docs

[debhelper.git] / doc / PROGRAMMING

diff --git a/doc/PROGRAMMING b/doc/PROGRAMMING
index 6cae08a5c78ed3fb558fa3e53092e4e01c233d5c..bd6645ee585bb84444c4a2db702dda9cde0eeab3 100644 (file)
--- a/doc/PROGRAMMING
+++ b/doc/PROGRAMMING
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ 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 they act on.
+The config file format should be as simple as possible, generally just a
+list of files to act on.
 
 Debhelper programs should never modify the debian/postinst, debian/prerm,
 etc scripts. Instead, they can add lines to debian/postinst.debhelper, etc. 
@@ -38,7 +40,7 @@ merge these modifications into the actual postinst scripts.
 
 In general, files named debian/*.debhelper are internal to debhelper, and
 their existence or use should not be relied on by external programs such as
-the build process of a package.
+the build process of a package. These files will be deleted by dh_clean.
 
 Debhelper programs should default to doing exactly what policy says to do.
 
@@ -91,13 +93,18 @@ switch              variable        description
                                packages
 -n             NOSCRIPTS       if set, do not make any modifications to the 
                                package's postinst, postrm, etc scripts.
+-o             ONLYSCRIPTS     if set, only make modifications to the
+                               package's scripts, but don't look for or
+                               install associated files.
 -X             EXCLUDE         exclude a something from processing (you
                                decide what this means for your program)
                                (This is an array)
                 EXCLUDE_FIND   same as DH_EXCLUDE, except all items are put
                                into a string in a way that they will make
                                find find them. (Use ! in front to negate
-                               that, of course)
+                               that, of course) Note that this should
+                               only be used inside complex_doit(), not in
+                               doit().
 -x             INCLUDE_CONFFILES
                                include conffiles. It's -x for obscure
                                historical reasons.
@@ -134,6 +141,11 @@ switch             variable        description
                                dh_installemacsen will ever use this)
 --number       PRIORITY        will be set to a number (deprecated)
 --priority     PRIORITY        will be set to a number
+--name         NAME            a name to use for installed files, instead of
+                               the package name
+--error-handler        ERROR_HANDLER   a function to call on error
+--language     LANGUAGE        specify what language a file is in
+--add-udeb     SHLIBS_UDEB     used by dh_makeshlibs
 
 Any additional command line parameters that do not start with "-" will be 
 ignored, and you can access them later just as you normally would.
@@ -210,6 +222,8 @@ autoscript($package, $scriptname, $snippetname, $sedcommands)
           (optional)
        This command automatically adds shell script snippets to a debian
        maintainer script (like the postinst or prerm).
+       Note that in v6 mode and up, the snippets are added in reverse
+       order for the removal scripts.
 dirname($pathname)
        Return directory part of pathname.
 basename($pathname)
@@ -233,6 +247,20 @@ delsubstvar($package, $substvar)
 excludefile($filename)
        This function returns true if -X has been used to ask for the file
        to be excluded.
+is_udeb($package)
+       Returns true if the package is marked as a udeb in the control
+       file.
+udeb_filename($package)
+       Returns the filename of the udeb package.
+getpackages($type)
+       Returns a list of packages in the control file.
+       Must pass "arch" or "indep" or "same" to specify arch-dependent or
+       -independent or same arch packages. If nothing is specified, returns all
+       packages.
+       As a side effect, populates %package_arches and %package_types with
+       the types of all packages (not only those returned).
+inhibit_log()
+       Prevent logging the program's successful finish to
+       debian/*debhelper.log
 
 -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>
-