Version

Version is a public class implementing IComparable that represents a four-part (Major.Minor.Build.Revision) version number as a value object, parallel to but independent of System.Version. It supports construction from a string or from parts, numeric comparison via operator overloads, canonical string formatting, and template-based incrementing.

Purpose

• Represent, parse, format, compare, and increment a four-segment version number as a reusable value object.

Context

• Namespace: SAIF.Framework.Version
• Assembly/package: SAIF.Framework.Version

Public members

Member	Signature	Purpose
Major	Public Major As String	The version's major segment.
Minor	Public Minor As String	The version's minor segment.
Build	Public Build As String	The version's build segment.
Revision	Public Revision As String	The version's revision segment.
New	New(major As String, minor As String, build As String, revision As String)	Constructs a Version from four explicit segment values.
New	New(version As Version)	Constructs a Version by copying another Version instance.
New	New(input As String)	Constructs a Version by parsing a dot-delimited version string via Parse.
CompareTo	Public Function CompareTo(obj As Object) As Integer	Implements IComparable; compares this instance to another Version using ToInt-normalized segment values in Major → Minor → Build → Revision precedence.
Parse	Public Shared Function Parse(input As String) As Version	Splits input on . and constructs a Version, defaulting missing trailing segments to "0". See BR-002.
ToString	Public Overrides Function ToString() As String	Produces the canonical "{Major}.{Minor}.{Build}.{Revision}" string form.
Increment	Public Function Increment(format As String) As Version	Resolves each segment's format token (* auto-increment, empty retain, literal, or {year}/{month}/{day} date tokens), mutates the instance in place via an internal Update, and returns Me. See BR-003, BR-004, and BR-005.
= (operator)	Public Shared Operator =(v1 As Version, v2 As Version) As Boolean	Compares two Version instances for numeric equality across all four segments. See BR-006.
<> (operator)	Public Shared Operator <>(v1 As Version, v2 As Version) As Boolean	Compares two Version instances for numeric inequality.
< (operator)	Public Shared Operator <(v1 As Version, v2 As Version) As Boolean	Compares whether v1 is numerically less than v2, segment by segment. Contains a likely copy-paste defect in its "majors equal" branch; see BR-007.*
> (operator)	Public Shared Operator >(v1 As Version, v2 As Version) As Boolean	Compares whether v1 is numerically greater than v2, segment by segment. Contains the same likely copy-paste defect in its "majors equal" branch as the < operator; see BR-007.*

Behavioral notes

• Parse always takes Major from the first dot-delimited segment with no default applied to it; only Minor, Build, and Revision are defaulted to "0" when absent. See BR-002.
• All comparison and ordering members normalize segments via the Extensions.ToInt extension method before comparing, so string representations like "1.02.0.0" and "1.2.0.0" compare as equal. See BR-006.
• In the < and > operator overloads, the "majors are equal, now compare minors" ElseIf branch compares v2.Major.ToInt = v2.Major.ToInt (both operands reference v2) instead of the presumably intended v1.Major.ToInt = v2.Major.ToInt.* This tautological condition does not currently produce incorrect comparison results, because Major is evaluated first and correctly gates entry into the branch, but it is a likely copy-paste defect that should be corrected for clarity and correctness. See BR-007.*
• Increment mutates the calling instance in place and returns Me, rather than returning a new Version instance — callers relying on immutable value-object semantics should be aware of this.*

Constraints and usage notes

• Version implements IComparable (non-generic); casting/boxing considerations of Object-typed CompareTo apply to consumers.
• Version is not related to, and does not derive from or convert to/from, the BCL System.Version type, despite the naming and structural similarity.

Note: Statements marked with * were inferred from code structure, naming conventions, or contextual evidence where direct confirmation was not available in source artifacts. Statements marked with ** could not be confirmed; treat as unknown until verified.

Sources

• SAIF.Framework.Version\Version.vb