File Version Vs. Product Version

Question

In the Delphi Project Properties dialog, there are settings for the "Product Version" and the "File Version". Can anyone explain the philosophical differences between the two?

Answer 1

The Product Version will be the version number of your whole application.

The File Version will be the version number of this component.

The two are usually in sync, but don't have to be. It would depend upon how modular your application was.

So for example you might have an application that's at version 2.3.4.0 (say), but one file reader component that's at version 5.6.7.0 as it was inherited from a different application and another at version 1.2.0.0 as it's a more recent addition.

Additionally, some components might not change between releases so theoretically they should remain at their original file version.

However, as this might well cause confusion (not least with the developer) about which file goes with which version of the product these numbers are often kept in sync.

Answer 2

Not all the files are to be changed when the product version changes. E.g. you've written a dll implementing the core functionality that remains unchanged during following product version changes.

Answer 3

Product version is the version of the product the executable is a part of, like Firedox 3.5.2 - all files in the product should have the same version (for a given version, obviously). The file version is normally the version of the specific file, like the firefox executable, for example, without respect to the product. This doesn't seem to get used much.

Answer 4

In contrast to the file version the product version is not necessarily numerical. E.g. we use the pre-build scripts to set it to the current date. This way, we can easily check when an executable was built.