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File header policy
The Gramps project requires that all source code files stored in the official project repository include the following header at the top of the file:
# # Gramps - a GTK+/GNOME based genealogy program # # Copyright (C) 20xx-20xx Contributor1 Name # Copyright (C) 20xx Contributor2 Name # # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by # the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or # (at your option) any later version. # # This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the # GNU General Public License for more details. # # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA #
File header procedure
The following procedures regarding source file headers shall be followed by all contributors whose changes are committed to the official project source repository:
- When a new source file is created, the header shall be prepended to the file before the file is committed to the source repository.
- The original file author shall include his/her name in the copyright statement along with the year the file was created.
- Additional contributors shall add their names and respective years of contribution in the copyright statement if they make changes to the file in the source repository.
- Years can be indicated as ranges, or separated by comas.
- While not strictly required, consider including an e-mail address in addition to the contributor name.
File header purpose
The file header has two primary purposes:
- Communication of the license the code is distributed under
- Tracking of past contributors (who are by definition copyright holders)
Copyright statement examples
Single author, all contributions in the same year:
# Copyright (C) 2015 John Doe
Single author, contributions in a range of years:
# Copyright (C) 2014-2015 John Doe
Single author, contributions in sparse years:
# Copyright (C) 2005, 2007-2013 John Doe
Multiple authors, contributions in various years:
# Copyright (C) 2005, 2007-2013 John Doe <[email protected]> # Copyright (C) 2009 Jane Smith # Copyright (C) 2006-2007 Ed Johnson <[email protected]>