Why Visual C++ version numbers have a comma in them instead of a dot

Question

I have seen that my Visual C++ projects have the following declarations that use COMMAS instead of DOTS for versions:

#define FILEVER        11,0,2,0
#define PRODUCTVER     11,0,2,0
#define STRFILEVER     "11, 0, 2, 0\0"
#define STRPRODUCTVER  "11, 0, 2, 0\0"

The MS article here also has the same values with commas (actually the above declarations are based on that article). Why are we using COMMAS here? When I open the compiled file properties, I see FileVersion as 11.0.2.0 but ProductVersion as 11,0,2,0 - for which my QA friends say that its a bug :). Is there some standard or maybe some internal mechanism that I am missing?

That's not a C++ feature; it's probably specific to MS Visual C++. — Keith Thompson, Oct 22 '12 at 07:22
Read the [docs](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa381058%28v=vs.85%29.aspx). You can specify the version using two DWORD like this: `HIWORD(dw1), LOWORD(dw1), HIWORD(dw2), LOWORD(dw2)` — Jesse Good, Oct 22 '12 at 07:48
Even if MS guys wants to be different, the File Properties dialog should either show all versions with COMMAS or all with DOTS. They should not be mixed :) — A9S6, Oct 22 '12 at 08:07
The [current link for `VERSIONINFO` documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/menurc/versioninfo-resource). — Roi Danton, Jul 25 '18 at 08:23

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 22 '12 at 07:48

In the first two definitions because Microsoft resource file syntax calls for commas. For the later two definitions the Microsoft convention sticks to commas there too. Microsoft wants to differ, probably.

The file version is taken from the non-string variant and gets printed with dots in file explorer. The product version gets taken from the string. You could probably write the string with dots yourself. It's a string, it shouldn't matter. But you'll have to edit the .rc file manually—Visual Studio will write commas.

As for the first two definitions, I can see reason for choosing commas in general C++. If you had 11.0.2.0, it would be syntax error in about any context and the only thing you could do is convert it to string with the # operator. But with commas, you can expand it to definition of array or structure. Like int version[] = { 11,0,2,0 };. That's useful if you want to have version check in code.

OK. So that means I can change the STR version to have DOTS without any problem? That will be displayed as-it-is. — A9S6, Oct 22 '12 at 08:09
@A9S6: I actually put letters and other characters there too and it works just fine. So yes, you can. — Jan Hudec, Oct 22 '12 at 08:14
Using `FILEVERSION` with dots as delimiter (e.g. `4.2.0.42000`) seems to work in VS2017 (the file version of the produced binary is set correctly). Output for both variants (`,` or `.`) is dot in the compiled artifact. — Roi Danton, Jul 25 '18 at 08:21

Why Visual C++ version numbers have a comma in them instead of a dot

1 Answers1