What is the good way of storing software version for python CLI ? ( --version)

Question

Python CLI application display version using the --version argument. What is the right way to store that information ? Argparse has an argument for that

import argparse
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='PROG')
parser.add_argument('--version', action='version', version='%(prog)s 2.0')
parser.parse_args(['--version'])

But I am not convinced it is the right way to do it. I'm thinking about storing the version in a file so it can be maintained by the build pipeline but it should be protected so users can't modify it.

Why would it matter or be your problem if the users *did* modify it? — jonrsharpe, Jul 19 '20 at 10:03
It seems wrong to me. Softwares and OS won't allow you to modify the version file. Why would my software allow that ? — BeeShopRocks, Jul 19 '20 at 11:05

creolo · Answer 1 · 2020-07-19T10:22:24.293

I also create a version.py file, but my content is even simpler:

version = 'develop'

The clue is, that this one-line-file is replaced in my pipeline with the actual version coming from git tags. So every version provided by a pipeline build will have something like version = "v1.0.23" in it. Then I can simply do an from version import version wherever I need it.

Example for gitlab ci:

  # set version
  - VERSION=$(git describe --tags)
  - echo "version = '$VERSION'" > version.py

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 19 '20 at 10:01

0

I have created a Version.py file and imported it to the main Code.if its dev + will add to version and if it is exe the + will be ignored.

The file Content sample:

import sys
VERSION = 'V' + '0' + '.' + '3'
if getattr(sys, 'frozen', False): #adding + for dev and Build for exe
    VERSION = VERSION + ' '
else:
    VERSION = VERSION + ' +'

answered Jul 19 '20 at 10:01

Vignesh

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Thank you ! I like the idea ! but why do you add "+" at the end of non-frozen app ? – BeeShopRocks Jul 19 '20 at 11:32
Why *any* of the concatenation, why not `VERSION = 'V0.3'`, and why add a trailing space? – jonrsharpe Jul 19 '20 at 14:40
1

it's your wish , it if it is a minor change i will increment digit after decimal point. or major i will increment the first digit . thats it – Vignesh Jul 20 '20 at 04:51

What is the good way of storing software version for python CLI ? ( --version)

2 Answers2