Libvirt contributor guidelines
==============================


Code indentation
================
Libvirt's C source code generally adheres to some basic code-formatting
conventions.  The existing code base is not totally consistent on this
front, but we do prefer that contributed code be formatted similarly.
In short, use spaces-not-TABs for indentation, use 4 spaces for each
indentation level, and other than that, follow the K&R style.

If you use Emacs, add the following to one of one of your start-up files
(e.g., ~/.emacs), to help ensure that you get indentation right:

  ;;; When editing C sources in libvirt, use this style.
  (defun libvirt-c-mode ()
    "C mode with adjusted defaults for use with libvirt."
    (interactive)
    (c-set-style "K&R")
    (setq indent-tabs-mode nil) ; indent using spaces, not TABs
    (setq c-indent-level 4)
    (setq c-basic-offset 4))
  (add-hook 'c-mode-hook
	    '(lambda () (if (string-match "/libvirt" (buffer-file-name))
			    (libvirt-c-mode))))

Code formatting (especially for new code)
=========================================
With new code, we can be even more strict.
Please apply the following function (using GNU indent) to any new code.
Note that this also gives you an idea of the type of spacing we prefer
around operators and keywords:

  indent-libvirt()
  {
    indent -bad -bap -bbb -bli4 -br -ce -brs -cs -i4 -l75 -lc75 \
      -sbi4 -psl -saf -sai -saw -sbi4 -ss -sc -cdw -cli4 -npcs -nbc \
      --no-tabs "$@"
  }

Note that sometimes you'll have to postprocess that output further, by
piping it through "expand -i", since some leading TABs can get through.
Usually they're in macro definitions or strings, and should be converted
anyhow.