Refactor GitHub Actions workflow to improve commit collection for release notes. Changed variable names for clarity, ensured newlines are preserved when storing commits, and streamlined the creation of release notes.

Author: benjavides

.github/workflows/build-and-release.yml

@@ -93,48 +93,48 @@ jobs:
         }
         
         # Get commits since last tag (or all commits if no tag exists)
-        $commits = ""
+        $commitLines = @()
         if ($lastTag) {
           Write-Host "Collecting commits since tag: $lastTag"
-          $commits = git log --pretty=format:"- %s" --no-merges "$lastTag..HEAD" 2>$null
+          $commitLines = git log --pretty=format:"- %s" --no-merges "$lastTag..HEAD" 2>$null
         } else {
           Write-Host "No previous tag found, collecting all commits"
-          $commits = git log --pretty=format:"- %s" --no-merges
+          $commitLines = git log --pretty=format:"- %s" --no-merges
         }
         
         # Handle empty commit list
-        if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($commits)) {
+        if ($null -eq $commitLines -or $commitLines.Count -eq 0 -or ($commitLines.Count -eq 1 -and [string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($commitLines[0]))) {
           $commits = "- No changes (only merge commits)"
           Write-Host "Warning: No non-merge commits found"
         } else {
-          Write-Host "Found commits for release notes"
+          # Join commit lines with newlines
+          $commits = $commitLines -join "`n"
+          Write-Host "Found $($commitLines.Count) commits for release notes"
         }
         
-        # Store in GitHub output (escape newlines and special characters)
-        $commitsEscaped = $commits -replace "`r?`n", "`n" -replace '"', '`"'
-        echo "commits<<EOF" >> $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT
-        echo "$commitsEscaped" >> $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT
-        echo "EOF" >> $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        # Store in GitHub output using EOF delimiter to preserve newlines
+        "commits<<EOF" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Encoding utf8 -Append
+        $commits | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Encoding utf8 -Append
+        "EOF" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Encoding utf8 -Append
     
     - name: Create Release
       run: |
         $version = "${{ steps.get_version.outputs.version }}"
         $exeName = "${{ steps.build_executable.outputs.exe_name }}"
         $exePath = "${{ steps.build_executable.outputs.exe_path }}"
-        $commits = "${{ steps.collect_commits.outputs.commits }}"
-        $notes = @"
-        ## Changes in v$version
+        # Retrieve commits - EOF delimiter preserves newlines
+        $commitsRaw = "${{ steps.collect_commits.outputs.commits }}"
         
-        $commits
+        # Build release notes - newlines are preserved by EOF delimiter
+        $notes = "## Changes in v$version`n`n"
+        $notes += $commitsRaw
+        $notes += "`n`n### Download`n"
+        $notes += "Download the ``$exeName`` file below and run it to use the latest version.`n`n"
+        $notes += "### Installation`n"
+        $notes += "1. Download ``$exeName```n"
+        $notes += "2. Run the executable`n"
+        $notes += "3. Follow the setup wizard"
         
-        ### Download
-        Download the ``$exeName`` file below and run it to use the latest version.
-        
-        ### Installation
-        1. Download ``$exeName``
-        2. Run the executable
-        3. Follow the setup wizard
-        "@
         gh release create "v$version" --title "Release v$version" --notes $notes $exePath
       env:
         GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }}