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Instructions for releasing ERFA

  • Clone the ERFA repository from github (if you haven't already done so), and change to the ERFA directory.
  • Make sure you are on the "master" branch from the "liberfa" github repository and have the latest version (if you have a fresh clone, this should already be the case).
  • If a new version of SOFA exists, run sofa_deriver.py from the erfa-fetch repository in its own directory. That will create a directory called erfa inside the erfa-fetch directory, and you should copy its contents to the src directory of erfa. Use git diff in erfa to inspect the changes, and then commit and push them to github.
  • Update the version number in the AC_INIT macro of configure.ac to the version number you are about to release, and also update the version mentioned in README.rst. Follow the instructions in Version numbering below.
  • Update the version info of the shared library in the ERFA_LIB_VERSION_INFO macro of configure.ac. Follow the instructions in Version numbering below.
  • Commit these changes using git commit, with a commit message like Preparing release v0.0.1.
  • Run ./bootstrap.sh: you need automake, autoconf and libtool installed. If no errors appear, this will create a new ./configure file.
  • Run ./configure, which should create a Makefile in the top level directory and in ./src
  • Run make check, which will build the library and run the tests - make sure they pass before proceeding.
  • Run make distcheck: this creates the distribution tarball, unpackages it and runs the check inside the untarred directory. The resulting tarball will be named e.g., erfa-0.0.1.tar.gz and will be placed in the working directory.
  • Tag the current commit with the version number. A signed tag is preferred if you have an a signing key (e.g., do git tag -s v0.0.1).
  • Push up your changes and the new tag to github: git push --tags origin master. (The command here assumes the git remote "origin" points to the "liberfa/erfa" repository. If not, substitute the appropriate name.)
  • Go to the "liberfa/erfa" repository for the github page, and click on the "releases" button, and then the release corresponding to the tag you just made.
  • Click on the "Draft release notes or downloads" button (or it might be "Edit release"). Put the version number as the title (e.g., v0.0.1)and for the description put See `README.rst` for release notes.
  • Upload the tarball you created (e.g., erfa-0.0.1.tar.gz) by dropping it in the area that says "Attach binaries for this release by dropping them here."
  • Click the "Publish release" button.
  • Update the release listing on Github Pages to include this release: Do git checkout gh-pages, add a new <li>...</li> entry for the release in index.html, do git commit, and then git push origin gh-pages.

Version numbering

ERFA needs to provide two different version numbers. You need to update both. The first is the package version number or version number proper. ERFA uses semantic versioning to create this number. For more on this choice, see liberfa/erfa#6.

The second number is shared library version info. When a program has been linked with the ERFA shared library, the dynamic linker checks the version info of the library requested by the program with those of the libraries present if the system. This version info is important to binary distributions (such as Linux distributions). ERFA uses libtool versioning.

Package version number

Semantic versioning dictates how to change the version number according to changes to the API of the library. In the case of ERFA the API is:

  • The public C macros defined in erfam.h
  • The names, return types, number of arguments and types of the functions in erfa.h

To update the package version, the release manager has to check the relevant information about the release, such as:

If the version is given in the form MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, then

  • if there is a backwards incompatible change (function removed, types of arguments altered, macros renamed...) then increase MAJOR by one and set the others to zero.
  • else if there is backwards compatible change (new function added or new macro added) then do not change MAJOR, increase MINOR by one and set PATCH to zero.
  • else
    you are either fixing a bug or making other improvements. Increase patch by one and do not change the others.

Change the version number in the AC_INIT macro and in README.rst

Shared library version info

For the shared library version info, we are only interested in a subset of the API, the interfaces of the shared library. As the C macros are interpolated away at compile time, the interfaces in the ERFA shared library are:

  • The names, return types, number of arguments and types of the functions

Again, the release manager has to review the relevant information:

The shared library version info is stored in three numbers called current, revision and age. These numbers appear in the macro ERFA_LIB_VERSION_INFO in the mentioned order.

If the version is given in the form CURRENT,REVISION,AGE then

  • if there is a backwards incompatible change (function removed, types of arguments altered...) then increase CURRENT by one and set the others to zero (c,r,a -> c+1,0,0).
  • else if there is backwards compatible change (new function added) then increase both CURRENT and AGE by one, set REVISON to zero (c,r,a -> c+1,0,a+1).
  • else if the library code has been modified at all then increase REVISION by one (c,r,a -> c,r+1,a)
  • else
    do not change the version info (c,r,a -> c,r,a)

Change the verion info in ERFA_LIB_VERSION_INFO

Examples

We start with ERFA version 1.0.0 and library version info 0,0,0

  • SOFA makes a new release. A function is added and two functions change their arguments. This is a backawars incompatible change, so the new package will have version 2.0.0 and the shared library version info will be 1,0,0
  • We forgot to add README.rst to the release. We make a new one. The change is a bugfix (no API changes), the new release will be 2.0.1. The shared library version is not modified (no changes in the library source code).
  • SOFA makes a new release. They just add a new function. The new package version will be 2.1.0. The shared library info will be 2,0,1 (both current and age are incremented).
  • SOFA makes a new relase fixing some bugs in the code without changing the API. New package version is 2.1.1. The shared library version is 2,1,1
  • A contributor finds a bug in ERFA. The fix doesn't change the API. New package version is 2.1.2. The shared library version is 2,2,1
  • SOFA makes a new release incorporating the bug fix and adding new functions. The new package version is 2.2.0. The shared library version is 3,0,2
  • SOFA makes a new release removing functions. This is a backawars incompatible change, so the new package will have version 3.0.0 and the shared library version info will be 4,0,0