- This particular article assumes you are running Ubuntu Linux. -
-- To get a working build environment you need to run the following command; -
-To actually build PHP with ext/intl support you need to configure PHP to enable it, f.e. -
-PHP creates a script called config.nice after every successful ./configure --some --arguments so you don't have to remember all the options you passed to ./configure every time you want to rebuild PHP, running ./config.nice will do that for you -
- --Once you have the build dependencies installed you'll need to checkout PHP from Git, configure and build it; -
While `make all test` is running we recommend you go out for a run,
-it can take a while. When you come back, submit
-the test results, but then try to track down one of the failed tests and
-figure out why it failed. The tests are very simple. In the failed test
-summary at the end a failed test shows up as:
-CLI php -m [sapi/cli/tests/018.phpt]
-
-That's a short description of the test and the filename of the test itself.
-For a failed tests, we create some files in the test dir. Go to sapi/cli/tests
-and you will find these files:
-
-To run more tests, run ./configure and enable as many extensions as possible. -
--Here is the shell script I use on an Ubuntu box: -
-#! /bin/sh -'./configure' \ -'--with-apxs2=/usr/bin/apxs2' \ -'--with-curlwrappers' \ -'--with-gd' \ -'--with-jpeg-dir=/usr' \ -'--with-png-dir=/usr' \ -'--with-vpx-dir=/usr' \ -'--with-freetype-dir=/usr' \ -'--with-t1lib=/usr' \ -'--enable-gd-native-ttf' \ -'--enable-exif' \ -'--with-config-file-path=/etc/php5/apache2' \ -'--with-config-file-scan-dir=/etc/php5/apache2/conf.d' \ -'--with-mysql=/usr' \ -'--with-zlib' \ -'--with-zlib-dir=/usr' \ -'--with-gettext' \ -'--with-kerberos' \ -'--with-imap-ssl' \ -'--with-mcrypt=/usr/local' \ -'--with-iconv' \ -'--with-ldap=/usr' \ -'--enable-sockets' \ -'--with-openssl' \ -'--with-pspell' \ -'--with-pdo-mysql=/usr' \ -'--with-pdo-sqlite' \ -'--enable-soap' \ -'--enable-xmlreader' \ -'--with-xsl' \ -'--enable-ftp' \ -'--enable-cgi' \ -'--with-curl=/usr' \ -'--with-tidy' \ -'--with-xmlrpc' \ -'--enable-mbstring' \ -'--enable-sysvsem' \ -'--enable-sysvshm' \ -'--enable-shmop' \ -'--with-readline' \ -'--with-mysqli=/usr/bin/mysql_config' \ -'--prefix=/usr/local' \ -"$@" --
-There are also README.TESTING and README.TESTING2 text files in the root -directory if you want to learn more about the testing mechanism. + Hannes Magnusson wrote an article in the August 2010 issue of + php|architect entitled + Community in Action, which + describes the PHP community in detail and covers many ways you can contribute + to PHP. He has kindly made it available on the PHP.net site, and it's well + worth a read.
++ More detailed information on a couple of ways you can get involved can be + found below. +
- The PHP project is so much more than just the scripting language on which it is - focused. It is a vibrant community of developers scratching related itches, - hoping their work will benefit others. PHP.net hosts a set of projects - focused around the "flagship product," the PHP language, surrounding it - with sub-projects for documentation, website maintenance, adding extra - functionality with extensions, and so on. +
+ Running the test suite helps the + PHP QA team to look for patterns of test failures and use those to track down + and fix bugs in PHP. Having a variety of people running the test suite on + different operating systems and architectures for alpha, beta, RC and stable + releases is a huge help in preventing and finding bugs and regressions.
- -- The PHP community is without a doubt, in my opinion, one of the greatest - communities in the world. It has a lot to offer besides good friends and a fun - working environment. It is a community where things can happen very fast, with - many people involved, contributing back "upstream" to PHP in various - capacities, from user-contributed notes to the manual to new killer language - features. There is always room for new contributors though, and PHP.net really - needs your help so it can continue the success of past years. In this article - we will explore how the PHP.net project works and how you can contribute to it. -
- - -- There are a lot of ways in which you can contribute to and influence the project; - participating on mailing lists, filing bug reports, and adding helpful notes - to the manual are all examples of valuable contributions. You don't have to - develop a new JIT compiler, or even know the first thing of - developing a language for that matter, to be able to contribute back. Whatever - you fancy, I am sure you can find a challenging task on PHP.net to solve. Or - are you maybe just looking for some brain-dead task on which to spend time - - but still want to make a difference? We have several of those too! -
- - -- Before we go deeper into ways you can contribute and how to do so, let's take - a step back and look at who actually leads the development and how things are - done within PHP.net. -
- - -- One of things I love most about working with Open Source Software like PHP is - the freedom. If I have an itch, I scratch it! If I want to work on new - features or document all the kinks and quirks of PHP, I can. We have the - freedom to work on exactly the things we care about and want to do. - There is no one person in charge or policing of the project, it is a community - effort. All decisions are made in the open after the contributors - participating in the discussion reach "general consensus" on the topic or - if - all else fails - after a vote on the subject. As within any community, there; - are members that have earned karma and respect through contributions to the - project, and their meaning and views usually carry more weight than a total - stranger from whom no one has heard before. Karma, like trust, needs to be - earned. -
- - -- To gain karma you basically need to prove to the community that you aren't - just a nut-job and show that you can be trusted to think not only about today, - but tomorrow as well. Being active on the developers' mailing lists, - digging into bug reports, posting patches and unit tests, and generally - trying to help out and contribute to the project are great ways to gain a - lot of karma points very quickly. -
- - -- All of the PHP.net projects (from PEAR, to PECL, to websites and - documentation, to the PHP language itself) have - long-time members which could be considered the "leaders" of the respective - projects by the community, but that really doesn't mean anything other than - "if no one knows the answer, ask him." The "leader" isn't going to tell you to - do anything, other than maybe ask you to revert a bad commit, but anyone can - do that. It is totally up to you to decide whether or not to work on some - things. In the end, the final say on the matter is up to the contributor who - is actually doing the work. -
- - -- The PHP.net project has mailing lists for most aspects of the project where - all important decisions are made. For example discussions and decisions about - the language happen on the internals@lists.php.net mailing list - (internals-win@lists.php.net for Windows-specific things such as packaging, - porting features not available yet on Windows, et cetera). All discussions - are open to whomever wants to participate. All you need to do is to sign up - to the mailing list and follow the discussions - and chime in if you have - something to add. Please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the - mailing list "rules" before you go all crazy on the lists. For the rules that - are generally followed on all PHP mailing lists, please see the - Mailinglist Rules. -
- - -- Although most of the PHP internals contributors make their living writing PHP - applications, feedback from other users is crucial to the development of the - language; your voice does matter. Keep in mind, however, that flaming - and/or talking down to the developers that spend most of their free time - working on the project may not exactly be the best approach to get your point - across. Take a look at the Mailing Lists for the most - popular mailing lists and see if any of them interest you, then sign up! -
- - -- Even though most of the mailing lists are very active, not everything that is - contributed to PHP needs to be approved there first. For example, minor - features are often simply committed directly to Git without asking or telling - anyone. These are typically things for which a developer working on an - external application saw a need and decided to add, in case anyone else might - need it in the future. PHP has a great peer review process so it's very hard - to "sneak" things in. Every commit to Git is reviewed by quite a lot of people - who are interested in what is going on - or who simply enjoy reading code. If - a reviewer discovers issues with the commit, he or she will send a quick reply - to the commit email and discuss it on the developers list. Often the peer review - results in extending the new feature and/or fixing unexpected behaviour, but - it can also result in removal of the feature as a whole if the community - doesn't see any need for it. -
- - -- To help streamline part of the decision process and keep track of ideas, - proposals, and TODO lists, PHP has a wiki located at - wiki.php.net. This has proven to be a valuable resource when - developing new features, creating RFCs, and getting approval for things - before wasting time on a rejected feature. Discussions on controversial - features pop up on the mailing lists regularly, but with the help of the - wiki people can easily browse through previous discussions and see the - reasons for rejection. The wiki contains a lot of great information and is - definitely worth browsing for all those interested in the overall PHP.net - project. It not only covers RFCs, but also has a lot of information about - how various other things work; missing documentation, suggestions, - "internal" parser engine information, infrastructure docs, and even some - TODO lists are all examples of things included in the wiki. -
- - - - -- There are a lot of ways you can contribute to the project, it simply depends on what you fancy. -
-- Getting involved is a lot easier than most people think - and chances are that - you are already involved in one way or another. You don't need an Git account - and commit access to get started - Git accounts need to be earned. Registering - on the mailing lists related to the topic in which you are interested - and - actively participating in the discussions - is a good start toward getting - your request for an Git account granted. Browse the wiki to see if there are - outstanding TODO items you can help to clear, for example. Another great way - to get involved and really help out is by reviewing the bug tracker for bugs - you could potentially fix, or perhaps for which you could write a unit test. - Sending several pull requests, or attaching patches to bug reports will - quickly show that you are interested and serious about your desire to - contribute. Eventually someone will get annoyed with the amount of time - they must spend to commit your patches for you, and will probably respond - with something along the lines of, "Stop bothering me. Do it yourself!" and - ask you to submit the Git account form. Mission accomplished! -
- - - - -- To register with any PHP mailing list, just send a blank email to - <listname>-subscribe@lists.php.net. For example if you want to register - for the PHP internals developers discussion list, send an email to - internals-subscribe@lists.php.net. - Alternatively, filling out the form at php.net/mailinglists will - register you for the list (or lists) you choose. That page also lists some of - the most popular mailing lists and describes the intention of the lists. - Again, remember to refer to the rules prior to joining the discussion, or you - may be scorned for a faux-pas such as top-posting your reply to a thread - oh the horror! -
-- Filing a bug report is an art. It isn't very complicated, but you do - have to think about what you are reporting. Quickly looking through - the existing reports to see if your issue has already been reported - will take you less than five minutes, and the chances are quite good that - you aren't the first one to identify the issue. However, if you are, - we greatly appreciate your time and effort in reporting it. If at all - possible, provide a short example of how the issue can be reproduced, - and mention what you expected to happen versus what actually happened. - Simple steps like these will drastically increase the chances of - someone picking up the report and attempting to fix the issue. While - there is no registration or login required to file a bug report, a - valid email address must be provided just in case the developers need - more information from you, as well as for you to receive status - updates on your report. A page explaining how to file a "report that - someone will want to help fix" is available on - bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php. Please read through it - before filing a bug report for the first time. -
-- Unsure which task to tackle first? Stuck on a problem? Need a - quick brainstorming session? IRC is a very convenient way to get - help quickly for smaller things, such as "where was the Git module - for zyx?" or if you simply want to run an idea by people to get - their opinions - or even just to hang out. There aren't any - "official" IRC channels for the PHP project, but a good chunk of - contributors hang out on EFNet on the #php.pecl, #php.doc and #pear - channels. The mailing list archives also contain a lot of information - and are definitely worth searching for ideas and inspiration. If - you think your question can benefit others coming after you, - consider asking it on the mailing list so the next person doesn't - have to ask it again. -
-- When you are ready to contribute to the project please don't try - to tackle the biggest issues and expect to fix them right away. - Start with smaller tasks and learn the ways of the project and - participate in discussions on the mailing lists. Larger issues - take more time and experience within the project, which is not - something on which newcomers should focus. Take your time and - solve the task as best as you possibly can. Read up on the Coding - Standards and try to be consistent in your work. We have lost too - many people who jump right on the larger tasks only to vanish few - days later, having given up on the task because it took more time - and effort than they initially anticipated. -
-- If you can't find something on which to work within PHP.net, you will have a - hard time finding it elsewhere. Introducing every project is beyond the scope - of this article, but we'll cover some of the projects that don't have entry - points that are too steep for newcomers. -
- - - -- The main focus of the documentation project (phpdoc) is to document the PHP - language (and PECL extensions) with usage examples, FAQs, and tracking changes - in behaviour. The documentation is written in XML using the Docbook format - with English as the primary language. This is then translated into several - different languages by dedicated translation teams. The phpdoc team also - maintains sets of scripts to simplify the work: generation of skeletons for - new extensions and functions based on Reflection information, extracting INI - options, and various related utilities to extract information from the PHP - source code are all examples of tools used to make writing documentation - easier. The primary mailing list for phpdoc is phpdoc@lists.php.net, where - contributors coordinate their efforts and ask for feedback, suggestions, and - help. The list also covers the phpdoc sub-projects, such as the PhD and PhD - O.E. applications. Each translation team also has its own mailing list: - doc-<country-code>@lists.php.net. For example, doc-fr@lists.php.net for - the French translation list. -
- -- A web application, called "PhD Online Editor" (PhD O.E), which aims to help - documentation editors focus on the content itself, rather than Docbook and XML - logistics, is under development at edit.php.net. It is getting - more and more popular, especially for newcomers who aren't comfortable with - Docbook. It has a very rich interface and desktop application feeling to it, - and abstracts most of the XML magic from the contributor. One of the goals - of PhD O.E. is to get more people involved with the documentation effort, - and therefore it will allow anonymous users to "login" and use the - application. Modification, validation, translation, creation of new files, - and everything else you need for writing documentation is possible without - an Git account. When saving changes, a patch will be created and saved to - the "patch queue," while pending approval by someone with Git karma to - commit the changes. PhD O.E. also bundles a variety of scripts to ensure the - docs use a consistent structure, allow the contributor to view undocumented - functions, and check the translation status of an entry (among other things). -
- -- The team is also developing a Docbook rendering engine, called "PHP-based - Docbook Rendering" (PhD), to transform the Docbook XML into various different - formats, such as HTML, CHM, PDF, Unix manual pages, and the online format you - see while browsing the PHP Manual. The application was written with - performance in mind and can render the entire PHP manual in less then five - minutes, whereas the previous tool chain would take over an hour for the same - task. PhD has received a lot of attention from various people and projects - using Docbook, and is now also in use outside of PHP.net for the rendering of - Docbook manuals. -
- - -- Last, but not least: the team also maintains a website on - doc.php.net which aggregates translation - statistics, tutorials, and the documentation HOWTO. -
- -- The project offers much more than just documentation, and is probably the - project to which it is easiest to start contributing. If you enjoy working - with XML, PHP, JS, documentation, writing articles, or simply want to dig - into the PHP internals from a different angle, this is the place to be. -
- - -- No surprise there, the webmaster team maintains several websites, and is - responsible for maintaining the mirroring infrastructure and related tasks. - The websites contain a lot of information; everything from user group meet-ups - and conference listings, to tips & tricks and documentation, and - everything between. It is also the primary public source for release - information, as well as the general entry point for people looking into PHP. -
- -- To get up and running is very simple: just follow the points on - wiki.php.net/web/mirror - and you are all set. Once you have poked around a little you can look - into the other websites, like qa.php.net, master.php.net and pecl.php.net. -
- -- Recently, work on redesigning the main website from the ground-up was started. - Unfortunately, this effort has stalled a bit over the past several months - due to a lack of contributors interested in being actively involved. - The idea is simple: design a completely new layout and refactor the current - content to make it more accessible. -
- -- Joining the redesign effort is a great entry point for those interested in - markup, CSS, and general website development. Check out - wiki.php.net/web/redesign - and contact php-webmaster@lists.php.net if you are interested in contributing. - You will be welcomed with roses! -
- - - -- PHP.net has a lot of areas to which you can contribute: everything from - hardcore development to managing user-contributed notes in the manual; - from debugging issues in bug reports to writing articles about new features - for the manual. In this article we only covered the tip of the iceberg, - mentioning only a small sample of concrete projects that do a lot more than - initially meets the eye, and which welcome all the help they can get. - We have also touched on how to influence the direction of the project, - how to participate in discussions around the project, and ways you can make - a difference. I hope this article has inspired you to get involved with the - project, or has at least given you some idea on how things work and what you - can do if you ever do decide you want to get involved! -
- - Contents + ++ The PHP project is so much more than just the scripting language on which it is + focused. It is a vibrant community of developers scratching related itches, + hoping their work will benefit others. PHP.net hosts a set of projects + focused around the "flagship product," the PHP language, surrounding it + with sub-projects for documentation, website maintenance, adding extra + functionality with extensions, and so on. +
+ + ++ The PHP community is without a doubt, in my opinion, one of the greatest + communities in the world. It has a lot to offer besides good friends and a fun + working environment. It is a community where things can happen very fast, with + many people involved, contributing back "upstream" to PHP in various + capacities, from user-contributed notes to the manual to new killer language + features. There is always room for new contributors though, and PHP.net really + needs your help so it can continue the success of past years. In this article + we will explore how the PHP.net project works and how you can contribute to it. +
+ + ++ There are a lot of ways in which you can contribute to and influence the project; + participating on mailing lists, filing bug reports, and adding helpful notes + to the manual are all examples of valuable contributions. You don't have to + develop a new JIT compiler, or even know the first thing of + developing a language for that matter, to be able to contribute back. Whatever + you fancy, I am sure you can find a challenging task on PHP.net to solve. Or + are you maybe just looking for some brain-dead task on which to spend time - + but still want to make a difference? We have several of those too! +
+ + ++ Before we go deeper into ways you can contribute and how to do so, let's take + a step back and look at who actually leads the development and how things are + done within PHP.net. +
+ + ++ One of things I love most about working with Open Source Software like PHP is + the freedom. If I have an itch, I scratch it! If I want to work on new + features or document all the kinks and quirks of PHP, I can. We have the + freedom to work on exactly the things we care about and want to do. + There is no one person in charge or policing of the project, it is a community + effort. All decisions are made in the open after the contributors + participating in the discussion reach "general consensus" on the topic or - if + all else fails - after a vote on the subject. As within any community, there; + are members that have earned karma and respect through contributions to the + project, and their meaning and views usually carry more weight than a total + stranger from whom no one has heard before. Karma, like trust, needs to be + earned. +
+ + ++ To gain karma you basically need to prove to the community that you aren't + just a nut-job and show that you can be trusted to think not only about today, + but tomorrow as well. Being active on the developers' mailing lists, + digging into bug reports, posting patches and unit tests, and generally + trying to help out and contribute to the project are great ways to gain a + lot of karma points very quickly. +
+ + ++ All of the PHP.net projects (from PEAR, to PECL, to websites and + documentation, to the PHP language itself) have + long-time members which could be considered the "leaders" of the respective + projects by the community, but that really doesn't mean anything other than + "if no one knows the answer, ask him." The "leader" isn't going to tell you to + do anything, other than maybe ask you to revert a bad commit, but anyone can + do that. It is totally up to you to decide whether or not to work on some + things. In the end, the final say on the matter is up to the contributor who + is actually doing the work. +
+ + ++ The PHP.net project has mailing lists for most aspects of the project where + all important decisions are made. For example discussions and decisions about + the language happen on the internals@lists.php.net mailing list + (internals-win@lists.php.net for Windows-specific things such as packaging, + porting features not available yet on Windows, et cetera). All discussions + are open to whomever wants to participate. All you need to do is to sign up + to the mailing list and follow the discussions - and chime in if you have + something to add. Please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the + mailing list "rules" before you go all crazy on the lists. For the rules that + are generally followed on all PHP mailing lists, please see the + Mailinglist Rules. +
+ + ++ Although most of the PHP internals contributors make their living writing PHP + applications, feedback from other users is crucial to the development of the + language; your voice does matter. Keep in mind, however, that flaming + and/or talking down to the developers that spend most of their free time + working on the project may not exactly be the best approach to get your point + across. Take a look at the Mailing Lists for the most + popular mailing lists and see if any of them interest you, then sign up! +
+ + ++ Even though most of the mailing lists are very active, not everything that is + contributed to PHP needs to be approved there first. For example, minor + features are often simply committed directly to Git without asking or telling + anyone. These are typically things for which a developer working on an + external application saw a need and decided to add, in case anyone else might + need it in the future. PHP has a great peer review process so it's very hard + to "sneak" things in. Every commit to Git is reviewed by quite a lot of people + who are interested in what is going on - or who simply enjoy reading code. If + a reviewer discovers issues with the commit, he or she will send a quick reply + to the commit email and discuss it on the developers list. Often the peer review + results in extending the new feature and/or fixing unexpected behaviour, but + it can also result in removal of the feature as a whole if the community + doesn't see any need for it. +
+ + ++ To help streamline part of the decision process and keep track of ideas, + proposals, and TODO lists, PHP has a wiki located at + wiki.php.net. This has proven to be a valuable resource when + developing new features, creating RFCs, and getting approval for things + before wasting time on a rejected feature. Discussions on controversial + features pop up on the mailing lists regularly, but with the help of the + wiki people can easily browse through previous discussions and see the + reasons for rejection. The wiki contains a lot of great information and is + definitely worth browsing for all those interested in the overall PHP.net + project. It not only covers RFCs, but also has a lot of information about + how various other things work; missing documentation, suggestions, + "internal" parser engine information, infrastructure docs, and even some + TODO lists are all examples of things included in the wiki. +
+ + + + ++ There are a lot of ways you can contribute to the project, it simply depends on what you fancy. +
++ Getting involved is a lot easier than most people think - and chances are that + you are already involved in one way or another. You don't need an Git account + and commit access to get started - Git accounts need to be earned. Registering + on the mailing lists related to the topic in which you are interested - and + actively participating in the discussions - is a good start toward getting + your request for an Git account granted. Browse the wiki to see if there are + outstanding TODO items you can help to clear, for example. Another great way + to get involved and really help out is by reviewing the bug tracker for bugs + you could potentially fix, or perhaps for which you could write a unit test. + Sending several pull requests, or attaching patches to bug reports will + quickly show that you are interested and serious about your desire to + contribute. Eventually someone will get annoyed with the amount of time + they must spend to commit your patches for you, and will probably respond + with something along the lines of, "Stop bothering me. Do it yourself!" and + ask you to submit the Git account form. Mission accomplished! +
+ + + + ++ To register with any PHP mailing list, just send a blank email to + <listname>-subscribe@lists.php.net. For example if you want to register + for the PHP internals developers discussion list, send an email to + internals-subscribe@lists.php.net. + Alternatively, filling out the form at php.net/mailinglists will + register you for the list (or lists) you choose. That page also lists some of + the most popular mailing lists and describes the intention of the lists. + Again, remember to refer to the rules prior to joining the discussion, or you + may be scorned for a faux-pas such as top-posting your reply to a thread - oh the horror! +
++ Filing a bug report is an art. It isn't very complicated, but you do + have to think about what you are reporting. Quickly looking through + the existing reports to see if your issue has already been reported + will take you less than five minutes, and the chances are quite good that + you aren't the first one to identify the issue. However, if you are, + we greatly appreciate your time and effort in reporting it. If at all + possible, provide a short example of how the issue can be reproduced, + and mention what you expected to happen versus what actually happened. + Simple steps like these will drastically increase the chances of + someone picking up the report and attempting to fix the issue. While + there is no registration or login required to file a bug report, a + valid email address must be provided just in case the developers need + more information from you, as well as for you to receive status + updates on your report. A page explaining how to file a "report that + someone will want to help fix" is available on + bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php. Please read through it + before filing a bug report for the first time. +
++ Unsure which task to tackle first? Stuck on a problem? Need a + quick brainstorming session? IRC is a very convenient way to get + help quickly for smaller things, such as "where was the Git module + for zyx?" or if you simply want to run an idea by people to get + their opinions - or even just to hang out. There aren't any + "official" IRC channels for the PHP project, but a good chunk of + contributors hang out on EFNet on the #php.pecl, #php.doc and #pear + channels. The mailing list archives also contain a lot of information + and are definitely worth searching for ideas and inspiration. If + you think your question can benefit others coming after you, + consider asking it on the mailing list so the next person doesn't + have to ask it again. +
++ When you are ready to contribute to the project please don't try + to tackle the biggest issues and expect to fix them right away. + Start with smaller tasks and learn the ways of the project and + participate in discussions on the mailing lists. Larger issues + take more time and experience within the project, which is not + something on which newcomers should focus. Take your time and + solve the task as best as you possibly can. Read up on the Coding + Standards and try to be consistent in your work. We have lost too + many people who jump right on the larger tasks only to vanish few + days later, having given up on the task because it took more time + and effort than they initially anticipated. +
++ If you can't find something on which to work within PHP.net, you will have a + hard time finding it elsewhere. Introducing every project is beyond the scope + of this article, but we'll cover some of the projects that don't have entry + points that are too steep for newcomers. +
+ + + ++ The main focus of the documentation project (phpdoc) is to document the PHP + language (and PECL extensions) with usage examples, FAQs, and tracking changes + in behaviour. The documentation is written in XML using the Docbook format + with English as the primary language. This is then translated into several + different languages by dedicated translation teams. The phpdoc team also + maintains sets of scripts to simplify the work: generation of skeletons for + new extensions and functions based on Reflection information, extracting INI + options, and various related utilities to extract information from the PHP + source code are all examples of tools used to make writing documentation + easier. The primary mailing list for phpdoc is phpdoc@lists.php.net, where + contributors coordinate their efforts and ask for feedback, suggestions, and + help. The list also covers the phpdoc sub-projects, such as the PhD and PhD + O.E. applications. Each translation team also has its own mailing list: + doc-<country-code>@lists.php.net. For example, doc-fr@lists.php.net for + the French translation list. +
+ ++ A web application, called "PhD Online Editor" (PhD O.E), which aims to help + documentation editors focus on the content itself, rather than Docbook and XML + logistics, is under development at edit.php.net. It is getting + more and more popular, especially for newcomers who aren't comfortable with + Docbook. It has a very rich interface and desktop application feeling to it, + and abstracts most of the XML magic from the contributor. One of the goals + of PhD O.E. is to get more people involved with the documentation effort, + and therefore it will allow anonymous users to "login" and use the + application. Modification, validation, translation, creation of new files, + and everything else you need for writing documentation is possible without + an Git account. When saving changes, a patch will be created and saved to + the "patch queue," while pending approval by someone with Git karma to + commit the changes. PhD O.E. also bundles a variety of scripts to ensure the + docs use a consistent structure, allow the contributor to view undocumented + functions, and check the translation status of an entry (among other things). +
+ ++ The team is also developing a Docbook rendering engine, called "PHP-based + Docbook Rendering" (PhD), to transform the Docbook XML into various different + formats, such as HTML, CHM, PDF, Unix manual pages, and the online format you + see while browsing the PHP Manual. The application was written with + performance in mind and can render the entire PHP manual in less then five + minutes, whereas the previous tool chain would take over an hour for the same + task. PhD has received a lot of attention from various people and projects + using Docbook, and is now also in use outside of PHP.net for the rendering of + Docbook manuals. +
+ + ++ Last, but not least: the team also maintains a website on + doc.php.net which aggregates translation + statistics, tutorials, and the documentation HOWTO. +
+ ++ The project offers much more than just documentation, and is probably the + project to which it is easiest to start contributing. If you enjoy working + with XML, PHP, JS, documentation, writing articles, or simply want to dig + into the PHP internals from a different angle, this is the place to be. +
+ + ++ No surprise there, the webmaster team maintains several websites, and is + responsible for maintaining the mirroring infrastructure and related tasks. + The websites contain a lot of information; everything from user group meet-ups + and conference listings, to tips & tricks and documentation, and + everything between. It is also the primary public source for release + information, as well as the general entry point for people looking into PHP. +
+ ++ To get up and running is very simple: just follow the points on + wiki.php.net/web/mirror + and you are all set. Once you have poked around a little you can look + into the other websites, like qa.php.net, master.php.net and pecl.php.net. +
+ ++ Recently, work on redesigning the main website from the ground-up was started. + Unfortunately, this effort has stalled a bit over the past several months + due to a lack of contributors interested in being actively involved. + The idea is simple: design a completely new layout and refactor the current + content to make it more accessible. +
+ ++ Joining the redesign effort is a great entry point for those interested in + markup, CSS, and general website development. Check out + wiki.php.net/web/redesign + and contact php-webmaster@lists.php.net if you are interested in contributing. + You will be welcomed with roses! +
+ + + ++ PHP.net has a lot of areas to which you can contribute: everything from + hardcore development to managing user-contributed notes in the manual; + from debugging issues in bug reports to writing articles about new features + for the manual. In this article we only covered the tip of the iceberg, + mentioning only a small sample of concrete projects that do a lot more than + initially meets the eye, and which welcome all the help they can get. + We have also touched on how to influence the direction of the project, + how to participate in discussions around the project, and ways you can make + a difference. I hope this article has inspired you to get involved with the + project, or has at least given you some idea on how things work and what you + can do if you ever do decide you want to get involved! +
+ + "community")); +?> + + + ++ One of the simplest ways to help improve PHP is by building PHP, running the + test suite and sending the results to the PHP QA team. This allows us to look + for patterns of test failures and use those to track down and fix bugs in PHP. +
+ +
+ To get a working build environment you need to run the following command:
+
+ sudo apt-get build-dep php5
+
+ You'll also need a PHP source tree. The easiest way to get this is to
+ download a release tarball and extract it
+ somewhere. If you're more adventurous, you can grab the latest code from
+ GitHub as described in steps 1-4 on the Git
+ instructions page — don't forget to run ./buildconf
+ before trying to run ./configure!
+
+ To build PHP with extensions that require third party libraries you will need
+ to install those libraries. The simplest way to accomplish that is to to use
+ apt-get to install the Ubuntu build dependencies for that
+ particular extension. For example, if you want to build PHP with
+ intl support you have to run this command to install the
+ ext/intl dependencies:
+
+ sudo apt-get build-dep php5-intl
+
+ To build PHP with ext/intl support you need to configure PHP to enable it:
+
+ ./configure --enable-intl
+
+ In general, the rule of thumb for configuring PHP is: +
+ +--enable-extension-name. For example:
+ ./configure --enable-soap
+ --with-extension-name. For example:
+ ./configure --with-pgsql
+
+ But as you saw with ext/intl, rules are meant to be broken - so you
+ should check ./configure --help first, as it lists every
+ option.
+
+ When PHP encounters unknown configure options you will be notified when
+ configure finishes running so you can modify your arguments and re-run
+ ./configure before executing make.
+
+ PHP creates a script called config.nice after every successful
+ ./configure so you don't have to remember all the options you
+ passed to ./configure in the first place. If you want to rebuild PHP with the
+ same options, you can simply run ./config.nice instead of
+ ./configure --enable-this --with-that in future.
+
+ This is the easy part! Once you have the dependencies installed and
+ configure has run, you can run make to build PHP.
+
+ You can also run the test suite automatically after building PHP by running:
+
+ make all test
+
+ While PHP is building and the test suite is running we recommend you go out + for a run, it can take a while. When you come back, submit the test results + by pressing "y" and hitting enter — but if you really want to help us + out, you can try to track down one of the failed tests and figure out why it + failed. +
+ +
+ The test suite is very simple. In the failed test summary at the end a
+ failed test shows up as:
+
+ CLI php -m [sapi/cli/tests/018.phpt]
+
+ We'll assume that this is the test that's failed from here on, but your file
+ name will almost certainly be different.
+
+ That's a short description of the test and the filename of the test itself.
+ When tests fail, make test creates some files in the test
+ directory. Go to sapi/cli/tests and you will find these files:
+
+ If you've managed to fix something, you can re-run the tests for just that
+ set of tests with:
+
+ make test TESTS=sapi/cli
+
+ From there, you can + create a pull request and send + the change to the PHP development team to be integrated into PHP! +
+ ++To run more tests, run ./configure and enable as many extensions as possible. +
+ +
+Here is the shell script I use on an Ubuntu box:
+
+
+
+#! /bin/sh
+'./configure' \
+'--with-apxs2=/usr/bin/apxs2' \
+'--with-curlwrappers' \
+'--with-gd' \
+'--with-jpeg-dir=/usr' \
+'--with-png-dir=/usr' \
+'--with-vpx-dir=/usr' \
+'--with-freetype-dir=/usr' \
+'--with-t1lib=/usr' \
+'--enable-gd-native-ttf' \
+'--enable-exif' \
+'--with-config-file-path=/etc/php5/apache2' \
+'--with-config-file-scan-dir=/etc/php5/apache2/conf.d' \
+'--with-mysql=/usr' \
+'--with-zlib' \
+'--with-zlib-dir=/usr' \
+'--with-gettext' \
+'--with-kerberos' \
+'--with-imap-ssl' \
+'--with-mcrypt=/usr/local' \
+'--with-iconv' \
+'--with-ldap=/usr' \
+'--enable-sockets' \
+'--with-openssl' \
+'--with-pspell' \
+'--with-pdo-mysql=/usr' \
+'--with-pdo-sqlite' \
+'--enable-soap' \
+'--enable-xmlreader' \
+'--with-xsl' \
+'--enable-ftp' \
+'--enable-cgi' \
+'--with-curl=/usr' \
+'--with-tidy' \
+'--with-xmlrpc' \
+'--enable-mbstring' \
+'--enable-sysvsem' \
+'--enable-sysvshm' \
+'--enable-shmop' \
+'--with-readline' \
+'--with-mysqli=/usr/bin/mysql_config' \
+'--prefix=/usr/local' \
+"$@"
+
+
+ There are also + README.TESTING + and + README.TESTING2 + text files in the root directory of PHP's source code if you want to learn + more about the testing mechanism. +
+ +