xenial (1) debdiff.1.gz

Provided by: devscripts_2.16.2ubuntu3_amd64 bug

NAME

       debdiff - compare file lists in two Debian packages

SYNOPSIS

       debdiff [options]
       debdiff [options] ... deb1 deb2
       debdiff [options] ... changes1 changes2
       debdiff [options] ... --from deb1a deb1b ...  --to deb2a deb2b ...
       debdiff [options] ... dsc1 dsc2

DESCRIPTION

       debdiff  takes  the  names of two Debian package files (.debs or .udebs) on the command line and compares
       their contents (considering only the files in the main package, not the maintenance scripts).   It  shows
       which files have been introduced and which removed between the two package files, and is therefore useful
       for spotting files which may have been inadvertently lost between revisions  of  the  package.   It  also
       checks  the  file  owners  and  permissions, and compares the control files of the two packages using the
       wdiff program.  If you want a deeper comparison of two Debian package files you can  use  the  diffoscope
       tool.

       If  no arguments are given, debdiff tries to compare the content of the current source directory with the
       last version of the package.

       debdiff can also handle changes between groups of .deb files in two ways.  The first is  to  specify  two
       .changes files.  In this case, the .deb files listed in the .changes file will be compared, by taking the
       contents of all of the listed .deb files together.  (The .deb files listed are assumed to be in the  same
       directory as the .changes file.)  The second way is to list the .deb files of interest specifically using
       the --from ... --to syntax.  These both help if a package is broken up  into  smaller  packages  and  one
       wishes to ensure that nothing is lost in the interim.

       debdiff  examines  the  devscripts configuration files as described below.  Command line options override
       the configuration file settings, though.

       If debdiff is passed two source packages (.dsc  files)  it  will  compare  the  contents  of  the  source
       packages.   If the source packages differ only in Debian revision number (that is, the .orig.tar.gz files
       are the same in the two .dsc files), then interdiff(1) will be used to compare the  two  patch  files  if
       this program is available on the system, otherwise a diff will be performed between the two source trees.

OPTIONS

       --dirs, -d
              The  default  mode  of  operation  is to ignore directory names which appear in the file list, but
              they, too, will be considered if this option is given.

       --nodirs
              Ignore directory names which appear in the file list.  This is the default and it can be  used  to
              override a configuration file setting.

       --move FROM TO, -m FROM TO
              It  sometimes  occurs  that various files or directories are moved around between revisions.  This
              can be handled using this option.  There are two arguments, the first giving the location  of  the
              directory  or  file  in  the  first package, and the second in the second.  Any files in the first
              listing whose names begin with the first argument are treated as having that substituted  for  the
              second  argument  when  the file lists are compared.  Any number of --move arguments may be given;
              they are processed in the order in which they appear. This only affects comparing binary packages,
              not source packages.

       --move-regex FROM TO
              This  is  the  same  as  --move,  except that FROM is treated as a regular expression and the perl
              substitution command s/^FROM/TO/ is applied to the files.  In  particular,  TO  can  make  use  of
              backreferences such as $1.

       --nocontrol
              debdiff  will  usually  compare the respective control files of the packages using wdiff(1).  This
              option suppresses this part of the processing.

       --control
              Compare the respective control files; this is the default, and  it  can  be  used  to  override  a
              configuration file setting.

       --controlfiles FILE[,FILE ...]
              Specify  which  control  files  to  compare;  by  default  this is just control, but could include
              postinst, config and so on.  Files will only be compared if they are present in both  .debs  being
              compared.   The  special value ALL compares all control files present in both packages, except for
              md5sums.  This option can be used to override a configuration file setting.

       --wdiff-source-control
              When processing source packages, compare control files using wdiff.  Equivalent to  the  --control
              option for binary packages.

       --no-wdiff-source-control
              Do not compare control files in source packages using wdfiff.  This is the default.

       --wp, --wl, --wt
              Pass a -p, -l or -t option to wdiff respectively.  (This yields the whole wdiff output rather than
              just the lines with any changes.)

       --show-moved
              If multiple .deb files are specified on the command line,  either  using  .changes  files  or  the
              --from/--to  syntax,  then  this  option  will  also  show which files (if any) have moved between
              packages.  (The package names are simply determined from the names of the .deb files.)

       --noshow-moved
              The default behaviour; can be used to override a configuration file setting.

       --renamed FROM TO
              If --show-moved is being used and a  package  has  been  renamed  in  the  process,  this  command
              instructs  debdiff  to  treat  the  package in the first list called FROM as if it were called TO.
              Multiple uses of this option are permitted.

       --exclude PATTERN
              Exclude files that match PATTERN.  Multiple uses of this option are permitted.

       --diffstat
              Include the result of diffstat before the generated diff.

       --no-diffstat
              The default behaviour; can be used to override a configuration file setting.

       --auto-ver-sort
              When comparing source packages, do so in version order.

       --no-auto-ver-sort
              Compare source packages in the order they were passed on the  command-line,  even  if  that  means
              comparing  a  package with a higher version against one with a lower version.  This is the default
              behaviour.

       --unpack-tarballs
              When comparing source packages, also unpack tarballs found in the top level  source  directory  to
              compare their contents along with the other files.  This is the default behaviour.

       --no-unpack-tarballs
              Do not unpack tarballs inside source packages.

       --no-conf, --noconf
              Do  not  read  any  configuration  files.   This can only be used as the first option given on the
              command-line.

       --debs-dir directory
              Look for the .dsc files in directory instead of the parent of the source directory.   This  should
              either be an absolute path or relative to the top of the source directory.

       --help, -h
              Show a summary of options.

       --version, -v
              Show version and copyright information.

       --quiet, -q
              Be quiet if no differences were found.

       --ignore-space, -w
              Ignore whitespace in diffs.

CONFIGURATION VARIABLES

       The  two  configuration files /etc/devscripts.conf and ~/.devscripts are sourced by a shell in that order
       to set configuration variables.  Command  line  options  can  be  used  to  override  configuration  file
       settings.   Environment  variable  settings  are  ignored  for  this  purpose.   The currently recognised
       variables are:

       DEBDIFF_DIRS
              If this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --dirs command line parameter being used.

       DEBDIFF_CONTROL
              If this is set to no, then it is the same as the --nocontrol command line  parameter  being  used.
              The default is yes.

       DEBDIFF_CONTROLFILES
              Which  control  files  to  compare,  corresponding to the --controlfiles command line option.  The
              default is control.

       DEBDIFF_SHOW_MOVED
              If this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --show-moved command line parameter being used.

       DEBDIFF_WDIFF_OPT
              This option will be passed to wdiff; it should be one of -p, -l or -t.

       DEBDIFF_SHOW_DIFFSTAT
              If this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --diffstat command line parameter being used.

       DEBDIFF_WDIFF_SOURCE_CONTROL
              If this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --wdiff-source-control  command  line  parameter
              being used.

       DEBDIFF_AUTO_VER_SORT
              If  this  is  set  to yes, then it is the same as the --auto-ver-sort command line parameter being
              used.

       DEBDIFF_UNPACK_TARBALLS
              If this is set to no, then it is the same as the --no-unpack-tarballs command line parameter being
              used.

       DEBRELEASE_DEBS_DIR
              This  specifies  the  directory in which to look for the .dsc and files, and is either an absolute
              path or relative to the top of the source tree.  This corresponds to the --debs-dir  command  line
              option.  This directive could be used, for example, if you always use pbuilder or svn-buildpackage
              to build your packages.  Note that it also affects  debrelease(1)  in  the  same  way,  hence  the
              strange name of the option.

EXIT VALUES

       Normally  the exit value will be 0 if no differences are reported and 1 if any are reported.  If there is
       some fatal error, the exit code will be 255.

SEE ALSO

       diffstat(1), dpkg-deb(1), interdiff(1), wdiff(1), devscripts.conf(5), diffoscope(1)

AUTHOR

       debdiff was originally written as a shell script by Yann Dirson <dirson@debian.org> and rewritten in Perl
       with  many  more  features  by  Julian Gilbey <jdg@debian.org>.  The software may be freely redistributed
       under the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License, version 2.