Automaticly incrementing Version Number

BoldKiller · 03-25-2005, 09:03 AM

I was loking at a way to automaticly increment the build number in a gcc project written in C.

I could make a small program to re-write a header file containing the version number. Everytime make is run, the program parses the header, gets the version number, incremetns it, writes back the file (as a #define) , then the rest of the compilation process is ran.

It would work, but it is lot of work simply to have a build number!! Is there a better way to do it?

By the way, I could manualy update the build number, but seriously, who can remember to always change a number every time he presses the build button!!

Any ideas would be apreiated.

TheLinuxDuck · 03-25-2005, 10:25 AM

Hmm.. interesting idea.. can't say that I have any ideas offhand, except for something similar to the method you described. In projects where I'm maintaining builds, I typically just manually change the build number when I do major revisions.

paulsm4 · 03-25-2005, 10:50 AM

Hi -

You might be able to do what you want with a simple one-line awk script.

For example:

1. Let's say your version is in a header file that looks like this:
less version.h =>
#define VERSION 2.0.1

2. Your awk script might then look something like this:
awk '/VERSION/ {
split ($3, a,.);
a[2] = a[2] + 1;
printf ("#define VERSION %d.%d.%d", a[0], a[1], a[2]);
}' version.h

'Hope that helps .. PSM

PS:
This is just a suggestion - I haven't tested or debugged it yet.
At a minimum, you'll need to update your "version.h" header with the
"awk" output.

BoldKiller · 03-25-2005, 12:39 PM

Hmmm, interesting idea.

I think I will give it a try. Especially since gawk is available on both Linux and Windows. (we developp everything cross platform).

As for writing back to the file, if I used a file simply for this version number I could simply do a
"myAwkScript > version.h"
in the make file.

Be the way, if you are wondering why version numbers are so important, it is beacause, I'm developping for a microcontrolleur (using avr-gcc). This version is the only way I have to know what version of the code is running in the chip!

Thanks for the tip.

BoldKiller · 03-26-2005, 11:15 AM

I tryed the awk script. I used

Code:

VERSION_NUMBER
{
   split ($3, a, ".")

   a[3] = a[3] + 1
   printf ("// VERSION_NUMBER %d.%d.%d\n", a[1], a[2], a[3] ) > "version.h"
   printf ("#define VERSION_CODE 0x%x%x%x\n", a[1], a[2], a[3]) > "version.h"
}

And the file version.h:

Code:

// VERSION_NUMBER 2.1.15
#define VERSION_CODE 0x21F

When I run the code, it does what I want but also execute the print statement even if the pattern does not match. For exemple, the above file will give this result

Code:

// VERSION_NUMBER 2.1.16
#define VERSION_CODE 0x2110
// VERSION_NUMBER 0.0.1
#define VERSION_CODE 0x001

If I put aditionnal lines (white lines or not) , the instructions will execute once for every line. The question is, its the pattern at the top of the bracket supposed to specify the code will only execute if the pattern is matched?

Thanks for any tips.

aluser · 03-26-2005, 11:33 AM

as a user I'd be a little confused if your version numbers changed by 50 or 100 on each release : )

BoldKiller · 03-26-2005, 11:46 AM

If you mean the last number, it is only the build number.

Version number will not actually be shown to the user. The version number is in the code of a microcontrolleur. I need it to let my drivers know what version of firmware the card is running.

The build number itself is more for myself. This way I dont have to ask myself: "did I reprogram the number 1 card or was it number 2?" With this build numbers, I can make sure all my cards are running the same version of firmware.

BoldKiller · 03-26-2005, 12:08 PM

Perfect, I made it work!!

As I stated before, I had not really use awk before. I put an enter between the condition and the {

Here is my code for the moment, if someone needs it:

Code:

/VERSION_NUMBER/ { 
   split ($3, a, ".");
   a[3] = a[3] + 1;
   
   if ( a[3] > 255 )
      a[3] = 0;
}

END {
   printf ("// VERSION_NUMBER %d.%d.%d\n", a[1], a[2], a[3] ) > "version.h";
   printf ("#define VERSION_CODE 0x%x%x%.2x\n", a[1], a[2], a[3]) > "version.h";
}

Thanks everyone for your help!