Changelog

A changelog is a log or record of changes made to a project, such as a website or software project, usually including such records as bug fixes, new features, etc. Most open source projects include a changelog as one of the top level files in their distribution.

Although the canonical naming convention for the file is ChangeLog,^[1] it is sometimes alternatively named as CHANGES or HISTORY (NEWS is usually a different file reflecting changes between releases, not between the commits). Some project maintainers will append a .txt suffix to the file name.

Some revision control systems are able to generate the relevant information that is suited as a changelog.

Format

Changelog files are organized by paragraphs, which define a unique change within a function or file. Most changelog files follow the following format, note that there are 2 spaces between date and name and again between the name and the email address:

YYYY-MM-DD  John Doe  <johndoe@example.com>

    * myfile.ext (myfunction): my changes made
    additional changes

    * myfile.ext (unrelated_change): my changes made
    to myfile.ext but completely unrelated to the above

    * anotherfile.ext (somefunction): more changes

It is also very common to have the email address enclosed between < and >. The Emacs Editor creates such entries when creating additional changelog entries.

Changelogs in Wikis

Most Wiki software includes changelogs as a fundamental feature (often called history in this context). For example, the "history" link at the top of a Wikipedia entry links to that page's changelog. This feature is vital for complying with the attribution requirements of some copyright licenses.

Notes

External links

• Explanations, how to write Changelog entries in open source projects
• PAD, one of the many changelog techs.

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