Vers.NET

A .NET Standard 2.0 library for the vers version range specification. Parses, validates, evaluates, and converts version ranges across package ecosystems.

Every package manager invented its own range syntax. npm uses ^1.2.3. Maven uses [1.0, 2.0). PyPI uses >=1.0,<2.0. RubyGems uses ~> 2.2. Vers is one notation that covers all of them: vers:npm/>=1.0.0|<3.0.0.

Quick start

var range = VersRange.Parse("vers:npm/>=1.0.0|<3.0.0");

range.Contains("2.5.0");   // true
range.Contains("3.0.0");   // false
range.Contains("0.9.0");   // false

Wildcards, exact versions, and disjoint ranges:

VersRange.Parse("vers:deb/*").Contains("anything");           // true
VersRange.Parse("vers:pypi/1.0|2.0|3.0").Contains("2.0");    // true
VersRange.Parse("vers:npm/>=1.0.0|<=1.5.0|>=3.0.0|<=4.0.0")
    .Contains("2.0.0");                                       // false (in the gap)

Converting native ranges

Convert ecosystem-specific range syntax to vers and back:

// npm's caret notation → vers
var range = NativeRangeConverterRegistry.FromNative("npm", "^1.2.3");
range.ToString(); // "vers:npm/>=1.2.3|<2.0.0"

// NuGet's interval notation → vers
var nuget = NativeRangeConverterRegistry.FromNative("nuget", "[1.0.0, 2.0.0)");
nuget.ToString(); // "vers:nuget/>=1.0.0|<2.0.0"

// RubyGems pessimistic constraint → vers
var gem = NativeRangeConverterRegistry.FromNative("gem", "~>2.0.8");
gem.ToString(); // "vers:gem/>=2.0.8|<2.1"

Built-in converters for npm (including ||, ~, ^, hyphen, wildcard), PyPI, NuGet, RubyGems, Conan, OpenSSL, and nginx.

Building ranges programmatically

var range = new VersRange.Builder("npm")
    .AddConstraint(Comparator.GreaterThanOrEqual, "1.0.0")
    .AddConstraint(Comparator.LessThan, "3.0.0")
    .Build();

range.ToString(); // "vers:npm/>=1.0.0|<3.0.0"

Supported versioning schemes

Comparers for every ecosystem in the vers spec:

Scheme	Aliases	Notes
semver	npm, golang, cargo, composer	SemVer 2.0.0 with pre-release
maven		Full ComparableVersion algorithm
nuget		Case-insensitive pre-release, 4-part versions
deb		Debian Policy §5.6.12 (epochs, tilde sorting)
rpm		rpmvercmp with epoch and tilde/caret
pypi		PEP 440 (pre/post/dev releases, epochs, local)
gem		RubyGems (string segments = pre-release)
gentoo	ebuild, alpine, apk	Gentoo vercmp (suffixes, letter, revision)
alpm	arch	Arch Linux (rpmvercmp-style with epoch + release)
conan		Build metadata compared, unlike semver
openssl		Legacy letter suffixes + modern semver
cpan		Perl decimal and dotted-decimal formats
intdot	nginx	Dot-separated integers
generic		Fallback for unknown schemes
lexicographic		Bytewise UTF-8 comparison
datetime		RFC 3339 timestamps
none		Empty set (vers:none/* only)
all		Universal set (vers:all/* only)

Unknown schemes fall back to the generic comparer.

Custom schemes

public class MyVersionComparer : IVersionComparer
{
    public int Compare(string v1, string v2) { /* ... */ }
    public string Normalize(string v) => v;
    public bool IsValid(string v) => true;
}

VersioningSchemeRegistry.Register(
    new VersioningScheme("myscheme", new MyVersionComparer()));

After registration, VersRange.Parse("vers:myscheme/>=1.0") uses your comparer.

Validation and simplification

var range = VersRange.Parse("vers:npm/>=1.0.0|<3.0.0");
range.Validate();   // throws VersException if invalid
range.Simplify();   // removes redundant constraints per the spec

What's not included

Invert(), Split(), Merge(), and OverlapsWith() from the Java/Python implementations. Pull requests welcome.

Conformance

Tests against the official vers-spec test data:

Run with dotnet test.

Install

Targets .NET Standard 2.0 (.NET Framework 4.6.1+, .NET Core 2.0+, .NET 5+). No external dependencies.

dotnet add package Vers

License

MIT