Every volunteer project obtains its strength from the people involved in it. We invite you to participate as much or as little as you choose. The roles and responsibilities that people can assume in the project are based on merit. Everybody's input matters!

Here is one developer's advice how to get involved. It specifically talks about Tomcat, but the general idea can applied to any of the Apache Projects.

• Contributing -- Craig R. McClanahan

Here is another comment that was sent to the Jakarta Turbine Mailing List about the open source process and the contrast between how an opensource product and a proprietary product improve through the user community.

• Understanding Opensource -- Cameron Riley

While written for ASF developers, the Rules for Revolutionaries provides insight into how the collaborative process works, and how our process differs from working on a hierarchical team.

• Rules for Revolutionaries -- James Duncan Davidson

Just using the products is a very important role. We need people who will report bugs, contribute patches, suggest features, and so forth. Your feedback helps the technology to evolve.

There are a variety of ways to participate. Regardless of how you choose to participate, we suggest you join our mailing lists.

Before joining any Apache mailing list, please be sure to read the Mailing List Guidelines . If you have read and understood these guidelines, you are welcome to join the Struts mailing lists .

Before posting a new question, be sure to consult one of the Mailing List Archives and the very excellent How To Ask Questions The Smart Way by Eric Raymond.

Please do be sure to turn off HTML in your email client before posting.

Apache Struts is an all volunteer product. Our customers are the volunteers who donate their time and energy to supporting the product. If you want to support Struts, and become one of our customers, then you need to get involved and become a volunteer.

Our challenge to any team using an Apache Struts product is to donate the time of one team member one afternoon a week (or more if you can spare the resources). Have your team member browse Bugzilla for any issues without a patch or unit test, and add the patch or test . Please note that we do not use @author tags in our JavaDocs and documentation. If your patch includes an @author tag, we would have to ask that it be removed.

If an Apache Struts product doesn't do what you want, it's up to you to step up and propose the patch. If an Apache Struts product doesn't ship as often as you would like, it's up to you to step up with the tests and fixes that get a release out the door. ( Like Craig McClanahan did for Tomcat. )

If Struts does do what you want, help others become involved by turning your war stories into FAQs and how-tos that we can make part of the documentation . The mailing list is very active and trundling through the archives is no picnic. We can always use volunteers who can reduce the best threads to coherent articles we can share with others.

We don't sell Struts for money, but anyone who wants to be our customer can pay us back by donating the time and energy that money represents.

A patch is a machine-readable script that can automatically recreate a change to a text file, including source code and documentation. The patch format is also human-readable. Developers often pass patches around to discuss a change before applying it to the main repository.

The best way to affect a change to the source code or documentation is to provide a patch. Apache Struts committers can then review your patch and decide whether to apply it to the main repository.

To create a patch, you first have to checkout a copy of the sourcecode or documentation from the main repository. You can then change your copy, and create the patch using a simple Subversion command, like this:

svn diff Main.java >> patchfile.txt

Then, create a Bugzilla report about the change, and attach the patch file.

Some Apache projects ask that you to submit your patch to the mailing list. We would prefer that you create a Bugzilla report and then attach the patch to the report. To do this, you must first create the report, and then modify the report to add your patch. We realize this is a bit clumsy, but it keeps us from losing things, and helps to ensure that your patch will be attended.

The NetBeans community also has a helpful section on the subject of creating patches.

Tracking of bug reports and enhancement suggestions for Apache Struts subprojects is handled through the Apache Bug Database (Bugzilla). Please select Struts from the product list, along with the details of which component of Struts you feel this report relates to, and details of your operating environment. You will automatically be notified by email as the status of your bug or enhancement report changes. Please be sure to read How to Report Bugs Effectively before posting.

You can research and report outstanding fixes and feature suggestions using Bugzilla. If you are unsure if this is an actual problem, feel free to bring it up on the list first. But to be sure that an issue is resolved, read How to Report Bugs Effectively and report it to Bugzilla .

If you can't write a patch to fix your bug, a unit test that demonstrates the problem is also welcome. (And, of course, unit tests that prove your patch works are equally welcome.)

If your bug or feature is already in Bugzilla, you can vote for the issue and call more attention to it. Each user can cast up to six votes at a time.

If there is a patch attached to the issue, you can also try applying to your local copy of Struts, and report whether it worked for you. Feedback from developers regarding a proposed patch is really quite helpful. Don't hesitate to add a "works for me" note to a ticket if you've tried the patch yourself and found it useful.

Feature suggestions are also maintained in the Bugzilla database .

For your convenience, here are some common Bugzilla queries:

• Open reports
• Open reports with at least 3 votes
• Open problem reports
  • major problem reports
  • normal/minor problem reports
• Open enhancement reports
  • Patch Available
• Reports to be handled "LATER"

A very good place to start is by reviewing the list of open issues and pending feature suggestions ( Bugzilla ). If you see an issue that needs a patch you can write, feel free to annex your patch. If you seen an issue that needs a unit test to prove its fixed, feel free to annex your test case. If someone has posted a patch to an issue you'd like to see resolved, apply the patch to your local development copy of Struts. Then let us know if it works for you, and if it does, cast your vote for the issue and its patch.

If none of the pending issues scratch your itch, another good place to start is by contributing unit tests for existing features (even those that still work).

You can upload a proposed patch to either the code or documentation by creating a feature suggestion in Bugzilla . After creating the ticket , you can go back and upload a file containing your patch.

Our current approach to unit testing works fairly well for exercising most method-level stuff, but does not really address situations of dynamic behavior -- most particularly the execution of custom tags for Struts. You can try to fake what a JSP container does, but a much more reliable testing regime would actually execute the tag in a real container. For that purpose, we use the Cactus testing framework, which re-executes the JUnit-based tests as well to make sure that nothing bad happens when you switch environments. Right now, there are very few dynamic tests; ideally, we will have tests for every tag, that cover every reasonable combination of tag attribute values (yes, that's a tall order -- the totally lines of test source code will undoubtedly exceed the totally lines of code in the framework itself if we achieve this).

The documentation is maintained in the repository under the xdocs folder for the subproject. To build just the documentation for a subproject, change to the subprojects trunk directory and run maven site . The Maven build compiles the site and stores the output under target/docs/ .

Procedurally, the only difference between patching documentation and software is that the docs are kept in XML rather than Java source code. Otherwise, all the same instructions pertain.

If you would like to help with the documentation, it is important to provide patches and new pages in the XML source. Otherwise, some other volunteer will have to do this for you, and it may never get done. (Sad but true.)

If you are submitting new material, it is important to decide exactly where you would put this in relation to the rest of the documentation. Again, someone has to figure that out before it can be added, and that someone might as well be you.

If you are making a substantial contribution, such as a new HOW-TO, please consider submitting a document in the XML format we use. This will make it easier to add your contribution to the official documentation so that it becomes part of a Struts distribution.

The trick to getting started is to download the nightly build and try building the subproject's site. Then try adding your own XML page under xdocs/ to see if the build succeeds. If it doesn't, it will report where the bad element is, much like it reports where a bad programming expression is. If it does, then your page should be available under target/documentation/.

To display markup, substitute &lt; for <. The unmatched trailing > will be ignored. Since it is XML, all elements also need to closed. So elements like <br> and <hr> need to set out as <br/> and <hr/>.

Also watch for the length of code samples - these do not wrap. If a line is too long, it will force the right margin out past the edge of the screen or printed page.

You can also post documentation to the Struts Wiki .

Here is the truth regarding releases:

Apache products are released on the basis of merit, and ~not~ according to a strict timetable. The volunteers devote whatever time they can to work on the product. But all volunteers have real jobs and real lives, that do take precedence. Since Struts does not have paid personnel working on the project, we simply cannot make date-oriented commitments.

The bottom line is that Apache takes releases very seriously. We do not compromise the quality of our software by watching the calendar (and then ship something ready or not). A release is ready when it is ready.

That may sound flip, but it ~is~ the truth. The delivery of production-quality, leading-edge software is not something anyone can prognosticate. If anyone tries, they are lying to you. That, we won't do ;-)

What we ~will~ do is release all of our development software as soon as it is developed. This way you can judge for yourself how quickly the development is proceeding, and whether what is being developed will meet your needs. If you need a feature right now, you can use the nightly build, or roll your own patch. There are no internal code repositories, private development lists, secret chat rooms, or conference calls. What you see is what we got. If you are following the DEV list, then you know everything the developers know. Really, you do.

So, what do you tell your team? If you can ship your application based on the nightly build of your choice, then consider that an option. You can still ship yours, even if we don't ship ours, and you will have access to all the latest patches or enhancements. (Just like we were working down the hall.) If you can only ship your application based on a release build of Struts, then you should base your development on the release build of Struts, and keep an eye on what is coming down the pipeline. This way you are at least forewarned and forearmed.

• Most importantly, download the latest nightly build or development release and test it against your own applications. Report any and all issues or suspected issues to Bugzilla . The sooner we resolve any problems, the fewer betas or release candidates we will have to distribute before we are done. (How do we know when we're done? -- When we run out of issues =:o) The sooner we find them, the sooner we are done.)
• Contribute unit tests . The closer we get to a release, the more we worry about breaking something. The more tests we have, the more confident we can be when applying patches. Tests that prove that a pending issue is actually a bug are the most welcome ones. But we are eager for any and all tests for any and all features, even those that still work =:0).
• Review the list of issues at Bugzilla . If there are any to which you can respond, please do. If there any patches posted, feel free to test them your system, report the results, and cast your vote if they work.
• Confirm an issue's category and status . Newbies often post feature suggestions or help-desk questions as "bugs". This bloats the list of fixes we (apparently) need to apply before the next beta, making it hard to see the forest for the trees. If an issue doesn't seem to be categorized correctly, exercise your best judgment and change it. If one ticket seems like a duplicate of another, go ahead and enter the change. Every modification to the ticket is echoed to the DEV list and automatically subjected to peer review. Err on the side of doing.
• Use Bugzilla to vote for issues you feel should be handle first. If an issue on your ballot doesn't include a patch, feel free to try coding one yourself. (In a meritocracy, patches are the only votes that matter.) Dozens of developers have contributed code or documentation to Struts. You can too =:0)
• Answer questions on the user list. The Committers only have a limited amount of time to volunteer. If Developers are supporting each other on the lists, the Committers have more time to spend on the next release.

A guiding principle of the Apache Software Foundation is "them that do the work, make the decisions". This phrase is actually a double-entendre. A project will make some decisions by voting (very few), but the real decisions are made when a volunteer actually does the work. Unless someone volunteers to do the work, other decisions are meaningless.

In an ASF project, like Apache Struts, volunteers who make sustained contributions to the project are invited to become "Committers". In due course, Committers are invited to join the Project Management Committee (PMC). A goal of the ASF is for all Committers to be on the PMC.

By "sustained", we mean that an individual has been active in the project for at least six months. The contributions should come in the form of both patches (to code or documentation), and posts to the mailing lists. Patches must be competent and accepted into the repository. Posts must be consistently helpful, friendly, and collaborative. The most important characteristic in a prospective Committer is an amicable demeanor that fosters goodwill.

As PMC members take note of Struts developers who meet our qualifications, one of us will call for a vote on the internal PMC maining list. (This usually happens when someone gets tired of applying the volunteer's patches!) The internal list is rarely used, and it is never used for development discussions. If the PMC vote passes, we will send the developer a invitation privately, to give the individaul a chance to accept or discretely decline. If the candidate accepts, the PMC will announce the new member on the dev list.

For more about decision-making, see " How the ASF Works " and the Apache Struts Charter . For more about project infrastructure, see "Project Maintenance and Resources" in the Apache Struts wiki .