Re: totally confused by versioning system of libtool...

[Bob Friesenhahn]

On Fri, 13 May 2005, Ed Hartnett wrote:
> I hope things are well in the Great State of Texas today!
>
> OK, so an existing program, linked to version 0.0.0, will continue to
> use the old version of the library?

Yes.  If there is an implementation change (e.g. bug-fix) with no 
interface change, then if you follow the libtool versioning rules, the 
application will automatically use the newer improved library.

> That implies that when I install a new version, the old version says
> around. Is that correct?

Yes.  Unless it is explicitly deleted.

> Then, if the user re-links his program, the linker will find the most
> recent version of the library to link to? Is that correct?

Yes.

> PS - I have some more complicated questions about versioning, but
> first I want to be sure I understand the simplest cases.

Be sure to read and adhere to the rules in the libtool documentation. 
It is worthwhile to track the changes you make to your software 
between your releases so that you know what type of interface changes 
may have occured.  This is where an accurate ChangeLog is useful. 
Otherwise you may need to use diff to evaluate any changes.

I follow the rules "blindly" but religiously for my package and don't 
worry about the actual numbers applied to the files.

Only update the numbers prior to a release.  If you do snapshot 
releases, then you may want to burn some numbers in order to ensure 
that there is no conflict with official releases.

Bob
======================================
Bob Friesenhahn
address@hidden, http://www.simplesystems.org/users/bfriesen/
GraphicsMagick Maintainer,    http://www.GraphicsMagick.org/