--- a/Plugins/OrthancCPlugin/OrthancCPlugin.h	Wed Jul 16 16:51:26 2014 +0200
+++ b/Plugins/OrthancCPlugin/OrthancCPlugin.h	Thu Jul 17 12:46:00 2014 +0200
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@
 #define ORTHANC_PLUGINS_API
 #endif
 
+#define ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_MAJOR_NUMBER     0
+#define ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_MINOR_NUMBER     8
+#define ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_REVISION_NUMBER  1
+
 
 
 /********************************************************************
@@ -349,6 +353,79 @@
 
 
   /**
+   * @brief Check the version of Orthanc.
+   * 
+   * This function checks whether the version of this C header is
+   * compatible with the current version of Orthanc. The result of
+   * this function should always be checked in the
+   * OrthancPluginInitialize() entry point of the plugin.
+   * 
+   * @param context The Orthanc plugin context, as received by OrthancPluginInitialize().
+   * @return 1 if and only if the versions are compatible. If the
+   * result is 0, the initialization of the plugin should fail.
+   **/
+  ORTHANC_PLUGIN_INLINE int  OrthancPluginCheckVersion(
+    OrthancPluginContext* context)
+  {
+    int major, minor, revision;
+
+    /* Assume compatibility with the mainline */
+    if (!strcmp(context->orthancVersion, "mainline"))
+    {
+      printf("mainline\n");
+      return 1;
+    }
+
+    /* Parse the version of the Orthanc core */
+    if ( 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+      sscanf_s
+#else
+      sscanf
+#endif
+      (context->orthancVersion, "%d.%d.%d", &major, &minor, &revision) != 3)
+    {
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+    /* Check the major number of the version */
+
+    if (major > ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_MAJOR_NUMBER)
+    {
+      return 1;
+    }
+
+    if (major < ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_MAJOR_NUMBER)
+    {
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+    /* Check the minor number of the version */
+
+    if (minor > ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_MINOR_NUMBER)
+    {
+      return 1;
+    }
+
+    if (minor < ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_MINOR_NUMBER)
+    {
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+    /* Check the revision number of the version */
+
+    if (revision >= ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_MINOR_NUMBER)
+    {
+      return 1;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+      return 0;
+    }
+  }
+
+
+  /**
    * @brief Free a memory buffer.
    * 
    * Free a memory buffer that was allocated by the core system of Orthanc.

--- a/Plugins/Samples/Basic/Plugin.c	Wed Jul 16 16:51:26 2014 +0200
+++ b/Plugins/Samples/Basic/Plugin.c	Thu Jul 17 12:46:00 2014 +0200
@@ -134,6 +134,18 @@
   char info[1024];
   char *id, *eos;
 
+  char error[256];
+  if (OrthancPluginCheckVersion(c) == 0)
+  {
+    sprintf(error, "Your version of Orthanc (%s) must be above %d.%d.%d to run this plugin",
+            c->orthancVersion,
+            ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_MAJOR_NUMBER,
+            ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_MINOR_NUMBER,
+            ORTHANC_PLUGINS_MINIMAL_REVISION_NUMBER);
+    OrthancPluginLogError(context, error);
+    return -1;
+  }
+
   context = c;
   OrthancPluginLogWarning(context, "Sample plugin is initializing");