Version decoder

Version numbers for the x3270 family take the following format: major. minor type iteration For example, 4.0ga13.

The definitions of the fields are as follows:
 * major
 * The major number of the release. Between major numbers, there is no guarantee of backwards compatibility. For example, x3270 4.0 (major version 4) may be incompatible with x3270 3.6 (major version 3).


 * minor
 * The minor number of the release. Releases are generally backwards-compatible. For example, x3270 4.1 is backwards-compatible with x3270 4.0.


 * type
 * The type of the release. One of the following values:
 * {| class="wikitable"

! Type !! Description
 * alpha || Alpha test. The code may include functionality that is not in its final form. It is generally functional, but not as well-tested as Beta code.
 * beta || Beta test. The code is in its final functional form, but has received limited testing and bugs may be present.
 * ga || General availability (GA). The code is in its final functional form and has been tested extensively.
 * pre || Pre-release code. This is code built without a release tag for specific testing or demonstration purposes, and there no specific guarantees of stability.
 * }
 * iteration
 * A sequential iteration number within a minor release. For example, 4.0ga13 has additional bug fixes and small enhancements compared to 4.0ga12.
 * pre || Pre-release code. This is code built without a release tag for specific testing or demonstration purposes, and there no specific guarantees of stability.
 * }
 * iteration
 * A sequential iteration number within a minor release. For example, 4.0ga13 has additional bug fixes and small enhancements compared to 4.0ga12.

Iteration numbers are sequential across different types. For example, there may be releases numbered 2.1alpha1 through 2.1alpha5, then Beta releases numbered 2.1beta6 through 2.1beta7</tt>, then finally GA releases numbered 2.1ga7</tt> through 2.1ga10</tt>.

Pre-release code version numbers generally indicate the release that the features may be incorporated into in the future, for example, 2.1pre6</tt> indicates a feature set that may be part of 2.1beta6</tt> or 2.1ga6</tt>.