dpkg-gencontrol

dpkg-gencontrol(1)                dpkg suite                dpkg-gencontrol(1)

NAME
       dpkg-gencontrol - generate Debian control files

SYNOPSIS
       dpkg-gencontrol [option...]

DESCRIPTION
       dpkg-gencontrol reads information from an unpacked Debian source tree
       and generates a binary package control file (which defaults to
       debian/tmp/DEBIAN/control); during this process it will simplify the
       relation fields.

       Thus Pre-Depends, Depends, Recommends and Suggests are simplified in
       this order by removing dependencies which are known to be true
       according to the stronger dependencies already parsed. It will also
       remove any self-dependency (in fact it will remove any dependency which
       evaluates to true given the current version of the package as
       installed). Logically it keeps the intersection of multiple
       dependencies on the same package. The order of dependencies is
       preserved as best as possible: if any dependency must be discarded due
       to another dependency appearing further in the field, the superseding
       dependency will take the place of the discarded one.

       The other relation fields (Enhances, Conflicts, Breaks, Replaces and
       Provides) are also simplified individually by computing the union of
       the various dependencies when a package is listed multiple times in the
       field.

       dpkg-gencontrol also adds an entry for the binary package to
       debian/files.

OPTIONS
       -vversion
           Sets the version number of the binary package which will be
           generated.

       -Vname=value
           Set an output substitution variable. See deb-substvars(5) for
           discussion of output substitution.

       -Tsubstvars-file
           Read substitution variables in substvars-file; the default is
           debian/substvars.  This option can be used multiple times to read
           substitution variables from multiple files (since dpkg 1.15.6).

       -Dfield=value
           Override or add an output control file field.

       -Ufield
           Remove an output control file field.

       -ccontrol-file
           Specifies the main source control file to read information from.
           The default is debian/control.

       -lchangelog-file
           Specifies the changelog file to read information from. The default
           is debian/changelog.

       -ffiles-list-file
           Read or write the list of files to be uploaded here, rather than
           using debian/files.

       -Fchangelog-format
           Specifies the format of the changelog. See dpkg-parsechangelog(1)
           for information about alternative formats.

       -ppackage
           Generate information for the binary package package.  If the source
           control file lists only one binary package then this option may be
           omitted; otherwise it is essential to select which binary package's
           information to generate.

       -nfilename
           Assume the filename of the package will be filename instead of the
           normal package_version_arch.deb filename.

       -is, -ip, -isp
           These options are ignored for compatibility with older versions of
           the dpkg build scripts but are now deprecated. Previously they were
           used to tell dpkg-gencontrol to include the Section and Priority
           fields in the control file. This is now the default behaviour. If
           you want to get the old behaviour you can use the -U option to
           delete the fields from the control file.

       -Ppackage-build-dir
           Scan package-build-dir instead of debian/tmp.  This value is used
           to find the default value of the Installed-Size substitution
           variable and control file field, and for the default location of
           the output file.

       -O[filename]
           Print the control file to standard output (or filename if
           specified, since dpkg 1.17.2), rather than to
           debian/tmp/DEBIAN/control (or package-build-dir/DEBIAN/control if
           -P was used).

       -?, --help
           Show the usage message and exit.

       --version
           Show the version and exit.

ENVIRONMENT
       DPKG_COLORS
           Sets the color mode (since dpkg 1.18.5).  The currently accepted
           values are: auto (default), always and never.

       DPKG_NLS
           If set, it will be used to decide whether to activate Native
           Language Support, also known as internationalization (or i18n)
           support (since dpkg 1.19.0).  The accepted values are: 0 and 1
           (default).

FILES
       debian/control
           The main source control information file, giving version-
           independent information about the source package and the binary
           packages it can produce.

       debian/files
           The list of generated files which are part of the upload being
           prepared.  dpkg-gencontrol adds the presumed filenames of binary
           packages whose control files it generates here.

SEE ALSO
       deb-substvars(5), deb-src-control(5), deb-changelog(5), deb-control(5).

1.21.1                            2024-02-23                dpkg-gencontrol(1)