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Version numbers

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Shawn Faucher
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Version numbers

I think probably more than anything else in the PAF spec version numbers need to be clarified. Many of the Development Tests being posted have it wrong (or are being labeled as such by others), and even in some releases it is unclear whether they all follow the same logic. I'm going to attempt to list them all and relate them as I understand them, and list questions I have and hopefully we can get things nailed down by someone more in the know and have a clear reference to go by. Throughout this post I use GIMP Portable 2.4.4 Revision 2 as the example.

  • PAF Format Version

    • Location: App\AppInfo\appinfo.ini
    • Name: Version
    • Example: 0.9.8
    • Summary: Mainly seems to refer to the fields present in appinfo.ini but is also referenced in the forums as the version of the PAF specification utilized by the package. Note that this does not guarantee certain versions of other files, although it does seem to correspond to what directory structure and which files are expected to be present.
  • Package Version
    • Location: App\AppInfo\appinfo.ini
    • Name: PackageVersion
    • Example: 2.4.4.1
    • Summary: Refers to the version of the package. Generally this corresponds to the version of the packaged application padded out to 4 places with the last place sometimes changed to indicate bugfix revisions of the same packaged app version.
  • Display Version
    • Location: App\AppInfo\appinfo.ini
    • Name: DisplayVersion
    • Example: 2.4.4 Revision 2 (Multilingual)
    • Summary: Seems to refer to the version of the packaged application appended with Revision and package option (Language, anything else?) information. Note that this version is what appears in the help.html file and the package web pages.
  • Launcher Version
    • Location: Other\Source\Portable.nsi
    • Name: VER
    • Example: 1.5.8.0
    • Summary: Seems to refer to the version of the launcher. There is much confusion over what this should be in a new package. Released packages vary widely in what version is listed here, although they generally fall within the same ballpark (1.5-1.7). There is also confusion as to why this version is used in three different places within the launcher, 'VIProductVersion', 'FileVersion' and 'ProductVersion'. FileVersion at the very least seems redundant.
  • Readme Version
    • Location: Other\Source\Readme.txt
    • Name: (not named, appended to title line)
    • Examples: 1.5 in GIMP, 1.5.8.0 or missing entirely in other applications supposedly of the same Package Version.
    • Summary: Again much confusion over what should be here. It seems apparent that it refers to the Launcher version, however it is not consistently applied in released applications. Note, discussion in this post indicates that it should be dropped completely going forward.
  • Application Version
    • Location: Other\Source\PortableApps.comInstaller.nsi
    • Name: VERSION
    • Example: 2.4.4.1
    • Summary: Appears to correspond directly to Package Version (appinfo.ini).
  • Installer Version
    • Location: Other\Source\PortableApps.comInstaller.nsi
    • Name: PORTABLEAPPSINSTALLERVERSION
    • Example: 0.9.9.0
    • Summary: This is the version of the installer. Note that 'VIProductVersion', 'FileVersion' and 'ProductVersion' in the installer refer to this version. Also note that installers with different options (PortableApps.comInstallerMulti.nsi for example for multilingual installs) have a different, but similar version (0.9.9.1 in this case). It is unclear how this will correlate when changes are made to one installer but not the other, or changes are made to both. Will there be a 0.9.9.1 of the regular installer when changes are made or will it skip ahead to 0.9.9.2? What if the same changes are needed in Multi? What if they aren't?
  • Please comment on the above and I'll make changes as we hash things out.

    Edited on 3/7/08: Updated Readme Version to indicate it should now be dropped.