Initial drop of bin/update-release-info.py.

This program automates the process of inserting the release configuration
information that is currently done by hand.  The configuration data now
all lives in a file, 'ReleaseConfig'.  Change the configuration file, run
the program, and, hey presto, the files are updated.

More work needs to be done; the documentation doesn't quite match with the
program and the regression tests only cover the release flows, but it's
important to get this stuff out before the next release is published so
people can start using it.

10 files changed, 1753 insertions, 24 deletions

diff --git a/QMTest/TestRuntest.py b/QMTest/TestRuntest.py
index c8b5893..6682514 100644
--- a/QMTest/TestRuntest.py
+++ b/QMTest/TestRuntest.py
@@ -101,10 +101,8 @@ class TestRuntest(TestCommon):
         temporary directory, duplicating how this test infrastructure
         appears in a normal workspace.
         """
-        set_workpath_runtest = None
         if 'program' not in kw:
             kw['program'] = 'runtest.py'
-            set_workpath_runtest = 1
         if 'interpreter' not in kw:
             kw['interpreter'] = [python, '-tt']
         if 'match' not in kw:
@@ -119,6 +117,16 @@ class TestRuntest(TestCommon):
         else:
             del kw['noqmtest']
 
+        try:
+            things_to_copy = kw['things_to_copy']
+        except KeyError:
+            things_to_copy = [
+                'runtest.py',
+                'QMTest',
+            ]
+        else:
+            del kw['things_to_copy']
+
         orig_cwd = os.getcwd()
         TestCommon.__init__(self, **kw)
   
@@ -127,11 +135,6 @@ class TestRuntest(TestCommon):
             if not qmtest:
                 self.skip_test("Could not find 'qmtest'; skipping test(s).\n")
 
-        things_to_copy = [
-            'runtest.py',
-            'QMTest',
-        ]
-
         dirs = [os.environ.get('SCONS_RUNTEST_DIR', orig_cwd)]
         
         spe = os.environ.get('SCONS_SOURCE_PATH_EXECUTABLE', orig_cwd)
@@ -150,8 +153,7 @@ class TestRuntest(TestCommon):
                     copy_func(t, self.workpath(thing))
                     break
 
-        if set_workpath_runtest:
-            self.program_set(self.workpath('runtest.py'))
+        self.program_set(self.workpath(kw['program']))
 
         for key in os.environ.keys():
             if key[:5] == 'AEGIS':
diff --git a/README b/README
index 8b9a9b3..8bf919b 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-# __COPYRIGHT__
-
                  SCons - a software construction tool
 
 Welcome to the SCons development tree.  The real purpose of this tree
@@ -782,3 +780,5 @@ With plenty of help from the SCons Development team:
         Anthony Roach
         Greg Spencer
         Christoph Wiedemann
+
+__COPYRIGHT__
diff --git a/ReleaseConfig b/ReleaseConfig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a751126
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ReleaseConfig
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#
+# __COPYRIGHT__
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+# a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+# "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+# without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+# distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
+# permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+# the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+# in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+#
+# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
+# KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE
+# WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
+# NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
+# LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
+# OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
+# WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+__revision__ = "__FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__"
+
+# The version tuple that will be used for the release.  The fields are
+# (major, minor, micro, type, patchlevel).  The release level is one of
+# 'alpha', 'beta', 'candidate', or 'final'.  If the release type is not
+# 'final', the patchlevel is set to the release date.  This value is
+# manatory and must be present in this file.
+version_tuple = (2, 0, 0, 'alpha', 0)
+
+# Python versions prior to unsupported_python_version cause a fatal error
+# when that version is used.  Python versions prior to deprecate_python_version
+# cause a warning to be issued (assuming it's not disabled).  These values are
+# mandatory and must be present in the configuration file.
+unsupported_python_version = (2, 3, 0)
+deprecated_python_version = (2, 4, 0)
+
+# If release_date is (yyyy, mm, dd, hh, mm, ss), that is used as the release
+# date and time.  If release_date is (yyyy, mm, dd), it is used for the
+# release date and the current time is used for the release timetime.  If
+# release_date is not given, the current date and time are used.
+#release_date = (2012, 12, 21)
+
+# If month_year is not given, the release month and year are used.
+#month_year = 'December 2012'
+
+# If copyright years is not given, the release year is used as the end.
+#copyright_years = '2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010'
+
+# Local Variables:
+# tab-width:4
+# indent-tabs-mode:nil
+# End:
+# vim: set expandtab tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4:
diff --git a/bin/update-release-info.py b/bin/update-release-info.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c65963a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/update-release-info.py
@@ -0,0 +1,306 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+"""
+Update files for release.  FIXME: make the doc string actually document.
+"""
+#
+# __COPYRIGHT__
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+# a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+# "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+# without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+# distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
+# permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+# the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+# in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+#
+# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
+# KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE
+# WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
+# NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
+# LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
+# OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
+# WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+__revision__ = "__FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__"
+
+import os
+import sys
+import time
+import re
+
+DEBUG = os.environ.get('DEBUG', 0)
+
+# Evaluate parameter
+
+if len(sys.argv) < 2:
+    mode = 'develop'
+else:
+    mode = sys.argv[1]
+    if mode not in ['develop', 'release', 'post']:
+        print("""ERROR: `%s' as a parameter is invalid; it must be one of
+\tdevelop, release, or post.  The default is develop.""" % mode)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+# Get configuration information
+
+config = dict()
+exec open('ReleaseConfig').read() in globals(), config
+
+try:
+    version_tuple = config['version_tuple']
+    unsupported_version = config['unsupported_python_version']
+    deprecated_version = config['deprecated_python_version']
+except KeyError:
+    print('''ERROR: Config file must contain at least version_tuple,
+\tunsupported_python_version, and deprecated_python_version.''')
+    sys.exit(1)
+if DEBUG: print 'version tuple', version_tuple
+if DEBUG: print 'unsupported Python version', unsupported_version
+if DEBUG: print 'deprecated Python version', deprecated_version
+
+if mode == 'develop' and version_tuple[3] != 'alpha':
+    version_tuple ==  version_tuple[:3] + ('alpha', 0)
+if version_tuple[3] != 'final':
+    if mode == 'develop':
+        version_tuple = version_tuple[:4] + ('yyyymmdd',)
+    else:
+        yyyy,mm,dd,_,_,_ = release_date
+        version_tuple = version_tuple[:4] + ((yyyy*100 + mm)*100 + dd,)
+version_string = '.'.join(map(str, version_tuple))
+version_type = version_tuple[3]
+if DEBUG: print 'version string', version_string
+
+if version_type not in ['alpha', 'beta', 'candidate', 'final']:
+    print("""ERROR: `%s' is not a valid release type in version tuple;
+\tit must be one of alpha, beta, candidate, or final""" % version_type)
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+try:
+    release_date = config['release_date']
+except KeyError:
+    release_date = time.localtime()[:6]
+else:
+    if len(release_date) == 3:
+        release_date = release_date + time.localtime()[3:6]
+    if len(release_date) != 6:
+        print '''ERROR: Invalid release date''', release_date
+        sys.exit(1)
+if DEBUG: print 'release date', release_date
+
+try:
+    month_year = config['month_year']
+except KeyError:
+    if version_type == 'alpha':
+        month_year = 'MONTH YEAR'
+    else:
+        month_year =  time.strftime('%B %Y', release_date + (0,0,0))
+if DEBUG: print 'month year', month_year
+
+try:
+    copyright_years = config['copyright_years']
+except KeyError:
+    copyright_years = ', '.join(map(str, list(range(2001, release_date[0] + 1))))
+if DEBUG: print 'copyright years', copyright_years
+
+class UpdateFile(object):
+    """
+    XXX
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, file, orig = None):
+        '''
+        '''
+        if orig is None: orig = file
+        try:
+            self.content = open(orig, 'rU').read()
+        except IOError:
+            # Couldn't open file; don't try to write anything in __del__
+            self.file = None
+            raise
+        else:
+            self.file = file
+            if file == orig:
+                # so we can see if it changed
+                self.orig = self.content
+            else:
+                # pretend file changed
+                self.orig = ''
+
+    def sub(self, pattern, replacement, count = 1):
+        '''
+        XXX
+        '''
+        self.content = re.sub(pattern, replacement, self.content, count)
+
+    def replace_assign(self, name, replacement, count = 1):
+        '''
+        XXX
+        '''
+        self.sub('\n' + name + ' = .*', '\n' + name + ' = ' + replacement)
+
+    # Determine the pattern to match a version
+
+    _rel_types = '(alpha|beta|candidate|final)'
+    match_pat = '\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.' + _rel_types + '\.(\d+|yyyymmdd)'
+    match_rel = re.compile(match_pat)
+
+    def replace_version(self, replacement = version_string, count = 1):
+        '''
+        XXX
+        '''
+        self.content = self.match_rel.sub(replacement, self.content, count)
+
+    # Determine the release date and the pattern to match a date
+    # Mon, 05 Jun 2010 21:17:15 -0700
+    # NEW DATE WILL BE INSERTED HERE
+
+    if mode == 'develop':
+        new_date = 'NEW DATE WILL BE INSERTED HERE'
+    else:
+        min = (time.daylight and time.altzone or time.timezone)//60
+        hr = min//60
+        min = -(min%60 + hr*100)
+        new_date =  (time.strftime('%a, %d %b %Y %X', release_date + (0,0,0))
+                         + ' %+.4d' % min)
+
+    _days = '(Sun|Mon|Tue|Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat)'
+    _months = '(Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oce|Nov|Dec)'
+    match_date = _days+', \d\d '+_months+' \d\d\d\d \d\d:\d\d:\d\d [+-]\d\d\d\d'
+    match_date = re.compile(match_date)
+
+    def replace_date(self, replacement = new_date, count = 1):
+        '''
+        XXX
+        '''
+        self.content = self.match_date.sub(replacement, self.content, count)
+
+    def __del__(self):
+        '''
+        XXX
+        '''
+        if self.file is not None and self.content != self.orig:
+            print 'Updating ' + self.file + '...'
+            open(self.file, 'w').write(self.content)
+
+if mode == 'post':
+    # Set up for the next release series.
+
+    if version_tuple[2]:
+        # micro release, increment micro value
+        minor = version_tuple[1]
+        micro = version_tuple[2] + 1
+    else:
+        # minor release, increment minor value
+        minor = version_tuple[1] + 1
+        micro = 0
+    new_tuple = (version_tuple[0], minor, micro, 'alpha', 0)
+    new_version = '.'.join(map(str, new_tuple[:4])) + '.yyyymmdd'
+
+    # Update ReleaseConfig
+
+    t = UpdateFile('ReleaseConfig')
+    if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/ReleaseConfig'
+    t.replace_assign('version_tuple', str(new_tuple))
+
+    # Update src/CHANGES.txt
+
+    t = UpdateFile(os.path.join('src', 'CHANGES.txt'))
+    if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/CHANGES.txt'
+    t.sub('(\nRELEASE .*)', r"""\nRELEASE  VERSION/DATE TO BE FILLED IN LATER\n
+  From John Doe:\n
+    - Whatever John Doe did.\n
+\1""")
+
+    # Update src/RELEASE.txt
+
+    t = UpdateFile(os.path.join('src', 'RELEASE.txt'),
+                   os.path.join('template', 'RELEASE.txt'))
+    if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/RELEASE.txt'
+    t.replace_version(new_version)
+
+    # Update src/Announce.txt
+
+    t = UpdateFile(os.path.join('src', 'Announce.txt'))
+    if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/Announce.txt'
+    t.sub('\nRELEASE .*', '\nRELEASE VERSION/DATE TO BE FILLED IN LATER')
+    announce_pattern = """(
+  Please note the following important changes scheduled for the next
+  release:
+)"""
+    announce_replace = (r"""\1
+    --  FEATURE THAT WILL CHANGE\n
+  Please note the following important changes since release """
+            + '.'.join(map(str, version_tuple[:3])) + ':\n')
+    t.sub(announce_pattern, announce_replace)
+
+    # Write out the last update and exit
+
+    t = None
+    sys.exit()
+
+# Update src/CHANGES.txt
+
+t = UpdateFile(os.path.join('src', 'CHANGES.txt'))
+if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/CHANGES.txt'
+t.sub('\nRELEASE .*', '\nRELEASE ' + version_string + ' - ' + t.new_date)
+
+# Update src/RELEASE.txt
+
+t = UpdateFile(os.path.join('src', 'RELEASE.txt'))
+if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/RELEASE.txt'
+t.replace_version()
+
+# Update src/Announce.txt
+
+t = UpdateFile(os.path.join('src', 'Announce.txt'))
+if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/Announce.txt'
+t.sub('\nRELEASE .*', '\nRELEASE ' + version_string + ' - ' + t.new_date)
+
+# Update SConstruct
+
+t = UpdateFile('SConstruct')
+if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/SConstruct'
+t.replace_assign('month_year', repr(month_year))
+t.replace_assign('copyright_years', repr(copyright_years))
+t.replace_assign('default_version', repr(version_string))
+
+# Update README
+
+t = UpdateFile('README')
+if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/README'
+t.sub('-' + t.match_pat + '\.', '-' + version_string + '.', count = 0)
+# the loop below can be removed after all 1.x.y releases are dead
+for suf in ['tar', 'win32', 'zip']:
+    t.sub('-(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)\.%s' % suf,
+          '-%s.%s' % (version_string, suf),
+          count = 0)
+
+# Update QMTest/TestSCons.py
+
+t = UpdateFile(os.path.join('QMTest', 'TestSCons.py'))
+if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/TestSCons.py'
+t.replace_assign('copyright_years', repr(copyright_years))
+t.replace_assign('default_version', repr(version_string))
+#??? t.replace_assign('SConsVersion', repr(version_string))
+t.replace_assign('python_version_unsupported', str(unsupported_version))
+t.replace_assign('python_version_deprecated', str(deprecated_version))
+
+# Update Script/Main.py
+
+t = UpdateFile(os.path.join('src', 'engine', 'SCons', 'Script', 'Main.py'))
+if DEBUG: t.file = '/tmp/Main.py'
+t.replace_assign('unsupported_python_version', str(unsupported_version))
+t.replace_assign('deprecated_python_version', str(deprecated_version))
+
+# Write out the last update
+
+t = None
+
+# Local Variables:
+# tab-width:4
+# indent-tabs-mode:nil
+# End:
+# vim: set expandtab tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4:
diff --git a/src/Announce.txt b/src/Announce.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae57133
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Announce.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,1051 @@
+
+
+                   SCons - a software construction tool
+
+                              Release Notes
+
+
+This is SCons, a tool for building software (and other files).  SCons is
+implemented in Python, and its "configuration files" are actually Python
+scripts, allowing you to use the full power of a real scripting language
+to solve build problems.  You do not, however, need to know Python to
+use SCons effectively.
+
+Please go to http://www.scons.org/download.php to get the latest production
+release of SCons.
+
+So that everyone using SCons can help each other learn how to use it more
+effectively, please go to http://scons.org/lists.php#users to sign up for
+the scons-users mailing list.
+
+
+RELEASE 1.2.0.d20100117 - Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:26:59 -0800
+
+  Please consult the RELEASE.txt file for a summary changes since the last
+  release and consult the CHANGES.txt file for complete a list of changes
+  since last release.  This announcement highlights only the important
+  changes.
+
+  Please note the following important changes scheduled for the next
+  release:
+
+    --  FEATURE THAT WILL CHANGE
+
+  Please note the following important changes since release 1.3.0:
+
+    --  SUPPORT FOR PYTHON VERSIONS PRIOR TO 2.4 HAS BEEN REMOVED
+
+    	Although SCons is still tested with Python 2.3, use of Python
+	versions prior to 2.4 is deprecated.
+
+    --  DEPRECATED FEATURES WILL GENERATE MANDATORY WARNINGS IN 2.0.0
+
+        In keeping with our deprecation cycle, the following deprecated
+        features will still be supported in 2.0.0 but will generate
+        mandatory, non-disableable warnings:
+
+            --  The overrides= keyword argument to the Builder() call.
+            --  The scanner= keyword argument to the Builder() call.
+            --  The BuildDir() function and env.BuildDir() method.
+            --  The env.Copy() method.
+            --  The SourceSignatures() function and
+                env.SourceSignatures() method.
+            --  The TargetSignatures() function and
+                env.TargetSignatures() method.
+            --  The Sig module (now an unnused stub).
+            --  The --debug=dtree, --debug=stree and --debug=tree options.
+            --  The --debug=nomemoizer option.
+            --  The Options object and the related BoolOption(),
+                EnumOption(), ListOption(), PackageOption() and
+                PathOption() functions.
+
+        The mandatory warnings will be issued in order to make sure
+        users of 1.3.0 notice *prior* to the release of SCons 2.0.0, that
+        these features will be removed.  In SCons 2.0.0 these features
+        will no longer work at all, and will instead generate specific
+        fatal errors when anyone tries to use them.
+
+  Please note the following important changes since release 1.2.0:
+
+    --  MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO VERSION/ARCH DETECTION HAS CHANGED
+
+        The way SCons detects Visual Studio on Windows has changed in
+        1.3.  By default, it should now use the latest installed
+        Visual Studio version on your machine, and compile for 32 or
+        64 bits according to whether your OS is 32 or 64 bits (32/64
+        bit python makes no difference).
+
+	Two new variables control Visual Studio: MSVC_VERSION and
+	TARGET_ARCH.  These variables ONLY take effect when passed to
+	the Environment() constructor; setting them later has no
+	effect.  To use a non-default Visual Studio version, set
+	MSVC_VERSION to e.g. "8.0" or "7.1".  Setting it to "xxx" (or
+	any nonexistent value) will make it print out the valid
+	versions on your system.  To use a non-default architecture,
+	set TARGET_ARCH to "x86" or "x86_64" (various synonyms are
+	accepted).
+
+	Note that if you use MSVS_VERSION to build Visual Studio
+	projects from your SConstructs, MSVS_VERSION must be set to
+	the same version as MSVC_VERSION.
+
+        Support for HOST_OS,HOST_ARCH,TARGET_OS, TARGET_ARCH has been
+        added to allow specifying different target arch than the host 
+        system. This is only supported for Visual Studio/Visual C++
+        at this time.
+
+    --  Support for Latex glossaries and acronyms has been added
+
+    --  VISUAL C/C++ PRECOMPILED HEADERS WILL BE REBUILT
+
+        Precompiled header files built with Visual C/C++ will be
+        rebuilt after upgrading from 1.2.0 to a later release.
+
+        This rebuild is normal and will occur because the command line
+        defined by the $PCHCOM construction variable has had the $CCFLAGS
+        variable added, and has been rearranged to put the "/Fo" output
+        flag towards the beginning of the line, consistent with the
+        related command lines for $CCCOM, $CXXCOM, etc.
+
+    --  CHANGES TO SOME LINKER COMMAND LINES WILL CAUSE RELINKING
+
+        Changes to the command line definitions for the Microsoft link.exe
+        linker, the OS/2 ilink linker and the Phar Lap linkloc linker
+        will cause targets built with those tools be to be rebuilt after
+        upgrading from 1.2.0 to a later release.
+
+        This relink is normal and will occur because the command lines for
+        these tools have been redefined to remove unnecessary nested $(
+        and $) character strings.
+
+    --  MSVS_USE_MFC_DIRS and MSVS_IGNORE_IDE_PATHS are obsoleted and
+        have no effect.
+
+  Please note the following important changes since release 1.1.0:
+
+    --  THE $CHANGED_SOURCES, $CHANGED_TARGETS, $UNCHANGED_SOURCES
+        AND $UNCHANGED_TARGETS VARIABLES WILL BECOME RESERVED
+
+        A future release (probably 1.3.0) will make the construction
+        variable names $CHANGED_SOURCES, $CHANGED_TARGETS,
+        $UNCHANGED_SOURCES and $UNCHANGED_TARGETS into reserved
+        construction variable names controlled by SCons itself (like
+        the current $SOURCE, $TARGETS, etc.).
+
+        Setting these variable names in the current release will generate
+        a warning but still set the variables.  When they become reserved
+        variable names, they will generate a different warning message
+        and attempts to set these variables will be ignored.
+
+        SCons configurations that happen to use these variable names
+        should be changed to use different variable names, in order
+        to ensure that the configuration continues to work with future
+        versions of SCons.
+
+    --  THE Options OBJECT AND RELATED FUNCTIONS NOW GENERATE WARNINGS
+
+	Use of the Options object, and related functions BoolOption(),
+	EnumOption(), ListOption(), PackageOption() and PathOption()
+	were announced as deprecated in release 0.98.1.  Since then,
+	however, no warning messages were ever implemented for the
+        use of these deprecated functions.
+
+        By default, release 1.2.0 prints warning messages when these
+        deprecated features are used.  Warnings about all deprecated
+        features may be suppressed by using the --warn=no-deprecated
+        command-line option:
+
+            $ scons --warn=no-deprecated
+
+        Or by using the appropriate SetOption() call in any SConscript
+        file:
+
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-deprecated')
+
+        You may optionally disable just warnings about the deprecation
+        of the Options object and its related functions as follows:
+
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-deprecated-options')
+
+        The current plan is for these warnings to become mandatory
+        (non-suppressible) in release 1.3.0, and for the use of Options
+        and its related functions to generate errors in release 2.0.
+
+  Please note the following important changes since release 0.98.4:
+
+    --  scons.bat NOW RETURNS THE REAL SCONS EXIT STATUS
+
+        The scons.bat script shipped with SCons used to exit with
+        a status of 1 when it detected any failed (non-zero) exit
+        status from the underlying Python execution of SCons itself.
+        The scons.bat script now exits with the actual status
+        returned by SCons.
+
+    --  SCONS NOW WARNS WHEN TRYING TO LINK C++ AND FORTRAN OBJECT FILES
+
+        Some C++ toolchains do not understand Fortran runtimes and create
+        unpredictable executables when linking C++ and Fortran object
+        files together.  SCons now issues a warning if you try to link
+        C++ and Fortran object files into the same executable:
+
+            scons: warning: Using $CXX to link Fortran and C++ code together.
+                    This may generate a buggy executable if the '/usr/bin/gcc'
+                    compiler does not know how to deal with Fortran runtimes.
+
+        The warning may be suppressed with either the --warning=no-link
+        or --warning=no-fortran-cxx-mix command line options, or by
+        adding either of the following lines to a SConscript file:
+
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-link')
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-fortran-cxx-mix')
+
+  Please note the following important changes since release 0.98:
+
+    --  SCONS NO LONGER SETS THE GNU TOOLCHAIN -fPIC FLAG IN $SHCXXFLAGS
+
+        The GNU toolchain support in previous versions of SCons would
+        add the -fPIC flag to the $SHCXXFLAGS construction variable.
+        The -fPIC flag has been now been removed from the default
+        $SHCXXFLAGS setting.  Instead, the $SHCXXCOM construction variable
+        (the default SCons command line for compiling shared objects
+        from C++ source files) has been changed to add the $SHCCFLAGS
+        variable, which contains the -fPIC flag.
+
+        This change was made in order to make the behavior of the default
+        C++ compilation line including $SHCCFLAGS consistent with the
+        default C compilation line including $CCFLAGS.
+
+        This change should have no impact on configurations that use
+        the default $SHCXXCOM command line.  It may have an impact on
+        configurations that were using the default $SHCXXFLAGS value
+        *without* the $SHCCFLAGS variable to get the -fPIC flag into a
+        custom command line.  You can fix these by adding the $SHCCFLAGS
+        to the custom command line.
+
+        Adding $SHCCFLAGS is backwards compatible with older SCons
+        releases, although it might cause the -fPIC flag to be repeated
+        on the command line if you execute it on an older version of
+        SCons that sets -fPIC in both the $SHCCLAFGS and $SHCXXFLAGS
+        variables.  Duplicating the -fPIC flag on the g++ command line
+        will not cause any compilation problems, but the change to the
+        command line may cause SCons to rebuild object files.
+
+    --  FORTRAN NOW COMPILES .f FILES WITH gfortran BY DEFAULT
+
+        The Fortran Tool modules have had a major overhaul with the intent
+        of making them work as-is for most configurations.  In general,
+        most configurations that use default settings should not see
+        any noticeable difference.
+
+        One configuration that has changed is if you have both a gfortran
+        and g77 compiler installed.  In this case, previous versions of
+        SCons would, by default, use g77 by default to compile files with
+        a .f suffix, while SCons 0.98.1 will use the gfortran compiler
+        by default.  The old behavior may be preserved by explicitly
+        initializing construction environments with the 'g77' Tool module:
+
+            env = Environment(tools = ['g77', 'default'])
+        
+        The above code is backwards compatible to older versions of SCons.
+
+        If you notice any other changes in the behavior of default
+        Fortran support, please let us know so we can document them in
+        these release notes for other users.
+
+  Please note the following important changes since release 0.97.0d20071212:
+
+    --  SUPPORT FOR PYTHON VERSIONS BEFORE 2.2 IS NOW DEPRECATED
+
+        SCons now prints the following warning when it is run by any
+        Python 1.5, 2.0 or 2.1 release or sub-release:
+
+            scons: warning: Support for pre-2.2 Python (VERSION) is deprecated.
+                If this will cause hardship, contact dev@scons.tigris.org.
+
+        You may disable all warnings about deprecated features by adding
+        the option "--warn=no-deprecated" to the command line or to the
+        $SCONSFLAGS environment variable:
+
+            $ scons --warn=no-deprecated
+
+        Using '--warn=no-deprecated' is compatible with earlier versions
+        of SCons.
+
+        You may also, as of this version of SCons, disable all warnings
+        about deprecated features by adding the following to any
+        SConscript file:
+
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-deprecated')
+
+        You may disable only the specific warning about running under
+        a deprecated Python version by adding the following to any
+        SConscript file:
+
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-python-version')
+
+        The warning may also be suppressed on the command line:
+
+            $ scons --warn=no-python-version
+
+        Or by specifying the --warn=no-python-version option in the
+        $SCONSFLAGS environment variable.
+
+        Using SetOption('warn', ...), and the 'no-python-version'
+        command-line option for suppressing this specific warning,
+        are *not* backwards-compatible to earlier versions of SCons.
+
+    --  THE env.Copy() METHOD IS NOW OFFICIALLY DEPRECATED
+
+        The env.Copy() method is now officially deprecated and will
+        be removed in a future release.  Using the env.Copy() method
+        now generates the following message:
+
+            scons: warning: The env.Copy() method is deprecated; use the env.Clone() method instead.
+
+        You may disable all warnings about deprecated features by adding
+        the option "--warn=no-deprecated" to the command line or to the
+        $SCONSFLAGS environment variable:
+
+            $ scons --warn=no-deprecated
+
+        Using '--warn=no-deprecated' is compatible with earlier versions
+        of SCons.
+
+        You may also, as of this version of SCons, disable all warnings
+        about deprecated features by adding the following to any
+        SConscript file:
+
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-deprecated')
+
+	You may disable only the specific warning about the deprecated
+	env.Copy() method by adding the following to any SConscript
+	file:
+
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-deprecated-copy')
+
+        The warning may also be suppressed on the command line:
+
+            $ scons --warn=no-deprecated-copy
+
+        Or by specifying the --warn=no-deprecated-copy option in the
+        $SCONSFLAGS environment variable.
+
+        Using SetOption('warn', ...), and the 'no-deprecated-copy'
+        command-line option for suppressing this specific warning,
+        are *not* backwards-compatible to earlier versions of SCons.
+
+    --  THE --debug=dtree, --debug=stree AND --debug=tree OPTIONS ARE DEPRECATED
+
+        The --debug=dtree, --debug=stree and --debug=tree methods
+        are now officially deprecated and will be removed in a
+        future release.  Using these options now generate a warning
+        message recommending use of the --tree=derived, --tree=all,status
+        and --tree=all options, respectively.
+
+        You may disable these warnings, and all warnings about
+        deprecated features, by adding the option "--warn=no-deprecated"
+        to the command line or to the $SCONSFLAGS environment
+        variable:
+
+            $ scons --warn=no-deprecated
+
+        Using '--warn=no-deprecated' is compatible with earlier versions
+        of SCons.
+
+    --  THE TargetSignatures() AND SourceSignatures() FUNCTIONS ARE DEPRECATED
+
+	The TargetSignatures() and SourceSignatures() functions,
+	and their corresponding env.TargetSignatures() and
+	env.SourceSignatures() methods, are now officially deprecated
+	and will be be removed in a future release.  Using ahy of
+	these functions or methods now generates a message
+	similar to the following:
+
+            scons: warning: The env.TargetSignatures() method is deprecated;
+                    convert your build to use the env.Decider() method instead.
+
+        You may disable all warnings about deprecated features by adding
+        the option "--warn=no-deprecated" to the command line or to the
+        $SCONSFLAGS environment variable:
+
+            $ scons --warn=no-deprecated
+
+        Using '--warn=no-deprecated' is compatible with earlier versions
+        of SCons.
+
+        You may also, as of this version of SCons, disable all warnings
+        about deprecated features by adding the following to any
+        SConscript file:
+
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-deprecated')
+
+	You may disable only the specific warning about the use of
+	TargetSignatures() or SourceSignatures() by adding the
+	following to any SConscript file:
+
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-deprecated-target-signatures')
+            SetOption('warn', 'no-deprecated-source-signatures')
+
+        The warnings may also be suppressed on the command line:
+
+            $ scons --warn=no-deprecated-target-signatures --warn=no-deprecated-source-signatures
+
+	Or by specifying these options in the $SCONSFLAGS environment
+	variable.
+
+	Using SetOption('warn', ...), or the command-line options
+	for suppressing these warnings, is *not* backwards-compatible
+	to earlier versions of SCons.
+
+    --  File(), Dir() and Entry() NOW RETURN A LIST WHEN THE INPUT IS A SEQUENCE
+
+        Previously, if these methods were passed a list, the list was
+        substituted and stringified, then passed as a single string to
+        create a File/Dir/Entry Node.  This rarely if ever worked with
+        more than one element in the list.  They now return a list of
+        Nodes when passed a list.
+
+        One case that works differently now is a passing in a
+        single-element sequence; that formerly was stringified
+        (returning its only element) and then a single Node would be
+        returned.  Now a single-element list containing the Node will
+        be returned, for consistency.
+
+    --  THE env.subst() METHOD NOW RETURNS A LIST WHEN THE INPUT IS A SEQUENCE
+
+        The env.subst() method now returns a list with the elements
+        expanded when given a list as input.  Previously, the env.subst()
+        method would always turn its result into a string.
+
+        This behavior was changed because it interfered with being able
+        to include things like lists within the expansion of variables
+        like $CPPPATH and then have SCons understand that the elements
+        of the "internal" lists still needed to be treated separately.
+        This would cause a $CPPPATH list like ['subdir1', 'subdir']
+        to show up in a command line as "-Isubdir1 subdir".
+
+    --  THE Jar() BUILDER NOW USES THE Java() BUILDER CLASSDIR BY DEFAULT
+
+        By default, the Jar() Builder will now use the class directory
+        specified when the Java() builder is called.  So the following
+        input:
+
+            classes = env.Java('classes', 'src')
+            env.Jar('out.jar', classes)
+
+        Will cause "-C classes" to be passed the "jar" command invocation,
+        and the Java classes in the "out.jar" file will not be prefixed
+        "classes/".
+
+        Explicitly setting the $JARCHDIR variable overrides this default
+        behavior.  The old behavior of not passing any -C option to the
+        "jar" command can be preserved by explicitly setting $JARCHDIR
+        to None:
+
+            env = Environment(JARCHDIR = None)
+
+        The above setting is compatible with older versions of SCons.
+
+  Please note the following important changes since release 0.97.0d20070918:
+
+    --  SCons REDEFINES PYTHON open() AND file() ON Windows TO NOT PASS
+        ON OPEN FILE HANDLES TO CREATED PROCESSES
+
+        On Windows systems, SCons now redefines the Python open()
+        and file() functions so that, if the Python Win32 extensions
+        are available, the file handles for any opened files will *not*
+        be inherited by subprocesses, such as the spawned compilers and
+        other tools invoked to build the software.
+
+        This prevents certain race conditions where a file handle for
+        a file opened by Python (either in a Python function action,
+        or directly in a SConscript file) could be inherited and help
+        open by a subprocess, interfering with the ability of other
+        processes to create or modify the file.
+
+        In general, this should not cause problems for the vast majority
+        of configurations.  The only time this would be a problem would be
+        in the unlikely event that a process spawned by SCons specifically
+        *expected* to use an inherited file handle opened by SCons.
+
+        If the Python Win32 extensions are not installed or are an
+        earlier version that does not have the ability to disable file
+        handle inheritance, SCons will print a warning message when the
+        -j option is used.  The warning message may be suppressed by
+        specifying --warn=no-parallel-support.
+
+  Please note the following important changes since release 0.97.0d20070809:
+
+    --  "content" SIGNATURES ARE NOW THE DEFAULT BEHAVIOR
+
+        The default behavior of SCons is now to use the MD5 checksum of
+        all file contents to decide if any files have changed and should
+        cause rebuilds of their source files.  This means that SCons may
+        decide not to rebuild "downstream" targets if a a given input
+        file is rebuilt to the exact same contents as the last time.
+        The old behavior may preserved by explicity specifying:
+
+            TargetSignatures("build")
+
+        In any of your SConscript files.
+
+    --  TARGETS NOW IMPLICITLY DEPEND ON THE COMMAND THAT BUILDS THEM
+
+        For all targets built by calling external commands (such as a
+        compiler or other utility), SCons now adds an implicit dependency
+        on the command(s) used to build the target.
+
+        This will cause rebuilds of all targets built by external commands
+        when running SCons in a tree built by previous version of SCons,
+        in order to update the recorded signatures.
+
+        The old behavior of not having targets depend on the external
+        commands that build them can be preserved by setting a new
+        $IMPLICIT_COMMAND_DEPENDENCIES construction variable to a
+        non-True value:
+
+            env = Environment(IMPLICIT_COMMAND_DEPENDENCIES = 0)
+        
+        or by adding Ignore() calls for any targets where the behavior
+        is desired:
+
+            Ignore('/usr/bin/gcc', 'foo.o')
+
+        Both of these settings are compatible with older versions
+        of SCons.
+
+    --  CHANGING SourceSignature() MAY CAUSE "UNECESSARY" REBUILDS
+
+        If you change the SourceSignature() value from 'timestamp' to
+        'MD5', SCons will now rebuild targets that were already up-to-date
+        with respect to their source files.
+
+        This will happen because SCons did not record the content
+        signatures of the input source files when the target was last
+        built--it only recorded the timestamps--and it must record them
+        to make sure the signature information is correct.  However,
+        the content of source files may have changed since the last
+        timestamp build was performed, and SCons would not have any way to
+        verify that.  (It would have had to open up the file and record
+        a content signature, which is one of the things you're trying to
+        avoid by specifying use of timestamps....)  So in order to make
+        sure the built targets reflect the contents of the source files,
+        the targets must be rebuilt.
+
+        Change the SourceSignature() value from 'MD5' to 'timestamp'
+        should correctly not rebuild target files, because the timestamp
+        of the files is always recorded.
+
+        In previous versions of SCons, changing the SourceSignature()
+        value would lead to unpredictable behavior, usually including
+        rebuilding targets.
+
+    --  THE Return() FUNCTION NOW ACTUALLY RETURNS IMMEDIATELY
+
+        The Return() function now immediately stops processing the
+        SConscript file in which it appears and returns the values of the
+        variables named in its arguments.  It used to continue processing
+        the rest of the SConscript file, and then return the values of the
+        specified variables at the point the Return() function was called.
+
+        The old behavior may be requested by adding a "stop=False"
+        keyword argument to the Return() call:
+
+                Return('value', stop=False)
+
+        The "stop=" keyword argument is *not* compatible with SCons
+        versions 0.97.0d20070809 or earlier.
+
+  Please note the following important changes since release 0.97:
+
+    --  env.CacheDir() NOW ONLY AFFECTS CONSTRUCTION ENVIRONMENT TARGETS
+
+        The env.CacheDir() method now only causes derived files to be
+        retrieved from the specified cache directory for targets built
+        with the specified specified construction environment ("env").
+
+        Previously, any call to env.CacheDir() or CacheDir() would modify
+        a global setting and cause all built targets to be retrieved
+        from the specified cache directory.  This behavior was changed so
+        that env.CacheDir() would be consistent with other construction
+        environment methods, which only affect targets built with the
+        specified construction environment.
+
+        The old behavior of changing the global behavior may be preserved
+        by changing any env.CacheDir() calls to:
+
+                CacheDir('/path/to/cache/directory')
+
+        The above change is backwards-compatible and works in all earlier
+        versions of SCons that support CacheDir().
+
+    --  INTERPRETATION OF SUFFIX-LESS SOURCE ARGUMENTS HAS CHANGED
+
+        The interpretation of source arguments (files) without suffixes
+        has changed in one specific configuration.
+
+        Previously, if a Builder had a src_suffix specified (indicating
+        that source files without suffixes should have that suffix
+        appended), the suffix would only be applied to suffix-less source
+        arguments if the Builder did *not* have one or more attached
+        source Builders (that is, the Builder was not a "multi-stage"
+        Builder).  So in the following configuration:
+
+                build_foo = Builder(src_suffix = '.foo')
+                build_bar = Builder(src_suffix = '.bar',
+                                    src_builder = build_bar)
+
+                env = Environment(BUILDERS = {
+                                   'Foo' : build_foo,
+                                   'Boo' : build_bar,
+                                  })
+
+                env.Foo('tgt1', 'src1')
+                env.Bar('tgt2', 'src2')
+        
+        SCons would have expected to find a source file 'src1.foo' for the
+        env.Foo() call, but a source file 'src2' for the env.Bar() call.
+
+        This behavior has now been made consistent, so that the two
+        above calls would expect source files named 'src1.foo' and
+        'src2.bar', respectively.
+
+        Note that, if genuinely desired, the old behavior of building
+        from a source file without a suffix at all (when the Builder has
+        a src_suffix *and* a src_builder) can be specified explicity by
+        turning the string into a File Node directly:
+
+                env.Bar('tgt2', File('src2'))
+
+        The above use of File() is backwards-compatible and will work
+        on earlier versions of SCons.
+
+    --  THE DEFAULT EXECUTION PATH FOR Solaris HAS CHANGED
+
+        On Solaris systems, SCons now adds the "/opt/SUNWspro/bin"
+        directory to the default execution $PATH variable before the
+        "/usr/ccs/bin" directory.  This was done to reflect the fact
+        that /opt/SUNWspro/ is the default for SUN tools, but it may
+        cause a different compiler to be used if you have compilers
+        installed in both directories.
+
+    --  GENERATED config.h FILES NOW SAY "#define HAVE_{FEATURE} 1"
+
+        When generating a "config.h" file, SCons now defines values that
+        record the existence of a feature with a "1" value:
+
+            #define HAVE_FEATURE 1
+
+        Instead of printing the line without a "1", as it used to:
+
+            #define HAVE_FEATURE
+
+        This should not cause any problems in the normal use of "#ifdef
+        HAVE_{FEATURE}" statements interpreted by a C preprocessor, but
+        might cause a compatibility issue if a script or other utility
+        looks for an exact match of the previous text.
+
+  Please note the following planned, future changes:
+
+    --  THE Options OBJECT AND RELATED FUNCTIONS WILL BE DEPRECATED
+
+        The Options object is being replaced by a new Variables
+        object, which uses a new Variables.AddVariable() method
+        where the previous interface used Options.AddOptions().
+
+        Similarly, the following utility functions are being replaced
+        by the following similarly-named functions:
+
+                BoolOption()            BoolVariable()
+                EnumOption()            EnumVariable()
+                ListOption()            ListVariable()
+                PackageOption()         PackageVariable()
+                PathOption()            PathVariable()
+
+        And also related, the options= keyword argument when creating
+        construction environments with the Environment() functions is
+        being replaced with a variables= keyword argument.
+
+        In some future release a deprecation warning will be added to
+        existing uses of the Options object, its methods, the above
+        utility functions, and the options= keyword argument of the
+        Environment() function.  At some point after the deprecation
+        warning is added, the Options object, related functions and
+        options= keyword argument will be removed entirely.
+
+        You can prepare for this by changing all your uses of the Options
+        object and related functions to the Variables object and the new
+        function names, and changing any uses of the options= keyword
+        argument to variables=.
+
+        NOTE:  CONVERTING TO USING THE NEW Variables OBJECT OR THE
+        RELATED *Variable() FUNCTIONS, OR USING THE NEW variable=
+        KEYWORD ARGUMENT, IS NOT BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE TO VERSIONS OF
+        SCons BEFORE 0.98.  YOUR SConscript FILES WILL NOT WORK ON
+        EARLIER VERSIONS OF SCons AFTER MAKING THIS CHANGE.
+
+        If you change SConscript files in software that you make available
+        for download or otherwise distribute, other users may try to
+        build your software with an earlier version of SCons that does
+        not have the Variables object or related *Variable() functions.
+        We recommend preparing for this in one of two ways:
+
+            --  Make your SConscript files backwards-compatible by
+                modifying your calls with  Python try:-except: blocks
+                as follows:
+
+                    try:
+                        vars = Variables('custom.py', ARGUMENTS)
+                        vars.AddVariables(
+                            BoolVariable('WARNINGS', 'cmopile with -Wall', 1),
+                            EnumVariable('DEBUG', 'debug version', 'no'
+                                       allowed_values=('yes', 'no', 'full'),
+                                       map={}, ignorecase=0),
+                            ListVariable('SHAREDLIBS',
+                                         'libraries to build shared',
+                                         'all',
+                                         names = list_of_libs),
+                            PackageVariable('X11',
+                                            'use X11 from here',
+                                            '/usr/bin/X11'),
+                            PathVariable('QTDIR', 'root of Qt', qtdir),
+                        )
+                    except NameError:
+                        vars = Options('custom.py', ARGUMENTS)
+                        vars.AddOptions(
+                            BoolOption('WARNINGS', 'cmopile with -Wall', 1),
+                            EnumOption('DEBUG', 'debug version', 'no'
+                                       allowed_values=('yes', 'no', 'full'),
+                                       map={}, ignorecase=0),
+                            ListOption('SHAREDLIBS',
+                                       'libraries to build shared',
+                                       'all',
+                                       names = list_of_libs),
+                            PackageOption('X11',
+                                          'use X11 from here',
+                                          '/usr/bin/X11'),
+                            PathOption('QTDIR', 'root of Qt', qtdir),
+                        )
+
+                Additionally, you can check for availability of the new
+                variables= keyword argument as follows:
+
+                    try:
+                        env = Environment(variables=vars)
+                    except TypeError:
+                        env = Environment(options=vars)
+
+                (Note that we plan to maintain the existing Options object
+                name for some time, to ensure backwards compatibility,
+                so in practice it may be easier to just continue to use
+                the old name until you're reasonably sure you won't have
+                people trying to build your software with versions of
+                SCons earlier than 0.98.1.)
+
+            --  Use the EnsureSConsVersion() function to provide a
+                descriptive error message if your SConscript files
+                are executed by an earlier version of SCons:
+
+                    EnsureSConsVersion(0, 98, 1)
+
+    --  THE BuildDir() METHOD AND FUNCTION WILL BE DEPRECATED
+
+        The env.BuildDir() method and BuildDir() function are being
+        replaced by the new env.VariantDir() method and VariantDir()
+        function.
+
+        In some future release a deprecation warning will be added
+        to existing uses of the env.BuildDir() method and BuildDir()
+        function.  At some point after the deprecation warning, the
+        env.Builder() method and BuildDir() function will either
+        be removed entirely or have their behavior changed.
+
+	You can prepare for this by changing all your uses of the
+	env.BuildDir() method to env.VariantDir() and uses of the
+	global BuildDir() function to VariantDir().  If you use a
+	named keyword argument of "build_dir" when calling
+	env.BuildDir() or BuildDir():
+
+            env.BuildDir(build_dir='opt', src_dir='src')
+
+        The keyword must be changed to "variant_dir":
+
+            env.VariantDir(variant_dir='opt', src_dir='src')
+
+        NOTE:  CHANGING USES OF env.BuildDir() AND BuildDir() to
+        env.VariantDir() AND VariantDir() IS NOT BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE
+        TO VERSIONS OF SCons BEFORE 0.98.  YOUR SConscript FILES
+        WILL NOT WORK ON EARLIER VERSIONS OF SCons AFTER MAKING
+        THIS CHANGE.
+
+        If you change SConscript files in software that you make
+        available for download or otherwise distribute, other users
+        may try to build your software with an earlier version of
+        SCons that does not have the env.VariantDir() method or
+        VariantDir() fnction.  We recommend preparing for this in
+        one of two ways:
+
+            --  Make your SConscript files backwards-compatible by
+                including the following code near the beginning of your
+                top-level SConstruct file:
+
+                    import SCons.Environment
+                    try:
+                        SCons.Environment.Environment.VariantDir
+                    except AttributeError:
+                        SCons.Environment.Environment.VariantDir = \
+                              SCons.Environment.Environment.BuildDir
+
+            --  Use the EnsureSConsVersion() function to provide a
+                descriptive error message if your SConscript files
+                are executed by an earlier version of SCons:
+
+                    EnsureSConsVersion(0, 98)
+
+    --  THE SConscript() "build_dir" KEYWORD ARGUMENT WILL BE DEPRECATED
+
+	The "build_dir" keyword argument of the SConscript function
+	and env.SConscript() method are being replaced by a new
+	"variant_dir" keyword argument.
+
+	In some future release a deprecation warning will be added
+	to existing uses of the SConscript()/env.SConscript()
+	"build_dir" keyword argument.  At some point after the
+	deprecation warning, support for this keyword argument will
+	be removed entirely.
+
+	You can prepare for this by changing all your uses of the
+	SConscript()/env.SConscript() 'build_dir" keyword argument:
+
+            SConscript('src/SConscript', build_dir='opt')
+
+        To use the new "variant_dir" keyword argument:
+
+            SConscript('src/SConscript', variant_dir='opt')
+
+	NOTE:  USING THE NEW "variant_dir" KEYWORD IS NOT BACKWARDS
+	COMPATIBLE TO VERSIONS OF SCons BEFORE 0.98.  YOUR SConscript
+	FILES WILL NOT WORK ON EARLIER VERSIONS OF SCons AFTER
+	MAKING THIS CHANGE.
+
+	If you change SConscript files in software that you make
+	available for download or otherwise distribute, other users
+	may try to build your software with an earlier version of
+	SCons that does not support the "variant_dir" keyword.
+
+	If you can insist that users use a recent version of SCons
+	that supports "variant_dir", we recommend using the
+	EnsureSConsVersion() function to provide a descriptive error
+	message if your SConscript files are executed by an earlier
+	version of SCons:
+
+                    EnsureSConsVersion(0, 98)
+
+	If you want to make sure that your SConscript files will
+	still work with earlier versions of SCons, then your best
+	bet is to continue to use the "build_dir" keyword until the
+	support is removed (which, in all likelihood, won't happen
+	for quite some time).
+
+    --  SCANNER NAMES HAVE BEEN DEPRECATED AND WILL BE REMOVED
+
+        Several internal variable names in SCons.Defaults for various
+        pre-made default Scanner objects have been deprecated and will
+        be removed in a future revision.  In their place are several new
+        global variable names that are now part of the publicly-supported
+        interface:
+
+            NEW NAME              DEPRECATED NAME
+            --------              ----------------------------
+            CScanner              SCons.Defaults.CScan
+            DSCanner              SCons.Defaults.DScan
+            SourceFileScanner     SCons.Defaults.ObjSourceScan
+            ProgramScanner        SCons.Defaults.ProgScan
+
+        Of these, only ObjSourceScan was probably used at all, to add
+        new mappings of file suffixes to other scanners for use by the
+        Object() Builder.  This should now be done as follows:
+
+            SourceFileScanner.add_scanner('.x', XScanner)
+
+    --  THE env.Copy() METHOD WILL CHANGE OR GO AWAY ENTIRELY
+
+        The env.Copy() method (to make a copy of a construction
+        environment) is being replaced by the env.Clone() method.
+
+        As of SCons 0.98, a deprecation warning has been added to
+        current uses of the env.Copy() method.  At some point in
+        the future, the env.Copy() method will either be removed
+        entirely or have its behavior changed.
+
+        You can prepare for this by changing all your uses of env.Copy()
+        to env.Clone(), which has the exact same calling arguments.
+
+        NOTE:  CHANGING USES OF env.Copy() TO env.Clone() WILL MAKE
+        YOUR SConscript FILES NOT WORK ON VERSIONS OF SCons BEFORE
+        0.96.93.
+
+        If you change SConscript files in software that you make
+        available for download or otherwise distribute, other users
+        may try to build your software with an earlier version of
+        SCons that does not have the env.Clone() method.  We recommend
+        preparing for this in one of two ways:
+
+            --  Make your SConscript files backwards-compatible by
+                including the following code near the beginning of your
+                top-level SConstruct file:
+
+                    import SCons.Environment
+                    try:
+                        SCons.Environment.Environment.Clone
+                    except AttributeError:
+                        SCons.Environment.Environment.Clone = \
+                              SCons.Environment.Environment.Copy
+
+            --  Use the EnsureSConsVersion() function to provide a
+                descriptive error message if your SConscript files
+                are executed by an earlier version of SCons:
+
+                    EnsureSConsVersion(0, 96, 93)
+
+    --  THE CheckLib Configure TEST WILL CHANGE BEHAVIOR
+
+    	The CheckLib() Configure test appends the lib(s) to the
+    	Environment's LIBS list in 1.3 and earlier.  In 1.3 there is a
+    	new CheckLib argument, append, which defaults to True to
+    	preserve the old behavior.  In a future release, append will
+    	be changed to default to False, to conform with autoconf and
+    	user expectations, since it is usually used to build up
+    	library lists in a right-to-left way.
+
+
+
+  SCons is developed with an extensive regression test suite, and a
+  rigorous development methodology for continually improving that suite.
+  Because of this, SCons is of sufficient quality that you can use it
+  for real work.
+
+  The interfaces in release 1.0 will *not* be knowingly changed in
+  any new, future 1.x release.  If an interface change should ever
+  become necessary due to extraordinary circumstances, the change
+  and an appropriate transition strategy will be documented in these
+  RELEASE notes.
+
+  As you use SCons, please heed the following:
+
+    - Please report any bugs or other problems that you find to our bug
+      tracker at our SourceForge project page:
+
+      http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=30337&atid=398971
+
+      We have a reliable bug-fixing methodology already in place and
+      strive to respond to problems relatively quickly.
+
+    - Documentation is spottier than we'd like.  You may need to dive
+      into the source code to figure out how to do something.  Asking
+      questions on the scons-users mailing list is also welcome.  We
+      will be addressing the documentation in upcoming releases, but
+      would be more than glad to have your assistance in correcting this
+      problem... :-)
+
+    - The "SCons Design" documentation on the SCons web site is very
+      out of date, as we made significant changes to portions of the
+      interface as we figured out what worked and what didn't during the
+      extensive beta implementation.  The "SCons Design" document should
+      be used only for historical purposes, or for just an extremely
+      general understanding of SCons' architectural goals.
+
+    - There may be performance issues.  Improving SCons performance
+      is an ongoing priority.  If you still find the performance
+      unacceptable, we would very much like to hear from you and learn
+      more about your configuration so we can optimize the right things.
+
+    - Error messages don't always exist where they'd be helpful.
+      Please let us know about any errors you ran into that would
+      have benefitted from a (more) descriptive message.
+
+  KNOWN PROBLEMS IN THIS RELEASE:
+
+    For a complete list of known problems, consult the SCons Issue Tracker
+    at tigris.org:
+
+        http://scons.tigris.org/project_issues.html
+
+    - Support for parallel builds (-j) does not work on WIN32 systems
+      prior to *official* Python release 2.2 (not 2.2 pre-releases).
+
+      Prior to Python 2.2, there is a bug in Python's Win32
+      implementation such that when a thread spawns an external command,
+      it blocks all threads from running.  This breaks the SCons
+      multithreading architecture used to support -j builds.
+
+      We have included a patch file, os_spawnv_fix.diff, that you can
+      use if you you want to fix your version of Python to support
+      parallel builds in SCons.
+
+    - Again, the "SCons Design" documentation on the SCons web site is
+      out of date.  Take what you read there with a grain of salt.
+
+    - On Win32 systems, you must put a space between the redirection
+      characters < and >, and the specified files (or construction
+      variable expansions):
+
+        command < $SOURCE > $TARGET
+
+      If you don't supply a space (for example, "<$SOURCE"), SCons will
+      not recognize the redirection.
+
+    - MSVC .res files are not rebuilt when icons change.
+
+    - The -c option does not clean up .sconsign files or directories
+      created as part of the build, and also does not clean up
+      SideEffect files (for example, Visual Studio .pdb files).
+
+    - When using multiple Repositories, changing the name of an include
+      file can cause an old version of the file to be used.
+
+    - There is currently no way to force use of a relative path (../*)
+      for directories outside the top-level SConstruct file.
+
+    - The Jar() Builder will, on its second or subsequent invocation,
+      package up the .sconsign files that SCons uses to track signatures.
+      You can work around this by using the SConsignFile() function
+      to collect all of the .sconsign information into a single file
+      outside of the directory being packaged by Jar().
+
+    - SCons does not currently have a way to detect that an intermediate
+      file has been corrupted from outside and should be rebuilt.
+
+    - Unicode characters in path names do not work in all circumstances.
+
+    - SCons does not currently automatically check out SConstruct or
+      SConscript files from SCCS, RCS or BitKeeper.
+
+    - No support yet for the following planned command-line options:
+
+         -d -e -l --list-actions --list-derived --list-where
+         -o --override -p -r -R -w --write-filenames
+         -W --warn-undefined-variables
+
+
+
+Thank you for your interest, and please let us know how we can help
+improve SCons for your needs.
+
+Steven Knight
+knight at baldmt dot com
+http://www.baldmt.com/~knight/
+
+With plenty of help from the SCons Development team:
+        Chad Austin
+        Charles Crain
+        Bill Deegan
+        Steve Leblanc
+        Greg Noel
+        Gary Oberbrunner
+        Anthony Roach
+        Greg Spencer
+        Christoph Wiedemann
+
+__COPYRIGHT__
+__FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__
diff --git a/src/CHANGES.txt b/src/CHANGES.txt
index b6aca97..7f62c64 100644
--- a/src/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/src/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-# __COPYRIGHT__
-# __FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__
 
 
                  SCons - a software construction tool
@@ -5300,3 +5298,6 @@ A brief overview of important functionality available in release 0.01:
   - Linux packages available in RPM and Debian format.
 
   - Windows installer available.
+
+__COPYRIGHT__
+__FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__
diff --git a/src/README.txt b/src/README.txt
index 7f9d330..ebc68fc 100644
--- a/src/README.txt
+++ b/src/README.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-# __COPYRIGHT__
-# __FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__
 
 
                  SCons - a software construction tool
@@ -241,3 +239,5 @@ With plenty of help from the SCons Development team:
         Greg Spencer
         Christoph Wiedemann
 
+__COPYRIGHT__
+__FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__
diff --git a/src/RELEASE.txt b/src/RELEASE.txt
index 1853b22..6271f40 100644
--- a/src/RELEASE.txt
+++ b/src/RELEASE.txt
@@ -1,12 +1,5 @@
-# __COPYRIGHT__
-# __FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__
-
-  A new SCons checkpoint release, 2.0.0.beta.20100605, is now available on
-  the SCons download page:
-  The primary purpose of this release is to remove support for
-  Python versions prior to 2.4 and streamline the SCons code base
-  using more modern python idioms.
-  The checkpoint is available at the SCons download page:
+  A new SCons checkpoint release, 2.0.0.beta.20100605, is now available
+  on the SCons download page:
 
           http://www.scons.org/download.php
 
@@ -104,3 +97,6 @@
 
   Thanks to Greg Noel, Steven Knight, Dirk Baechle, William Deegan,and 
   W. Trevor King for their contributions to this release.
+
+__COPYRIGHT__
+__FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__
diff --git a/template/RELEASE.txt b/template/RELEASE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17f11ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/RELEASE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+  A new SCons checkpoint release, 2.0.0.beta.yyyymmdd, is now available
+  on the SCons download page:
+
+          http://www.scons.org/download.php
+
+  XXX The primary purpose of this release ... XXX
+
+  A SCons "checkpoint release" is intended to provide early access to
+  new features so they can be tested in the field before being released
+  for adoption by other software distributions.
+
+  Note that a checkpoint release is developed using the same test-driven
+  development methodology as all SCons releases.  Existing SCons
+  functionality should all work as it does in previous releases (except
+  for any changes identified in the release notes) and early adopters
+  should be able to use a checkpoint release safely for production work
+  with existing SConscript files.  If not, it represents not only a bug
+  in SCons but also a hole in the regression test suite, and we want to
+  hear about it.
+
+  New features may be more lightly tested than in past releases,
+  especially as concerns their interaction with all of the other
+  functionality in SCons.  We are especially interested in hearing bug
+  reports about new functionality.
+
+  We do not recommend that downstream distributions (Debian, Fedora,
+  etc.) package a checkpoint release, mainly to avoid confusing the
+  "public" release numbering with the long checkpoint release names.
+
+  Here is a summary of the changes since 1.3.0:
+
+  NEW FUNCTIONALITY
+
+    - List new features (presumably why a checkpoint is being released)
+
+  DEPRECATED FUNCTIONALITY
+
+    - List anything that's been deprecated since the last release
+
+  CHANGED/ENHANCED EXISTING FUNCTIONALITY
+
+    - List modifications to existing features, where the previous behavior
+      wouldn't actually be considered a bug
+
+  FIXES
+
+    - List fixes of outright bugs
+
+  IMPROVEMENTS
+
+    - List improvements that wouldn't be visible to the user in the
+      documentation:  performance improvements (describe the circumstances
+      under which they would be observed), or major code cleanups
+
+  PACKAGING
+
+    - List changes in the way SCons is packaged and/or released
+
+  DOCUMENTATION
+
+    - List any significant changes to the documentation (not individual
+      typo fixes, even if they're mentioned in src/CHANGES.txt to give
+      the contributor credit)
+
+  DEVELOPMENT
+
+    - List visible changes in the way SCons is developed
+
+  Thanks to CURLY, LARRY, and MOE for their contributions to this release.
+  Contributors are listed alphabetically by their last name.
+
+__COPYRIGHT__
+__FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__
diff --git a/test/update-release-info.py b/test/update-release-info.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab532a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/update-release-info.py
@@ -0,0 +1,245 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+#
+# __COPYRIGHT__
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+# a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+# "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+# without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+# distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
+# permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+# the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+# in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+#
+# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
+# KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE
+# WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
+# NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
+# LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
+# OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
+# WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+"""
+XXX Put a description of the test here.
+"""
+
+__revision__ = "__FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__"
+
+import os, sys, time
+
+import TestRuntest
+
+TestSCons      = 'QMTest/TestSCons.py'             .split('/')
+README         = 'README'                          .split('/')
+ReleaseConfig  = 'ReleaseConfig'                   .split('/')
+SConstruct     = 'SConstruct'                      .split('/')
+Announce       = 'src/Announce.txt'                .split('/')
+CHANGES        = 'src/CHANGES.txt'                 .split('/')
+RELEASE        = 'src/RELEASE.txt'                 .split('/')
+Main           = 'src/engine/SCons/Script/Main.py' .split('/')
+
+test = TestRuntest.TestRuntest(
+                    program = os.path.join('bin', 'update-release-info.py'),
+                    things_to_copy = ['bin']
+                    )
+
+test.run(arguments = 'bad', status = 1)
+
+# Strings to go in ReleaseConfig
+combo_strings = [
+# Index 0: version tuple with bad release level
+"""version_tuple = (2, 0, 0, 'bad', 0)
+""",
+# Index 1: Python version tuple
+"""unsupported_python_version = (2, 3)
+""",
+# Index 2: Python version tuple
+"""deprecated_python_version  = (2, 4)
+""",
+# Index 3: alpha version tuple
+"""version_tuple = (2, 0, 0, 'alpha', 0)
+""",
+# Index 4: final version tuple
+"""version_tuple = (2, 0, 0, 'final', 0)
+""",
+# Index 5: bad release date
+"""release_date = (2010, 12)
+""",
+# Index 6: release date (hhhh, mm, dd)
+"""release_date = (2010, 12, 21)
+""",
+# Index 7: release date (hhhh, mm, dd, hh, mm, ss)
+"""release_date = (2010, 12, 21, 12, 21, 12)
+""",
+]
+
+combo_error = \
+"""ERROR: Config file must contain at least version_tuple,
+\tunsupported_python_version, and deprecated_python_version.
+"""
+
+def combo_fail(*args, **kw):
+    kw.setdefault('status', 1)
+    combo_run(*args, **kw)
+
+def combo_run(*args, **kw):
+    t = '\n'
+    for a in args:
+        t += combo_strings[a]
+
+    test.write(ReleaseConfig, t)
+
+    kw.setdefault('stdout', combo_error)
+    test.run(**kw)
+
+combo_fail()
+combo_fail(0)
+combo_fail(1)
+combo_fail(2)
+combo_fail(0, 1)
+combo_fail(0, 2)
+combo_fail(1, 2)
+combo_fail(0, 1, 2, stdout =
+"""ERROR: `bad' is not a valid release type in version tuple;
+\tit must be one of alpha, beta, candidate, or final
+""")
+
+# We won't need this entry again, so put in a default
+combo_strings[0] = combo_strings[1] + combo_strings[2] + combo_strings[3]
+
+combo_fail(0, 5, stdout =
+"""ERROR: Invalid release date (2010, 12)
+""")
+
+def pave(path):
+    path = path[:-1]
+    if not path or os.path.isdir(os.path.join(*path)):
+        return
+    pave(path)
+    test.subdir(path)
+
+def pave_write(file, contents):
+    pave(file)
+    test.write(file, contents)
+
+pave_write(CHANGES, """
+RELEASE  It doesn't matter what goes here...
+""")
+
+pave_write(RELEASE, """
+This file has a 3.2.1.beta.20121221 version string in it
+""")
+
+pave_write(Announce, """
+RELEASE  It doesn't matter what goes here...
+""")
+
+pave_write(SConstruct, """
+month_year = 'March 1945'
+copyright_years = '2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007'
+default_version = '0.98.97'
+""")
+
+pave_write(README, """
+These files are a part of 33.22.11:
+        scons-33.22.11.tar.gz
+        scons-33.22.11.win32.exe
+        scons-33.22.11.zip
+
+        scons-33.22.11.beta.20012122112.suffix
+""")
+
+pave_write(TestSCons, """
+copyright_years = Some junk to be overwritten
+default_version = More junk
+python_version_unsupported = Yep, more junk
+python_version_deprecated = And still more
+""")
+
+pave_write(Main, """
+unsupported_python_version = Not done with junk
+deprecated_python_version = It goes on forever
+""")
+
+combo_run(0, 7, stdout =
+"""Updating src/CHANGES.txt...
+Updating src/RELEASE.txt...
+Updating src/Announce.txt...
+Updating SConstruct...
+Updating README...
+Updating QMTest/TestSCons.py...
+Updating src/engine/SCons/Script/Main.py...
+""")
+
+test.must_match(CHANGES, """
+RELEASE 2.0.0.alpha.yyyymmdd - NEW DATE WILL BE INSERTED HERE
+""", mode = 'r')
+
+test.must_match(RELEASE, """
+This file has a 2.0.0.alpha.yyyymmdd version string in it
+""", mode = 'r')
+
+test.must_match(Announce, """
+RELEASE 2.0.0.alpha.yyyymmdd - NEW DATE WILL BE INSERTED HERE
+""", mode = 'r')
+
+years = ', '.join(map(str, iter(range(2001, time.localtime()[0] + 1))))
+test.must_match(SConstruct, """
+month_year = 'MONTH YEAR'
+copyright_years = %s
+default_version = '2.0.0.alpha.yyyymmdd'
+""" % repr(years), mode = 'r')
+
+test.must_match(README, """
+These files are a part of 33.22.11:
+        scons-2.0.0.alpha.yyyymmdd.tar.gz
+        scons-2.0.0.alpha.yyyymmdd.win32.exe
+        scons-2.0.0.alpha.yyyymmdd.zip
+
+        scons-2.0.0.alpha.yyyymmdd.suffix
+""", mode = 'r')
+
+# should get Python floors from TestSCons module.
+test.must_match(TestSCons, """
+copyright_years = '2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010'
+default_version = '2.0.0.alpha.yyyymmdd'
+python_version_unsupported = (2, 3)
+python_version_deprecated = (2, 4)
+""", mode = 'r')
+
+# should get Python floors from TestSCons module.
+test.must_match(Main, """
+unsupported_python_version = (2, 3)
+deprecated_python_version = (2, 4)
+""", mode = 'r')
+
+#TODO: Release option
+#TODO: ==============
+#TODO: 
+#TODO: Dates in beta/candidate flow
+#TODO: 
+#TODO: Dates in final flow
+#TODO: 
+#TODO: Post option
+#TODO: ===========
+#TODO: 
+#TODO: Dates in post flow
+#TODO: 
+#TODO: Update minor or micro version
+#TODO: 
+#TODO: ReleaseConfig - new version tuple
+#TODO: 
+#TODO: CHANGES - new section
+#TODO: 
+#TODO: RELEASE - new template
+#TODO: 
+#TODO: Announce - new section
+
+test.pass_test()
+
+# Local Variables:
+# tab-width:4
+# indent-tabs-mode:nil
+# End:
+# vim: set expandtab tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4: