= Releasing application versions =

The `update_versions` script releases new application versions. It creates database entries and copies files to the download directory.

To use:
 * If it doesn't already exist, create an directory 'apps' under the project directory, and add an <app_dir> element to config.xml giving the path of the apps directory.
 * Create a subdirectory for each application, with the short name of the application. Put new application files here (see below). `update_versions` scans these directories for new application versions.
 * From the project's root directory, run `./bin/update_versions`.

== Single-file application versions == #singlefile

File names must be of the form `NAME_VERSION_PLATFORM[.ext]`, e.g.:
{{{
boinc_3.17_i686-pc-linux-gnu
astropulse_7.17_windows_intelx86.exe
}}}

 * VERSION is a string of the form N.M, where N and M are integers with M<100.  This is converted to the single integer N*100 + M, which is used to specify application versions elsewhere in BOINC. M may have a leading zero, which is ignored.
 * PLATFORM is the name of a platform in the database (if needed, [XaddTool add the platform to the DB]).


== Multiple-file application versions == #multifile

Application versions can consist of multiple files, one of which is the main program. To create a multiple-file application version, create a directory with the same name as the main program (of the form `NAME_VERSION_PLATFORM[.ext]`) and put the files in that directory.

If your application includes executable files other than the main file, make sure that their protection flags include the user execute (u+x) bit (`update_versions` will then set the `<executable/>` flag on its [XmlFormat#file_info <file_info>]).

== Passing extra information about files == #extrainfo

If a file of the form
{{{
FILENAME.sig
}}}
is found, its contents will be used as a digital signature for the corresponding file.
See the [CodeSigning recommended code-signing practices].

If a file of the form 
{{{
FILENAME.file_ref_info
}}}
is found, its contents will be added to the [BoincFiles#file_ref <file_ref>] element describing the file (you can use this for attributes like [BoincFiles#file_ref <copy_file>]).

If a file of the form
{{{
LOGICAL_NAME=PHYSICAL_NAME
}}}
is found, the file will have the given logical and physical names (i.e., the application will be able to access the file by passing the logical name to [BasicApi#Resolvingfilenames boinc_resolve_filename()]).