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<h1>Boost Library Submission Process</h1>
<p>This page describes the process of getting a library accepted by Boost.&nbsp;
The process is still evolving, so if you have suggestions for improvement by all
means post them on the mailing list.</p>
<p>See the <a href="lib_guide.htm">Boost Library Requirements and Guidelines</a>
page for issues of content.</p>
<h3><b>Steps for getting a library accepted by Boost:</b></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Learn">Learn about Boost</a>.</li>
<li><a href="#interest">Determine interest</a>.</li>
<li><a href="#Preliminary">Preliminary submission</a>.</li>
<li><a href="#Refinement">Refinement</a>.</li>
<li><a href="#Review">Formal Review</a>.</li>
<li><a href="#site posting">Web site posting</a>.</li>
<li><a href="#Lifecycle">Lifecycle</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h2><a name="Learn">Learn</a> about Boost</h2>
<p>Subscribe to the <a href="../index.htm#Mailing List">mailing list</a> for a
while, or look through the <a href="http://www.egroups.com/messages/boost">archives</a>.&nbsp;
Click around the <a href="../index.htm">web site</a>.&nbsp; Understand the <a href="lib_guide.htm">Requirements</a>.&nbsp;
Read the rest of this page to learn about the process.&nbsp; Otherwise, you will
just end up wasting everyone's time.</p>
<p>There is a culture associated with Boost, aimed at encouraging high quality
libraries by a process of discussion and refinement.</p>
<p>If what you really want is a site that will just post your library without
even looking at it, you should go elsewhere.</p>
<h2>Determine <a name="interest">interest</a></h2>
<p>Potential library submitters should use the <a href="../index.htm#Mailing List">mailing
list</a> as a forum to gauge interest a possible submission.</p>
<p>A message might be as simple as &quot;Is there any interest in a library
which solves Traveling Salesperson problems in linear time?&quot;</p>
<p>A bit of further description or snippet of code may be helpful. Messages
should be plain text; not rich text, HTML, etc.</p>
<p>Please don't post lengthy descriptions, documentation, or code to the mailing
list, and no attachments, even small ones.&nbsp; Please post lengthy material in
the eGroups boost <a href="http://www.egroups.com/files/boost/">Files section</a>
(formerly called the &quot; vault&quot;).&nbsp;</p>
<h2><a name="Preliminary">Preliminary</a> submission</h2>
<p>If response to an initial query indicates interest, then post preliminary
files in the <a href="http://www.egroups.com/files/boost/">Files section</a> of
the boost eGroups web site if you haven't already done so.</p>
<h2><a name="Refinement">Refinement</a></h2>
<p>Discuss, refine, resubmit.&nbsp; Repeat until satisfied.</p>
<p>The exact details of this process varies a lot.&nbsp; Sometimes it is public,
on the mailing list, sometimes a lot of discussion happens in private
emails.&nbsp; For some libraries the process is over quickly, for others it goes
on for months.&nbsp; It's often challenging, and sometimes leads off in
completely unexpected directions.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.egroups.com/messages/boost">archive</a> of past
messages is one way to see how this process worked for other boost
libraries.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Formal <a name="Review">Review</a></h2>
<p><i>[The Formal Review procedure is new as of 9 May, 2000, and will be refined
as experience dictates.]</i></p>
<p>Once a library author feels a submission (which presumably is now in the
files/vault) has matured enough for formal review, the author sends a message
requesting a formal review to the mailing list.&nbsp; Please use a subject in
the form &quot;Review Request: library&quot; where <i>library</i> is replaced by
the library name.</p>
<p>Reviews are scheduled so that:</p>
<ul>
<li>Each library gets review time proportional to its size, complexity, and
importance.</li>
<li>Only a small number of libraries are under active review at any one time.</li>
<li>Members know ahead of time when a particular library will be under active
review.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>Before a library can be scheduled for review, an active boost member not
connected with the library submission must volunteer to be the &quot;Review
Manager&quot; for that library. The review manager decides on the schedule,
posts a notice when the review period starts, how long it lasts, and how boost
members can contribute their comments. The review manager collects comments,
chairs any discussions, and then when the review period is over, decides if
there is enough consensus to accept the library.</p>
<p>See <a href="formal_review_process.htm">Formal Review Process</a> for
details.</p>
<p>Members only can see <a href="http://www.egroups.com/files/boost/Members+Only/formal_review_schedule.htm">Formal
Review Schedule</a> for the current library review schedule.&nbsp;</p>
<p><i>[The plan is that the first several reviews will be managed by long-time
boost contributors who will be encouraged to experiment with the review
process.&nbsp;&nbsp; Presumably, successful processes will evolve over time and
can then be documented.]</i></p>
<h2>Boost <a name="site posting">site posting</a></h2>
<h3>Packaging</h3>
<p>All of the files which make up the library should be combined and compressed
into a single final submission file using the .zip format.&nbsp; Free encoders
and decoders for this format running on many different platforms are available
at the <a href="http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/">Info-ZIP</a> web site, which
includes a FAQ and much other useful information about the .zip format. Many
commercial compressor-archiver utilities also support this format.</p>
<h3><a name="Final">Final</a> Submission file</h3>
<p>The final submission file contains the material that will live on the
boost.org web site.&nbsp; The closer the submission file mirrors the directory
structure and format of the web site, the easier it is for the webmaster to
integrate it into the web site.
<p>The submission file for a library named <b>foo</b> should include these
subdirectories, with the contents indicated:
<blockquote>
<p><b>libs/foo</b>
<ul>
<li>An introductory page named index.html or index.htm which looks like the
initial page of other libraries. <a href="../libs/rational/index.html">Rational</a>&nbsp;
is a model for single part libraries, <a href="../libs/integer/index.htm">Integer</a>
or <a href="../libs/utility/index.htm">Utility</a> are models for
multi-part libraries.</li>
<li>The documentation page or pages, also in HTML format.</li>
<li>Source files implementing the library if it isn't entirely header
based.&nbsp; The boost file type convention for source files is <b>.cpp</b>.</li>
<li>Test programs and data files if supplied.</li>
<li>If the library has a large number of subsidiary files which aren't
linked to from the documentation pages, these subsidiary files can be
combined into a single .zip file.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>boost</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Public header files as described in the documentation for the
library.&nbsp; The boost file type convention for header files is <b>.hpp</b>.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>boost/detail</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Implementation header files not normally accessed by library users.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<h3>Transmission</h3>
<p>Submit via email to <a href="mailto:webmaster@boost.org">webmaster@boost.org</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Attach the .zip submission file.&nbsp; In the email message, please include your
email address, postal mail address, and telephone number, if boost.org doesn't
already have them. Your addresses and phone number will not appear on the web
site (unless you include them in your biography).&nbsp; Anonymous postings are
not accepted.</p>
<h3>People pages</h3>
<p>If the boost.org web site doesn't already have your capsule biography
and&nbsp; picture (optional, with not-too-serious pictures preferred), please
send them <a href="../index.htm#webmaster">mailto:webmaster@boost.org</a>. It is
up to you as to whether or not the biography includes your email address or
other contact information.&nbsp; The preferred picture format is .jpg, but other
common formats are acceptable.&nbsp; The preferred image size is 500x375 but the
webmaster has photo editing software and can do the image preparation if
necessary.</p>
<h2><a name="Lifecycle">Lifecycle</a></h2>
<p>Libraries are software; they loose their value over time if not
maintained.&nbsp; Details still hazy.</p>
<hr>
<p>Revised <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="EDITED" s-format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->19 June, 2000<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="19847" --></p>
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