Provided by: dpkg-dev_1.17.5ubuntu5.8_all bug

NAME

       dpkg-parsechangelog - parse Debian changelog files

SYNOPSIS

       dpkg-parsechangelog [option...]

DESCRIPTION

       dpkg-parsechangelog  reads  and parses the changelog of an unpacked Debian source tree and
       outputs the information in it to standard output in a machine-readable form.

OPTIONS

       -lchangelog-file
              Specifies the changelog file to read information from. A '-' can be used to specify
              reading from standard input. The default is debian/changelog.

       -Fchangelog-format
              Specifies the format of the changelog. By default the format is read from a special
              line near the bottom of the changelog  or  failing  that  defaults  to  the  debian
              standard format. See also CHANGELOG FORMATS.

       -Llibdir
              Specify  an  additional  directory to search for parser scripts.  This directory is
              searched    before    the    default    directories     which     are     currently
              /usr/local/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog and /usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog.

       -S, --show-field field
              Specifies the name of the field to show (since dpkg 1.17.0).  The field name is not
              printed, only its value.

       -?, --help
              Show the usage message and exit.

       --version
              Show the version and exit.

   Parser Options
       The following options can be used to influence the output of the  changelog  parser,  e.g.
       the  range of entries or the format of the output. They need to be supported by the parser
       script in question. See also NOTES.

       --file file
              Set the changelog filename to parse. Default is '-' (standard input).

       -l, --label file
              Set the name of the changelog file to use in error messages, instead of  using  the
              name from the --file option, or its default value.

       --format output-format
              Set the output format. Currently supported values are dpkg and rfc822.  dpkg is the
              classic output format (from  before  this  option  existed)  and  the  default.  It
              consists  of  one  paragraph in Debian control format (see deb-control(5)). If more
              than one entry is requested, then most fields are taken from the most recent entry,
              except otherwise stated:

              Source: pkg-name

              Version: version

              Distribution: target-distribution

              Urgency: urgency
                     The  highest  urgency  of  all  included  entries  is  used, followed by the
                     concatenated (space-separated) comments from all the versions requested.

              Maintainer: author

              Date: date

              Closes: bug-number
                     The Closes fields of all included entries are merged.

              Changes: changelog-entries
                     The text of all changelog entries is concatenated.  To  make  this  field  a
                     valid  Debian control format multiline field empty lines are replaced with a
                     single full stop and all lines is intended by one space character. The exact
                     content depends on the changelog format.

              The Version, Distribution, Urgency, Maintainer and Changes fields are mandatory.

              There might be additional user-defined fields present.

              The  rfc822  format  uses the same fields but outputs a separate paragraph for each
              changelog entry so that all metadata for each entry is preserved.

       --since version, -sversion, -vversion
              include all changes later than version.

       --until version, -uversion
              include all changes earlier than version.

       --from version, -fversion
              include all changes equal or later than version.

       --to version, -tversion
              include all changes up to or equal than version.

       --count number, -cnumber, -nnumber
              include number entries from the top (or the tail if number is lower than 0).

       --offset number, -onumber
              change the starting point for --count, counted from the top (or the tail if  number
              is lower than 0).

       --all  include all changes. Note: other options have no effect when this is in use.

CHANGELOG FORMATS

       It  is  possible  to use a different format to the standard one, by providing a parser for
       that alternative format.

       In order to have dpkg-parsechangelog run the new parser, a line must  be  included  within
       the  last  40  lines  of  the  changelog  file,  matching  the  Perl  regular  expression:
       “\schangelog-format:\s+([0-9a-z]+)\W”.  The part in parentheses should be the name of  the
       format. For example:

              @@@ changelog-format: otherformat @@@

       Changelog format names are non-empty strings of alphanumerics.

       If   such   a   line   exists  then  dpkg-parsechangelog  will  look  for  the  parser  as
       /usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/otherformat                                                or
       /usr/local/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/otherformat; it is an error for it not being present or
       not being an executable program.  The default changelog format is debian, and a parser for
       it is provided by default.

       The  parser  will be invoked with the changelog open on standard input at the start of the
       file. It should read the file (it may seek if it  wishes)  to  determine  the  information
       required  and  return the parsed information to standard output in the format specified by
       the --format option.  It should accept all Parser Options.

       If the changelog format which is being parsed always or almost always leaves a blank  line
       between  individual  change notes, these blank lines should be stripped out, so as to make
       the resulting output compact.

       If the changelog format does not contain date or package name information this information
       should  be omitted from the output. The parser should not attempt to synthesize it or find
       it from other sources.

       If the changelog does not have the expected format the parser should exit with  a  nonzero
       exit  status,  rather  than  trying  to  muddle  through and possibly generating incorrect
       output.

       A changelog parser may not interact with the user at all.

NOTES

       All Parser Options except for -v are  only  supported  since  dpkg  1.14.16.  Third  party
       parsers for changelog formats other than debian might not support all options.

FILES

       debian/changelog
              The  changelog  file, used to obtain version-dependent information about the source
              package, such as the urgency and distribution of an upload, the changes made  since
              a particular release, and the source version number itself.