r181: Initial Import

[debhelper.git] / PROGRAMMING

diff --git a/PROGRAMMING b/PROGRAMMING
index 43e1554c038f253ed91eb0febf54c87440b23647..7dc0c638e944e85cfb42e7099fbd827bea12963f 100644 (file)
--- a/PROGRAMMING
+++ b/PROGRAMMING
@@ -21,12 +21,12 @@ Debhelper programs should accept the options, -v, -i, -a, -p, --no-act, and
 options may be ignored.
 
 If debhelper commands need config files, they should use
-debian/package.filename as the name of the confile file (replace filename
+debian/package.filename as the name of the config file (replace filename
 with whatever your command wants), and debian/filename should also be
-checked for config information for the first binart package in
+checked for config information for the first binary package in
 debian/control. Also, debhelper commands should accept the same sort of
 information that appears in the config files, on their command lines, if
-possible, and apply that information to the first package thay act on.
+possible, and apply that information to the first package they act on.
 
 Debhelper programs should never modify the debian/postinst, debian/prerm,
 etc scripts, instead, they can add lines to debian/postinst.debhelper, etc. 
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ merge these modifications into the actual postinst scripts.
 
 There are always exceptions. Just ask me.
 
-Intoroducing dh_lib:
--------------------
+Introducing dh_lib:
+------------------
 
 All debhelper programs use the dh_lib library (actually it's a shell script)
 to parse their arguments and set some useful variables. It's not mandatory
@@ -51,13 +51,13 @@ PATH=debian:$PATH:/usr/lib/debhelper
 
 The path statement is there to make your program look first in debian/ for
 dh_lib (so users can install a modified version there if necessary), then the
-rest of the path, then the canoical location of dh_lib, /usr/lib/debhelper.
+rest of the path, then the canonical location of dh_lib, /usr/lib/debhelper.
 
 Argument processing:
 -------------------
 
-All debhelper programs should respond to certian arguemnts, such as -v, -i,
--a, and -p. To help you make this work right, dh_lib handles argumeny
+All debhelper programs should respond to certain arguments, such as -v, -i,
+-a, and -p. To help you make this work right, dh_lib handles argument
 processing.
 
 As soon as dh_lib loads, it processes any arguments that have been passed to
@@ -70,14 +70,20 @@ switch              variable        description
 --no-act       DH_NO_ACT       should the program not actually do anything?
 -i,-a,-p       DH_DOPACKAGES   a space delimited list of the binary packages
                                to act on
--i,-p          DH_DOINDEP      a space delimited list of the binary independant
+-i,-p          DH_DOINDEP      a space delimited list of the binary independent
                                packages to act on
--a,-p          DH_DOARCH       a space delimited list of the binary dependant
+-a,-p          DH_DOARCH       a space delimited list of the binary dependent
                                packages to act on
 -n             DH_NOSCRIPTS    if set, do not make any modifications to the 
-                               package's postinst, posrtm, etc scripts.
--x             DH_EXCLUDE      exclude a something from processing (you
+                               package's postinst, postrm, etc scripts.
+-X             DH_EXCLUDE      exclude a something from processing (you
                                decide what this means for your program)
+               DH_EXCLUDE_GREP same as DH_EXCLUDE, except all items are
+                               separated by '|' characters, instead of spaces,
+                               handy for egrep -v
+-x             DH_INCLUDE_CONFFILES
+                               include conffiles. It's -x for obscure
+                               historical reasons.
 -d             DH_D_FLAG       you decide what this means to your program
 -r             DH_R_FLAG       you decide what this means to your program
 -k             DH_K_FLAG       you decide what this means to your program
@@ -97,6 +103,9 @@ switch               variable        description
                                those processed here), will apply to all 
                                binary packages the program acts on, not just
                                the first
+--init-script  DH_INIT_SCRIPT  will be set to a string, which specifies an
+                               init script name (probably only
+                               dh_installinit will ever use this)
 
 Any additional command line parameters that do not start with "-" will be 
 ignored, and you can access them later just as you normally would ($1, $2,
@@ -112,7 +121,7 @@ The following variables are also set, you can use any of them:
 MAINPACKAGE    the name of the first binary package listed in
                debian/control
 DH_FIRSTPACKAGE        the first package we were instructed to act on. This package
-               typically gets special tratment, addiiional arguments
+               typically gets special treatment, additional arguments
                specified on the command line may effect it.
 
 Functions:
@@ -134,6 +143,9 @@ verbose_echo()
 error()
        Pass this command a string, it will output it to standard error and
        exit.
+warning()
+       Pass this command a string, and it will output it to standard error
+       as a warning message.
 tmpdir()
        Pass this command the name of a binary package, it will return the
        name of the tmp directory that will be used as this package's
@@ -144,7 +156,7 @@ pkgfile()
        file, and it will return the actual filename to use. This is used
        for allowing debhelper programs to have configuration files in the
        debian/ directory, so there can be one config file per binary
-       package. The conversion is that the files are named
+       package. The convention is that the files are named
        debian/package.filename, and debian/filename is also allowable for
        the MAINPACKAGE. If the file does not exist, nothing is returned.
 pkgext()