Ubuntu Manpage: sort-dctrl - sort Debian control files

NAME

       sort-dctrl - sort Debian control files

SYNOPSIS

       sort-dctrl [options] [ file ...  ]

       sort-dctrl --copying | --help | --version | -ChV

DESCRIPTION

The sort-dctrl program sorts Debian control files according to specified criteria.

A Debian control (dctrl) file is a semistructured single-table database stored in a
machine-parseable text file. Such a database consists of a set of records; each record is
a mapping from field names to field content. Textually, records are separated by empty
lines, while each field is encoded as one or more nonempty lines inside a record. A field
starts with its name, followed by a colon, followed by the field content. The colon must
reside on the first line of the field, and the first line must start with no whitespace.
Subsequent lines, in contrast, always start with linear whitespace (one or more space or
tab characters).

The sort-dctrl program recognizes two field types: string fields and version fields.
Version fields act also as numeric fields. String fields are compared according to strict
lexicographical octet-by-octet comparison, after ignoring any initial whitespace after the
colon. Version fields are parsed and compared as Debian version numbers. When comparing
version numbers, if a field content does not in fact conform to the version number syntax,
it compares less than any field content that does conform, and equal to any other
nonconforming field content. The sort-dctrl program assumes all fields are string fields
unless told otherwise.

You can specify arbitrary number of keys for sorting, using the -k option. The keys are
interpreted in a descending order of priority: the first key specified is primary, the
second key specified is secondary, and so on. If two records compare equal under the
primary key, then they are compared under the secondary key, and so on. If no keys are
specified, a default key is assumed (the "Package" field with no modifiers).

OPTIONS

-k keyspec, --key-spec=keyspec
Specify one or more keys for sorting. You may specify this option any number of
times. The keyspec argument consists of a comma-separated list of key
specifications. Each key specification consists of the name of the field that
serves as the key, optionally followed by a colon and key modifiers. The following
key modifiers are supported:

r Invert the comparison for this key, reversing the sorting order.

v Treat this field as a version number field.

n Treat this field as numeric, which currently is synonymous with v.

-q, --quiet, --silent
Output nothing to the standard output stream. Instead, exit immediately after
finding the first match.

-l level, --errorlevel=level
Set log level to level. level is one of fatal, important, informational and debug,
but the last may not be available, depending on the compile-time options. These
categories are given here in order; every message that is emitted when fatal is in
effect, will be emitted in the important error level, and so on. The default is
important.

-V, --version
Print out version information.

-C, --copying
Print out the copyright license. This produces much output; be sure to redirect or
pipe it somewhere (such as your favourite pager).

-h, --help
Print out a help summary.

EXAMPLES

       Here are some sample invocations of the program:

       sort-dctrl /var/lib/dpkg/available
              Output the dpkg available file sorted by the package name.

       sort-dctrl -k Version:v /var/lib/dpkg/available
              Output the dpkg available file sorted in ascending order of version numbers.

       sort-dctrl -k Version:vr /var/lib/dpkg/available
              Output the dpkg available file sorted in descending order of version numbers.

       sort-dctrl -k Package,Version:v /var/lib/dpkg/available
              Output the dpkg available file sorted primarily in ascending order of package names
              and secondarily in descending order of version numbers.

       sort-dctrl -k Installed-Size:n,Size:nr /var/lib/dpkg/available
              Output the dpkg available file sorted primarily in ascending order of  installation
              sizes and secondarily in descending order of package sizes.

AUTHOR