Revision histories of current and previous gold versions
New in next release
New in C07.02
New in C06.02
New in C05.07
New in C96
New in C94
older
Hot fixes to various versions
What the version numbers mean, archived versions
In versions C94 and before the code was released as a gold version roughly every three years. C96 took a long time because the project had grown to include people in many locations and there was no longer a "stopping point" where all planned improvements have been made. Also, before C96 it was very difficult, involving several weeks of work, to confirm that a version was working, was robust, and got the right answers.
Starting with c94 the code's test suite was automated so that a Perl script could compute all tests and confirm that all is well, every night. Now, bugs are usually found within 24 hours of being introduced. As a result the nightly build is usually very close to a gold version. The project is now far broader than just me, so it will never again reach a "stopping point", something that I could do in C94 and before.
You should use the current gold version that is found on the main downloads page. These are never removed from this web site but are moved to the old old versions page when they have been superseded. The bleeding edge version has yesterday's source and is in an undefined state. The goal is to promote the bleeding edge version to a gold version at the start of each year.
Beginning in 2005 the version number of the code became the year, month, and day in the form 05.07.06. The major version numbers have lost their meaning, given the current development methods.
The current gold version should be used in publications, which should explicitly state what version was used. The citation should read "Calculations were performed with version 05.01 of Cloudy, last described by Ferland et al. (1998)." The reference is to the last major review, here. Archived versions are never removed from this web site. The predictions change as atomic data and the treatment of physical processes improves. But it will always be possible to retrieve the version of the code that obtained any particular answer.
Last changed 03/03/07.
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Copyright 1978-2006 Gary J. Ferland