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<h1>
Debian <code>doc-base</code> Manual
<br>Chapter 2 - The packages interface
</h1>

<hr>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s2.1"></a>2.1 Introduction</h2>

<p>
Each Debian package that installs online manuals (in any format) should
register its manuals to <code>doc-base</code>.  This is done by installing a
<code>doc-base</code> <em>control file</em> (see <a
href="#s-control_files">Control Files, Section 2.3</a>) and calling
<code>install-docs</code> from the <code>postinst</code> script (see <a
href="#s-registering_documents">Registering Documents With
<code>doc-base</code>, Section 2.4</a>).
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-document_ids"></a>2.2 Document IDs</h2>

<p>
Each document that is registered to <code>doc-base</code> must have a unique
<em>document ID</em>.
</p>

<p>
The document ID is usually taken from the document's title or from the package
name.  Here are a few examples:
</p>

<pre>
     DOCID                  Title
     ---------------------- ----------------------------
     debian-policy          Debian Policy Manual
     developers-reference   Debian Developers Reference
     doc-base               Debian doc-base Manual
     emacs-manual           GNU Emacs Manual
</pre>

<p>
Legal characters for the document ID are lower case letters (a-z), digits
(0-9), plus (+) or minus (-) signs, and dots (.) (the same characters allowed
in package names).
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-control_files"></a>2.3 Control Files</h2>

<p>
For each piece online documentation, <code>doc-base</code> needs a <em>control
file</em> that describes the documentation and the documentation file formats
that are provided initially.
</p>

<hr>

<h3><a name="s2.3.1"></a>2.3.1 Example</h3>

<p>
Here is an example of a <em>control file</em>:
</p>

<pre>
     Document: doc-base
     Title: Debian doc-base Manual
     Author: Christian Schwarz
     Abstract: This manual describes what doc-base is
      and how it can be used to
      manage online manuals on Debian systems.
     Section: Debian
     
     Format: DebianDoc-SGML
     Files: /usr/share/doc/doc-base/doc-base.sgml.gz
     
     Format: Text
     Files: /usr/share/doc/doc-base/doc-base.txt.gz
     
     Format: HTML
     Index: /usr/share/doc/doc-base/doc-base.html/index.html
     Files: /usr/share/doc/doc-base/doc-base.html/*.html
</pre>

<p>
If the <code>doc-base</code> package provided necessary files in other formats,
it would be possible to add more sections at the end of the <em>control
file</em>:
</p>

<pre>
     
     Format: PDF
     Files: /usr/share/doc-base/doc-base.pdf
     
     Format: PostScript
     Files: /usr/share/doc-base/doc-base.ps.gz
     
     Format: DVI
     Files: /usr/share/doc-base/doc-base.dvi.gz
     
     Format: Info
     Index: /usr/share/info/doc-base.info.gz
     Files: /usr/share/info/doc-base.info*.gz
</pre>

<hr>

<h3><a name="s2.3.2"></a>2.3.2 Syntax of the control file</h3>

<p>
As you can see from the above example, the syntax -- as is the whole design of
<code>doc-base</code> -- is heavily influenced by dpkg.  This is important
since every maintainer will have to work with <code>doc-base</code> and thus,
it should be simple to remember the basic ideas.
</p>

<p>
The syntax of the control file is simple:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
The file consist of
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
exactly one main section providing base information about the registered manual
(see <a href="#s-main_section">The main section, Section 2.3.2.1</a> below);
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
one or more format sections (see <a href="#s-format_sections"><em>Format</em>
sections, Section 2.3.2.2</a>) containing pointers to the registered
documentation files.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Successive sections must be separated with empty lines.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Non-empty lines use a `<samp>field-name: value</samp>' syntax.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
The field names are case-insensitive.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
The field values are case-sensitive (except for the <em>Format</em> field).
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Field values may be wrapped over several lines by making the first character of
subsequent lines a space.
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
If a multi-line value should contain an empty line, a single dot (.) must be
placed in the second column.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
If the <em>Abstract</em> field value should contain lines displayed verbatim,
the lines must begin with two spaces.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>
The file should be encoded in UTF-8.
</p>
</li>
</ul>

<hr>

<h4><a name="s-main_section"></a>2.3.2.1 The main section</h4>

<p>
The first section of the control file describes the document.  The following
fields are available:
</p>
<dl>
<dt><em>Document</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>
<a href="#s-document_ids">Document ID</a>, required field; should be the first
field.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><em>Title</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Title of the document; required field.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><em>Author</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Author(s) of the document; optional field.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><em>Abstract</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Short paragraph giving an overview of the document; optional but recommended
field.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><em>Section</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Section where the document belongs; see <a href="#s-section_field">The
<samp>section</samp> field, Section 2.3.3</a>.  Required field.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>

<h4><a name="s-format_sections"></a>2.3.2.2 <em>Format</em> sections</h4>

<p>
The next sections describe the different formats for the provided document
which is described in the first section.  The following fields are available:
</p>
<dl>
<dt><em>Format</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Format for the document.  Required field.  The following formats are
recognised:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
<samp>HTML</samp>,
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<samp>Text</samp>,
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<samp>PDF</samp>,
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<samp>PostScript</samp>,
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<samp>Info</samp>,
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<samp>DVI</samp>,
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
and <samp>DebianDoc-SGML</samp>.
</p>
</li>
</ul>

<p>
The values of this field are case-insensitive (e.g.  both <samp>Text</samp> and
<samp>text</samp> are valid).
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><em>Index</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Index or top-level file for this document format.  Only applies to document
formats <samp>HTML</samp> and <samp>Info</samp>, and required if the format is
<samp>HTML</samp> or <samp>Info</samp>.
</p>

<p>
This field has to contain the absolute file name of the main page of the
document.  This file will be specified as the front page link when the document
is registered.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><em>Files</em></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Space separated list of filenames or POSIX shell globs (i.e.  <samp>*</samp>,
<samp>?</samp>, and <samp>[]</samp> meta-characters) representing the files
which constitute the documentation in this format.  Required field.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>

<p>
There must be at least one such a section.  If there are more, each of them
must register files in different formats (e.g.  having two <samp>Format:
HTML</samp> sections in one <em>control file</em> is not allowed).
</p>

<p>
Except for the <samp>Info</samp> format the files referred in both
<em>Index</em> and <em>Files</em> fields should be placed somewhere under the
<code>/usr/share/doc</code> hierarchy.  If for some reason it's not possible,
then the registering package should provide a symbolic link pointing from the
above hierarchy to the real files and register its documentation through the
link, allowing <code>doc-base</code>, <code>dhelp</code>, or <code>dwww</code>
packages to actually handle the documentation.  Of course, files in the
<samp>Info</samp> format should be located in the <code>/usr/share/info</code>
directory.
</p>

<hr>

<h3><a name="s-section_field"></a>2.3.3 The <samp>section</samp> field</h3>

<p>
The <samp>section</samp> field holds a slash-separated list of hierarchical
sections components.  The hierarchy is mostly based on the sections outlined in
chapter 2.1 of the <code><a
href="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/menu-policy/ch2.html#s2.1">Debian
Menu Policy</a></code>, however the top-level <samp>Applications</samp>
component was removed and a few <code>doc-base</code>-specific sections were
added.
</p>

<p>
The full section list is presented below.
</p>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Accessibility</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Documentation of tools to aid people with disabilities or for machines lacking
usual input devices.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Amateur Radio</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Anything relating to HAM radio.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Data Management</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Interactive database programs, collection managers, address books, bibliography
tools, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Debian</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Documentation of Debian specific tools, policies, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Editors</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Documentation of editors, other than office word processors, for text-based
information.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Education</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Educational and training softwares.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Emulators</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Software that allows you to run non-native software or more than one OS at a
time.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>File Management</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Tools for file management, archiving, searching, CD/DVD burning, backup, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Games and recreations.  Entries should be placed in appropriate subsection.
</p>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games/Action</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Games that involve a lot of action and require fast reflexes.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games/Adventure</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Role playing and adventure games, interactive movies and stories, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games/Blocks</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Tetris-like games involving falling blocks.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games/Board</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Games played on a board.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games/Card</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Games involving a deck of cards.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games/Puzzles</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Tests of ingenuity and logic.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games/Simulation</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Simulations of the real world in all detail and complexity.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games/Strategy</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Games involving long-term strategic thinking.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games/Tools</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Server browsers, configurators, editors, and other game-related tools that are
not games themselves.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Games/Toys</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Amusements, eye-candy, entertaining demos, screen hacks (screen-savers), etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Graphics</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
2D and 3D graphics manipulation software.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Help</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Documentation of programs that provide user documentation.
</p>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Help/Books</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Books.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Help/FAQ</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Frequently Asked Questions.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Help/HOWTO</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Various HOWTOs.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Help/RFC</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
RFCs
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Help/Standards</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Standards
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Mobile Devices</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Software that allows you to interface with mobile devices (phones, PDAs, etc.).
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Network</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Network related software.  This is a two-level section, do not put entries
directly here.
</p>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Network/Communication</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Mail, USENET news, chat, instant messaging, IP telephony, video conferencing
software, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Network/File Transfer</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
File transfer software such as download managers, FTP clients, P2P clients,
etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Network/Monitoring</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Network monitoring software
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Network/Remote Access</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Tools for remotely managing of computer
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Network/Web Browsing</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Web browsers, tools for offline browsing, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Network/Web News</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Web feed (RSS, Atom, etc.) and podcast aggregators.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Office</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Office suites, word processors, spreadsheets, CRM, ERP, financial software,
etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Programming</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
IDEs, debuggers, compilers, APIs, libraries, programming languages.
Documentation related to only one specific language should be put in subsection
named like the language, for example:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
<samp>Programming/C</samp>
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
<samp>Programming/C++</samp>
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
<samp>Programming/Java</samp>
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
<samp>Programming/OCaml</samp>
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
<samp>Programming/Perl</samp>
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
<samp>Programming/Python</samp>
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
<samp>Programming/Ruby</samp>
</p>
</li>
</ul>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Project Management</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Timetable managers, group task trackers, bug tracking software, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Documentation of scientific and engineering-related software.  Please use
appropriate subsection.
</p>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Astronomy</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Astronomy-related software.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Biology</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Biology-related software.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Chemistry</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Chemistry-related software.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Data Analysis</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Software designed for processing, extracting, and presenting generic scientific
data.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Electronics</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Circuit design tools, simulators and assemblers for microprocessors, etc
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Engineering</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
CAD, UML tools, diagram-drawing and other engineering-related software.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Geoscience</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Geoscience-related software.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Mathematics</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Mathematics-related software.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Medicine</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Medicine-related software.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Physics</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Physics-related software.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Science/Social</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Social sciences-related software.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Screen</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Programs that affect the whole screen.
</p>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Screen/Saving</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Tools for blanking the screen.  Entries of screen hacks and configuration GUIs
should go to other appropriate sections.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Screen/Locking</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Tools for locking the screen.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Shells</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Various shells to be used inside a terminal emulator.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Sound</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Sound players, editors, and rippers/recorders.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>System</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
System related software.  Place entries in one of she subsections.
</p>
<dl>
<dt><samp>System/Administration</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Administrative and system configuration utilities, also tools for personal user
settings.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>System/Hardware</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Tools for manipulating specific hardware, especially non-standard laptop
hardware.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>System/Language Environment</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
This section is reserved for language-env as a special case.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>System/Monitoring</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
System information and monitoring tools, log viewers, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>System/Package Management</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Package managers and related tools.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>System/Security</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Security, cryptography and privacy related software, antiviruses, tools to
track and report bugs, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Terminal Emulators</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Graphical terminal emulators.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Text</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Text oriented tools like dictionaries, OCR, translation, text analysis
software, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>TV and Radio</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
TV-in, TV-out, FM radio, teletext browsers, etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Typesetting</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Software for typesetting text and graphics from structured input files like
LaTeX or docbook sources, database exports etc.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Viewers</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Software for viewing images, documents and other (non-video) media.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Video</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Video players, editors, and rippers/recorders.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Web Development</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Software for web site editing, web programming, and site administration.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>Window Managers</samp></dt>
<dd>
<p>
X window managers.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-registering_documents"></a>2.4 Registering Documents With <code>doc-base</code></h2>

<p>
In order to register a piece of online documentation to <code>doc-base</code>,
all the package needs to do is installing the control file (see <a
href="#s-control_files">Control Files, Section 2.3</a>) as file
<code>/usr/share/doc-base/<var>document-id</var></code>.
</p>

<p>
Further processing of the control file is handled by a <code>dpkg</code>
trigger (cf.  <code>/usr/share/doc/dpkg/triggers.txt.gz</code>) provided by
<code>doc-base</code>.  The trigger will call <code>install-docs</code> to
generate
<code>/var/lib/doc-base/documents/<var>&lt;document-id&gt;</var></code> file
and register the online manuals to <code>dww</code>, <code>dhelp</code>, and
<code>scrollkeeper</code> when the package is installed, and de-register the
manuals when the package is removed.
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s2.5"></a>2.5 doc-base 0.8.x features and incompatibilities</h2>

<hr>

<h3><a name="s2.5.1"></a>2.5.1 Splitting control files over multiple binary packages</h3>

<p>
Since version 0.8.7 is it possible to provide documents with the same
<em>document-id</em> by more than one binary package.  All such documents with
be merged together and the merged document will be generated in
<code>/var/lib/doc-base/documents/<em>document-id</em></code> file.  This
feature can be useful in cases when the same documentation, but in different
formats, is provided by two binary packages.
</p>

<p>
For example the <code>foo-text</code> package could install the
<code>/usr/share/doc-base/foo-text</code> file with the following contents:
</p>

<pre>
     Document: foo
     Title: This is foo
     Author: John Foo &lt;foo@foo.net&gt;
     Abstract: Description of foo
     Section: Text
     
     Format: text
     Files: /usr/share/foo-text/foo.txt.gz
</pre>

<p>
and the <code>foo-html</code> package could install the following
<code>/usr/share/doc-base/foo-html</code> file:
</p>

<pre>
     Document: foo
     Title: This is foo
     Author: John Foo &lt;foo@foo.net&gt;
     Abstract: Description of foo
     Section: Text
     
     Format: HTML
     Index: /usr/share/foo-html/index.html
     Files: /usr/share/foo-html/*.html
</pre>

<p>
When both packages are installed, <code>install-docs</code> will merge contents
of the two files into <code>/var/lib/doc-base/documents/foo</code>:
</p>

<pre>
     Document: foo
     Title: This is foo
     Author: John Foo &lt;foo@foo.net&gt;
     Abstract: Description of foo
     Section: Text
     
     Format: HTML
     Index: /usr/share/foo-html/index.html
     Files: /usr/share/foo-html/*.html
     
     Format: text
     Files: /usr/share/foo-text/foo.txt.gz
</pre>

<hr>

<h3><a name="s2.5.2"></a>2.5.2 Registering local documents</h3>

<p>
Version 0.8.7 and furthers allow user to register local documentations.  In
order to do this local administrators need to create their own control file
(see <a href="#s-control_files">Control Files, Section 2.3</a>, place it in the
<code>/etc/doc-base/documents</code> directory, and then register it with
</p>

<pre>
     install-docs -i /etc/doc-base/documents/&lt;document-id&gt;
</pre>

<p>
Before removing the file, it should be de-registered with
</p>

<pre>
     install-docs -r /etc/doc-base/documents/&lt;document-id&gt;
</pre>

<p>
Since version 0.8.12
</p>

<pre>
     install-docs --install-changed
</pre>

<p>
may be used instead of the two above commands.
</p>

<hr>

<h3><a name="s2.5.3"></a>2.5.3 dpkg triggers</h3>

<p>
<code>doc-base</code> 0.8.11 and greater uses the <code>dpkg</code> triggers
feature to register and de-register the documentation.  There is no longer need
to call <code>install-docs</code> from maintainer scripts.
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-checking_syntax"></a>2.6 Checking Syntax of <em>Control Files</em></h2>

<p>
With the new <samp>--check</samp> (<samp>-c</samp>) option of
<code>install-docs</code> it is possible to check the <em>control file</em>:
</p>

<pre>
     $ install-docs --check /usr/share/doc-base/doc-base
     /usr/share/doc-base/doc-base: No problems found
</pre>

<pre>
     $ install-docs -c /usr/share/doc-base/xlogmaster
     Error in `/usr/share/doc-base/xlogmaster', line 15: `Index' value missing for format info
     /usr/share/doc-base/xlogmaster: Fatal error found, the file won't be registered
</pre>

<pre>
     $ install-docs -c /usr/share/doc-base/MC-FAQ /usr/share/doc-base/gnu-privacy-handbook
     /usr/share/doc-base/MC-FAQ: 1 warning(s) or non-fatal error(s) found
     /usr/share/doc-base/gnu-privacy-handbook: 1 warning(s) or non-fatal error(s) found
</pre>

<p>
More details about the warnings and non-fatal errors can be found using the
<samp>--verbose</samp> (<samp>-v</samp>) option:
</p>

<pre>
     $ install-docs -v -c /usr/share/doc-base/MC-FAQ /usr/share/doc-base/gnu-privacy-handbook
     Warning in `/usr/share/doc-base/MC-FAQ', line 1: invalid value of `Document' field
     /usr/share/doc-base/MC-FAQ: 1 warning(s) or non-fatal error(s) found
     Warning in `/usr/share/doc-base/gnu-privacy-handbook', line 12: file `/usr/share/doc/gnupg-doc/GNU_Privacy_Handbook/html/book1.html' does not exist
     /usr/share/doc-base/gnu-privacy-handbook: 1 warning(s) or non-fatal error(s) found
</pre>

<p>
With the <samp>--rootdir</samp> option is possible to check non-installed
packages:
</p>

<pre>
     $ dpkg-deb -x autoclass_3.3.4-6_i386.deb AUTOCLASS_UNPACKED
     $ install-docs --rootdir AUTOCLASS_UNPACKED -vc AUTOCLASS_UNPACKED/usr/share/doc-base/*
     AUTOCLASS_UNPACKED/usr/share/doc-base/autoclass-results: No problems found
     AUTOCLASS_UNPACKED/usr/share/doc-base/autoclass-theory: No problems found
</pre>

<p>
If the <samp>--rootdir</samp> option was omitted, <code>install-docs</code>
would complain:
</p>

<pre>
     Warning in `AUTOCLASS_UNPACKED/usr/share/doc-base/autoclass-results', line 20: file mask `/usr/share/doc/autoclass/kdd-95.pdf' does not match any files
     Warning in `AUTOCLASS_UNPACKED/usr/share/doc-base/autoclass-theory', line 20: file mask `/usr/share/doc/autoclass/tr-fia-90-12-7-01.pdf' does not match any files
</pre>

<hr>

<p>
[ <a href="ch-about.html">previous</a> ]
[ <a href="index.html#contents">Contents</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-about.html">1</a> ]
[ 2 ]
[ <a href="ch-informations.html">3</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-todo.html">4</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-informations.html">next</a> ]
</p>

<hr>

<p>
Debian <code>doc-base</code> Manual
</p>

<address>
ver. 0.10.4, 02 June, 2012<br>
<br>
Christian Schwarz <code><a href="mailto:schwarz@debian.org">schwarz@debian.org</a></code><br>
Adam Di Carlo <code><a href="mailto:aph@debian.org">aph@debian.org</a></code><br>
Robert Luberda <code><a href="mailto:robert@debian.org">robert@debian.org</a></code><br>
<br>
</address>
<hr>

</body>

</html>
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