Analog: Help wanted

It's not always easy for people to get involved in open source projects, because they don't know where to start, and because they haven't got time to understand the whole program. So here, in no particular order, is a list of tasks which I would love to see done for analog. They're things which I'm not skilled to do myself, and which I'm not likely to have the time to learn in the near future. Each one is more-or-less self-contained. Some require programming skills, but most don't. They're to be done on a volunteer basis, of course.

If you want to tackle one of these projects, the first step is to contact me to check that no-one else is doing it, and to get more details.

No programming required

Project	Notes
Language files	Translations of analog into new languages are always welcome. (See the list of current languages.)
Precompiled versions	If you have an operating system which is not one for which a precompiled version is already available, and if you want to volunteer always to compile the latest version of analog, and to host the precompiled version at your site, I would love to hear from you.
Language test suite	Construct a configuration, or set of configurations, which uses all or nearly all of the strings in a language file (and presumably shows off most of analog's features).

Some programming required

Project	Notes
`./configure` and `make install`	Supply a GNU autoconf script and make install target to replace editing the Makefile and the `anlghead.h`. (The current build method should still be available for those who want it.)
Better Windows behaviour	Arrange that analog should not pop up a DOS window when it starts (i.e. get the window to start minimised). But if there are any error or warning messages, the window should pop up, and then also not close automatically at the end of the program.
Wildcards in directory names	Make wildcards in directory names in `LOGFILE` commands work. The function which needs modifying is `configwildlogs()` in `init2.c`.
RTF output format	Allow analog to write RTF. The output should be readable with all common readers, not just Word. This project is a big one: it would require good knowledge of C and RTF, and several days' work.

In progress

These projects were on this page, but I've already got a volunteer for them now. Just so you know what's coming!

Project Notes

Spider exclusion configuration file Construct a configuration file, using a mixture of BROWEXCLUDE and HOSTEXCLUDE commands, to exclude requests from spiders/robots. Allocated 25-May-00.

Unix man page Allocated 25-May-00.

Windows Makefile Make a Makefile to let MSVC++ compile analog without going through the GUI. Allocated 20-Sep-00.

Project	Notes
Spider exclusion configuration file	Construct a configuration file, using a mixture of `BROWEXCLUDE` and `HOSTEXCLUDE` commands, to exclude requests from spiders/robots. Allocated 25-May-00.
Unix man page	Allocated 25-May-00.
Windows Makefile	Make a Makefile to let MSVC++ compile analog without going through the GUI. Allocated 20-Sep-00.

Completed jobs

The following projects were on this list but have now been completed.

Project Notes

SEARCHENGINE configuration file Construct a more comprehensive list of SEARCHENGINE commands than the one distributed with the program. Completed.

Precompiled version for Solaris 2 Completed.

Project	Notes
`SEARCHENGINE` configuration file	Construct a more comprehensive list of `SEARCHENGINE` commands than the one distributed with the program. Completed.
Precompiled version for Solaris 2	Completed.

Of course, if you have ideas for other ways to contribute, then feel free to contact me too.

Go to the analog home page.

Stephen Turner
University of Cambridge Statistical Laboratory

Need help with analog? Use the analog-help mailing list.

Page last modified: 29-Sep-00