * Submit patches for new functionality and/or bug fixes. Please read `Writing patches`_ and `Submitting patches`_ below for details on how to write and submit a patch. * Join the `scrapy-developers`_ mailing list and share your ideas on how to improve Scrapy. We're always open to suggestions. Reporting bugs ============== Well-written bug reports are very helpful, so keep in mind the following guidelines when reporting a new bug. * check the :ref:`FAQ ` first to see if your issue is addressed in a well-known question * check the `active tickets` in the issue tracker to see if your issue has already been reported. If it has, don't dismiss the report but check the ticket history and comments, you may find additional useful information to contribute. * search the `scrapy-users`_ list to see if it has been discussed there, or if you're not sure if what you're seeing is a bug. You can also ask in the `#scrapy` IRC channel. * write complete, reproducible, specific bug reports. The smaller the test case, the better. Remember that other developers won't have your project to reproduce the bug, so please include all relevant files required to reproduce it. Writing patches =============== The better written a patch is, the higher chance that it'll get accepted and the sooner that will be merged. Well-written patches should: * contain the minimum amount of code required for the specific change. Small patches are easier to review and merge. So, if you're doing more than one change (or bug fix), please consider submitting one patch per change. Do not collapse multiple changes into a single patch. For big changes consider using a patch queue. * pass all unit-tests. See `Running tests`_ below. * include one (or more) test cases that check the bug fixed or the new functionality added. See `Writing tests`_ below. * if you're adding or changing a public (documented) API, please include the documentation changes in the same patch. See `Documentation policies`_ below. Submitting patches ================== To submit patches, any of the following mechanism is considered good: * create appropriate tickets in the issue tracker and attach the patches to those tickets. The patches can be generated using ``hg diff``. * send the patches to the `scrapy-developers`_ list, along with a comment explaining what was fixed or the new functionality (what it is, why it's needed, etc). The more info you include, the easier will be for core developers to understand and accept your patch. * fork the `Github mirror`_ and send a pull request when you're done working on the patch * clone the `Bitbucket mirror`_ and send a pull request when you're done working on the patch You can also discuss the new functionality (or bug fix) in `scrapy-developers`_ first, before creating the patch, but it's always good to have a patch ready to illustrate your arguments and show that you have put some additional thought into the subject. Coding style ============ Please follow these coding conventions when writing code for inclusion in Scrapy: * Unless otherwise specified, follow :pep:`8`. * It's OK to use lines longer than 80 chars if it improves the code readability. * Don't put your name in the code you contribute. Our policy is to keep the contributor's name in the `AUTHORS`_ file distributed with Scrapy. Documentation policies ====================== * **Don't** use docstrings for documenting classes, or methods which are already documented in the official (sphinx) documentation. For example, the :meth:`ItemLoader.add_value` method should be documented in the sphinx documentation and not its docstring. * **Do** use docstrings for documenting functions not present in the official (sphinx) documentation, such as functions from ``scrapy.utils`` package and its sub-modules. Tests ===== Tests are implemented using the `Twisted unit-testing framework`_ called ``trial``. Running tests ------------- To run all tests go to the root directory of Scrapy source code and run: ``bin/runtests.sh`` (on unix) ``bin\runtests.bat`` (on windows) To run a specific test (say ``scrapy.tests.test_contrib_loader``) use: ``bin/runtests.sh scrapy.tests.test_contrib_loader`` (on unix) ``bin\runtests.bat scrapy.tests.test_contrib_loader`` (on windows) Writing tests ------------- All functionality (including new features and bug fixes) must include a test case to check that it works as expected, so please include tests for your patches if you want them to get accepted sooner. Scrapy uses unit-tests, which are located in the ``scrapy.tests`` package (`scrapy/tests`_ directory). Their module name typically resembles the full path of the module they're testing. For example, the item loaders code is in:: scrapy.contrib.loader And their unit-tests are in:: scrapy.tests.test_contrib_loader .. _ticket tracker: http://dev.scrapy.org/newticket .. _scrapy-users: http://groups.google.com/group/scrapy-users .. _scrapy-developers: http://groups.google.com/group/scrapy-developers .. _Github mirror: http://github.com/insophia/scrapy/ .. _Bitbucket mirror: http://bitbucket.org/insophia/scrapy/ .. _Twisted unit-testing framework: http://twistedmatrix.com/documents/current/core/development/policy/test-standard.html .. _AUTHORS: http://dev.scrapy.org/browser/AUTHORS .. _scrapy/tests: http://dev.scrapy.org/browser/scrapy/tests .. _active tickets: http://dev.scrapy.org/report/1