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This FAQ is meant to provide a place for you to capture knowledge as you begin working on Mozilla developmentwith Open Source. When someone answers a question for you, consider adding it below, and feel free to update previous entries. Create new topic headings as necessary.
==Building Firefox==
# '''Where can I get information on building Firefox or other Mozilla products?'''
#: Start with the documentation on [http://developer.mozilla.org MDC]: http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Build_Documentation.
#: In terminal 2:
#: cvs -d :pserver:anonymous:anonymous@localhost:/cvsroot co mozilla/client.mk
# '''What's the best way to run a build so it doesn't mess-up my default install/profile?'''
#: Use the '''-no-remote''' and '''-profile''' command line switches. The '''-no-remote''' switch will allow multiple versions of the browser to run at the same time (i.e., otherwise it will open another window for your currently running instance). The '''-profile''' switch allows you to specify a path to a profile (e.g., a directory). This profile directory doesn't need to exist--it will create it if it is not there:<br/><br/><code>$ mozilla/''objdir''/dist/bin/firefox.exe -no-remote -profile some/path/testing</code>
# '''When I run my new build on Windows, I get a lot of assertion pop-ups. How can I stop this?'''
#: Before you run your build at the command line, do this (which will send the assertion messages to the console instead):<br/><br/><code>$ export XPCOM_DEBUG_BREAK=warn</code>
# '''What are some ways I can make my build go faster?'''
#: See [[Improving Build Times]]
== Mozilla Build System ==
1. '''How do a see what macros are being expanded in order to understand my compiler error (a.k.a., how do I create a preprocessed version of a C/C++ file)?
$ cd $OBJDIR/some/directory
$ make nsMyFilename.i
2. '''How do I generate Doxygen documentation for Mozilla?'''
$ cd $OBJDIR
$ make documentation
3. '''Hw do I see the final value of a makefile variable?'''
$ cd $OBJDIR/some/directory
$ make echo-variable-EXTRA_DSO_LDOPTS
== IRC ==
# '''Where can I get general info about using IRC?'''
#: See the [[Irc|IRC]] page on this wiki.
# '''Where can I find a comprehensive list of IRC clients?'''
#: Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IRC_clients for a list of IRC clients on various platforms. Two popular choices are [http://www.hacksrus.com/~ginda/chatzilla/ Chatzilla] and [http://www.irssi.org/ irssi].
# '''Where can I ask for help on IRC?'''
#: Use the '''#seneca''', '''#firefox''', '''#build''' or '''#developers''' channels on irc://irc.mozilla.org(in that order).
# '''What is the best way to share long error messages or other text that is too big to copy/paste into IRC?'''
#: Use a pastebin at http://pastebin.ca/ or http://pastebin.mozilla.org/ to copy/paste your output. Then paste the resulting URL into IRC.
#: [http://f0rked.com/articles/irssidoc IRSSI Documentation and Resources]
# '''What do all these acronyms stand for?'''
#: Look them up on the [http://www.nebulavalinor.sorcery.net/glossary/ Glossary of IRC terminology]# '''I can't seem to join #seneca, how do I register my nick?'''#: Take a look at [http://freenode.net/faq.shtml#registering this] discussion of IRC nick registration for a list of instructions.
==TerminologySVN==# '''What is SVN?'''#: Subversion (or SVN for short) is a revision control system that is used to track changes to a project's file repository. SVN tracks changes to the repository made by each project collaborator. SVN tracks changes and can be used to analyze differences and undo changes at a later time if needed. This allows for greater collaboration and speed , while minimizing (though never completely elimintating) risks associated with duplication and overwriting each others work. Project contents need not be limited to source code files.# '''Where can I find an SVN tutorial?'''#:* [[Subversion_tutorial|Here]]#:* [[SVN|SVN at a glance]]# '''More complete documentation?'''#: Detailed SVN tutorials and other help information can be found in the [http://svnbook.red-bean.com/ free official online book] by [http://www.oreilly.com/ O'Reilly Media.]# '''Where can I find an SVN Client?#: View a [http://subversion.tigris.org/links.html#clients list of SVN clients] available for various platforms and development environments.# <b>SVN at a glance:</b> [[SVN]]===Common Commands===* To access the svn repository for your project, use the following command to 'check out' your project. <pre>svn checkout svn://cdot.senecac.on.ca/<yourprojecthere>/</pre>* Once you have your repository sandbox, change directories into the project folder.* To add a file to your svn repository, use the following command:<pre>svn add <filename></pre>* To remove a file from your svn repository, type:<pre>svn remove <filename></pre>* To update the repository with your latest changes to the repository, type:<pre>svn commit -m "type a message here that explains what you're committing"</pre>* To update the sandbox located on your local machine to the same version on the repository, type:<pre>svn update</pre>*To revert/undo file into its pre-modified state (More on [[SVN#svn_revert|svn revert]]):<pre>$ svn revert <filename></pre>* To view all the changes (commits) made on a svn repository, type:<pre>svn log</pre>:It is very important that you type useful messages when committing code.* How do i resolve a conflicted file? (To better understand the use of this command, check out: [[SVN#Resolve_Conflicts_.28Merging_Others.27_Changes.29 | Resolve Conflicts (Merging Others' Changes)]])<pre>svn resolved <filename></pre>* Here is how to create a patch using svn. Everything in square brackets is optional. If you provide no additional arguements, then a diff file would be made of all the changes you have done since the last commit/update.<pre> svn diff [-r from[:to]] [filename|directory] > mypatch.patch</pre>
*'''AMO'''
*: [https://addons.mozilla.org/ addons.mozilla.org]
*'''MDC or devmo'''
*: [http://developer.mozilla.org Mozilla Developer Center]
*'''MoCo'''
*: [http://www.mozilla.com/ Mozilla Corporation]
*'''NSPR'''
*: [http://www.mozilla.org/projects/nspr/ Netscape Portable Runtime] <br>Additional Resources : [[NSPR| DPS909]]
*'''NSS'''
*: [http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/ Network Security Services]
*'''RDF'''
*: [http://www.mozilla.org/rdf/doc/ Resource Description Framework] <br> Additional Resources : [[XUL| DPS909]] [http://www.w3.org/RDF/ W3C]
*'''XPCOM'''
*: [http://www.mozilla.org/projects/xpcom/ Cross Platform Component Object Model] <br> Additional Resources : [[XPCOM| DPS909]]
*'''XUL'''
*: [http://www.mozilla.org/projects/xul/ XML User interface Language] <br> Additional Resources : [[XUL| DPS909]]
==VMWare==
# '''Is there a way to create your own virtual machines (appliances) using only the VMWare Player?'''
#: The easiest method to create VM appliances is using VM Server or Workstation edition. However, Mike Shaver was able to locate a [http://hackaday.com/2005/10/24/how-to-vmware-player-modification hack for this]. There is even a [http://rhysgoodwin.orcon.net.nz/vmxwizard/ free third party wizard applicaton] that can help you create your on VM's to run on the VM Player.
==Other==
# '''How do I find out who owns what module in the Mozilla Tree?'''
#: Visit: [http://www.mozilla.org/owners.html http://www.mozilla.org/owners.html]
[[Category:Mozilla for beginners]]
