We all know it – this is the reading that lists the changes brought by each new version of our favorite software. Whenever it comes bundled as a file (Changes.txt, CHANGES, WhatsNew.txt, etc) or is presented within an installer this is usually the first thing we read before installing/updating.
On a current project we have a Changelog.txt file that gets updated by hand every time a notable change occurs. However this often leads to "I forgot to update the changelog". So I am looking for a way to automate this.
I am thinking of a script that extracts the changes from our commit messages (using a convention) and generates the file. For example a commit message like
Updated json-glib to 0.7.6
[changes]
－ Fix crash on Windows
－ Fix issues with facebook contacts with very large UIDs.
Would produce the following Changes.txt
Version 1.9.18 (03/10/2010)
- Fix crash on Windows
- Fix issues with facebook contacts with very large UIDs.
Does anyone know a better solution/tool for this or am I going to write my own?
Thanks!
You could auto generate it from the descriptions in your bug tracking system for bugs marked as fixed in this version. If you differentiate bugs from feature requests then you can mark that too.
I use MantisBT for bugs and that will automatically generate a changelog for you out of the box.