= Release Procedure =

Svndigest uses "MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH" release numbers, with the same guidelines as APR (see http://apr.apache.org/versioning.html).

=== Creating a release branch ===
A new release branch is created for each new major and minor release. So, for example, a new release branch is created when preparing to release version 1.0.0, or version 0.3.0. However, when preparing to release 0.3.1 (a patch-version increment), the release branch created at the time of 0.3.0 is used.

If you are preparing for a patch release, then there is no release branch to create. You just pick up where you left off in the current minor version series release branch.

Once people agree that a new release branch should be made, the Release Manager creates it with the following procedure (substitute A.B with the version you are preparing, eg. 0.3, or 1.0):

  1.  Edit `NEWS` on trunk to introduce a new section for the upcoming release. The section starts with: 
{{{
Version A.B (released ?? ????? 200X, from /branches/A.B-stable)
      http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/svndigest/tags/release-A.B
}}}
  Leave the release date blank for now. It will remain this way until rolling time.

  2.  Commit change `svn ci -m "add a new NEWS section for upcoming A.B release"`

  3.  Create a new release branch using a one liner like
{{{
  svn copy http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/svndigest/trunk \
           http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/svndigest/branches/A.B-stable \
           -m "New branch for svndigest A.B.x"
}}}

  4.  Update version number in `configure.ac` on trunk. The version number on trunk always reflects the major/minor version that will immediately follow the one for which you just created a branch (eg. 1.1.0 for the 1.0.x branch, and 0.4.0 for the 0.3.x branch).


=== Rolling a release === 

This section describes how to roll a release A.B.C.

  1. Update files `NEWS` and `configure.ac` on release branch
    *  Add text in `NEWS` what is new for this release
    *  Update `configure.ac` setting ''devel'' to `false`
    *  Issue `svn ci -m "adding NEWS text and preparing for release A.B.C"`

  2. Issue `make distcheck` with appropriate configure options.

  3. Create a tag with 
{{{
  svn copy . http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/svndigest/tags/A.B \
           -m "Tagging version A.B.C"
}}}

  4. Create new source packages with `make dist`. Make the appropriate updates on DownloadPage including:
    * Upload gzipped tar file and update corresponding link.
    * Update link to NEWS file to `source:tags/A.B.C/NEWS`
    * In ''Svndigest latest release'' update to `[source:tags/A.B.C/NEWS NEWS]` and modify svn command to  
      `svn checkout http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/svndigest/tags/A.B.C svndigest-A.B.C`
    * In ''Svndigest stable'' update link to `[milestone:A.B.(C++) A.B.(C++)]dev` and modify svn command to 
      `svn checkout http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/svndigest/branches/A.B-stable svndigest-A.B.(C++)dev`
    * In ''Svndigest devel'' modify svn command to 
      `svn checkout http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/svndigest/trunk svndigest-A.(B++).0dev`

  5. Set ''devel'' to `true` in `configure.ac`.

  6. Merge changes in release branch to trunk.
    * `cd path/to/release-branch`
    * Find revision (N) for latest merge: `svn log -r 1:HEAD | grep Merged`
    * Find head revision (M) in release branch: `svn info | grep Rev:`
    * `cd path/to/trunk`
    * `svn merge -r N:M http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/svndigest/branches/A.B-stable`
    * Run `make check` to make sure that the merge succeeded.
    * Commit changes to trunk: `svn commit -m "Merged log:branches/0.1-stable#N:M trunk."` 

  7. Update version in `configure.ac` on release branch to A.B.(C++).

  8.  Edit NEWS on trunk (and release branch) to introduce a new section for the upcoming release. The section starts with: 
{{{
Version A.B.0 (released ?? ????? 200X, from /branches/A.B-stable)
      http://lev.thep.lu.se/repository/svndigest/tags/A.B.(C++)
}}}
  Leave the release date blank for now. It will remain this way until rolling time.

  9. Update Trac: 
    * Update the version list in Trac using the trac-admin tool, i.e., add version A.B
    * Close the milestone A.B and add a new milestones.