[Rd] suggestion for R >= 3.0: computer-readable CHANGELOG

[Tobias Verbeke]

Dirk Eddelbuettel wrote:
> On 17 April 2009 at 10:36, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
> | I think it would have to do more than that to be useful.  It would need 
> | to warn about a lack of an entry for the current version.  Otherwise 
> | package.skeleton would create a blank one, and that would satisfy the 
> | check from then on.
> | 
> | To recognize an entry for the current version, it would need a standard 
> | format.  But then, unless whoever put together the format was willing to 
> | do updates to the hundreds of existing files out there, there would be a 
> 
> I'd say use it on a go-forward basis.

I agree. For the ChangeLog, the GNU ChangeLog format could be used.
The advantage is that there are already converters available for some
commonly used source control management systems, such that users
can stick with their favorite systems and comply:

For git:
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=gnulib.git;a=blob_plain;f=build-aux/gitlog-to-changelog;hb=HEAD

For Subversion:
http://ch.tudelft.nl/~arthur/svn2cl/

For CVS:
http://www.red-bean.com/cvs2cl/

Always willing to participate (also in converting existing files).

Best,
Tobias

> | Could you take a look at CRAN and Bioconductor, and count how many 
> | packages already have a news/changelog file, and how hard it would be to 
> | convert them to a standard format?
> 
> I can do the count for CRAN using the account we use for cran2deb work.  I'll
> be travelling this weekend (yay, Boston Marathon!) so please ping me next
> week if I forget to aggregate this.
> 
> Dirk
>