After reading 10.2 Release Resource File, I get the impression that each application release is very much tied down to a specific release of Erlang OTP. Is this true?
Can the version information in the .rel file be written along the following lines?
{release,
{"ch_rel", "A"},
{erts, "5.3"},
[{kernel, ">=2.9"},
{stdlib, ">=1.12"},
{sasl, ">=1.10"},
{ch_app, "1"}]
}.
Unfortunately you're correct - with the OTP release handler, the version checking is exact, you can't specify ranges or 'at least this version'. The new 'reltool' application in OTP (R13B+) is designed to help with this by putting in all the version information for you.
I think you might be slightly confused by the terminology. In erlang a release is
And is intended for deployment of a standalone erlang environment and Applications for a specific purpose.
While the Application is a bundle of related code and libraries for a specific function. For most people's useage they don't need a .rel file. The .app file and boot scripts are plenty for an application you will be deploying to an already setup erlang environment.
From your question sit sounded a little like you might be using the .rel file in a way it wasn't really intended for.
If I'm wrong then feel free to ignore me :-)
You should consider releasing your software via erlware which will allow builds against different versions of the runtime to be managed easily