= WHAT BELONGS IN trunk/app =

trunk/app should contain only the files needed for the actual Google App
Engine application "image".  Support code that is not part of the application
image belongs elsewhere, such as in trunk/scripts, for example.

= THIRD PARTY CODE =

Third-party code that is *not* part of the application image (the Google App
Engine SDK in trunk/thirdparty/google_appengine, for example) belongs in
trunk/thirdparty (see also trunk/thirdparty/README).

Third-party code that is part of the application image is placed in a package
subdirectory in trunk/app, such as trunk/app/django, for example.

If the third-party package is a single Python source file, place the code in
trunk/app/<package>/__init__.py, so that it can simply be imported using,
for example:

import feedparser

(The trunk/app/feedparser package is a good example of this approach.)

== THIRD PARTY LICENSES ==

Third-party code must also include a license text file, named LICENSE or
COPYING, in the package subdirectory.  If the third-party package subdirectory
is maintained automatically with a tool such as svn_load_dirs.pl (which
removes files, such as license text files, that were added later to the
"target" directory), place the license text file in the trunk/app directory
and add the package name as a suffix (LICENSE.django is an example of this
case).

= CREATING AN OFFICIAL RELEASE =

== CREATING THE RELEASE CANDIDATE BRANCH AND TAGGING A RELEASE ==

Steps (currently done by hand, but too be scripted in the future) to make
a release:

1) Set the "version:" field in the app.yaml.template file to a "release
   candidate" release string.  Version strings cannot contain dots
   (periods) and have some other restrictions.  As a result, the format
   of the release-candidate "version:" field needs to be:

     A-B-YYYYMMDD

   where:
   * A is a major number (currently '0' until at least GSoC functionality
     is completely implemented)
   * B is a (possibly multi-digit) minor number that is increased whenever
     there is a major increase in functionality (some major GSoC or GHOP
     feature, e.g. student sign-ups and proposals, is implemented)
   * YYYY is the four digit year of the release date
   * MM is the (always) two digit month of the release date (zero-padded)
   * DD is the (always) two digit day of the release date (zero-padded)

2) Commit this file *by itself* in its own commit.

3) Use 'svn cp' to create a release branch of /trunk/ in /branches/ with
   exactly the same name as the contents of the "version:" field in the
   app.yaml.template file.  Branch on the specific revision of the commit

4) Finalize the release candidate branch for a push to the live web site.
   Use 'svn cp' to create a tag in /tags/ with exactly the same name as the
   contents of the "version:" field in the app.yaml.template file.  Specify
   the *specific revision* of the commit in step #2 above.

Step #4 might actually be delayed for one or more patch releases, once there
is some sort of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) checklist for a release
candidate, because defects would be patched in the release candidate branch
one or more times before an actual release is tagged.  See the next section
for details.

== PATCHING AND RE-RELEASING AN EXISTING RELEASE CANDIDATE BRANCH ==

To re-release a previously-tagged release branch after a patch for a push to
the live web site:

1) Increment the "patch suffix" of the "version:" field value to the next
   integer (for example, "p1" becomes "p2"), or append "p1" to the end of
   the existing string if this is the first patch release (so the first tagged
   patch release will always be "p1").  For example:

     A-B-YYYYMMDD becomes A-B-YYYYMMDDp1

   and:

     A-B-YYYYMMDDp1 becomes A-B-YYYYMMDDp2

   etc.

2) Commit this file *by itself* in its own commit (after the last batch
   of patches being made to the existing /branches/ release branch).

3) Use 'svn cp' to create a tag in /tags/ with exactly the same name as the
   contents of the new, patched "version:" field in the app.yaml.template
   file.  Specify the *specific revision* of the commit in step #2 above.