odedw
diff --git a/‎LibGit2Sharp.Tests/GlobalSettingsFixture.cs
Lines changed: 12 additions & 6 deletions b/‎LibGit2Sharp.Tests/GlobalSettingsFixture.cs
Lines changed: 12 additions & 6 deletions
diff --git a/‎LibGit2Sharp/Version.cs
Lines changed: 22 additions & 4 deletions b/‎LibGit2Sharp/Version.cs
Lines changed: 22 additions & 4 deletions
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
+using System;
+using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 using LibGit2Sharp.Tests.TestHelpers;
 using Xunit;
 
@@ -26,26 +27,31 @@ public void CanRetrieveValidVersionString()
             string versionInfo = GlobalSettings.Version.ToString();
 
             // The GlobalSettings.Version returned string should contain :
-            //      version:'0.17.0' LibGit2Sharp version number.
+            //      version: '0.17.0[.198[-pre]]' LibGit2Sharp version number.
             //      git2SharpHash:'unknown' ( when compiled from source ) else LibGit2Sharp library hash.
             //      git2hash: '06d772d' LibGit2 library hash.
             //      arch: 'x86' or 'amd64' LibGit2 target.
             //      git2Features: 'Threads, Ssh' LibGit2 features compiled with.
-            string regex = @"^(?<version>\d{1,}\.\d{1,2}\.\d{1,3})-(?<git2SharpHash>\w+)-(?<git2Hash>\w+) \((?<arch>\w+) - (?<git2Features>(?:\w*(?:, )*\w+)*)\)$";
+            string regex = @"^(?<version>\d{1,}\.\d{1,2}\.\d{1,3}(\.\d{1,5}(-pre)?)?)-(?<git2SharpHash>\w+)-(?<git2Hash>\w+) \((?<arch>\w+) - (?<git2Features>(?:\w*(?:, )*\w+)*)\)$";
 
             Assert.NotNull(versionInfo);
 
             Match regexResult = Regex.Match(versionInfo, regex);
 
             Assert.True(regexResult.Success, "The following version string format is enforced:" +
-                                             "Major.Minor.Patch-LibGit2Sharp_abbrev_hash-libgit2_abbrev_hash (x86|amd64 - features)");
+                                             "Major.Minor.Patch[.Build['-pre']]-LibGit2Sharp_abbrev_hash-libgit2_abbrev_hash (x86|amd64 - features)");
 
             GroupCollection matchGroups = regexResult.Groups;
 
             // Check that all groups are valid
-            foreach (Group group in matchGroups)
+            for (int i = 0; i < matchGroups.Count; i++)
             {
-                Assert.True(group.Success);
+                if (i == 1 || i == 2) // Build number and '-pre' are optional
+                {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                Assert.True(matchGroups[i].Success);
             }
         }
     }
 
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
-using System.Globalization;
+using System;
+using System.Globalization;
 using System.IO;
+using System.Linq;
 using System.Reflection;
 using LibGit2Sharp.Core;
 
@@ -24,9 +26,10 @@ internal static Version Build()
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Returns the <see cref="System.Version" /> of the 
+        /// Returns the <see cref="System.Version" /> of the
         /// the LibGit2Sharp library.
         /// </summary>
+        [Obsolete("This property will be removed in the next release. Please use InformationalVersion instead.")]
         public virtual System.Version MajorMinorPatch
         {
             get
@@ -35,6 +38,21 @@ public virtual System.Version MajorMinorPatch
             }
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Returns version of the LibGit2Sharp library.
+        /// </summary>
+        public virtual string InformationalVersion
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                var attribute = (AssemblyInformationalVersionAttribute)assembly
+                   .GetCustomAttributes(typeof(AssemblyInformationalVersionAttribute), false)
+                   .Single();
+
+                return attribute.InformationalVersion;
+            }
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Returns all the optional features that were compiled into
         /// libgit2.
@@ -49,7 +67,7 @@ public virtual BuiltInFeatures Features
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Returns the SHA hash for the libgit2 library. 
+        /// Returns the SHA hash for the libgit2 library.
         /// </summary>
         public virtual string LibGit2CommitSha
         {
@@ -90,7 +108,7 @@ private string RetrieveVersion()
             return string.Format(
                 CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                 "{0}-{1}-{2} ({3} - {4})",
-                MajorMinorPatch.ToString(3),
+                InformationalVersion,
                 LibGit2SharpCommitSha,
                 LibGit2CommitSha,
                 NativeMethods.ProcessorArchitecture,