• Pre-release
  • Bug Tracker System
  • Tagging Details
• Pro-forma call for packaging annoucnement
• Post Release
• Announcing the release
  • Create an announcement template
    • A Generic release subject
    • A generic 20 word summary
    • A generic short html announcement
  • A generic short plain text announcement
  • A generic product description
  • A generic features list

Note: Mark completed items using the (./) symbol

Pre-release¶

Generic (all platforms)
Completed?
Check that the .ts files have been generated and call for translators to update them
/)
Ensure any new contributors have been added to CONTRIBUTORS, along with their mugshot if available
/)
Ensure any new sponsors have been added to SPONSORS
/)
Update the splash screen (minor and major relases!)
/)
Update the ChangeLog with a list of changes implemented in this release
/)
Update index.html to reflect what's new, requirements, and documentation (see current index.html in ./doc of the source tree)
/)
Update index.html to reflect GRASS and related lib versions in the win build (see current index.html in ./doc of the source tree)
/)
Update the whatsNew string in qgisapp.cpp to reflect changes (used to display in about box)
/)
Edit qgsconfig.h.in_cmake in the top level directory of the QGIS sources and set the version e.g. #define VERSION "0.8.1-Titan". Make sure the version has no spaces in it as it will cause the build to fail on MacOSX.
/)
Check that cmake is deploying all headers required to build apps using libqgis_*
/)
Apply any updated translations
/)
Apply any pending patches or mark them for a future release in the tracker (see bug tracker section below)
/)
Apply fixes for any pending bugs or mark them against a future milestone (see bug tracker section below)
/)

|

Linux Specific
Completed?
Edit build_debian_package.sh and set dch -v 0.8.1 to the apropriate version number
/)

|

Windows Specific
Completed?
Update the NSIS installer (win_build/qgis.nsis) to reflect the correct version !define PRODUCT_VERSION "0.8.1 Titan"
/)
Check the NSIS installer is including any newly added headers, libraries etc.
/)
Use cmakesetup to set the install prefix to c:\program files\qgis<version> e.g. qgis0.8.1
/)

|

Tag and export
Completed?
Tag the release (see tag section below)
/)
Note the svn revision number for the tagged release here:	r7033
Generate the change log for the release (see below)
/)
Export the source code to a source tarball
/)

|

Call for packaging
Completed?
Write to the developers list and ask packagers to create their packages. Point them to PackagingHelpers and ask them to update the table once they are done.
/)

|

Bug Tracker System¶

All bugs that are intended to have been fixed in this release should have been marked as closed. All other bugs on the release branch should be marked for a future release. To do this, create a new milestone e.g. we are releasing 0.8.1 now so create a new milestone in trac for 0.8.2

 cd /var/www
 trac-admin ./qgis-trac 
 milestone list
 milestone add "Version 0.8.2 Release" 
 quit

Now you need to visit each open bug on the branch and reset its milestone (sorry there is no automatic way to do this). You can visit https://svn.qgis.org/trac/report/3 to get a report of bugs by milestone.

Tagging Details¶

Tag the release using syntax below (update this with the actual commands you used to tag).

 svn cp https://svn.qgis.org/repos/qgis/branches/Release-0_8_0 \
                 https://svn.qgis.org/repos/qgis/tags/Release-0_8_1

Create the source tarball using:

 cd /tmp
 svn export https://svn.qgis.org/repos/qgis/tags/Release-0_8_1 \
          QuantumGISSource.v0.8.1

Then use your favourite compression tool to create zip and .tar.bz2 archives.

Generate the changelog (first no is svn revision of previous release, second is svn revision of this release:

 svn log -r6350:7033 > /tmp/log.txt

Edit the file with vim and get rid of all blank lines using this command:

 :g/^$/d

Use this simple macro to remove extraneous info.

 ddf|d$gJgJ/---<return>

Pro-forma call for packaging annoucnement¶

Release 0.8.1 has been tagged in SVN. If you are a packager please go ahead and make packages using this.

svn co https://svn.qgis.org/repos/qgis/tags/Release-0_8_1 qgis0.8.1

If you are able to build a package please add yourself to http://wiki.qgis.org/qgiswiki/PackagingHelpers indicating which package you are building. If you are building a package that includes qt (mac / win / linux application bundle), it would be great if you could build against Qt4.3.

I will make the public announcement on this coming Thursday (15 June 2007) so if packagers could get their work to me before then it will be great to be able to announce with binaries already available for download. You can send me the url to the package on your own server (please supply md5 checksums too if possible), or you can send me the file using the free server 'you send it' at:

http://www.yousendit.com/

I have made windows and source packages and these will be uploaded and generally available tomorrow from the official http://download.qgis.org

Many thanks for all the people who dedicated a lot of time and effort into making this release possible - your work is greatly appreciated!

Regards

Post Release¶

Wiki Updates

Completed?

Update Release Checklists to mark the release as completed.

|

qgis.org Updates
Completed?
Up date the 'Current Release' link on the main menu
(./)
Update the 'Download' link on the top menu bar
(./)
Add release newsflash
(./)
Current version page to be updated
(./)
svn download of tagged release updated
(./)
download page updated
(./)
screenshots updated	not required

|

Publicising (see announcing the release section below)
Completed?
http://freshmeat.net
http://kde-apps.org
http://qt-apps.org
http://freegis.org
http://apple.com
http://slashgeo.org/submit.pl
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/stories/add.php
http://www.freemacware.com/let-us-know
http://www.osnews.com/submit.php
http://directory.fsf.org/project/QGIS/

Write to the developers and users lists and announce the release. Ask users to advertise the project further afield and upply url for this page as a resource.

(./)

Announcing the release¶

Create an announcement template¶

An annoucement templace will save you retypping the same text at the various places of announcement. The following text can be used as a basis:

A Generic release subject¶

Announcing the release of Quantum GIS version 0.8.1

A generic 20 word summary¶

Quantum GIS is a user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System that runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, and Windows.

A generic short html announcement¶

It is our great pleasure to announce the immediate availability of Quantum GIS (QGIS) Version 0.8.1. Quantum GIS (QGIS) is a user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIS">GIS</a>) that runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, and Windows. QGIS supports vector, raster, and database formats. QGIS is licensed under the GNU General Public License. QGIS lets you <a href="http://qgis.org/flash/flashwrapper.php?filename=qgisdemo1.swf" title="QGIS demo">browse</a> and create map data on your computer. It supports many common spatial data formats (e.g. ESRI ShapeFile, geotiff). QGIS supports plugins to do things like <a href="http://qgis.org/flash/flashwrapper.php?filename=gpx_demo.swf"
title="GPS demo">display tracks</a> from your GPS. QGIS is Open Source software and its free of cost (<a href="http://download.qgis.org/">download here</a>). We welcome contributions from our user community in the form of

<a href = "http://wiki.qgis.org/qgiswiki/DevelopersCorner" title="Developers Corner">code contributions</a>, <a href="https://qgis.org/trac">bug fixes</a>, <a href="https://qgis.org/trac/newticket">bug reports</a>, <a href="http://wiki.qgis.org/qgiswiki/DocumentationWritersCorner">contributed documentation</a>, advocacy and supporting other users on our <a href="http://qgis.org/content/view/115/96">mailing lists</a> and <a href="http://forum.qgis.org/">forums</a>.
<a href = "http://qgis.org/content/view/97/73/" title = "Contribute">
Financial contributions
</a> are also welcome.

This release focusses on bug fixes and stabilisation of the 0.8 code base. QGIS is available is source form, and will be available as binary executables for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux. If the binary for your platform is not yet available, please check back in a day or two as our packages are still creating some packages. All versions can be obtained from our <a href="http://download.qgis.org">download page</a>.

As an open source project, we provide support for using QGIS via our mailing lists and bug tracker:

<ul>
<li>For general enquiries <a href="http://lists.qgis.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user">subscribe</a> to our users mailing list.</li>
<li>For developer related enquiries <a href="http://lists.qgis.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer">subscribe</a> to our separate developers list.</li>
<li>If you think you have found a bug, please report it using our <a href="https://svn.qgis.org/trac">bug tracker</a>. When reporting bugs, please include some contact information in case we need help with replicating your issue.</li>
</ul>

A generic short plain text announcement¶

It is our great pleasure to announce the immediate availability of Quantum GIS (QGIS) Version 0.8.1. Quantum GIS (QGIS) is a user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) that runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, and Windows. QGIS supports vector, raster, and database formats. QGIS is licensed under the GNU General Public License. QGIS lets you browse and create map data on your computer. It supports many common spatial data formats (e.g. ESRI ShapeFile, geotiff). QGIS supports plugins to do things like display tracks from your GPS. QGIS is Open Source software and its free of cost (download here). We welcome contributions from our user community in the form of code contributions, bug fixes, bug reports, contributed documentation, advocacy and supporting other users on our mailing lists and forums. Financial contributions are also welcome. The release also includes numerous bug fixes and stability improvements to the 0.8 code base. QGIS is available is source form, and will be available as binary executables for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux. All versions can be obtained from our download page. If the version for your platform is not available please check back in a day or two as some packages are still being built. As an open source project, we provide support for using QGIS via our mailing lists and bug tracker:

• For general enquiries subscribe to our users mailing list at http://lists.qgis.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user
• For developer related enquiries subscribe to our separate developers list at http://lists.qgis.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer
• If you think you have found a bug, please report it using our bug tracker. When reporting bugs, please include some contact information in case we need help with replicating your issue at https://svn.qgis.org/trac

For a longer announcement, include the changelog text and a screenshot of some shiny new feature.

A generic product description¶

Quantum GIS (QGIS) is a user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) that runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, and Windows. QGIS supports vector, raster, and database formats. QGIS is licensed under the GNU General Public License. QGIS lets you browse and create map data on your computer. It supports many common spatial data formats (e.g. ESRI ShapeFile, geotiff). QGIS supports plugins to do things like display tracks from your GPS. QGIS is Open Source software and its free of cost.

A generic features list¶

• Support for spatially enabled PostGIS tables
• Support for shapefiles, ArcInfo coverages, Mapinfo, and other formats supported by OGR
• Raster support for a large number of formats
• Identify features
• Display attribute tables
• Select features
• GRASS Digitizing
• Feature labeling