1 .TH DH_COMPRESS 1 "" "Debhelper Commands" "Debhelper Commands"
3 dh_compress \- compress files and fix symlinks in package build directories
6 .I "[debhelper options] [-Xitem] [-A] [file ...]"
8 dh_compress is a debhelper program that is responsible for compressing
9 the files in package build directories, and makes sure that any symlinks
10 that pointed to the files before they were compressed are updated to point
13 By default, dh_compress compresses files that debian policy mandates should
14 be compressed, namely all files in usr/info, usr/man, usr/X11R6/man, and
15 all files in usr/doc that are larger than 4k in size, except
16 the copyright file, .html files and .gif files, and all changelog files.
18 If a debian/compress file exits, however, it will be ran as a shell script,
19 and all filenames that the shell script outputs will be compressed instead
20 of the default files. Note that the shell script will be run from inside the
21 package build directory.
23 Here is a sample debian/compress file that causes dh_compress to compress
24 the same files as it would by default. This is a good starting point for
25 customization of what files are compressed:
27 find usr/info usr/man usr/X11*/man -type f
28 find usr/doc -type f \\
29 \\( -size +4k -or -name "changelog*" \\) \\
30 ! -name "*.htm*" ! -name "*.gif" \\
37 for a list of options common to all debhelper commands.
39 .B \-Xitem, \--exclude=item
40 Exclude files that contain "item" anywhere in their filename from being
41 compressed. For example, -X=.jpeg will exclude jpeg's from compression.
42 You may use this option multiple times to build up a list of things to
43 exclude. You can accomplish the same thing by using a debian/compress file,
47 Compress all files specified by command line parameters in ALL packages
51 Add these files to the list of files to compress.
53 The debian/compress file applies to the first binary package listed in your
54 control file. For the other packages, you can make files named
55 debian/package.compress, where "package" is the name of the package they
56 apply to. (This works for the first binary package too.)
60 for a list of environment variables that affect all debhelper commands.
64 Filenames with spaces in them may not properly be compressed.
66 Debian policy, version 2.3.0.0
68 Joey Hess <joeyh@master.debian.org>