1CPAN::Changes::Spec(3)User Contributed Perl DocumentationCPAN::Changes::Spec(3)
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6 CPAN::Changes::Spec - Specification for CPAN Changes files
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9 version 0.04
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12 Revision history for perl module Foo::Bar
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14 0.02 2009-07-17
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16 - Added more foo() tests
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18 0.01 2009-07-16
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20 - Initial release
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23 This document describes version 0.03 of the specification for Changes
24 files included in a CPAN distribution.
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26 It is intended as a guide for module authors to encourage them to write
27 meaningful changelogs as well as provide a programmatic interface to
28 reliably read and write Changes files.
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31 Version
32 Versions should be formatted as described in "Version-Formats" in
33 CPAN::Meta::Spec.
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35 Date
36 A date/time in the format specified by
37 <http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime> aka W3CDTF. Note: The "T" marker
38 before the time portion is optional.
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40 In order to satisfy release events not made to the public, or dates
41 that are historically unknown, the following strings are also
42 available:
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44 · Unknown Release Date
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46 · Unknown
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48 · Not Released
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50 · Development Release
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52 · Development
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54 · Developer Release
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57 Required Elements
58 In its simplest form, the only required elements are a "Version", a
59 "Date" and the noted changes. Blank lines between the "Version" line
60 and the first "Change" line are optional. Blank lines between "Change"
61 lines are also optional.
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63 <Version>(whitespace/non-"word" characters)<Date>
64 (whitespace)<Change>
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66 NOTE: The characters between a "Version" and a "Date" must start with
67 whitespace, but may subsquently contain any combination of whitespace
68 and non-"word" characters. Example:
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70 0.01 - 2013-12-11
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72 "Change" lines have no specific format. Commonly, authors will use a
73 dash "-" followed by a space to start a new change, and indent
74 subsequent lines for multi-line changes. Example
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76 - Simple Change
77 - This is a very very very long
78 change line
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80 Although there is no limit on line length, authors generally wrap each
81 line at 78 columns.
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83 Optional Elements
84 Release Note
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86 Any text following the "Date" portion of the "Version" line will be
87 considered the "Release Note". Example:
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89 0.01 2013-04-01 Codename: April Fool
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91 - First Release
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93 Preamble
94 Any amount of text before the first "Version" line will be considered
95 part of the preamble. Most existing distributions include something
96 along the lines of:
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98 Revision history for perl module My::Module
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100 Or
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102 Revision history for perl distribution My-Distribution
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104 Groups
105 Changelog entries may be grouped under headings. Heading lines begin
106 with an opening square bracket ("["), and end with a matching square
107 bracket ("]"). When parsing group headings, leading and trailing
108 whitespace inside the brackets should be discarded.
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110 (whitespace)[Grouping Name]
111 (whitespace)<Change>
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113 Since empty lines hold no special meaning, all "Change" lines will fall
114 under the current group until a new group heading is found. Example:
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116 [ First Group ]
117 - First Change
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119 - Second Change; in first group
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121 [ Second Group ]
122 - First Change; in second group
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125 Basic Example
126 0.01 2009-07-16
127 - Initial release
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129 Example with a preamble
130 Revision history for perl module Foo::Bar
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132 0.02 2009-07-17
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134 - Added more foo() tests
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136 0.01 2009-07-16
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138 - Initial release
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140 Example with groups
141 Revision history for perl module Foo::Bar
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143 0.03 2009-07-18
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145 [Important Security Information]
146 - This release fixes critical bug RT #1234
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148 [Other Changes]
149 - Added some feature
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151 0.02 2009-07-17
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153 - Added more foo() tests
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155 0.01 2009-07-16T19:20:30+01:00
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157 - Initial release
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160 · CPAN::Changes
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162 · Test::CPAN::Changes
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165 Brian Cassidy <bricas@cpan.org>
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168 Copyright 2011-2013 by Brian Cassidy
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170 This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
171 the same terms as Perl itself.
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175perl v5.32.0 2020-07-28 CPAN::Changes::Spec(3)