[webkit-dev] Please use platform prefixes in bug titles

[James Robinson]

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 5:43 PM, Simon Fraser <simon.fraser at apple.com> wrote:

> On Oct 5, 2011, at 5:37 PM, Darin Adler wrote:
>
> > Hi folks.
> >
> > It really helps frequent reviewers like me if you use platform prefixes
> on bugs. A platform prefix indicates that the bug only affects code on a
> particular platform. For example:
> >
> >    [Mac] Use four more named cursors if present
> >
> > The above title tells you the patch is Mac-specific. Or:
> >
> >    [Chromium] Switch threaded compositor from a compile time option to a
> run time one
> >
> > The above title tells you the patch is Chromium-specific. There are
> various other common prefixes, such as [Skia] or [Qt].
> >
> > Including a prefix on a bug title shows courtesy for others not working
> on your platform and is good for sharing the WebKit project. You should
> leave off a prefix if the patch includes cross-platform changes as well as
> platform-specific changes.
>
> Why don't we just fix bugzilla to have a useful lists of ports in one of
> the "Platform" popups?
>

That would certainly be nice, but it wouldn't be as useful as having the
platform in the bug description.  The "Platform" field is not very obvious
in the bugzilla UI and doesn't show up at all in bugzilla-generated emails,
ChangeLogs, or commit messages.  Many of our bugs are filed via tools like
webkit-patch or sheriffbot which could be taught about the Platform entry,
but doing so would decrease the usability of the tools and I suspect many
people would get it wrong.

- James

>
> Simon
>
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