debdiff - Online in the Cloud

PROGRAM:

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.

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