Provided by: dist_3.5-36.0001-2_all 
NAME
dist - introduction to dist
DESCRIPTION
The dist package is a set of tools meant to ease the construction and maintenance of portable software.
There are four distinct parts in dist, and it is also meant to be used with two external products, which
are publicly available: mailagent and patch.
The first component is the Configure script generator, which is a portability tool. It is automatically
build up by metaconfig from your sources and a set of units. Ideally, the end-user receiving your source
code will simply have to read your README file, run the Configure script (which is self-documented), and
then run make. Your package should then build cleanly on every UNIX platform.
The second component is the Makefile.SH generator, which is a generic configured Makefile, reusing some
of the information figured out by Configure. Although you may write your own Makefile and then use
makeSH to transform it into a Makefile.SH, it is better to write a generic Jmakefile description, which
does not rely on a particular position within the source tree, and then use jmake to recursively build
your Makefiles.
The third component is the package generator, which is used when it's time to build up the shell archives
used to distribute your program. Although you may use your own archiving mechanism, the one included here
knows about RCS files and will properly check out the lattest revisions, leaving your working files
alone. The makedist program will also perform Copyright expansion, an useful feature when you share
source files among more than one program, placed under distinct Copyright information.
The fourth and latest component is the patch generator, used to make updates of your sources, which can
later be applied on the original distribution by using the patch program.
Before using any of the dist programs, you should probably identify your package by running the packinit
program, which will create a .package file in the top-level directory of your package.
COMMANDS
The dist package implements the following commands (those tagged as library commands are to be found in
the dist library and should not be made publicly available in everyone's path):
bindex builds the Index file (library).
jmake a Makefile.SH generator.
jmkmf bootstraps top-level Makefile.SH file.
kitpost posts distribution kits made by makedist.
kitsend sends distribution kits made by makedist.
makeSH wraps existing scripts into a .SH file.
makedist builds up distribution kits.
makegloss builds the Glossary file (library).
manicheck checks MANIFEST.new accuracy
manifake makes MANIFEST.new out of an existing MANIFEST.
manilist builds MANIFEST.new reports.
metaconfig a Configure script generator.
metalint a metaconfig unit consistency checker.
metaxref a metaconfig cross-reference builder.
packinit initializes a package (creates a .package file).
pat main patch generator.
patbase resets patch base to current version.
patcil checks new version in.
patclean remove working version of up-to-date files.
patcol checks file out.
patdiff builds (contextual) diffs for the patch.
patftp copies patches to public ftp directory.
patindex builds a patch index.
patlog handles ChangeLog file updates.
patmake puts diffs together into a patch.
patnotify notifies users that new patches have been released.
patpost posts patch to some newsgroup.
patsend mails patch to some people.
patsnap builds a release snapshot with files and RCS revisions.
PROFILE
Commands having a set of meaningful options (other than -h or -V) can also take arguments from the
~/.dist_profile file, or whatever file the DIST environment variable points to. Each line of the file is
in the format:
profile-component: value
whith shell-style comments (#) allowed provided they start the line.
Each command looks for a profile component entry matching its name and loads the value as if it were
arguments specified on the command line. Those arguments precede any other argument specified manually,
in case order is meaningful.
Some commands may also be configured from within the profile, by setting a specific variable attached to
the command by a profile entry looking like this:
cmdname-variable: value
For instance, assuming the variable c-files is recognized by the metaconfig program, its default value
could be overwritten by this profile entry:
metaconfig-c-files: suitable value
Only the first '-' after the command name is part of the syntax, the other one used in the variable name
is pure convention. Please refer to the manual page of each command for a list of valid profile variables
which may be set.
FILES
.MT Temporary directory created by metaconfig and friends.
.newer A list of files newer than patchlevel.h, used by the patching tools.
.package Main configuration file used by most of the dist tools to make them smart.
ChangeLog The file where changes are recorded. Its name may be configured by running packinit, but
this is the default "generic" name under which it is referred to within the documentation.
Configure The generated configuration script.
Glossary A list of all the known portability symbols known by metaconfig. This file is located in
the dist library directory.
I.fui Cross-reference file generated by metaxref, sorted by file, unit, item.
I.uif Cross-reference file generated by metaxref, sorted by unit, item, file.
Index A list of all the rules known by jmake. This file is located in the dist library
directory.
Jmakefile Generic makefile description used by jmake.
MANIFEST List of all the files to be included in the distribution. Usually a copy (not a link) of
MANIFEST.new.
MANIFEST.new List of all the files to be taken into account by the dist tools.
Makefile.SH The generated configured makefile (via Jmakefile) or hand-generated Makefile making use of
known metaconfig symbols.
Obsolete A list of obsolete symbol used and their new equivalents.
RCS Directory where RCS files are stored.
README Main file explaining how to build your package.
U Private unit directory.
Wanted File used by metaconfig, listing all the symbols used by the sources.
bugs Directory where patches are stored.
check.extra Extra files present in MANIFEST.new, generated by manicheck.
check.want Missing files from MANIFEST.new, generated by manicheck.
config_h.SH Generated config.h template.
confmagic.h Magic symbol remapping, activated via metaconfig's -M option.
hints This directory lists all the configuration hints for your package.
patchlevel.h File recording your package patch level, should not be part of MANIFEST.new, but may be
listed in MANIFEST, at your discretion.
users File recording the users of your package, generated by mailagent's package command (see
the MailAuthor.U unit and mailagent 3.0).
ENVIRONMENT
The following environment variable is paid attention to:
DIST Location of the dist profile, defaults to ~/.dist_profile. This variable is subject to
~name substitution, even if your shell does not support it.
AUTHORS
By chronological order:
Larry Wall <lwall@netlabs.com> (dist 2.0 in 1988)
Harlan Stenn <harlan@mumps.pfcs.com> (worked on dist 3.0 1990-1992)
Raphael Manfredi <ram@hptnos02.grenoble.hp.com> (dist 3.0 and integration 1991-1995)
Please look at the Credits file in the distribution source tree for a list of all the known contributors.
SEE ALSO
jmake(1), metaconfig(1), pat(1). ram DIST(7)