NAME

compver - compatible versions file

DESCRIPTION

compver is an ASCII file used to specify previous versions of the associated package which are upward compatible. It is created by a package developer.

Each line of the file specifies a previous version of the associated package with which the current version is backward compatible.

Since some packages may require installation of a specific version of another software package, compatibility information is extremely crucial. Consider, for example, a package called "A" which requires version "1.0" of application "B" as a prerequisite for installation. If the customer installing "A" has a newer version of "B" (version 1.3), the compver file for "B" must indicate that "1.3" is compatible with version "1.0" in order for the customer to install package "A".

EXAMPLES

A sample compver file is shown below.

Version 1.3
Version 1.0

NOTES

The comparison of the version string disregards white space and tabs. It is performed on a word-by-word basis. Thus "Version 1.3" and "Version 1.3" would be considered the same.