DPKG-AWK(1) General Commands Manual DPKG-AWK(1)NAME
dpkg-awk - Utility to read a dpkg style db file
SYNOPSIS
dpkg-awk [(-f|--file) filename] [(-d|--debug) ##] [(-s|--sort) list] [(-rs|--rec_sep) ??] '<fieldname>:<regex>' ... -- <out_fieldname> ..
DESCRIPTION
dpkg-awk Parses a dpkg status file (or other similarly formatted file) and outputs the resulting records. It can use regex on the field
values to limit the returned records, it can also be told which fields to output, and it can sort the matched fields.
OPTIONS -f filename
--file filename
The file to parse. The default is /var/lib/dpkg/status.
-d [#]
--debug [#]
Each time this is specified, it increased the debug level.
-s field(s)
--sort field(s)
A space or comma separated list of fields to sort on.
-n field(s)
--numeric field(s)
A space or comma separated list of fields that should be interpreted as numeric in value.
-rs ??
--rec_sep ??
Output this string at the end of each output paragraph.
-h
--help Display some help.
fieldname
The fields from the file, that are matched with the regex given. The fieldnames are case insensitive.
out_fieldname
The fields from the file, that are output for each record. If the first field listed begins with ^, then the list of fields that
follows will NOT be output.
BUGS
Be warned that the author has only a shallow understanding of the dpkg packaging system, so there are probably tons of bugs in this pro-
gram.
This program comes with no warranties. If running this program causes fire and brimstone to rain down upon the earth, you will be on your
own.
This program accesses the dpkg database directly in places, querying for data that cannot be gotten via dpkg.
AUTHOR
Adam Heath <doogie@debian.org>
DEBIAN Debian Utilities DPKG-AWK(1)
Check Out this Related Man Page
SORT-DCTRL(1) Debian user's manual SORT-DCTRL(1)NAME
sort-dctrl - sort Debian control files
SYNOPSIS
sort-dctrl [options] [ file ... ]
sort-dctrl --copying | --help | --version | -ChV
DESCRIPTION
The sort-dctrl program sorts Debian control files according to specified criteria.
A Debian control (dctrl) file is a semistructured single-table database stored in a machine-parseable text file. Such a database consists
of a set of records; each record is a mapping from field names to field content. Textually, records are separated by empty lines, while
each field is encoded as one or more nonempty lines inside a record. A field starts with its name, followed by a colon, followed by the
field content. The colon must reside on the first line of the field, and the first line must start with no whitespace. Subsequent lines,
in contrast, always start with linear whitespace (one or more space or tab characters).
The sort-dctrl program recognizes two field types: string fields and version fields. Version fields act also as numeric fields. String
fields are compared according to strict lexicographical octet-by-octet comparison, after ignoring any initial whitespace after the colon.
Version fields are parsed and compared as Debian version numbers. When comparing version numbers, if a field content does not in fact con-
form to the version number syntax, it compares less than any field content that does conform, and equal to any other nonconforming field
content. The sort-dctrl program assumes all fields are string fields unless told otherwise.
You can specify arbitrary number of keys for sorting, using the -k option. The keys are interpreted in a descending order of priority: the
first key specified is primary, the second key specified is secondary, and so on. If two records compare equal under the primary key, then
they are compared under the secondary key, and so on. If no keys are specified, a default key is assumed (the "Package" field with no mod-
ifiers).
OPTIONS -k keyspec, --key-spec=keyspec
Specify one or more keys for sorting. You may specify this option any number of times. The keyspec argument consists of a comma-
separated list of key specifications. Each key specification consists of the name of the field that serves as the key, optionally
followed by a colon and key modifiers. The following key modifiers are supported:
r Invert the comparison for this key, reversing the sorting order.
v Treat this field as a version number field.
n Treat this field as numeric, which currently is synonymous with v.
-q, --quiet, --silent
Output nothing to the standard output stream. Instead, exit immediately after finding the first match.
-l level, --errorlevel=level
Set log level to level. level is one of fatal, important, informational and debug, but the last may not be available, depending on
the compile-time options. These categories are given here in order; every message that is emitted when fatal is in effect, will be
emitted in the important error level, and so on. The default is important.
-V, --version
Print out version information.
-C, --copying
Print out the copyright license. This produces much output; be sure to redirect or pipe it somewhere (such as your favourite
pager).
-h, --help
Print out a help summary.
EXAMPLES
Here are some sample invocations of the program:
sort-dctrl /var/lib/dpkg/available
Output the dpkg available file sorted by the package name.
sort-dctrl -k Version:v /var/lib/dpkg/available
Output the dpkg available file sorted in ascending order of version numbers.
sort-dctrl -k Version:vr /var/lib/dpkg/available
Output the dpkg available file sorted in descending order of version numbers.
sort-dctrl -k Package,Version:v /var/lib/dpkg/available
Output the dpkg available file sorted primarily in ascending order of package names and secondarily in descending order of version
numbers.
sort-dctrl -k Installed-Size:n,Size:nr /var/lib/dpkg/available
Output the dpkg available file sorted primarily in ascending order of installation sizes and secondarily in descending order of
package sizes.
AUTHOR
The program and this manual page were written by Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho <ajk@debian.org>.
SEE ALSO
Debian Policy Manual. Published as the Debian package debian-policy. Also available in the Debian website.
grep-dctrl(1)Debian Project 2005-06-08 SORT-DCTRL(1)