Submitting Patches

Before I start, here are some notes:

Things I will NOT teach you:

• C++
• Lua
• Compiling otclient, there are tutorials over here in the wiki, please check them out.

Things I will teach you:

• Basic usage of git.
• Testing your code before pushing.

Another thing, before diving in, obtain a copy of Git, there are several ways to do this, here are some of them:

• Compiling from source code (I won't do that)
• Obtaining it by your package manager (Linux or Cygwin)
• The Native way in windows, is obtaining an installer through here

Configuring git

• Configure your email address and github user:

   git config --global user.name="your name here"
   git config --global user.email="your email here"

• (Optional) Configure email sending stuff:

   git config --global sendemail.smtpencryption=tls
   git config --global sendemail.smtpserver=smtp.gmail.com
   git config --global sendemail.smtpuser=example@gmail.com
   git config --global sendemail.smtpserverport=587

Okay, now you're ready to dive in.

• Open up Git Shell.
• Obtain a copy of otclient's source code:

   git clone https://github.com/edubart/otclient.git

• Change directory to otclient's source code:

   cd otclient

• Before you do anything, please work on a different branch than master, we will use tutorial.
• Tip: to see which branch you're currently working on, do:

   git branch

Which should (hopefully) output:

• master

• Create your work branch, we will be using tutorial:

   git checkout -b tutorial

This creates new branch called tutorial and switches to it and is also a shortcut to:

   git branch tutorial
   git checkout tutorial

Make sure you're in the branch tutorial, do:

   git branch

Which should output:

• master
• tutorial

The Job

• Step 1, Do some change

• Step 2, check our changes:

Like you see, nothing has been added to the repo yet, add it with:

   git add file

And then, commit it with:

   git commit

Note: This will open the text editor git is configured with, to configure the text editor git uses, do:

   git config --global core.editor=vim

Replace vim with your text editor.

Here's an image to demonstrate how this is done:

• Step 3, make a .patch file

Making a patch file is a simple process, and is done like so:

   git format-patch master..tutorial

Which should output the filename the patch saved to, the file contains your changes.

• Step 4, now, send the patch to some developer.

Notes

• this step is optional (the sending email thing), alternatively you can use github issues to send patches etc. Use whatever you feel comfortable with.
• Read the manual page for git send-email if you're wondering how this is done.
• It's the developer freedom to choose whether your patch should be commited to the family tree or not, it really depends on how useful your patch is.

Bonus

• It's good to write the signed-off-by line in your patch, to tell that this is your code, etc. It's not of much use, however, you can use it to reward yourself a bit more.

• See if your patch is good:

   git apply --check <patch file>

This will tell you whether your patch file is formatted good or not. Remember to do this before sending!

Happy hacking!