Working with <recommended> dependency versions and <compatible>
The <compatible> tag is designed to be used with a <package> dependency that
contains a <recommended> version tag from package pear.example.com/Bar version 1.3.0 like so:
<package>
<name>Foo</name>
<channel>pear.example.com</channel>
<min>1.0.0</min>
<recommended>1.5.2</recommended>
</package> |
The above dependency can be translated into English as follows: "Use the package
pear.example.com/Foo, but only versions 1.0.0 or newer. If pear.example.com/Foo is not
installed, install version 1.5.2. If pear.example.com/Foo is installed and is not version
1.5.2, fail unless --force is specified, or pear.example.com/Foo is compatible with me."
That last clause "...or pear.example.com/Foo is compatible with me." is controlled by the
<compatible> tag. If package Foo version 1.5.3's package.xml has a <compatible> like so:
<compatible>
<name>Bar</name>
<channel>pear.example.com</channel>
<min>1.2.0</min>
<max>1.3.0</max>
<exclude>1.2.9</exclude>
</compatible> |
This will instruct the installer that pear.example.com/Foo version 1.5.3 is compatible with
pear.example.com/Bar versions 1.2.0 to 1.3.0 inclusive, but is not compatible with 1.2.9.
It is very important to note that only existing versions that have been
tested with the package should be mentioned in the <compatible> tag. Future versions
of pear.example.com/Bar should simply upgrade the <recommended> tag.
<compatible> may contain three versioning tags. The required <min> and <max>
are used to define the range of tested and compatible versions, and <exclude> is used to
exclude any versions within the range. In the example above, 1.3.0 and 1.2.0 are the highest and
lowest versions that may be excluded. There can be an unlimited number of <compatible> tags
inside a package.xml.
