changelog
A change log , english changelog is a protocol or a record of changes to a project, such as a software or a website where it thus to the software documentation counts. The word Changelog is from the English inherited portmanteau word that off English change for change and log on log composed.
Most open source projects include a changelog - file in their distributions . This file is called often CHANGELOG, CHANGES, HISTORY, RELEASE-NOTESor rare WHATS.NEWor NEWS. It is a pure text file . In the Windows area in particular , the file extension is sometimes .txtadded to these files .
Version control software is usually able to produce changelogs from the file changes . Also Wikis provide their version histories an overview of all changes.
A changelog has basically nothing in common with a log file - both are text files; While the former is used to log events or processes and each line usually represents an event, the latter contains text that is not intended for machine processing, but should be designed to be human-readable.
Web links
- Jim Blandy: Maintaining the ChangeLog - Article about building and maintaining changelogs
- From the GNU Coding Standards : Change Logs - Presentation of the concept and recommended standards