Change doc folder src -> txt, rst -> src
This commit is contained in:
203
doc/src/Modify_contribute.rst
Normal file
203
doc/src/Modify_contribute.rst
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
|
||||
Submitting new features for inclusion in LAMMPS
|
||||
===============================================
|
||||
|
||||
We encourage users to submit new features or modifications for LAMMPS
|
||||
to `the core developers <http://lammps.sandia.gov/authors.html>`_ so they
|
||||
can be added to the LAMMPS distribution. The preferred way to manage
|
||||
and coordinate this is as of Fall 2016 via the LAMMPS project on
|
||||
`GitHub <https://github.com/lammps/lammps>`_. An alternative is to
|
||||
contact the LAMMPS developers or the indicated developer of a package
|
||||
or feature directly and send in your contribution via e-mail.
|
||||
|
||||
For any larger modifications or programming project, you are
|
||||
encouraged to contact the LAMMPS developers ahead of time, in order to
|
||||
discuss implementation strategies and coding guidelines, that will
|
||||
make it easier to integrate your contribution and result in less work
|
||||
for everybody involved. You are also encouraged to search through the
|
||||
list of `open issues on GitHub <https://github.com/lammps/lammps/issues>`_ and submit a new issue
|
||||
for a planned feature, so you would not duplicate the work of others
|
||||
(and possibly get scooped by them) or have your work duplicated by
|
||||
others.
|
||||
|
||||
How quickly your contribution will be integrated depends largely on
|
||||
how much effort it will cause to integrate and test it, how much it
|
||||
requires changes to the core codebase, and of how much interest it is
|
||||
to the larger LAMMPS community. Please see below for a checklist of
|
||||
typical requirements. Once you have prepared everything, see the
|
||||
:doc:`Using GitHub with LAMMPS Howto <Howto_github>` doc page for instructions on how to
|
||||
submit your changes or new files through a GitHub pull request. If you
|
||||
prefer to submit patches or full files, you should first make certain,
|
||||
that your code works correctly with the latest patch-level version of
|
||||
LAMMPS and contains all bug fixes from it. Then create a gzipped tar
|
||||
file of all changed or added files or a corresponding patch file using
|
||||
'diff -u' or 'diff -c' and compress it with gzip. Please only use gzip
|
||||
compression, as this works well on all platforms.
|
||||
|
||||
If the new features/files are broadly useful we may add them as core
|
||||
files to LAMMPS or as part of a :doc:`standard package <Packages_standard>`. Else we will add them as a
|
||||
user-contributed file or :doc:`user package <Packages_user>`. Examples
|
||||
of user packages are in src sub-directories that start with USER. The
|
||||
USER-MISC package is simply a collection of (mostly) unrelated single
|
||||
files, which is the simplest way to have your contribution quickly
|
||||
added to the LAMMPS distribution. All the standard and user packages
|
||||
are listed and described on the :doc:`Packages details <Packages_details>` doc page.
|
||||
|
||||
Note that by providing us files to release, you are agreeing to make
|
||||
them open-source, i.e. we can release them under the terms of the GPL,
|
||||
used as a license for the rest of LAMMPS. See the `Open source <http://lammps.sandia.gov/open_source.html>`_ page on the LAMMPS
|
||||
website for details.
|
||||
|
||||
With user packages and files, all we are really providing (aside from
|
||||
the fame and fortune that accompanies having your name in the source
|
||||
code and on the `Authors page <http://lammps.sandia.gov/authors.html>`_
|
||||
of the `LAMMPS WWW site <lws_>`_), is a means for you to distribute your
|
||||
work to the LAMMPS user community, and a mechanism for others to
|
||||
easily try out your new feature. This may help you find bugs or make
|
||||
contact with new collaborators. Note that you're also implicitly
|
||||
agreeing to support your code which means answer questions, fix bugs,
|
||||
and maintain it if LAMMPS changes in some way that breaks it (an
|
||||
unusual event).
|
||||
|
||||
.. note::
|
||||
|
||||
If you prefer to actively develop and support your add-on
|
||||
feature yourself, then you may wish to make it available for download
|
||||
from your own website, as a user package that LAMMPS users can add to
|
||||
their copy of LAMMPS. See the `Offsite LAMMPS packages and tools <http://lammps.sandia.gov/offsite.html>`_ page of the LAMMPS web
|
||||
site for examples of groups that do this. We are happy to advertise
|
||||
your package and web site from that page. Simply email the
|
||||
`developers <http://lammps.sandia.gov/authors.html>`_ with info about
|
||||
your package and we will post it there.
|
||||
|
||||
The previous sections of this doc page describe how to add new "style"
|
||||
files of various kinds to LAMMPS. Packages are simply collections of
|
||||
one or more new class files which are invoked as a new style within a
|
||||
LAMMPS input script. If designed correctly, these additions typically
|
||||
do not require changes to the main core of LAMMPS; they are simply
|
||||
add-on files. If you think your new feature requires non-trivial
|
||||
changes in core LAMMPS files, you'll need to `communicate with the developers <http://lammps.sandia.gov/authors.html>`_, since we may or may
|
||||
not want to make those changes. An example of a trivial change is
|
||||
making a parent-class method "virtual" when you derive a new child
|
||||
class from it.
|
||||
|
||||
Here is a checklist of steps you need to follow to submit a single file
|
||||
or user package for our consideration. Following these steps will save
|
||||
both you and us time. See existing files in packages in the src dir for
|
||||
examples. If you are uncertain, please ask.
|
||||
|
||||
* All source files you provide must compile with the most current
|
||||
version of LAMMPS with multiple configurations. In particular you
|
||||
need to test compiling LAMMPS from scratch with -DLAMMPS\_BIGBIG
|
||||
set in addition to the default -DLAMMPS\_SMALLBIG setting. Your code
|
||||
will need to work correctly in serial and in parallel using MPI.
|
||||
* For consistency with the rest of LAMMPS and especially, if you want
|
||||
your contribution(s) to be added to main LAMMPS code or one of its
|
||||
standard packages, it needs to be written in a style compatible with
|
||||
other LAMMPS source files. This means: 2-character indentation per
|
||||
level, **no tabs**\ , no lines over 80 characters. I/O is done via
|
||||
the C-style stdio library (mixing of stdio and iostreams is generally
|
||||
discouraged), class header files should not import any system headers
|
||||
outside of <cstdio>, STL containers should be avoided in headers,
|
||||
system header from the C library should use the C++-style names
|
||||
(<cstdlib>, <cstdio>, or <cstring>) instead of the C-style names
|
||||
<stdlib.h>, <stdio.h>, or <string.h>), and forward declarations
|
||||
used where possible or needed to avoid including headers.
|
||||
All added code should be placed into the LAMMPS\_NS namespace or a
|
||||
sub-namespace; global or static variables should be avoided, as they
|
||||
conflict with the modular nature of LAMMPS and the C++ class structure.
|
||||
Header files must **not** import namespaces with *using*\ .
|
||||
This all is so the developers can more easily understand, integrate,
|
||||
and maintain your contribution and reduce conflicts with other parts
|
||||
of LAMMPS. This basically means that the code accesses data
|
||||
structures, performs its operations, and is formatted similar to other
|
||||
LAMMPS source files, including the use of the error class for error
|
||||
and warning messages.
|
||||
* If you want your contribution to be added as a user-contributed
|
||||
feature, and it's a single file (actually a \*.cpp and \*.h file) it can
|
||||
rapidly be added to the USER-MISC directory. Send us the one-line
|
||||
entry to add to the USER-MISC/README file in that dir, along with the
|
||||
2 source files. You can do this multiple times if you wish to
|
||||
contribute several individual features.
|
||||
* If you want your contribution to be added as a user-contribution and
|
||||
it is several related features, it is probably best to make it a user
|
||||
package directory with a name like USER-FOO. In addition to your new
|
||||
files, the directory should contain a README text file. The README
|
||||
should contain your name and contact information and a brief
|
||||
description of what your new package does. If your files depend on
|
||||
other LAMMPS style files also being installed (e.g. because your file
|
||||
is a derived class from the other LAMMPS class), then an Install.sh
|
||||
file is also needed to check for those dependencies. See other README
|
||||
and Install.sh files in other USER directories as examples. Send us a
|
||||
tarball of this USER-FOO directory.
|
||||
|
||||
Your new source files need to have the LAMMPS copyright, GPL notice,
|
||||
and your name and email address at the top, like other
|
||||
user-contributed LAMMPS source files. They need to create a class
|
||||
that is inside the LAMMPS namespace. If the file is for one of the
|
||||
|
||||
* USER packages, including USER-MISC, then we are not as picky about the
|
||||
coding style (see above). I.e. the files do not need to be in the
|
||||
same stylistic format and syntax as other LAMMPS files, though that
|
||||
would be nice for developers as well as users who try to read your
|
||||
code.
|
||||
* You **must** also create a **documentation** file for each new command or
|
||||
style you are adding to LAMMPS. For simplicity and convenience, the
|
||||
documentation of groups of closely related commands or styles may be
|
||||
combined into a single file. This will be one file for a single-file
|
||||
feature. For a package, it might be several files. These are simple
|
||||
text files with a specific markup language, that are then auto-converted
|
||||
to HTML and PDF. The tools for this conversion are included in the
|
||||
source distribution, and the translation can be as simple as doing
|
||||
"make html pdf" in the doc folder.
|
||||
Thus the documentation source files must be in the same format and
|
||||
style as other \*.txt files in the lammps/doc/src directory for similar
|
||||
commands and styles; use one or more of them as a starting point.
|
||||
A description of the markup can also be found in
|
||||
lammps/doc/utils/txt2html/README.html
|
||||
As appropriate, the text files can include links to equations
|
||||
(see doc/Eqs/\*.tex for examples, we auto-create the associated JPG
|
||||
files), or figures (see doc/JPG for examples), or even additional PDF
|
||||
files with further details (see doc/PDF for examples). The doc page
|
||||
should also include literature citations as appropriate; see the
|
||||
bottom of doc/fix\_nh.txt for examples and the earlier part of the same
|
||||
file for how to format the cite itself. The "Restrictions" section of
|
||||
the doc page should indicate that your command is only available if
|
||||
LAMMPS is built with the appropriate USER-MISC or USER-FOO package.
|
||||
See other user package doc files for examples of how to do this. The
|
||||
prerequisite for building the HTML format files are Python 3.x and
|
||||
virtualenv, the requirement for generating the PDF format manual
|
||||
is the `htmldoc <http://www.htmldoc.org/>`_ software. Please run at least
|
||||
"make html" and carefully inspect and proofread the resulting HTML format
|
||||
doc page before submitting your code.
|
||||
* For a new package (or even a single command) you should include one or
|
||||
more example scripts demonstrating its use. These should run in no
|
||||
more than a couple minutes, even on a single processor, and not require
|
||||
large data files as input. See directories under examples/USER for
|
||||
examples of input scripts other users provided for their packages.
|
||||
These example inputs are also required for validating memory accesses
|
||||
and testing for memory leaks with valgrind
|
||||
* If there is a paper of yours describing your feature (either the
|
||||
algorithm/science behind the feature itself, or its initial usage, or
|
||||
its implementation in LAMMPS), you can add the citation to the \*.cpp
|
||||
source file. See src/USER-EFF/atom\_vec\_electron.cpp for an example.
|
||||
A LaTeX citation is stored in a variable at the top of the file and a
|
||||
single line of code that references the variable is added to the
|
||||
constructor of the class. Whenever a user invokes your feature from
|
||||
their input script, this will cause LAMMPS to output the citation to a
|
||||
log.cite file and prompt the user to examine the file. Note that you
|
||||
should only use this for a paper you or your group authored.
|
||||
E.g. adding a cite in the code for a paper by Nose and Hoover if you
|
||||
write a fix that implements their integrator is not the intended
|
||||
usage. That kind of citation should just be in the doc page you
|
||||
provide.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Finally, as a general rule-of-thumb, the more clear and
|
||||
self-explanatory you make your documentation and README files, and the
|
||||
easier you make it for people to get started, e.g. by providing example
|
||||
scripts, the more likely it is that users will try out your new feature.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
.. _lws: http://lammps.sandia.gov
|
||||
.. _ld: Manual.html
|
||||
.. _lc: Commands_all.html
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user