meaning of ~ is inconsistent

[dominictarr]

when specifying a patch range, ~ means greater than of equal to the next least significant value, but before but don't go into the next range.

i.e. ~1.2.3 means, I want patches to this module, but not if it means taking a new feature.
contrast that with 1.2.3 which means only use this exact version.

indeed,

assert.deepEqual(semver.toComparators('~1.2.3'), semver.toComparators('1.2.3')) throws, as it should.

however,

you can also say '~1.2' which, if I was extending the meaning of ~ from before id expect it to give me 1.2.3, 1.3.4, but not 2.0.0.

however,

deepEqual(toComparators('~2.16'), toComparators('2.16')) does not throw!

turns out, ~ on means anything when you have a full semver and nothing when you have only one or two values.

This behaviour is documented
(although, it could be documented more clearly by saying that in ~x.y '~' is ignored.)

Would you take a patch to make ~ behave consistently?

[vierbergenlars]

@dominictarr In the second deep equal, you are comparing two identical toComparators calls. Sure it does not throw.

[dominictarr]

@vierbergenlars sorry, corrected.

[isaacs]

@dominictarr The more I think about this, the more I think you're right.

I'd like to make a proper specification for version ranges, and then comply with it.

[isaacs]

Yeah, I don't think this is a good idea. I did some investigation recently into how versions and ranges are used on the registry. Changing this is more disruptive than not changing it.

[dominictarr]

Fair enough. I'm now using >=x.y <x+1 when I want this kind of thing.

[isaacs]

Also, for better or worse, it IS identical to the meaning of ~> in rubygems.