semver - PL/SQL Semantic Versioning

Implements Semver 2.0.0 specification

Versions

A version is described by the v2.0.0 specification found at http://semver.org/.

A leading "=" or "v" character is stripped off and ignored.

Ranges

A range is a set of sets of comparators which specify versions that satisfy the range.

A comparator is composed of an operator and a version. The set of primitive operators is:

• < Less than
• <= Less than or equal to
• > Greater than
• >= Greater than or equal to
• = Equal. If no operator is specified, then equality is assumed, so this operator is optional, but MAY be included.

For example, the comparator >=1.2.7 would match the versions 1.2.7, 1.2.8, 2.5.3, and 1.3.9, but not the versions 1.2.6 or 1.1.0.

Comparators can be joined by whitespace to form a comparator set, which is satisfied by the intersection of all of the comparators it includes.

A range is composed of one or more comparator sets, joined by ||. A version matches a range if and only if every comparator in at least one of the ||-separated comparator sets is satisfied by the version.

For example, the range >=1.2.7 <1.3.0 would match the versions 1.2.7, 1.2.8, and 1.2.99, but not the versions 1.2.6, 1.3.0, or 1.1.0.

The range 1.2.7 || >=1.2.9 <2.0.0 would match the versions 1.2.7, 1.2.9, and 1.4.6, but not the versions 1.2.8 or 2.0.0.

Prerelease Tags

Warning: Change from the Semver specification

If a version has a prerelease tag (for example, 1.2.3-alpha.3) then it will only be allowed to satisfy comparator sets if at least one comparator with the same [major, minor, patch] tuple also has a prerelease tag.

For example, the range >1.2.3-alpha.3 would be allowed to match the version 1.2.3-alpha.7, but it would not be satisfied by 3.4.5-alpha.9, even though 3.4.5-alpha.9 is technically "greater than" 1.2.3-alpha.3 according to the SemVer sort rules. The version range only accepts prerelease tags on the 1.2.3 version. The version 3.4.5 would satisfy the range, because it does not have a prerelease flag, and 3.4.5 is greater than 1.2.3-alpha.7.

The purpose for this behavior is twofold. First, prerelease versions frequently are updated very quickly, and contain many breaking changes that are (by the author's design) not yet fit for public consumption. Therefore, by default, they are excluded from range matching semantics.

Second, a user who has opted into using a prerelease version has clearly indicated the intent to use that specific set of alpha/beta/rc versions. By including a prerelease tag in the range, the user is indicating that they are aware of the risk. However, it is still not appropriate to assume that they have opted into taking a similar risk on the next set of prerelease versions.

Prerelease Identifiers

The method semver.inc takes an additional identifier string argument that will append the value of the string as a prerelease identifier:

SQL> select semver.inc('1.2.3', 'prerelease', 'beta') as new_version from dual;

NEW_VERSION            
------------
1.2.4-beta.0

Advanced Range Syntax

Advanced range syntax desugars to primitive comparators in deterministic ways.

Advanced ranges may be combined in the same way as primitive comparators using white space or ||.

Hyphen Ranges X.Y.Z - A.B.C

Specifies an inclusive set.

• 1.2.3 - 2.3.4 := >=1.2.3 <=2.3.4

If a partial version is provided as the first version in the inclusive range, then the missing pieces are replaced with zeroes.

• 1.2 - 2.3.4 := >=1.2.0 <=2.3.4

If a partial version is provided as the second version in the inclusive range, then all versions that start with the supplied parts of the tuple are accepted, but nothing that would be greater than the provided tuple parts.

• 1.2.3 - 2.3 := >=1.2.3 <2.4.0
• 1.2.3 - 2 := >=1.2.3 <3.0.0

X-Ranges 1.2.x 1.X 1.2.* *

Any of X, x, or * may be used to "stand in" for one of the numeric values in the [major, minor, patch] tuple.

• * := >=0.0.0 (Any version satisfies)
• 1.x := >=1.0.0 <2.0.0 (Matching major version)
• 1.2.x := >=1.2.0 <1.3.0 (Matching major and minor versions)

A partial version range is treated as an X-Range, so the special character is in fact optional.

• "" (empty string) := * := >=0.0.0
• 1 := 1.x.x := >=1.0.0 <2.0.0
• 1.2 := 1.2.x := >=1.2.0 <1.3.0

Tilde Ranges ~1.2.3 ~1.2 ~1

Allows patch-level changes if a minor version is specified on the comparator. Allows minor-level changes if not.

• ~1.2.3 := >=1.2.3 <1.(2+1).0 := >=1.2.3 <1.3.0
• ~1.2 := >=1.2.0 <1.(2+1).0 := >=1.2.0 <1.3.0 (Same as 1.2.x)
• ~1 := >=1.0.0 <(1+1).0.0 := >=1.0.0 <2.0.0 (Same as 1.x)
• ~0.2.3 := >=0.2.3 <0.(2+1).0 := >=0.2.3 <0.3.0
• ~0.2 := >=0.2.0 <0.(2+1).0 := >=0.2.0 <0.3.0 (Same as 0.2.x)
• ~0 := >=0.0.0 <(0+1).0.0 := >=0.0.0 <1.0.0 (Same as 0.x)
• ~1.2.3-beta.2 := >=1.2.3-beta.2 <1.3.0 Note that prereleases in the 1.2.3 version will be allowed, if they are greater than or equal to beta.2. So, 1.2.3-beta.4 would be allowed, but 1.2.4-beta.2 would not, because it is a prerelease of a different [major, minor, patch] tuple.

Caret Ranges ^1.2.3 ^0.2.5 ^0.0.4

Allows changes that do not modify the left-most non-zero digit in the [major, minor, patch] tuple. In other words, this allows patch and minor updates for versions 1.0.0 and above, patch updates for versions 0.X >=0.1.0, and no updates for versions 0.0.X.

Many authors treat a 0.x version as if the x were the major "breaking-change" indicator.

Caret ranges are ideal when an author may make breaking changes between 0.2.4 and 0.3.0 releases, which is a common practice. However, it presumes that there will not be breaking changes between 0.2.4 and 0.2.5. It allows for changes that are presumed to be additive (but non-breaking), according to commonly observed practices.

• ^1.2.3 := >=1.2.3 <2.0.0
• ^0.2.3 := >=0.2.3 <0.3.0
• ^0.0.3 := >=0.0.3 <0.0.4
• ^1.2.3-beta.2 := >=1.2.3-beta.2 <2.0.0 Note that prereleases in the 1.2.3 version will be allowed, if they are greater than or equal to beta.2. So, 1.2.3-beta.4 would be allowed, but 1.2.4-beta.2 would not, because it is a prerelease of a different [major, minor, patch] tuple.
• ^0.0.3-beta := >=0.0.3-beta <0.0.4 Note that prereleases in the 0.0.3 version only will be allowed, if they are greater than or equal to beta. So, 0.0.3-pr.2 would be allowed.

When parsing caret ranges, a missing patch value desugars to the number 0, but will allow flexibility within that value, even if the major and minor versions are both 0.

• ^1.2.x := >=1.2.0 <2.0.0
• ^0.0.x := >=0.0.0 <0.1.0
• ^0.0 := >=0.0.0 <0.1.0

A missing minor and patch values will desugar to zero, but also allow flexibility within those values, even if the major version is zero.

• ^1.x := >=1.0.0 <2.0.0
• ^0.x := >=0.0.0 <1.0.0

Range Grammar

Putting all this together, here is a Backus-Naur grammar for ranges, for the benefit of parser authors:

range-set  ::= range ( logical-or range ) *
logical-or ::= ( ' ' ) * '||' ( ' ' ) *
range      ::= hyphen | simple ( ' ' simple ) * | ''
hyphen     ::= partial ' - ' partial
simple     ::= primitive | partial | tilde | caret
primitive  ::= ( '<' | '>' | '>=' | '<=' | '=' | ) partial
partial    ::= xr ( '.' xr ( '.' xr qualifier ? )? )?
xr         ::= 'x' | 'X' | '*' | nr
nr         ::= '0' | ['1'-'9'] ( ['0'-'9'] ) *
tilde      ::= '~' partial
caret      ::= '^' partial
qualifier  ::= ( '-' pre )? ( '+' build )?
pre        ::= parts
build      ::= parts
parts      ::= part ( '.' part ) *
part       ::= nr | [-0-9A-Za-z]+

semver API

semver_version object type

Attributes

• major - major version
• minor - minor version
• patch - patch version
• prerelease - collection prerelease tags (semver_tags)
• batch - collection build tags (semver_tags)

Methods

• semver_version(major, minor, patch, prerelease, build) constructor function - create SemVer Version object if passed versions make up valid SemVer range object. Otherwise exception is thrown.
• semver_version(version) constructor function - create SemVer Version object from SemVer Version string. If string is invalid it throws exception.
• inc member procedure
• to_string member function - return formatted SemVer object as string.
• compare member function - compare SemVer version with version passed in parameter and return
  • -1 if less than
  • 0 if equal
  • 1 if greater than

semver_comparator object type

Attributes

• operator - comparison operator to compare other SemVer version with comparator's version - one of =, !=, <, <=, >, >=
• version - SemVer semver_version object - boundary of interval

Methods

• to_string member function - return comparator formatted as string e.g.: <=1.2.0, >1.3.1-beta
• test(version) member function - version satisfies comparision with comparators's version and operator.
• intersects(comparator) member function - return true if comparators intersects.
• compare member function - compare woth comparator object passed as param and return
  • -1 if less than
  • 0 if equal
  • 1 if greater than

semver_comparator_set object type

Attributes

• comparators - comparators in set

Methods

• to_string - return comparator set as string - comparators are separated by space
• test(version) member function - return true if version satisfies all comparators in set

semver_range object type

Attributes

• comparator_sets - set of semver_comparator_set objects

Methods

• semver_range(range) constructor function - parses range SemVer range string. Throws if range is not a valid SemVer Range string
• to_string member function - return range formatted as string. separate individual comparator sets with ||
• test(version) member function - version satisfies at leas one set of comparators in range.
• intersects(range) meber function - range intersects range

semver package methods

PL/SQL Semver does not implement loose version of parser, yet, so not-quite-valid semver strings are rejected.

Strict-mode Comparators and Ranges are strict about the SemVer strings that they parse.

• parse(version) - Parse version into semver_version object.
• valid(version) - Return the parsed version, or null if it's not valid.
• inc(version, release, identifier) - Return the version incremented by the release type (major, premajor, minor, preminor, patch, prepatch, or prerelease), or null if it's not valid
  • premajor in one call will bump the version up to the next major version and down to a prerelease of that major version. preminor, and prepatch work the same way.
  • If called from a non-prerelease version, the prerelease will work the same as prepatch. It increments the patch version, then makes a prerelease. If the input version is already a prerelease it simply increments it.
  • optionally specify prerelease identifier that will be appended to version
• major(version) - Return the major version number.
• minor(version) - Return the minor version number.
• patch(version) - Return the patch version number.
  • prerelease(version) - Returns an array of prerelease components, or null if none exist. Example: prerelease('1.2.3-alpha.1') -> ['alpha', 1]
  • intersects(r1, r2, loose) - Return true if the two supplied ranges or comparators intersect.

Version Comparison

• gt(version1, version2) - version1 > version2
• gte(version1, version2) - version1 >= version2
• lt(version1, version2) - version1 < version2
• lte(version1, version2) - version1 <= version2
• eq(version1, version2) - version1 = version2 This is true if they're logically equivalent, even if they're not the exact same string.
• neq(version1, version2) - version1 != version2 The opposite of eq.
• cmp(version1, operator, version2) - Pass in a comparison string, and it'll call the corresponding function above. Throws if an invalid comparison string is provided.
• compare(version1, version2) - Return 0 if version1 == version2, or 1 if version1 is greater, or -1 if version2 is greater. Sorts in ascending order if passed to Array.sort().
• rcompare(version1, version2) - The reverse of compare. Sorts an array of versions in descending order when passed to Array.sort().
• diff(version1, version2) - Returns difference between two versions by the release type (major, premajor, minor, preminor, patch, prepatch, or prerelease), or null if the versions are the same.

Ranges

• valid_range(range) - Return the valid range or null if it's not valid.
• satisfies(version, range) - Return true if the version satisfies the range.
• max_satisfying(versions, range) - Return the highest version in the list that satisfies the range, or null if none of them do.
• min_satisfying(versions, range) - Return the lowest version in the list that satisfies the range, or null if none of them do.
• gtr(version, range) - Return true if version is greater than all the versions possible in the range.
• ltr(version, range) - Return true if version is less than all the versions possible in the range.
• intersects(range1, range2) - Return true if any of the ranges comparators intersect

Note that, since ranges may be non-contiguous, a version might not be greater than a range, less than a range, or satisfy a range! For example, the range 1.2 <1.2.9 || >2.0.0 would have a hole from 1.2.9 until 2.0.0, so the version 1.2.10 would not be greater than the range (because 2.0.1 satisfies, which is higher), nor less than the range (since 1.2.8 satisfies, which is lower), and it also does not satisfy the range.

If you want to know if a version satisfies or does not satisfy a range, use the satisfies(version, range) function.