Guidelines for Submitting Code to the Elisp Archive

1. Documentation.

    The preferred documentation is:

	o Description of intended purpose
	o Installation instructions
	o Usage instructions
	o Known bugs
	o LCD Archive Entry (see below)
	o Copyright notice (optional)

    Scale the documentation as required; don't write a book for a five-line
    function, don't submit 100k of code with no instructions.

2. Copyright

    The inclusion of a copyright notice that specifically allows others to
    copy, modify, and redistribute your code is recommended.  For an
    example, see the GNU Emacs General Public License (in Emacs: C-h C-c).

3. Packaging

    All submissions should be submitted in their entirety;
    Modifications to C code from the standard Emacs distribution 
    may be submitted as "diffs."

    Multifile submissions should be packaged as a tar archive.

4. Submission

    Single file submissions to the archive should be mailed to
    elisp-archive@cis.ohio-state.edu.  If you have a package that
    consists of more than one file, you can send mail to this 
    address to set up an ftp transfer of the tar'ed package or simply
    send the tar file uuencoded and gzip'ed.  Please do not submit 
    a shar file, as we do not have the time to unshar and repackage 
    submissions.  (Previously submissions were accepted anonymously 
    at Ohio State, but OSU has disabled anonymous writes.) If you 
    have any questions about what to do, drop us a line.

5. Lisp Code Directory Record

    In order to make the Archives easier to use, and to lighten the
    load of the maintainers, please include an LCD record with your
    submission.  You can include the entry in your code in the
    following format:

      ;; LCD Archive Entry:
      ;; package name|author's name|email address|
      ;; description|
      ;; date|version|archive path|

    For example:

      ;; LCD Archive Entry:
      ;; tex-complete|Sebastian Kremer|sk@thp.Uni-Koeln.DE|
      ;; Minibuffer name completion for editing [La]TeX.|
      ;; 12-Mar-93|$Revision: 1.12 $|~/packages/tex-complete.el.Z|

    The line on which the fields occur is flexible, and need not duplicate
    the format above exactly, although fields should not be split over
    lines.  The above format is recommended, and submissions will be recast
    to this format before they are placed in the archive.  If you are
    submitting a multi-file submission you should include a file named
    "LCD-entry" which contains the archive entry, instead of placing it in
    one or more of the individual files.

    There are no specific formatting requirements for any of the fields.
    For example, if you use RCS you could use "$Date: $" and "$Revision: $"
    for the date and revision fields.  The prefix is also not important,
    but should be the same for all lines.  You should not provide an
    archive path unless one has been assigned by the maintainers, or the
    path is blatantly obvious.  If you have any questions or comments about
    this format please send mail to brennan@gnu.ai.mit.edu.

    Special thanks to Sebastian Kremer for suggesting this format.
    See the file pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/lispdir.doc.Z for more
    information about the LCD.

    

Dave Sill             Dave Brennan      
de5@ornl.gov          brennan@gnu.ai.mit.edu

Elisp Archive Coordinators