00README.md (3428B)
1 # Pending changelog entry directory 2 3 This directory contains changelog entries that have not yet been merged 4 to the changelog file ([`../ChangeLog`](../ChangeLog)). 5 6 ## What requires a changelog entry? 7 8 Write a changelog entry if there is a user-visible change. This includes: 9 10 * Bug fixes in the library or in sample programs: fixing a security hole, 11 fixing broken behavior, fixing the build in some configuration or on some 12 platform, etc. 13 * New features in the library, new sample programs, or new platform support. 14 * Changes in existing behavior. These should be rare. Changes in features 15 that are documented as experimental may or may not be announced, depending 16 on the extent of the change and how widely we expect the feature to be used. 17 18 We generally don't include changelog entries for: 19 20 * Documentation improvements. 21 * Performance improvements, unless they are particularly significant. 22 * Changes to parts of the code base that users don't interact with directly, 23 such as test code and test data. 24 * Fixes for compiler warnings. Releases typically contain a number of fixes 25 of this kind, so we will only mention them in the Changelog if they are 26 particularly significant. 27 28 Until Mbed TLS 2.24.0, we required changelog entries in more cases. 29 Looking at older changelog entries is good practice for how to write a 30 changelog entry, but not for deciding whether to write one. 31 32 ## Changelog entry file format 33 34 A changelog entry file must have the extension `*.txt` and must have the 35 following format: 36 37 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 38 Security 39 * Change description. 40 * Another change description. 41 42 Features 43 * Yet another change description. This is a long change description that 44 spans multiple lines. 45 * Yet again another change description. 46 47 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 48 49 The permitted changelog entry categories are as follows: 50 <!-- Keep this synchronized with STANDARD_CATEGORIES in assemble_changelog.py! --> 51 52 API changes 53 Default behavior changes 54 Requirement changes 55 New deprecations 56 Removals 57 Features 58 Security 59 Bugfix 60 Changes 61 62 Use “Changes” for anything that doesn't fit in the other categories. 63 64 ## How to write a changelog entry 65 66 Each entry starts with three spaces, an asterisk and a space. Continuation 67 lines start with 5 spaces. Lines wrap at 79 characters. 68 69 Write full English sentences with proper capitalization and punctuation. Use 70 the present tense. Use the imperative where applicable. For example: “Fix a 71 bug in mbedtls_xxx() ….” 72 73 Include GitHub issue numbers where relevant. Use the format “#1234” for an 74 Mbed TLS issue. Add other external references such as CVE numbers where 75 applicable. 76 77 Credit bug reporters where applicable. 78 79 **Explain why, not how**. Remember that the audience is the users of the 80 library, not its developers. In particular, for a bug fix, explain the 81 consequences of the bug, not how the bug was fixed. For a new feature, explain 82 why one might be interested in the feature. For an API change or a deprecation, 83 explain how to update existing applications. 84 85 See [existing entries](../ChangeLog) for examples. 86 87 ## How `ChangeLog` is updated 88 89 Run [`../framework/scripts/assemble_changelog.py`] 90 (../framework/scripts/assemble_changelog.py) from a Git working copy 91 to move the entries from files in `ChangeLog.d` to the main `ChangeLog` file.