CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing

You're welcome to contribute to the code or to the translations!

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Table of contents

• Testing the extension
  • Transfering to a virtual machine
  • Printing debug logs
• Contributing to the code
  • Coding style
  • Copyright notice
  • Creating new files
  • Localized strings
• Contributing to the translations

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Testing the extension

Transfering to a virtual machine

The recommended way of testing the extension is to use a virtual machine, and to transfer the extension from your host system to the virtualized system.

To pack the extension as a zip file instead of installing it on your system, you can use the pack option when configuring Meson:

meson setup builddir -Dpack=true

When running meson install -C builddir, it will create an archive in the dist directory. You can then transfer the extension to the VM and install it there using gnome-extensions install [email protected].

Printing debug logs

To print debug logs, set the build type to debug when configuring Meson:

meson setup builddir -Dbuildtype=debug

You can then read the logs with journalctl -f /usr/bin/gnome-shell.

Contributing to the code

You'll need NPM to install the development dependencies:

meson compile -C builddir dev

When you're done, commit all your changes. Make one commit per change. The commit message must include which part of the code you worked on. Example:

Commands Switcher: Change spawned command

You can then push to a branch and create a new merge request.

Coding style

We follow the GNOME Shell coding style and we use ESLint to enforce it.

To make sure your code follows it:

meson test -C builddir --suite=code

Copyright notice

If you make changes to a file, please put a copyright notice at the top of the file, or in a separate file (named original-file.ext.license), following the SPDX specification. For example:

SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Night Theme Switcher Contributors
SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later

We use reuse to check that all the needed information is present:

meson test -C builddir --suite=licensing

Creating new files

If you add new source files, you have to add their paths in different files:

• ./src/meson.build for Javascript files
• ./src/po/POTFILES for Javascript and UI files

Add them in the correct place alphabetically.

Localized strings

If you create or modify localized strings, make your changes available for translation:

meson compile -C builddir [email protected]

Contributing to the translations

The project uses Weblate to manage translations. Head over Night Theme Switcher's project page to start translating the extension. If you need help, check out Weblate's user documentation.

Current translation status: