Doing Frhed Release

Table of Contents

  1. Checklist
  2. Version Number
  3. Using the Script
  4. Packaging
  5. Virus checking and checksum creation

Checklist

When doing a release there are many things to check first:

Version Number

Setting the correct version number for the release is very important. There are two approaches:

  1. Setting version number by hand for each component (if not using the script)
  2. Setting the version number to versions.ini file (when using the script)
If not using the versions.ini then you must set the version number to these components: When using the script, just update the versions.ini file with correct version numbers and the script updates all needed versioning information for you.

Using the Script

The recommended way to do a Frhed release is to use the Python script (Tools/create_release.py) for it. After the script finishes you'll have ready installer and executable and source folder ready to be added to zips.

The script uses another scripts to set version numbers, build manual etc.

Running the Script

The script must be run in command prompt. As it is Python script you'll need to run it with Python. The script needs name of the version ini file as parameter. For example:

python create_release.py versions.ini

Packaging

In addition to the installer executable, it is very much recommeded to release executable files as a zip. This allows advanced users to do their custom installations. And it also allows installing the software without privileges or running executables.

You must publish the sources! The GPL license requires you to publish any changes to the sources you have done. The best practice is to always release source package with executables.

The release script creates source folder which you can just zip and release.

Please name the released zips so that it is easy to see what they contain. For example you can add src or bin as a part of the file names.

Virus checking and checksum creation

Yes, you are sure you don't have viruses in your computer. But users who are downloading the software cannot know it! You must convince them that the executables are safe to download and run.

Running the virus checking and adding a mention that released files have been checked is a must. And if possible also mention the virus checker name/version/ update date. So users can consider if the checking is good enough for them to trust.

Another important thing is to make sure users download exactly the same files you have released. That nobody has been able to modify the files (like add viruses or other harmful content). The best way is to create checksums for the files you released and add those checksums to release info.

One handy tool to create checksums is the CheckSumTool.