Incrementing Version Numbers 1

[SpenBabe]

I know this can be done, cos I've done it before, but I cannot find the article in MSDN anymore.

What i am trying to do is change the FILEVERSION & PRODUCTVERSION properties of the compiled code, each time I compile them.

I remember it involved your own header file & a VS6 macro that opened the file & added 1 to the values. This file was then included to the .rc2 file, which used your values over the VS_VERSION_INFO resource.

Can anyone point me at the article or does anyone have a better way of doing it ?

Spencer Window (not a joke name)
spencer.window@eastmidlandcomputers.ltd.uk

 

[KernelObject]

MSDN:

HOWTO: Increment Version Information After Each Build in Visual C++

Q237870

---------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, versions 5.0, 6.0

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SUMMARY
Visual C++ doesn't have a feature to automatically increment the version resource information of your project after each build. This article describes one way to provide such a feature.



MORE INFORMATION
You can write a program to modify the resource compiler (.rc) file instead of using the steps described here. However, the RC file is under the control of Visual C++. Visual C++ modifies the RC file while saving, and this may affect the version resource. The approach described in this section can be applied to any Visual C++ project. This example uses a Microsoft Foundation Classes project.

Create a new project using the MFC (EXE) Appwizard and call it MyProject. MyProject will have a MyProject.rc file, which includes MyProject.rc2. The .rc2 file is meant for user-defined resources. Follow these steps to increment MyProject's version information after each build:

Remove the version resource from the .rc file and place it in the .rc2 file:


Open both MyProject.rc and MyProject.rc2 (found in the Res folder), in a text editor. To use the Visual C++ editor, click Open on the File menu and select Text in the Open As list for the MyProject.rc file.


Find the version resource statements in MyProject.rc. It should look something like:



///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// Version
//

VS_VERSION_INFO VERSIONINFO
FILEVERSION 1,0,0,1
PRODUCTVERSION 1,0,0,1
FILEFLAGSMASK 0x3fL
#ifdef _DEBUG
FILEFLAGS 0x1L
#else
FILEFLAGS 0x0L
#endif
FILEOS 0x4L
FILETYPE 0x1L
FILESUBTYPE 0x0L
BEGIN
BLOCK "StringFileInfo"
BEGIN
BLOCK "040904b0"
BEGIN
VALUE "Comments", "Sample Application\0"
VALUE "CompanyName", "Microsoft Corp.\0"
VALUE "FileDescription", "MyProject MFC Application\0"
VALUE "FileVersion", "1, 0, 0, 1\0"
VALUE "InternalName", "MyProject\0"
VALUE "LegalCopyright", "Copyright (C) 1999\0"
VALUE "OriginalFilename", "MyProject.EXE\0"
VALUE "ProductName", "MyProject Application\0"
VALUE "ProductVersion", "1, 0, 0, 1\0"
END
END
BLOCK "VarFileInfo"
BEGIN
VALUE "Translation", 0x409, 1200
END
END
Cut the version resource from the MyProject.rc file and paste it into the MyProject.rc2 file below the comment "Add manually edited resources here." For information about what each one of the fields in the resource means, see the VERSIONINFO resource statement in Help.





Replace the FILEVERSION and PRODUCTVERSION data with macros FILEVER and PRODUCTVER. Similarly, replace the FileVersion and ProductVersion string data with the macros STRFILEVER and STRPRODUCTVER.


Add a #include VersionNo.h immediately before the VS_VERSION_INFO resource statement. Now the version resource will look like:



///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// Version
//
#include "VersionNo.h"
VS_VERSION_INFO VERSIONINFO
FILEVERSION FILEVER
PRODUCTVERSION PRODUCTVER
FILEFLAGSMASK 0x3fL
#ifdef _DEBUG
FILEFLAGS 0x1L
#else
FILEFLAGS 0x0L
#endif
FILEOS 0x4L
FILETYPE 0x1L
FILESUBTYPE 0x0L
BEGIN
BLOCK "StringFileInfo"
BEGIN
BLOCK "040904b0"
BEGIN
VALUE "Comments", "Sample Application\0"
VALUE "CompanyName", "Microsoft Corp.\0"
VALUE "FileDescription", "MyProject MFC Application\0"
VALUE "FileVersion", STRFILEVER
VALUE "InternalName", "MyProject\0"
VALUE "LegalCopyright", "Copyright (C) 1997\0"
VALUE "OriginalFilename", "MyProject.EXE\0"
VALUE "ProductName", "MyProject Application\0"
VALUE "ProductVersion", STRPRODUCTVER
END
END
BLOCK "VarFileInfo"
BEGIN
VALUE "Translation", 0x409, 1200
END
END
Create a header file called VersionNo.h in the same directory as your project. This file will contain the following statements, which are the definitions for macros used in step 2:

#define FILEVER 1,0,0,1
#define PRODUCTVER 1,0,0,1
#define STRFILEVER "1, 0, 0, 1\0"
#define STRPRODUCTVER "1, 0, 0, 1\0"
NOTE: Add linefeed and carriage return characters on the last line.

Now, MyProject.rc file includes MyProject.rc2, and MyProject.rc2 file includes VersionNo.h.


The VersionNo.h file contents will be modified using a Visual Basic Script macro. The macro described below handles the Visual C++ BuildFinish event, so it will not be fired until a build completes. Whenever this VB Script code is called, it first increments the version numbers inside the header file by a fixed amount, then it saves the file and closes it. During a subsequent build, the new version number is included in the executable.

To install and use the VB Script code, do the following:


Open an existing DSM (macro) file or create a new DSM file in Visual C++. To create a new file, click New on the File menu, select Macro File on the Files tab, give it a name, and click OK.


Paste the following VB Script code below (an empty DSM file cannot be installed in Visual C++; the next step explains installing):

Function GetProjectDir(FullName)

'VC++ doesn't provide any method for getting the path of the active project
'See the VB Script reference for more information on the VB Script functions
'used in this function

Dim proj_path
proj_path = Split(StrReverse(FullName),"\",-1,1)

Dim count
count = UBound(proj_path)

Dim full_path
full_path = ""
Dim i

for i = 1 to count
full_path = full_path & "\" & proj_path(i)
next

GetProjectDir = StrReverse(full_path)

End Function


Sub ReplaceText(selection, count, incrementby)

'selection represents the TextSelection object
'count represents the position of the version number to be incremented
'incrementby represents a number that will be added to the existing version number

selection.WordRight dsMove, count
selection.WordRight dsExtend, 1
Dim str
str = selection.Text
str = str + incrementby

selection.Text = str

End Sub


Sub Application_BuildFinish(numError, numWarning)

'This event will be triggered after every build of a project
'You can check numError and/or numWarning to determine if you want to continue
'If numError <> 0 Then
'exit sub
'Obtain the full path of the active project
Dim full_path
full_path = GetProjectDir(ActiveProject.FullName)

full_path = full_path & &quot;versionno.h&quot;

'Open the VersionNo.h file
Documents.Open full_path

'Obtain the TextSelection object
Dim selection
set selection = ActiveDocument.Selection
selection.StartOfDocument

'Increment the version information
ReplaceText selection, 9, 1
selection.LineDown
selection.StartOfLine
ReplaceText selection, 9, 1
selection.LineDown
selection.StartOfLine
ReplaceText selection, 10, 1
selection.LineDown
selection.StartOfLine
ReplaceText selection, 10, 1

ActiveDocument.Save
ActiveDocument.Close

End Sub
NOTE: This code is an unsupported sample. You may modify it for your build scenario.


Install the DSM file if it is not already installed. To install, click Customize on the Tools menu, click the Add-in and Macro Files tab, browse to select the DSM file, and click Close.

Select Build MyProject.exe from the Build menu. After the build finishes, open the VersionNo.h file. It will contain the following statements:

#define FILEVER 1,0,0,2
#define PRODUCTVER 1,0,0,2
#define STRFILEVER &quot;1, 0, 0, 2\0&quot;
#define STRPRODUCTVER &quot;1, 0, 0, 2\0&quot;
If you build the code again, this version information in included in the executable, and the version information is incremented. You can introduce some code in the macro described earlier to prevent incrementing version numbers if the build produced errors.




Srikanth Shirodkar

What do little birdies see when knocked unconscious?

 

[amadeolr]

Has anyone got this to work?

I have a related question. I want to add the version and build number in another executable. Do I need to do the following?

1. Include the .rc, .rc2, and VersionNo.h files in the project.
2. Create a new macro with the VB script from the MSDN article.

 

[amadeolr]

I did get the MSDN article to finally work. I was copying the Version information from the .rc file to the .rc2 file instead of cutting it.

I found some code that creates a DLL to do what I want here:

http://www.codeproject.com/macro/autobuild.asp

I think if I use the DLL created from the codeproject.com code I can avoid having two projects (one project for my application and one project for the version/build number) in the single workspace.

So now I want to add version and build information to a Win32 application. How do I use the DLL in a Win32 application?