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Auto-Update System for PiwigoPublish Plugin

By Gotcha26 - contact@julien-moreau.fr

Overview

The auto-update system allows the PiwigoPublish Lightroom plugin to check for new versions via the GitHub Releases API and notify users when updates are available.

Features

  • Automatic check on startup: Silent check when Lightroom loads (once per day)
  • Manual check: Button in Plugin Manager to check on demand
  • Multi-format versioning: Supports both date-based and SemVer formats
  • Cross-format comparison: Can compare versions even when switching versioning schemes
  • User-friendly notifications: Dialog with changelog and download link

Version Format Support

Format Example Use Case
Date-based 20260121.3 or v20260121.3 Current format, revision incremented daily
SemVer 1.2.3 or v1.2.3 Industry standard, for future migration

The system automatically detects which format is used and applies the appropriate comparison logic.

Cross-Format Comparison

When the local and remote versions use different formats, the system falls back to comparing the GitHub release publish date (published_at metadata) against the build date embedded in the local version.

This ensures seamless updates even if the versioning scheme changes in the future.

Configuration

In UpdateChecker.lua, the following constants can be adjusted:

UpdateChecker.GITHUB_OWNER = "Piwigo"           -- GitHub organization/user
UpdateChecker.GITHUB_REPO = "PiwigoPublish-lrc-plugin"  -- Repository name
UpdateChecker.CHECK_INTERVAL_DAYS = 1           -- Days between automatic checks

User Interface

Plugin Manager Section

A new "Plugin Updates" section appears in File > Plug-in Manager > Piwigo Publisher:

  • Current version display
  • Update status indicator
  • "Check for Updates" button
  • "Visit GitHub Repository" button

Update Notification Dialog

When an update is available, users see:

  • Current vs. new version comparison
  • Changelog excerpt (first 500 characters)
  • "Download" button → opens GitHub release page
  • "Later" button → dismisses until next check

Creating a New Release

  1. Update VERSION in Info.lua:

    VERSION = { major=20260122, minor=1, revision=0 },

  2. Commit and push changes

  3. Create a GitHub Release:

    • Tag: v20260122.1 (or v1.0.0 for SemVer)
    • Title: Version number or descriptive title
    • Description: Changelog in Markdown format

  4. The plugin will automatically detect the new release

Technical Details

API Endpoint

GET https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/latest

Response Fields Used

Field Purpose
tag_name Version identifier
published_at Release date (ISO 8601) for cross-format comparison
body Changelog content (Markdown)
html_url Download page URL

Storage (LrPrefs)

Key Purpose
lastUpdateCheck Timestamp of last check
latestVersion Cached latest version string
latestVersionUrl Cached download URL
pluginBuildDate Build date for SemVer installations

Functions Reference

Function Description
parseVersion(versionStr) Converts version string to comparable number
parseGitHubDate(dateStr) Parses ISO 8601 date to timestamp
getInstalledVersionDate() Extracts build date from installed version
shouldCheckForUpdates() Checks if interval has elapsed
checkForUpdates(silent) Main update check logic
openDownloadPage(url) Opens browser to download page
getUpdateStatus() Returns status string for UI

Future Considerations

  • Migration to SemVer: The system is ready for a versioning scheme change without breaking update detection
  • Pre-release support: Could be extended to check for beta/RC releases via prerelease flag
  • Auto-download: Could be enhanced to download and extract updates automatically (requires additional permissions)

Files Modified

File Changes
UpdateChecker.lua New file - update checking logic
Init.lua Added require and startup check
PluginInfoDialogSections.lua Added "Plugin Updates" UI section
Info.lua VERSION table (existing, used as source of truth)