plugins/RELEASE_PROCESS.txt - forrest - Git at Google

 Because plugin versions are managed by Forrest automatically it is possible
 to deploy and/or release individual plugins independantly of Forrest and
 other plugins. Before we discuss this process lets first look at the difference
 between releasing a plugin and deploying a plugin.

 Deploy or Release?
 ------------------

 Plugins are automatically downloaded and installed whenever they are needed by a
 Forrest project. In order for this to happen it is necessary to deploy the
 plugin to a download server. Plugins may be deployed at any time during their
 development cycle, that is a developer may choose to deploy a plugin that has not
 yet been fully tested. This enables the plugin to be tested "in the field", by
 its users.

 Since users are able to opt to use a specfic version of a plugin those working in
 production environments can ensure that these interim test deployments do not
 affect their work.

 Releasing a plugin is the act of deploying a fully tested plugin available for use.
 This process will generally be more than just making the plugin available via a
 download site, it will usually involve making public announcements, tagging the
 source tree, incrementing version numbers and other such maintenance tasks.

 Deploying a Plugin
 ------------------

 By convention a plugin that has not been fully tested will have '-dev' appended
 to the version number in the plugins build.xml file.

 To deploy on the Apache Forrest download server you will need to be a committer.
 Simply change directory to the plugin home directory and deploy the plugin
 by doing 'tools/ant/bin/ant deploy' [1]. The build system will take care of
 everything else for you.

 [1] See the note about using our own version of Ant:
 http://forrest.apache.org/0.7/docs/howto/howto-buildPlugin.html#ant

 Releasing a Plugin
 ------------------

 The only difference between deploying and releasing a plugin from the point of
 view of making the download available is that the plugin version number will
 have the '-dev' postfix removed in build.xml before the "ant deploy" target is
 run.

 Once the deployment is complete the version number should be increased and the
 '-dev' postfix will be appended.

 TODO: announcement emails
 TODO: tagging source tree
	Because plugin versions are managed by Forrest automatically it is possible
	to deploy and/or release individual plugins independantly of Forrest and
	other plugins. Before we discuss this process lets first look at the difference
	between releasing a plugin and deploying a plugin.

	Deploy or Release?
	------------------

	Plugins are automatically downloaded and installed whenever they are needed by a
	Forrest project. In order for this to happen it is necessary to deploy the
	plugin to a download server. Plugins may be deployed at any time during their
	development cycle, that is a developer may choose to deploy a plugin that has not
	yet been fully tested. This enables the plugin to be tested "in the field", by
	its users.

	Since users are able to opt to use a specfic version of a plugin those working in
	production environments can ensure that these interim test deployments do not
	affect their work.

	Releasing a plugin is the act of deploying a fully tested plugin available for use.
	This process will generally be more than just making the plugin available via a
	download site, it will usually involve making public announcements, tagging the
	source tree, incrementing version numbers and other such maintenance tasks.

	Deploying a Plugin
	------------------

	By convention a plugin that has not been fully tested will have '-dev' appended
	to the version number in the plugins build.xml file.

	To deploy on the Apache Forrest download server you will need to be a committer.
	Simply change directory to the plugin home directory and deploy the plugin
	by doing 'tools/ant/bin/ant deploy' [1]. The build system will take care of
	everything else for you.

	[1] See the note about using our own version of Ant:
	http://forrest.apache.org/0.7/docs/howto/howto-buildPlugin.html#ant

	Releasing a Plugin
	------------------

	The only difference between deploying and releasing a plugin from the point of
	view of making the download available is that the plugin version number will
	have the '-dev' postfix removed in build.xml before the "ant deploy" target is
	run.

	Once the deployment is complete the version number should be increased and the
	'-dev' postfix will be appended.

	TODO: announcement emails
	TODO: tagging source tree