Normal method for embedding git commit in the version?

[lilith]

I want to be able to track down what version of the software a user is using, based on git commit ID.

I see this showing up in most Rust command-line tools, but I haven't figured out how it's done.

Any suggestions?

[kbknapp]

You can either manually add the commit hash and just add it your version with App::version as in:

const LATEST_COMMIT: &'static str = "abcd1234";
fn main() {
    App::new("prog").version(&*format!("v1.2.3 ({})", LATEST_COMMIT));
}

But what I think most people do is add a build.rs script to pull the latest commit hash automatically.

Although this isn't really anything specific to clap.

[lilith]

Thanks! I found this approach based on your suggestion:

1. Write it out to a text file during build: https://github.com/rust-lang-nursery/rustup.rs/blob/master/build.rs
2. Read the text file in at runtime: https://github.com/rust-lang-nursery/rustup.rs/blob/27f64753d016acbf93b833fc3618ce09f14ab9a3/src/rustup-cli/common.rs#L339

I'm distributing a single binary, so maybe I'll write code to write code. You can change .rs files in build.rs, right? Or do you know of a project that's already doing this?

Definitely not specific to clap, but I'd like to add an example when I figure it out, since it seems like a ubiquitous need.

[jhelwig]

https://github.com/cstorey/git-build-version/ is an example of how to do this without requiring files be available at runtime.

[zmlgirl]

for now it's a good idea to use creat shadow-rs.

[acro5piano]

Great example for integrating clap struct with shadow-rs.

baoyachi/shadow-rs#86 (comment)