dh_installdocs

DH_INSTALLDOCS(1)                  Debhelper                 DH_INSTALLDOCS(1)

NAME
       dh_installdocs - install documentation into package build directories

SYNOPSIS
       dh_installdocs [debhelperoptions] [-A] [-Xitem] [file...]

DESCRIPTION
       dh_installdocs is a debhelper program that is responsible for
       installing documentation into usr/share/doc/package in package build
       directories.

       In compat 10 and earlier, dh_install(1) may be a better tool for
       handling the upstream documentation, when upstream's own build system
       installs all the desired documentation correctly.  In this case,
       dh_installdocs is still useful for installing packaging related
       documentation (e.g. the debian/copyright file).

       From debhelper compatibility level 11 on, dh_install will fall back to
       looking in debian/tmp for files, if it does not find them in the
       current directory (or wherever you've told it to look using
       --sourcedir).

       In compat 11 and later, dh_installdocs offers many of the features that
       dh_install(1) also has.  Furthermore, dh_installdocs also supports the
       nodoc build profile to exclude documentation (regardless of compat
       level).

FILES
       debian/package.docs
           List documentation files to be installed into package.

           Supports substitution variables in compat 13 and later as
           documented in debhelper(7).

       debian/copyright
           The copyright file is installed into all packages, unless a more
           specific copyright file is available.

       debian/package.copyright
       debian/package.README.Debian
       debian/package.TODO
           Each of these files is automatically installed if present for a
           package.

       debian/README.Debian
       debian/TODO
           These files are installed into the first binary package listed in
           debian/control.

           Note that README.debian files are also installed as README.Debian,
           and TODO files will be installed as TODO.Debian in non-native
           packages.

       debian/package.doc-base
           Installed as doc-base control files. Note that the doc-id will be
           determined from the Document: entry in the doc-base control file in
           question. In the event that multiple doc-base files in a single
           source package share the same doc-id, they will be installed to
           usr/share/doc-base/package instead of usr/share/doc-base/doc-id.

       debian/package.doc-base.*
           If your package needs to register more than one document, you need
           multiple doc-base files, and can name them like this. In the event
           that multiple doc-base files of this style in a single source
           package share the same doc-id, they will be installed to
           usr/share/doc-base/package-* instead of usr/share/doc-base/doc-id.

OPTIONS
       -A, --all
           Install all files specified by command line parameters in ALL
           packages acted on.

       -Xitem, --exclude=item
           Exclude files that contain item anywhere in their filename from
           being installed. Note that this includes doc-base files.

       --sourcedir=dir
           Look in the specified directory for files to be installed.  This
           option requires compat 11 or later (it is silently ignored in
           compat 10 or earlier).

           Note that this is not the same as the --sourcedirectory option used
           by the dh_auto_* commands. You rarely need to use this option,
           since dh_installman automatically looks for files in debian/tmp in
           debhelper compatibility level 11 and above.

       --doc-main-package=main-package
           Set the main package for a documentation package.  This is used to
           install the documentation of the documentation package in
           /usr/share/doc/main-package as recommended by the Debian policy
           manual 3.9.7 in <section>12.3.

           In compat 11 (or later), this option is only useful if debhelper's
           auto-detection of the main package is wrong.  The option can also
           be used to silence a warning from debhelper when the auto-detection
           fails but the default happens to be correct.

           This option cannot be used when dh_installdocs is instructed to act
           on multiple packages.  If you need this option, you will generally
           need to combine it with -p to ensure exactly one package is acted
           on.

           Please keep in mind that some documentation (the copyright file,
           README.Debian, etc.) will be unaffected by this option.

       --link-doc=package
           Make the documentation directory of all packages acted on be a
           symlink to the documentation directory of package. This has no
           effect when acting on package itself, or if the documentation
           directory to be created already exists when dh_installdocs is run.
           To comply with policy, package must be a binary package that comes
           from the same source package.

           debhelper will try to avoid installing files into linked
           documentation directories that would cause conflicts with the
           linked package. The -A option will have no effect on packages with
           linked documentation directories, and copyright, changelog,
           README.Debian, and TODO files will not be installed.

           (An older method to accomplish the same thing, which is still
           supported, is to make the documentation directory of a package be a
           dangling symlink, before calling dh_installdocs.)

           Please note that this option only applies to the documentation
           directory for the package itself.  When the package ships
           documentation for another package (e.g. see --doc-main-package), it
           will not use a symlink for the documentation of the other package.

           CAVEAT 1: If a previous version of the package was built without
           this option and is now built with it (or vice-versa), it requires a
           "dir to symlink" (or "symlink to dir") migration.  Since debhelper
           has no knowledge of previous versions, you have to enable this
           migration itself.

           This can be done by providing a "debian/package.maintscript" file
           and using dh_installdeb(1) to provide the relevant maintainer
           script snippets.

           CAVEAT 2: The use of --link-doc should only be done when the
           packages have same "architecture" type.  A link from an
           architecture independent package to an architecture dependent
           package (or vice versa) will not work.  Since compat 10, debhelper
           will actively reject unsupported combinations.

       file ...
           Install these files as documentation into the first package acted
           on. (Or in all packages if -A is specified).

EXAMPLES
       This is an example of a debian/package.docs file:

         README
         TODO
         debian/notes-for-maintainers.txt
         docs/manual.txt
         docs/manual.pdf
         docs/manual-html/

NOTES
       Note that dh_installdocs will happily copy entire directory hierarchies
       if you ask it to (similar to cp -a). If it is asked to install a
       directory, it will install the complete contents of the directory.

SEE ALSO
       debhelper(7)

       This program is a part of debhelper.

AUTHOR
       Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>

12.10ubuntu1                      2020-03-27                 DH_INSTALLDOCS(1)