NAME

       dpkg-gencontrol - generate Debian control files

SYNOPSIS

       dpkg-gencontrol [option...]

DESCRIPTION

       dpkg-gencontrol  reads  information  from  an  unpacked Debian source tree and generates a binary package
       control file (which defaults to debian/tmp/DEBIAN/control); during this  process  it  will  simplify  the
       relation fields.

       Thus  Pre-Depends, Depends, Recommends and Suggests are simplified in this order by removing dependencies
       which are known to be true according to the stronger dependencies already parsed. It will also remove any
       self-dependency (in fact it will remove any dependency which evaluates to true given the current  version
       of  the  package  as installed). Logically it keeps the intersection of multiple dependencies on the same
       package. The order of dependencies is preserved as best as possible: if any dependency must be  discarded
       due  to another dependency appearing further in the field, the superseding dependency will take the place
       of the discarded one.

       The other relation fields (Enhances, Conflicts,  Breaks,  Replaces  and  Provides)  are  also  simplified
       individually  by  computing the union of the various dependencies when a package is listed multiple times
       in the field.

       dpkg-gencontrol also adds an entry for the binary package to debian/files.

OPTIONS

       -vversion
              Sets the version number of the binary package which will be generated.

       -Vname=value
              Set an output substitution variable. See deb-substvars(5) for discussion of output substitution.

       -Tsubstvars-file
              Read substitution variables in substvars-file; the default is debian/substvars.  This  option  can
              be used multiple times to read substitution variables from multiple files (since dpkg 1.15.6).

       -Dfield=value
              Override or add an output control file field.

       -Ufield
              Remove an output control file field.

       -ccontrol-file
              Specifies the main source control file to read information from. The default is debian/control.

       -lchangelog-file
              Specifies the changelog file to read information from. The default is debian/changelog.

       -ffiles-list-file
              Read or write the list of files to be uploaded here, rather than using debian/files.

       -Fchangelog-format
              Specifies   the  format  of  the  changelog.  See  dpkg-parsechangelog(1)  for  information  about
              alternative formats.

       -ppackage
              Generate information for the binary package package.  If the source control file  lists  only  one
              binary  package  then this option may be omitted; otherwise it is essential to select which binary
              package's information to generate.

       -nfilename
              Assume the filename of the package will be filename instead of the normal package_version_arch.deb
              filename.

       -is, -ip, -isp
              These options are ignored for compatibility with older versions of the dpkg build scripts but  are
              now  deprecated.  Previously  they  were  used  to tell dpkg-gencontrol to include the Section and
              Priority fields in the control file. This is now the default behaviour. If you want to get the old
              behaviour you can use the -U option to delete the fields from the control file.

       -Ppackage-build-dir
              Tells dpkg-source that the package is being built  in  package-build-dir  instead  of  debian/tmp.
              This  value  is  used  to  find  the default value of the Installed-Size substitution variable and
              control file field (using du), and for the default location of the output file.

       -O[filename]
              Print the control file to standard output (or filename if specified, since  dpkg  1.17.2),  rather
              than to debian/tmp/DEBIAN/control (or package-build-dir/DEBIAN/control if -P was used).

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

       --version
              Show the version and exit.

ENVIRONMENT

       DPKG_COLORS
              Sets  the  color  mode  (since  dpkg  1.18.5).  The currently accepted values are: auto (default),
              always and never.

       DPKG_NLS
              If set, it will be used to decide whether to activate  Native  Language  Support,  also  known  as
              internationalization  (or  i18n)  support  (since  dpkg 1.19.0).  The accepted values are: 0 and 1
              (default).

FILES

       debian/control
              The main source control information file, giving version-independent information about the  source
              package and the binary packages it can produce.

       debian/files
              The list of generated files which are part of the upload being prepared.  dpkg-gencontrol adds the
              presumed filenames of binary packages whose control files it generates here.

SEE ALSO

       deb-substvars(5), deb-src-control(5), deb-changelog(5), deb-control(5).

1.19.7                                             2022-05-25                                 dpkg-gencontrol(1)