aecattr(5)							File Formats Manual							aecattr(5)

NAME

	aecattr - aegis change attributes file

DESCRIPTION

	A change attributes file is used to describe the modifiable portion of a change.

CONTENTS

	A change attributes file contains the following fields:

	description = string;
		This field contains a detailed description of the change.

	brief_description = string;
		This field contains a brief description of the change.

	cause = ( ... );
		This field describes the cause which motivated the change.

		external_bug
			The change was created in response to a bug report from outside the development team.  This repairs existing functional-
			ity.

		external_enhancement
			The change was created in response to an enhancement request from outside the development team.  This adds new functional-
			ity.

		external_improvement
			The change was created in response to an improvement request from outside the development team.  This improves existing
			functionality.

		internal_bug
			The change was created in response to a bug report from inside the development team.  This repairs existing functionality.

		internal_enhancement
			The change was created in response to an enhancement request from inside the development team.	This adds new functional-
			ity.

		internal_improvement
			The change was created in response to an improvement request from inside the development team.	This improves existing
			functionality.

		chain
			This cause is where you have a fix to fix a fix; tracking these is an interesting quality metric.

	test_exempt = boolean;
		This field is true if it is not necessary to test the change.  It is, in general, desirable to test all changes, whether new func-
		tionality or a bug fix.  This is, however, a project management issue.

	test_baseline_exempt = boolean;
		This field is true if it is not necessary to test the change against the baseline before it is changed.  The test of the baseline
		is required to fail; this is to establish that the test has isolated the bug, and that the change has fixed that isolated bug.

	regression_test_exempt = boolean;
		This field is true if it is not necessary to perform a full regression test on the change.  If absent, defaults to true for all
		causes except improvements.

	architecture = [ string ];
		This field is a list of names of system and machine architectures on which the change must successfully build and test.

	copyright_years = [ integer ];
		This field details the years in which the change was worked on.  This field is present in trunk, branch and leaf nodes.

		As a change is edited, years in which the change was worked on accumulate in this field automatically.	Branches accumulate years
		as integrations occur.	You may need to manually edit this, though it should be rare.

	version_previous = string;
		This field records the "previous" version, mostly to simplify patch generation.  It is only meaningful for trunks and branches.
		It is set automatically when a branch is started or integrated.

	attribute = [ { ... } ];
		This is a list of (name,value) pairs, defining user specified attributes.

		name = string;
			The name of the attribute.  By convention, names which start with an upper-case letter will appear in listings, and lower-
			case will not.	Attribute names are case-insensitive.

		value = string;
			The value of the attribute.

		Arguably, most change attributes which may be altered by the user (and some that can't) should be of this form.  Due to an acci-
		dent of history, this is not the case.

SEE ALSO

	aenc(1) create a new change

	aeca(1) modify the attributes of a change

	aegis(5)
		aegis file format syntax

	aecstate(5)
		change state file format

	aepattr(5)
		project attributes file format

COPYRIGHT

	aegis version 4.24.3.D001
	Copyright (C) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Peter
	Miller

	The aegis program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details use the 'aegis -VERSion License' command.  This is free software and you
	are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; for details use the 'aegis -VERSion License' command.

AUTHOR

	Peter Miller   E-Mail:	 millerp@canb.auug.org.au
	//*		  WWW:	 http://www.canb.auug.org.au/~millerp/

Reference Manual						       Aegis								aecattr(5)