-#define FILE_VERSION_1_0 10
-#define FILE_VERSION_1_2 12
-#define FILE_VERSION_1_4 14
-#define FILE_VERSION_2_0 20
+#define FILE_VERSION_1_0 VERSION_IDENT(1,0,0)
+#define FILE_VERSION_1_2 VERSION_IDENT(1,2,0)
+#define FILE_VERSION_1_4 VERSION_IDENT(1,4,0)
+#define FILE_VERSION_2_0 VERSION_IDENT(2,0,0)
+
+/* file version does not change for every program version, but is changed
+ when new features are introduced that are incompatible with older file
+ versions, so that they can be treated accordingly */