Rework defective package build time-stamping logic.

[mingw/mingw-get.git] / srcdist-doc / NEWS.in

Release Notes
=============

$Id$

The information presented below describes the user visible changes
introduced with each release of mingw-get.  The online version of this
historical record is restricted to recent releases; the full history is
recorded in the NEWS file, which is included in the source code package.


mingw-get-0.5-mingw32-beta-20120426-1
-------------------------------------

Release date: 2012-04-26

This is an emergency bug-fix release; it provides an immediate interim
work-around for bug #3520864, circumventing a critical regression which
was introduced in mingw-get-0.5-mingw32-beta-20120416-1, and is thus a
mandatory upgrade for users who had previously upgraded to that version.

It also incorporates the correction for bug #3520488.


mingw-get-0.5-mingw32-beta-20120416-1
-------------------------------------

Release date: 2012-04-16

This milestone release marks the point at which the code base, for the
CLI implementation, is deemed to have progressed from alpha to beta
(or better) quality.  It corrects several packaging deficiencies within
the source code distribution, in addition to fixing two reported bugs;
it also adds several new features.

The following bugs are fixed by this release:--

- #3416013: --reinstall and dependent packages

  Specifically, in the case of application of the --reinstall option to
  meta-packages, previous releases would have no effect.  This is now
  corrected, such that the --reinstall action is applied recursively to
  each declared requirement of any meta-package, to the depth of the
  first non-meta package in each requirement chain.

- #3424406: install --reinstall performs an upgrade

  When performing the "install" action, with the --reinstall option,
  previous releases would consider the availability of upgrades for the
  package in question, promoting the "install" action to "upgrade" when
  possible.  This anomaly has now been corrected; when specified with
  the "install" action, the --reinstall option will cause reinstallation
  of the originally installed version, ignoring available upgrades; (the
  former behaviour remains available, by specifying the --reinstall
  option together with the "upgrade" action).

The following new features have been implemented:--

- Forced installation of a specified (non-current) release.

  The package name specified as the predicate of any "install" or
  "upgrade" action may now be qualified by a version specification,
  allowing the user to select any known version, (not necessarily the
  most recently released), for installation.  In the case of any package
  which has not been previously installed, the format is any of:

!    mingw-get install "package-name=version-spec"
!    mingw-get install "package-name<version-spec"
!    mingw-get install "package-name<=version-spec"
!    mingw-get install "package-name>=version-spec"
!    mingw-get install "package-name>version-spec"

  while for any package which has been previously installed, and is to
  be "rolled back" to an earlier release, the same forms are supported,
  using the "upgrade" action in place of "install".

  In each of the above command forms, "package-name" represents the
  unqualified package name, as it would be specified in any regular
  invocation of mingw-get, and "version-spec" is the selector for the
  desired version; (in the case of an "=" qualifier, this must be an
  exact match for the desired version, unless it ends with the "*" wild
  card).  For example, if GCC has already been installed at version
  4.6.2-1, (the most recent release at this time of writing), it may be
  rolled back to the last version 4.5 release by:

     mingw-get upgrade "gcc=4.5.*"

  or by using an inequality specifier, to exclude gcc-4.6 and later:

     mingw-get upgrade "gcc<4.6"

  Note that, particularly in the case of the inequality qualifiers, the
  argument must be quoted, to avoid interpretation of the inequality
  operator as the shell's redirection operator.
  
  Also note that any explicit *inclusive* version range, such as:

     mingw-get upgrade "gcc>4.5<4.6"

  is permitted; however no white space is permitted, anywhere within the
  qualified package specification.

- Support for package maintainer scripted installation hooks.

  An embedded script interpreter, based on Lua version 5.2, has been
  incorporated; this provides support for "pre-install", "post-install",
  "pre-remove", and "post-remove" action hooks, which may be specified
  by package maintainers, in the form of Lua scripts embedded within
  "action" elements in any package's XML catalogue entry.

  This capability is further supported by the provision of Lua modules,
  providing a standardised mechanism for creation of MS-Windows shell
  links, (a.k.a. shortcuts).

- New option: "--desktop"

  Grants permission, to package maintainer specified scripts, to create
  shortcuts on the user's desktop; alternatively, it may be specified as
  --desktop=all-users, to make such shortcuts available to all users.

- New option: "--start-menu"

  Grants permission, to package maintainer specified scripts, to create
  shortcuts in the user's start menu; alternatively, it may be specified
  as --start-menu=all-users, to make such shortcuts available in the
  start menus of all users.


mingw-get-0.4-mingw32-alpha-1
-----------------------------

Release date: 2011-11-06

This release fixes a critical bug in the upgrade code, whereby an
existing DLL could be replaced by an alternative with an incompatible
ABI version, where the correct action is to install both concurrently.
As a critical bug-fix release, this is a strongly recommended upgrade
for all users.

In addition to this critical bug-fix, the following new features have
been implemented:--

- Modified action: "upgrade"

  The "upgrade" request now supports anonymous upgrade of all currently
  installed packages; in other words, the command:

      $ mingw-get upgrade

  issued without any additional package-name arguments, will cause
  mingw-get to invoke the upgrade action in respect of each and every
  package which is currently recorded as "installed", and for which an
  upgrade is available.

- New action: "source"

  Invoked by a command of the form:

      $ mingw-get source package-name ...

  requests mingw-get to download the source code archive for each named
  package, and unpack it in the current working directory.

- New action: "licence"

  Similar to "source", and invoked by a command of the form:

      $ mingw-get licence package-name ...

  requests mingw-get to download the licence packs for each named
  package, once again unpacking them in the current working directory.

- New option: "--print-uris"

  Used in conjunction with an "install", "source", or "licence" request,
  causes mingw-get to print, on stdout, the URIs from whence the
  packages needed to satisfy the request may be downloaded, without
  otherwise completing the request; (nothing is actually downloaded,
  unpacked, or installed).  This option causes the URIs to be printed
  irrespective of the installation status of the named packages.

- New option: "--download-only"

  Used with an "install", "upgrade", or "licence" request, causes
  mingw-get to download any package archives which are necessary to
  complete the specified action, provided they are not already present
  within the package cache, but without unpacking or installing the
  package content.  After completing the request, the requisite package
  archives may be found in the mingw-get package cache

      var/cache/mingw-get/packages

  relative to mingw-get's own sysroot path.

  Similarly, when used with the "source" request, the "--download-only"
  option causes mingw-get to download any source package archives needed
  to complete the request, (once again, provided they are not already
  present in the download cache), but without unpacking them.  In this
  case, after completing the request, the requisite source archives may
  be found in the directory

      var/cache/mingw-get/source

  relative to the sysroot path.

- New option: "--all-related"

  Used with the "source" or "licence" requests, this option extends the
  scope of the request, causing mingw-get to also process the source or
  licence packages associated with all runtime dependencies identified
  for the packages named in the command.

;--------8<-------------------- cut-line -------------------->8--------
;
; Any text added below the cut-line will be included in the README
; file, which is to be included in the source distribution, but it
; will be excluded from the readme.txt file, which is to be used to
; add descriptive content on the SourceForge download page.
;
; Any lines, such as these, which begin with a semicolon in their
; first column (not indented), will be excluded from both files.

mingw-get-0.3-mingw32-alpha-2.1
-------------------------------

Release date: 2011-07-29

This interim release corrects a critical defect in the version matching
code within mingw-get's dependency resolver, which resulted in failure
of wild card tokens in a requirements specification to match an actual
package version, where that version was qualified by a release status
descriptor, (such as "alpha", "beta", "pre", etc.)

Users may also note that the default package archive format has been
changed from tar.gz to tar.xz; (the alternative zip format archive for
the binary package is retained, for the convenience of first time users
who lack any tar archive extraction capability).

This release is a mandatory prerequisite upgrade for all users who may
wish to install and deploy the upcoming MinGW GCC-4.6 pre-release
packages using mingw-get.


mingw-get-0.3-mingw32-alpha-2
-----------------------------

Release date: 2011-06-17

This is primarily a bug fix release; it also provides some limited
additional functional capability.  All users are recommended to upgrade
to this release.

- Fixes MinGW-Bug #3309438; this release now supports dynamic selection
  of all internally defined debugging trace options at run time, without
  prejudice to normal operation.

- Fixes MinGW-Bug #3313806; CMS_KEYWORDS are no longer matched within
  the package name field of a canonical package tarname.  Thus, packages
  such as "msys-cvs" are now correctly identified again, while resolving
  dependencies.

- The "mingw-get update" operation now emits "Update catalogue ..."
  messages for each catalogue processed, irrespective of the verbosity
  option setting.  This removes the requirement to specify the "-vv"
  option to avoid protracted silent operation, which may have given
  a false impression that the previous release had hung while
  performing this operation.

- The "--reinstall" option is now formally supported; this release will
  no longer behave as if this option is unconditionally specified; thus,
  the command syntax:

      $ mingw-get upgrade --reinstall <package-name>

  is now required to force reinstallation of any package which has been
  recorded as already installed.


mingw-get-0.3-mingw32-alpha-1
-----------------------------

Release date: 2011-05-30

- Augmented support for package development status identification;
  packages may now be classified as alpha < beta < pre < rc < stable,
  with implied development progression in this ranking order within any
  release group identified by a common version number.

- Added support for identification of snapshot releases, using common
  Content Management System (CMS) labels, (e.g. cvs, svn, hg, git), in
  place of an alpha..stable classification.  Releases identified by any
  CMS label are deemed to pre-date any alpha..stable release with the
  same version number.

- Implemented protocol for processing command line options, (beyond the
  limited scope of the "--help" and "--version" options, each of which
  causes immediate program termination after interpretation).

- Reduced verbosity of progress reports; implemented "--verbose" ("-v")
  option, (with levels from 0..3), to restore it.

- Added debug level support for conditional feature tracing.  Features
  to be traced may now be selected by the user, at run time, by means of
  a new "--trace" option; (however, the availability of this option, and
  the range features which may be traced is selected at compile time).

  It is anticipated that this "--trace" facility will be supported for
  all future "alpha" and "beta" releases, but not for any officially
  distributed "pre", "rc" or "stable" release.


mingw-get-0.2-mingw32-alpha-4
-----------------------------

Release date: 2011-05-14

- This is yet another bug-fix release; it addresses the issue
  identified in MinGW-Bug&nbsp;3295526, so ensuring that mingw-get
  always removes files it has installed, regardless of any read-only
  attribute setting, (provided the user is sufficiently privileged).

- It also addresses the issue identified in MinGW-Bug&nbsp;3297660, so
  ensuring that packages are not erroneously reported as "installed"
  following a failed download, and that packages previously installed
  are not removed during upgrade, when the replacement version has not
  been successfully downloaded.

- This release also incorporates additional code to aggressively retry
  failed internet requests, when attempting to download packages.  The
  release has been compiled with internet request tracing diagnostics
  enabled; it is hoped that this will permit users to provide more
  useful information when reporting download problems.


mingw-get-0.2-mingw32-alpha-3
-----------------------------

Release date: 2011-03-31

- Another bug fix release; this corrects a defect whereby attempts to
  remove files or directories during any "mingw-get&nbsp;remove&nbsp;..."
  or "mingw-get&nbsp;upgrade&nbsp;..." operation would fail (silently),
  when any macro is used in the sysroot specification, (such as the
  use of "%R" in the default specification).

- Also included in this release is a preliminary attempt to accommodate
  users who wish to run mingw-get when behind an authenticating proxy;
  (ref: MinGW-Bug&nbsp;3147803).  Based on MinGW-Patch&nbsp;31584530,
  this invokes Microsoft's standard pop-up dialogue to solicit entry
  of the user's credentials, when requested by a proxy server.


mingw-get-0.2-mingw32-alpha-2
-----------------------------

Release date: 2011-03-15

- Fixes MinGW-Bug&nbsp;3212246; this was a serious bug which, under
  certain specific conditions, could result in a package name alias
  being matched to the wrong package, (e.g. autoconf2.5 resolved to
  match the mingw32-autoconf2.1 package, instead of
  mingw32-autoconf2.5).


mingw-get-0.2-mingw32-alpha-1
-----------------------------

Release date: 2011-03-12

- Added provisional support for removal of packages which have been
  previously installed.  This is fully functional, but naive with respect
  to dependencies; it will aggressively remove any package scheduled for
  removal, even if this may break another (dependant) package.

  A future release will address this naivety, performing more rigorous
  dependency checking prior to progressing removals.  Meanwhile, should it
  be discovered that removal of a package has broken any dependency, then
  reinstallation of the dependant package should correct the situation.

- The upgrade operation now performs a removal of the currently installed
  version of each package, prior to installing a replacement; this ensures
  that obsolete artifacts from earlier versions do no accumulate within
  the file system.

  As with the remove operation, this implementation does not check that an
  upgrade is compatible with dependant packages; this will be addressed in
  a future release.

- Added preliminary support for the "list" operation.  This provides a
  rudimentary mechanism for interrogating the package catalogue, and
  displaying a list of available packages.

- Added preliminary support for the "show" operation.  As currently
  implemented, this behaves as a synonym for "list"; as functionality
  develops, the behaviours of these two operators may become distinct in
  future releases.


mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-5.2
-------------------------------

Release date: 2011-02-26

- This is a further bug-fix release.  It provides a work-around for a
  defect in the console I/O handling of MSYS mintty and MSYS rxvt, which
  causes the stderr stream to appear to be inappropriately buffered within
  either of these terminal emulators.  As such, it is a recommended upgrade
  for users of either of these emulators; it offers no tangible benefit
  to other users.


mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-5.1
-------------------------------

Release date: 2011-02-10

- This is a bug-fix release to correct a critical defect in the resolution
  of dependencies, when performing an upgrade operation.  It also provides
  more meaningful diagnostics when mingw-get is invoked without arguments,
  and corrects some omissions from the source tarball.


mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-5
-----------------------------

Release date: 2010-10-29

- Improved self-upgrade support; it incorporates a work around to avoid
  a potential race condition in mingw-get-inst; (c.f. MinGW bug 3075616);
  mingw-get.exe and mingw-get-0.dll are renamed, (to move them out of the
  way), only when performing an explicit upgrade of the mingw-get-bin
  package itself.


mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-4
-----------------------------

Release date: 2010-09-10

- Fixes a bug in the earlier self-upgrade
  functionality, where any runtime error "deleted" mingw-get.  (mingw-get
  and its support file(s) were actually only renamed, but recovery was
  difficult).  Now, "ordinary" errors such as bad command line arguments,
  failed downloads, missing manifests, etc, will not cause this behavior.
  However, a catastrophic operating system error may prevent the new
  auto-recovery code from executing, leaving mingw-get in its "deleted"
  (e.g. renamed) state.  If this occurs, simply do the following:

; The initial exclamation marks, here, introduce a preformatted block
; with absolute indentation; each is replaced by a space, on output.
; (These comment lines -- with initial semicolon -- are not copied to
;  the formatted output stream).
;
!     $ cd /mingw
!     $ mv bin/mingw-get.exe~ bin/mingw-get.exe
!     $ mv libexec/mingw-get/mingw-get-0.dll~ \
!          libexec/mingw-get/mingw-get-0.dll

- Add --help|-h option


mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-3
-----------------------------

Release date: 2010-08-30

- There is no profile.xml file shipped with this release; users who
  are installing for the first time are advised to copy the supplied
  var/lib/mingw-get/data/defaults.xml configuration file prototype to
  var/lib/mingw-get/data/profile.xml, which may then be customised as
  required; (if no customisation is required, mingw-get can use the
  defaults.xml file directly, but will warn that profile.xml does
  not exist).

- Within defaults.xml, the %R macro has been formally adopted as the
  mechanism for specifying the installation paths for both MinGW and
  for MSYS; this binds the default installation paths for both MinGW
  and MSYS to the installation directory of mingw-get itself, since
  the absolute path to mingw-get.exe is identified as:

      %R\bin\mingw-get.exe

  with default base directory paths being defined for each of MinGW
  and MSYS respectively as:

; The initial exclamation marks, here, introduce a preformatted block
; with absolute indentation; each is replaced by a space, on output.
; (These comment lines -- with initial semicolon -- are not copied to
;  the formatted output stream).
;
!     %R\
!     %R\msys\1.0\

  This arrangement makes it possible for users to choose installation
  locations for both MinGW and MSYS, simply by making the choice of
  where to install mingw-get, without any further need to create, or
  to modify profile.xml, (although, to avoid warnings about a missing
  profile.xml, users may prefer to copy or rename defaults.xml).  As
  for previous releases, the recommended directory for installation is
  C:\MinGW\, and this should not be changed without pressing reason; in
  any event, users who insist on changing it should be aware that, if
  they choose any installation directory which includes white space in
  its absolute path name, their installation may not work correctly,
  and such installations will not be supported by the MinGW Project.

- This release of mingw-get incorporates necessary infrastructure to
  support future upgrades to itself, using its own internal upgrade 
  facility.  This is the first release to support this capability;
  however, the effect will not become apparent until upgrading to
  the next release.


mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-2
-----------------------------

Release date: 2010-05-17

- The var/lib/mingw-get/data/profile.xml file is no longer included in
  the distribution tarball, (or zipfile); instead, a prototype for this
  file is provided as var/lib/mingw-get/data/defaults.xml

- The repository section of profile.xml may now omit any specific
  reference to a named package-list catalogue, allowing mingw-get to
  interrogate a default catalogue on the repository host.  Users who
  have previously installed a modified profile.xml are advised to
  incorporate changes to the repository definition from defaults.xml
  into their profile.xml

- Users who do not wish to provide a customised profile.xml are advised
  to copy or rename the provided defaults.xml file to profile.xml; this
  remains the preferred name for the configuration file, and mingw-get
  will look for it first.  If it cannot be found, mingw-get will issue
  a warning, before looking for defaults.xml as an alternative.

- The structure of the repository catalogue has changed, to more readily
  accommodate dynamic incremental distribution updates, without requiring
  a corresponding update to mingw-get itself.  While this affects package
  maintainers more than end users, such users are advised to perform a
  regular `mingw-get update', at intervals of a few weeks, to capture
  catalogue updates.

- As a consequence of the preceding change, the list of packages known
  to mingw-get is no longer restricted, as it was previously; additional
  or more up-to-date packages may become available from time to time, as
  individual package maintainers add the appropriate manifests to the
  online repository catalogue; use `mingw-get update' to capture such
  new and updated packages.

At the time of this release, the packages recorded in the distribution
manifest remain as for the alpha-1 release.  With the improved handling
of manifests, additional (and more up-to-date) packages will be added
soon after this release, and will become immediately available to users,
on running `mingw-get update'.


mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-1
-----------------------------

Release date: 2010-02-16

This is the first alpha release of the next generation MinGW installer,
mingw-get; it provides a more readily extensible, and more configurable
alternative to the existing MinGW-5.1.x series of NSIS installers, for
installing MinGW packages.

$RCSfile$: end of file