Getting started as a developer

Getting started as a developer

Contributing to FreeMind as a developer

A new developer starts in two stages.

1. Patches. At firsts, she sends her contributions as patches into Patches tracker.
2. CVS. Later, after she has shown some volume of contribution, she gets access to CVS repository.

Detail: If you are considering becoming a new developer, please proceed as follows.

1. Create a user account at SourceForge.
2. Discuss your contribution (the change, feature, bug fix, documentation or test plan) in our open discussion forum.
3. If the topic is accepted, start to change the up-to-date code that you have downloaded from CVS. Beware of using the right CVS branch:
   • Currently we use the branch with a strange name "fm_060405_integration".
   • It could be better if you start from code state already labeled by a tag, for instance "fm_0_9_0_beta9", to make the later merging of the code you develop easier,
4. If, during implementing the feature, you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the "Open Discussion" forum. It is read by the other developers who possible can help you.
5. Post your contribution in the patch section of SourceForge or send it by email to the current project manager. We do not respond immediately, as FreeMind team consists of volunteers.
6. After having successfully developed and integrated some items, you get access to FreeMind's CVS repository at SourceForge.

Getting the latest beta version of FreeMind from CVS

A beta version you can get from the CVS, searching there for the latest branch, or the branch of your choice. Please note that beta versions are unstable and may contain serious bugs. Please, use beta versions only if:

1. you urgently need a feature included in the version, and you are willing to backup your work often, or
2. you want to give FreeMind developers feedback on the beta versions, which is highly appreciated.

To get a beta version from CVS, see the guides at CVS section.

Compiling last stable version of FreeMind

See detail in Quick guide to compiling Freemind on an XP system using Eclipse. (This didn't work for me, see below instead)

Here's what I did to get things working on Eclipse 3.3 with Windows XP:

1. download the source code for whichever version you're interested in (I myself downloaded freemind-src-0.9.0_Beta_13_icon_butterfly.tar.gz )
2. Create a new Java Project in Eclipse
3. Extract the archive you downloaded
4. Open the freemind directory in Windows (it should contain .classpath, .project, build.xml, and a whole bunch of other files and folders)
5. Select all of the files and drag them onto your newly created project, in the Eclipse Package Explorer
6. Select yes when it asks you if you want to overwrite
7. That should do it.

A simple way for a developer of compiling FreeMind is perhaps the following.

1. install Java SDK — standard development kit
2. install Ant — a tool for building code using complicated make files)
3. download FreeMind's source code as published in the Files section
4. unpack the source code package with the extension tar.gz
5. change directory to the one where built.xml file resides — the build file for Ant, similar to make files for the C language
6. type ant in the command shell

Working with CVS

See CVS.

See also

• FreeMind Actions
• Plugins
• Undoable Actions (first version available)

Development resources

• API documentation (javadoc)
• Obsolete development mind map
• Obsolete development mind map for download
• Obsolete development mind map exported to HTML with folding