secondo-database.github.io/content_contributing.html at main · secondo-database/secondo-database.github.io · GitHub

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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
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  <title>SECONDO</title>
  <meta name="description" content="extensible database system">
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  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="secondo.css">
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<div align="center">
<img alt="SECONDO" src="images/logo.gif" height="107" width="598"> </div>


<h1> Contributing </h1>

<p>
This page describes how you can contribute to the <span class="secondo">Secondo</span>
project. The development of <span class="secondo">Secondo</span> takes place on
<a href="https://github.com/secondo-database/secondo" target="_blank">GitHub</a> using
<code>git</code>. General information about the usage of GitHub can be found
<a href="https://guides.github.com/activities/hello-world/" target="_blank">here</a>.
</p>

<p>
The tasks are performed with <code>git</code> on the command line. Many IDEs (e.g., Visual
Studio Code) contain a git client, which allows performing the commands directly from the
IDE. In addition, there are standalone tools like
<a href="http://gitextensions.github.io/" target="_blank">Git Extensions</a> to perform the
operations without using the command line.
</p>

<p>
<b>Note:</b> <span class="secondo">Secondo</span> was originally developed in a self-hosted
CVS repository, with GitHub serving only as a read-only mirror. The migration to git and
GitHub has since been completed, and GitHub is now used as the primary repository for the
development. For users migrating from <code>cvs</code>, the corresponding
<code>cvs</code> commands are noted below.
</p>


<h2> Contributing when you have write access to the SECONDO project </h2>

<ul>
  <li> <b>Check out the repository</b> with
       <code>git clone https://github.com/secondo-database/secondo.git</code>. This command
       will create a folder named <code>secondo</code> in the current directory, which
       contains the source code of the <span class="secondo">Secondo</span> project. The
       command is only needed if you don't already have a copy of the repository on your
       local computer. From now on, you can update your local copy of the repository, as
       shown in the next step. The command does the same as <code>cvs checkout</code>. </li>

  <li> <b>Update the repository</b> with <code>git pull</code>. This command fetches the
       changes from GitHub and updates the local repository. This command does the same as
       <code>cvs update</code>. </li>

  <li> <b>Make your changes and commit the changes:</b> After you have completed your changes,
       you can review the changed files with the command <code>git status</code>. To commit
       the changes, you need to add them to the current commit via
       <code>git add &lt;file&gt;</code>. In contrast to CVS, this command is needed for all
       changed files (when using CVS, only files that are newly created need to be added). Now
       you can create a commit via <code>git commit</code>; as in <code>cvs commit</code>,
       your default editor opens, and you can type in a commit message. Now the commit is
       created in your local copy of the repository. The commit needs to be pushed to the
       repository at GitHub; this is done by calling <code>git push</code>. </li>
</ul>


<h2> Contributing when you have no write access to the SECONDO project </h2>

<p>
The workflow is almost the same as described above. The exception is that you have to fork the
project before you can push changes to the project. In addition, the pushed changes need to be
integrated into the project via a pull request. Both tasks can be done in the web interface of
GitHub. Forking a project and creating a pull request is described
<a href="https://guides.github.com/activities/forking/" target="_blank">here</a>.
</p>


<div class="footnote">
 Last Changed: 2026-07-21 (JNI)
</div>


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