= Testing Patches
:page-parent: Working with Patches
:page-grand_parent: Contributing
:page-nav_order: 2

// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2022 Alyssa Ross <hi@alyssa.is>
// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2022 Unikie
// SPDX-License-Identifier: GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-or-later OR CC-BY-SA-4.0

Potential changes to Spectrum are posted to and discussed on the
xref:communication.adoc#spectrum-devel[\devel@spectrum-os.org] mailing
list.

== Apply Patch

. Find the patch series you want to test on
  https://spectrum-os.org/lists/archives/spectrum-devel/[public-inbox].
. Navigate to the "permalink" page for any patch in the series.
. Copy the Message-Id for the patch, as shown on the permalink page, e.g.
  \20220511092352.70E54C980@atuin.qyliss.net.
. In a checkout of the https://spectrum-os.org/git/spectrum[Spectrum]
  git repository, run `nix-shell` to enter a shell environment with b4
  set up correctly for Spectrum.
+
TIP: You can manually xref:b4.adoc[set up b4] so that it works outside
of the Spectrum root's nix-shell, which allows you to skip this step.
. In a checkout of the appropriate git repository
  (https://spectrum-os.org/git/spectrum[Spectrum] or
  https://spectrum-os.org/git/nixpkgs[Spectrum Nixpkgs]), run `b4 am`
  with the patch's Message-Id to download all the patches in the
  series into a file.
+
[example]
[source,shell]
----
b4 am 20220511092352.70E54C980@atuin.qyliss.net
----
b4 will indicate the file name it has downloaded the patches into with a line
like:
+
[example]
[listing]
----
Writing ./20220424_hi_host_rootfs_fix_weston_hotplugging.mbx
----
. Run `git am` on that file to apply the patches. For example:
+
[example]
[source,shell]
----
git am 20220424_hi_host_rootfs_fix_weston_hotplugging.mbx
----

== Post Your Results

When you tested a patch, it is helpful to
xref:replying.adoc[reply] with your test results.

If the patch worked for you, please reply to it and include a line like the following, separated from any reply text:
----
Tested-by: John Smith <john@example.com>
----

This format is recognized by tooling, so any lines in this format in
patch replies will be automatically included in the commit message
when a patch is applied.

It's also helpful to explain in your reply how you tested the patch,
but you don't have to if it's obvious.  For example, if a patch is
supposed to fix a bug, and you verified that after applying the patch
the bug is fixed, just the Tested-by line on its own is enough to
indicate that.

If you found an issue with the patch, do not include a Tested-by line,
and instead reply to the patch explaining what you tested, what you
expected to happen, and what actually happened.