Purpose
Describes the
format of a software dependencies file.
Description
The depend file is an ASCII file used to specify information concerning
software dependencies for a particular package. The file is created
by a software developer.
Each entry in the
depend file
describes a single software package. The instance of the package is
described after the entry line by giving the package architecture
and/or version. The format of each entry and subsequent instance definition
is:
type pkg name
The fields are:
| Entry |
Definition |
|---|
| type |
Defines the dependency type. This must be one of the following:
- P
- Indicates a prerequisite for installation, for example, the referenced
package or versions must be installed.
- I
- Implies that the existence of the indicated package or version
is incompatible. See also the X tag.
- X
- Implies that the existence of the indicated package or version
is incompatible. This tag should be used instead of the I tag.
- R
- Indicates a reverse dependency. Instead of defining the packages
own dependencies, this designates that another package depends on
this one. This type should be used only when an old package does not
have a depend file but it relies on the newer package nonetheless.
Therefore, the present package should not be removed if the designated
old package is still on the system since, if it is removed, the old
package will no longer work.
- S
- Indicates a superseding dependency. It should be used when an
earlier package has been superseded by the current package.
|
| pkg |
Indicates the package abbreviation. |
| name |
Specifies the full package name. |
Dependency checks may be disabled using the admin file.
Examples
Shown below
is an example of a
depend file (for the NFS package):
P base Base System
P nsu Networking Support Utilities
P inet Internet Utilities
P rpc Remote Procedure Call Utilities
P dfs Distributed File System Utilities