Re: extension/module versioning

[<avi@itsg.net.au>] > dev team, > > what are the chances of having a function call for every extension that > returns the version? this would be extremely useful for determining > whether the correct version is installed, rather than checking to see > if the function_exists(). > > eg. > > $version_id = xml_version(); > > or > > $version_id = ibase_version(); > > thanks for your attention, I second this, although I really think a constant or maybe _one_ function for checking any extension's version would be best. Also, I think we need some guidelines for version numbering, so different extensions don't have vastly different ideas of what it means when the "major version" changes. Here's a suggestion from PEAR: -- snip -- We encourage maintainers to use one of the following version numbering schemes: YYYYMMDD (YYYY = year, MM = month, DD = day) V[{a,b}N] (V = version) [ alpha or beta release N ] V.R[{a,b}N] (R = release) V.R.P[{a,b}N] (P = patchlevel) PEAR tools follow these rules to compare versions: For YYYYMMDD, V, R, P and N, a higher number indicates a more recent release. Any beta of a release is considered newer than an alpha of the same release. When comparing V with V.N, V.N is considered newer if the version part of V.N is greather than or equal to the version part of V. The same logic applies to V.N.P vs. V.N. Releases with lots of known bugs, potential API changes etc. are typically alpha releases. Beta releases are when the risk of API changes is minimal and you believe most bugs are found. Between "patchlevels", there should be no or very limited, and compatible, API changes. Between "releases", API changes should be compatible. Between "versions" it's ok to break the API. An API consists of names of classes, functions, documented globals, which parameters are accepted by functions/methods and their semantics/behaviour. -- snip -- IMHO it's a simple scheme that should be easy to understand for extension developers and users. - Stig -- Stig Sæther Bakken <ssb@fast.no> Fast Search & Transfer ASA, Trondheim, Norway