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<h1>Boost Library Submission Process</h1>
<p>This page describes the process of getting a library accepted by Boost.
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="#Submission">Submission for review</a>.</li>
<li><a href="#Review">Formal Review</a>.</li>
<li><a href="#site posting">Web site posting</a>.</li>
<li><a href="#People">People page.</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.yahoogroups.com/messages/boost">archives</a>.
Click around the <a href="../index.htm">web site</a>. Understand the <a href="lib_guide.htm">Requirements</a>.
Read the rest of this page to learn about the process. 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 "Is there any interest in a library
which solves Traveling Salesperson problems in linear time?"</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. Please post lengthy material in
the YahooGroups boost <a href="http://www.yahoogroups.com/files/boost/">Files section</a>
(formerly called the " vault"). </p>
<h2><a name="Preliminary">Preliminary</a> submission</h2>
<p>If response to an initial query indicates interest, then post the preliminary
submission files in the <a href="http://www.yahoogroups.com/files/boost/">files section</a> of
the Boost YahooGroups web site if you haven't already done so.</p>
<h2><a name="Refinement">Refinement</a></h2>
<p>Discuss, refine, resubmit. Repeat until satisfied.</p>
<p>The exact details of this process varies a lot. Sometimes it is public,
on the mailing list, sometimes a lot of discussion happens in private
emails. For some libraries the process is over quickly, for others it goes
on for months. It's often challenging, and sometimes leads off in
completely unexpected directions. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.yahoogroups.com/messages/boost">archive</a> of past
messages is one way to see how this process worked for other boost
libraries.</p>
<h2><a name="Submission">Submission</a> for review </h2>
<p>All of the files which make up the library should be combined and compressed
into a single submission file using the .zip format. 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>
<p>The submission file should contain material as if on the
boost.org web site. The closer the submission file mirrors the final <a href="lib_guide.htm#Directory structure">directory
structure</a> and format of the web site, the better.
<p>Like a preliminary submission, post the final submission .zip file in the <a href="http://www.yahoogroups.com/files/boost/">files section</a> of
the Boost YahooGroups web site
<h2>Formal <a name="Review">Review</a></h2>
<p>Before asking for formal review, your submission should be posted in the
Boost files/vault. Please verify that your submission compiles
and runs under at least two compilers. This flushes out obvious
portability problems. If you don't have access to a second compiler, ask
for help on the Boost mailing list.</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. Please use a subject in
the form "Review Request: library" where <i>library</i> is replaced by
the library name.</p>
<p>See <a href="formal_review_process.htm">Formal Review Process</a> for
details.</p>
<p>Formal Review schedules are posted on the boost mailing list.. </p>
<h2>Boost <a name="site posting">site posting</a> after acceptance</h2>
<p>There are two ways that files are posted on the boost web site:</p>
<ul>
<li>Direct update of the boost CVS repository. This requires write
access, and is primarily used for larger libraries, or for libraries
maintained by very active boost developers.</li>
<li>Packaging all files into a submission file (same content as for submission
for review), and emailing it to the Boost webmaster <a href="mailto:bdawes@acm.org">bdawes@acm.org</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h2><a name="People">People</a> page</h2>
<p>If the boost.org web site doesn't already have your capsule biography
and picture (optional, with not-too-serious pictures preferred), please
send them to the Boost webmaster.. It is
up to you as to whether or not the biography includes your email address or
other contact information. The preferred picture format is .jpg, but other
common formats are acceptable. 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 lose their value over time if not
maintained. Details still hazy.</p>
<hr>
<p>Revised <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="EDITED" s-format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->10 August, 2001<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="34341" --></p>
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