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Semver

Semantic Versioning utilities for version management
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Overview

This node provides utilities for semantic versioning (semver) operations, focusing on comparing two version strings in the "Comparison" resource with the "Compare" operation. It allows users to compare versions using various comparison methods such as greater than, less than, equality, difference, and more.

Common scenarios include:

  • Determining if a software version is newer or older than another.
  • Checking if two versions are equal or different.
  • Finding the difference type between two versions (major, minor, patch).
  • Sorting or ordering versions based on semver rules.

Practical example:

  • A CI/CD pipeline can use this node to decide whether to deploy a new build by comparing the current deployed version with the new build version.
  • A package manager workflow can verify if a dependency version satisfies certain constraints by comparing versions.

Properties

Name Meaning
Version 1 The first version string to compare (e.g., "1.2.3").
Version 2 The second version string to compare (e.g., "1.2.4").
Options Collection of optional flags:
• Loose: Use loose parsing for version strings (boolean).
• Include Prerelease: Include prerelease versions in range matching (boolean).
• RTL (Right to Left): Only shown for coercion resource, ignored here.

The "Options" allow tweaking how version strings are parsed and compared, e.g., enabling loose parsing to accept non-strict semver formats.

Output

The output JSON contains the original input data merged with a result object describing the comparison outcome. For the "Compare" operation under "Comparison" resource, the output includes:

  • operation: The performed comparison operation name (e.g., "gt", "eq", "diff").
  • version1: The first version string.
  • version2: The second version string.
  • result: The result of the comparison, which varies by operation:
    • For relational comparisons (gt, lt, etc.): a boolean indicating the comparison result.
    • For compare and rcompare: an integer (-1, 0, 1) indicating order.
    • For diff: a string indicating the difference type ("major", "minor", "patch", etc.).

Example output snippet for a "greater than" check:

{
  "operation": "gt",
  "version1": "1.2.3",
  "version2": "1.2.4",
  "result": false
}

Dependencies

  • Uses the external semver library for all semantic version parsing and comparison logic.
  • No external API keys or services are required.
  • No special environment variables or n8n credentials needed.

Troubleshooting

  • Invalid version strings: If either version string is not a valid semver format, the comparison may fail or return unexpected results. Ensure inputs conform to semver standards or enable the "Loose" option if necessary.
  • Unsupported operations: Using an operation not supported by the "Comparison" resource will throw an error.
  • Empty inputs: Providing empty or missing version strings will likely cause errors or invalid results.
  • To resolve errors, verify input correctness and consult semver documentation for valid version formats.

Links and References

Discussion