API suggestion for GNU lightning: function giving runtime version information.

[Basile Starynkevitch]

Hello all,

A lot of free software libraries have some function giving the runtime 
version information. For example GNU libc gives gnu_get_libc_version() 
and libcurl has curl_version().

Both gnu_get_libc_version and curl_version returns a pointer to a read 
only C string (const char*, in the .rodata section on Linux).

So my suggestion to GNU lightning would be to declare and implement a


  extern  const char* gnu_get_lightning_version(void);

Of course it would be also nice to have corresponding C macros


#define GNU_LIGHTNING_MAJOR_VERSION 2

#define GNU_LIGHTNING_MINOR_VERSION 2

#define GNU_LIGHTNING_STRING "2.2.2 x86-64"

which on a Debian/x86-64 desktop would perhaps return "2.2.2 Debian/x86-64"


Implementing these is probably tied to some good knowledge of GNU 
autoconf, which I sadly don't have. So I can only make the suggestion, 
not implement it.

The GNU coding conventions are suggestion a --version program argument 
to show these.

GNU lightning is used in the RefPerSys open source inference engine 
project on http://refpersys.org/ and 
https://github.com/RefPerSys/RefPerSys (for which I am seeking partners 
and contributors)

Regards from near Paris in France

--
Basile Starynkevitch                  <basile@starynkevitch.net>
(only mine opinions / les opinions sont miennes uniquement)
92340 Bourg-la-Reine, France
web page: starynkevitch.net/Basile/