.TH IM_VERSION 3 "15 December 1999"
.SH NAME
im_version, im_version_string \- return VIPS version info
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B #include <vips/vips.h>

.B int im_version( int flag )

.B const char *im_version_string( void )

.SH DESCRIPTION

.B im_version(3) 
returns the major version number if
.B flag
== 0, the minor version number if
.B flag
== 1, and the micro version number if 
.B flag
== 2.

Major versions are supposed to represent very large changes to the
library, minor versions indicate steady improvements (with odd minor
versions indicating unstable and undocumented development releases),
and micro versions indicating bug-fixes.

.B im_version_string(3) 
returns a static string representing the vips version number, and the date
when the library was built.

The version number always has three parts, separated by '.' characters. The
first part is the major release, the second the minor release (odd minor
values denote development releases), and the third the micro version number.

The version number and the date are separated by a '-' character.

The value of this string is constructed in 'configure.in'.

A typical value for tthe string might be "7.7.0-Thu Dec 16 18:10:01 GMT 1999".

.SH RETURN VALUE
The function returns 0 on success and non-zero on error.
.SH COPYRIGHT
National Gallery
.SH AUTHOR
J. Cupitt \- 15/12/99