System.Version Class

Summary

Represents the version number for a common language runtime assembly. This class cannot be inherited.

C# Syntax:

[Serializable] public sealed class Version : ICloneable, IComparable

Version numbers consist of two to four components: major, minor, build, and revision. Components major and minor are required. Components build and revision are optional, but the revision component is only optional if the build component is not defined. All defined components must be decimal integers greater than 0. Metadata restricts the major, minor, build, and revision components to a maximum value of UInt16.MaxValue - 1.

The format of the version number is as follows. Optional components are shown in square brackets ('[' and ']'):

major.minor[.build[.revision]]

The components are used by convention as follows:

• Major: Assemblies with the same name but different major versions are not interchangeable. This would be appropriate, for example, for a major rewrite of a product where backward compatibility cannot be assumed.
• Minor: If the name and major number on two assemblies are the same, but the minor number is different, this indicates significant enhancement with the intention of backward compatibility. This would be appropriate, for example, on a point release of a product or a fully backward compatible new version of a product.
• Build: A difference in build number represents a recompilation of the same source. This would be appropriate because of processor, platform, or compiler changes.
• Revision: Assemblies with the same name, major, and minor version numbers but different revisions are intended to be fully interchangeable. This would be appropriate to fix a security hole in a previously released assembly.

Subsequent versions of an assembly that differ only by build or revision numbers are considered to be Quick Fix Engineering (QFE) updates of the prior version. If necessary, the build and revision numbers can be honored by changing the version policy in the configuration.

This class implements the ICloneable and IComparable interfaces.

System Namespace

System.Version Member List:

Public Constructors

ctor #1	Overloaded: .ctor() Default constructor. This constructor is called by derived class constructors to initialize state in this type. Initializes a new instance of the Version class.
ctor #2	Overloaded: .ctor(string version) Initializes a new instance of the Version class using the value represented by the specified String.
ctor #3	Overloaded: .ctor(int major, int minor) Initializes a new instance of the Version class using the specified major and minor values.
ctor #4	Overloaded: .ctor(int major, int minor, int build) Initializes a new instance of the Version class using the specified major, minor, and build values.
ctor #5	Overloaded: .ctor(int major, int minor, int build, int revision) Initializes a new instance of the Version class with the specified major, minor, build, and revision numbers.

Public Properties

Build	Read-only Gets the value of the build component of the version number for this instance.
Major	Read-only Gets the value of the major component of the version number for this instance.
Minor	Read-only Gets the value of the minor component of the version number for this instance.
Revision	Read-only Gets the value of the revision component of the version number for this instance.

Public Methods

Clone	Returns a new Version whose value is the same as this instance.
CompareTo	Compares this instance to a specified object and returns an indication of their relative values.
Equals	Overridden: Returns a value indicating whether this instance is equal to a specified object.
GetHashCode	Overridden: Returns a hash code for this instance.
GetType (inherited from System.Object)	See base class member description: System.Object.GetType Derived from System.Object, the primary base class for all objects.
ToString	Overloaded: ToString() Overridden: Converts the value of this instance to its equivalent String representation.
ToString	Overloaded: ToString(int fieldCount) Converts the value of this instance to its equivalent String representation. A specified count indicates the number of components to return.

Public Operators and Type Conversions

op_Equality	Determines whether two specified instances of Version are equal.
op_GreaterThan	Determines whether the first specified instance of Version is greater than the second specified instance of Version.
op_GreaterThanOrEqual	Determines whether the first specified instance of Version is greater than or equal to the second instance of Version.
op_Inequality	Determines whether two specified instances of Version are not equal.
op_LessThan	Determines whether the first specified instance of Version is less than the second specified instance of Version.
op_LessThanOrEqual	Determines whether the first specified instance of Version is less than or equal to the second instance of Version.

Protected Methods

Finalize (inherited from System.Object)	See base class member description: System.Object.Finalize Derived from System.Object, the primary base class for all objects.
MemberwiseClone (inherited from System.Object)	See base class member description: System.Object.MemberwiseClone Derived from System.Object, the primary base class for all objects.

Hierarchy:

• System.Object
• System.Version

System.Version Member Details

Summary

Initializes a new instance of the Version class.

Default constructor. This constructor is called by derived class constructors to initialize state in this type.

C# Syntax:

public Version();

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Summary

Initializes a new instance of the Version class using the value represented by the specified String.

C# Syntax:

public Version(    string version );

version

A string containing the major, minor, build, and revision numbers, where each number is delimited with a period character ('.').

Exceptions

Exception Type	Condition
ArgumentException	version has fewer than two components or more than four components. -or- At least one component of version does not parse to a decimal integer.
ArgumentNullException	version is null.
ArgumentOutOfRangeException	A major, minor, build, or revision component is less than zero.

The version parameter can only contain components major, minor, build, and revision , in that order, and all separated by periods. There must be at least two components, and at most four. The first two components are assumed to be major and minor. The value of unspecified components is undefined.

The format of the version number is as follows. Optional components are shown in square brackets ('[' and ']'):

major.minor[.build[.revision]]

All defined components must be decimal integers greater than 0. Metadata restricts the value of each major, minor, build, and revision component to a maximum value of UInt16.MaxValue - 1.

For example, if the major number is 6, the minor number is 2, the build number is 1, and the revision number is 3, then version should be "6.2.1.3".

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Summary

Initializes a new instance of the Version class using the specified major and minor values.

C# Syntax:

public Version(    int major,    int minor );

major

The major version number.

minor

The minor version number.

Exceptions

Exception Type	Condition
ArgumentOutOfRangeException	major or minor is less than zero.

Metadata restricts major and minor to a maximum value of UInt16.MaxValue - 1.

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Summary

Initializes a new instance of the Version class using the specified major, minor, and build values.

C# Syntax:

public Version(    int major,    int minor,    int build );

major

The major version number.

minor

The minor version number.

build

The build number.

Exceptions

Exception Type	Condition
ArgumentOutOfRangeException	major, minor, or build are less than zero.

Metadata restricts major, minor, and build to a maximum value of UInt16.MaxValue - 1.

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Summary

Initializes a new instance of the Version class with the specified major, minor, build, and revision numbers.

C# Syntax:

public Version(    int major,    int minor,    int build,    int revision );

major

The major version number.

minor

The minor version number.

build

The build number.

revision

The revision number.

Exceptions

Exception Type	Condition
ArgumentOutOfRangeException	major, minor, build, or revision are less than zero.

Metadata restricts major, minor, build, and revision to a maximum of UInt16.MaxValue - 1.

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Summary

Gets the value of the build component of the version number for this instance.

C# Syntax:

public int Build {get;}

For example, if the version number is 6.2.1.3, the build number is 1. If the version number is 6.2, the build number is undefined.

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Summary

Gets the value of the major component of the version number for this instance.

C# Syntax:

public int Major {get;}

For example, if the version number is 6.2, the major version is 6.

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Summary

Gets the value of the minor component of the version number for this instance.

C# Syntax:

public int Minor {get;}

For example, if the version number is 6.2, the minor version is 2.

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Summary

Gets the value of the revision component of the version number for this instance.

C# Syntax:

public int Revision {get;}

For example, if the version number is 6.2.1.3, the revision number is 3. If the version number is 6.2, the revision number is undefined.

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Summary

Returns a new Version whose value is the same as this instance.

C# Syntax:

public object Clone();

Return Value:

A new Object whose values are a copy of this Version.

Implements:

ICloneable.Clone

The Object returned by this method must be explicitly cast to a Version before it can be used as one.

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Summary

Compares this instance to a specified object and returns an indication of their relative values.

C# Syntax:

public int CompareTo(    object version );

version

An object to compare, or null.

Return Value:

Return Value	Description
Less than zero	This instance is before .
Zero	This instance is the same as .
Greater than zero	This instance is subsequent to version.

Exceptions

Exception Type	Condition
ArgumentNullException	version is null.
ArgumentException	version is not of type Version.

Implements:

IComparable.CompareTo

The components of Version in decreasing order of importance are: major, minor, build, and revision. An unknown component is assumed to be older than any known component.

For example:

• version 1.1 is older than version 1.1.0
• version 1.1 is older than version 1.1.1
• version 1.1 is older than version 1.1.2.3
• version 1.1.2 is older than version 1.1.2.4
• version 1.2.5 is newer than version 1.2.3.4

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Summary

Returns a value indicating whether this instance is equal to a specified object.

C# Syntax:

public override bool Equals(    object obj );

obj

An object to compare with this instance, or null.

Return Value:

true if this instance and obj are both Version objects, and every component of this instance matches the corresponding component of obj; otherwise, false.

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Inherited
See base class member description: System.Object.Finalize

C# Syntax:

~Version();

For more information on members inherited from System.Object click on the link above.

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Summary

Returns a hash code for this instance.

C# Syntax:

public override int GetHashCode();

Return Value:

A 32-bit signed integer hash code.

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Inherited
See base class member description: System.Object.GetType

C# Syntax:

public Type GetType();

For more information on members inherited from System.Object click on the link above.

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Inherited
See base class member description: System.Object.MemberwiseClone

C# Syntax:

protected object MemberwiseClone();

For more information on members inherited from System.Object click on the link above.

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Summary

Determines whether two specified instances of Version are equal.

C# Syntax:

public static bool operator ==(    Version v1,    Version v2 );

v1

The first instance of Version.

v2

The second instance of Version.

Return Value:

true if v1 equals v2; otherwise, false.

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Summary

Determines whether the first specified instance of Version is greater than the second specified instance of Version.

C# Syntax:

public static bool operator >(    Version v1,    Version v2 );

v1

The first instance of Version.

v2

The second instance of Version.

Return Value:

true if v1 is greater than v2; otherwise, false.

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Summary

Determines whether the first specified instance of Version is greater than or equal to the second instance of Version.

C# Syntax:

public static bool operator >=(    Version v1,    Version v2 );

v1

The first instance of Version.

v2

The second instance of Version.

Return Value:

true if v1 is greater than or equal to v2; otherwise, false.

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Summary

Determines whether two specified instances of Version are not equal.

C# Syntax:

public static bool operator !=(    Version v1,    Version v2 );

v1

The first instance of Version.

v2

The second instance of Version.

Return Value:

true if v1 does not equal v2; otherwise, false.

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Summary

Determines whether the first specified instance of Version is less than the second specified instance of Version.

C# Syntax:

public static bool operator <(    Version v1,    Version v2 );

v1

The first instance of Version.

v2

The second instance of Version.

Return Value:

true if v1 is less than v2; otherwise, false.

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Summary

Determines whether the first specified instance of Version is less than or equal to the second instance of Version.

C# Syntax:

public static bool operator <=(    Version v1,    Version v2 );

v1

The first instance of Version.

v2

The second instance of Version.

Return Value:

true if v1 is less than or equal to v2; otherwise, false.

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Summary

Converts the value of this instance to its equivalent String representation.

C# Syntax:

public override string ToString();

Return Value:

The String representation of the values of the major, minor, build, and revision components of this instance, as depicted in the following format. Each component is separated by a period character ('.'). Square brackets ('[' and ']') indicate a component that will not appear in the return value if the component is not defined:

major.minor[.build[.revision]]

For example, if you create an instance of Version using the constructor Version(1,1) , the returned string is "1.1". If you create an instance of Version using the constructor Version(1,3,4,2) , the returned string is "1.3.4.2".

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Summary

Converts the value of this instance to its equivalent String representation. A specified count indicates the number of components to return.

C# Syntax:

public string ToString(    int fieldCount );

fieldCount

The number of components to return. The fieldCount ranges from 0 to 4.

Return Value:

The String representation of the values of the major, minor, build, and revision components of this instance, each separated by a period character ('.'). The fieldCount parameter determines how many components are returned.

fieldCount	Return Value
0	An empty string ("").
1	major
2	major.minor
3	major.minor.build
4	major.minor.build.revision

For example, if you create an instance of Version using the constructor Version(1,3,5) , ToString(2) returns "1.3" and ToString(4) throws an exception.

Exceptions

Exception Type	Condition
ArgumentException	fieldCount is less than 0, or more than 4. -or- fieldCount is more than the number of components defined in this instance.

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