swpackage(5)

Contents

NAME

       swpackage -- file formats

SYNOPSIS

       Output format - Data Interchange Formats
       Input format - Product Specification File (PSF)

SWPACKAGE OUTPUT FORMAT

       The output format is either one of two formats specified in POSIX.1
       (ISO/IEC 9945-1) which are tar (header magic=ustar) or cpio (header
       magic=070707).  The default format of the swbis implementation is
       "ustar".  The POSIX spec under specifies definitions for some of the
       ustar header fields.  The personality of the default swbis ustar format
       mimics GNU tar 1.15.1 and is designed to be compliant to POSIX.1.  The
       personality of the "ustar0" format mimics, for pathnames less than 99
       octets,  GNU tar 1.13.25 using the "-b1 --posix" options.  This bit-
       for-bit sameness does not exist for pathnames greater than 99 chars as
       swbis follows the POSIX spec and GNU tar 1.13.25 does not.  The
       "ustar0" ustar personality is deprecated.  It is only slightly
       different from 'ustar' in how device number fields are filled (with
       spaces, zeros or NULs) for non-device files.

       In addition the swbis implementation supports several other tar
       variants including bit-for-bit mimicry of GNU tar (1.13.25) default
       format which uses a non-standard name split and file type (type 'L').
       This format is known as '--format=oldgnu'.  Also supported is the gnu
       format of GNU tar 1.15.1 specified by '--format=gnu'

       The defacto cpio formats are also supported.  "new ASCII" (sometimes
       called SVR4 cpio) and "crc" cpio formats with header magic "070701" and
       "070702" respectively.

       Support for "pax Interchange Format" (Extended header tar) described in
       IEEE 1003.1-2001 under the "pax" manual page has been implemented for
       POSIX file attributes as of release 1.12 (c Aug2014).  The 'swpackage'
       utility will generate extended headers on an as needed basis when the
       --format=pax is used.  Support for POSIX ACL and SELinux attributes is
       planned.

       The entirety of the output byte stream is a single valid file of one
       the formats mentioned above.

       The swbis implementation writes its output to stdout.  The default
       output block size is 10240 bytes.  The last block is not padded and
       therefore the last write(2) may be a short write.  The selected block
       size does not affect the output file contents.

       The swbis implementation is biased, in terms of capability and default
       settings, to the tar format.  Package signing is only supported in tar
       format.

SWPACKAGE INPUT FILE FORMAT

       The input file is called a product specification file or PSF.  It
       contains information to direct swpackage and information that is
       package meta-data [that is merely transferred unchanged into the global
       INDEX file].

       A PSF may contain object keywords, attributes (keyword/value pairs) and
       Extended Definitions (described below).  An object keyword connotes a
       logical object (i.e. software structure) supported by the standard.  An
       object keyword does not have a value field after it, as it contains
       Attributes and Extended Definitions.  An attribute keyword conotes an
       attribute which is always in the form of a keyword/value pair.

       Attribute keywords not recognized by the standard are allowed and are
       transferred into the INDEX file.  Object keywords not recognized by the
       standard are not allowed and will generate an error.  Extended
       Definitions may only appear in a PSF (never in a INDEX or INFO created
       by swpackage).  Extended Definitions are translated [by swpackage] into
       object keywords (objects) and attributes recognized by the standard.

       Comments in a PSF are not transferred into the INDEX file by the swbis
       implementation of swpackage.

       The file syntax is the same as a INDEX, or INFO file.  A PSF may
       contain all objects defined by the standard as well as extended
       definitions.

       For additional information see
       XDSA C701 http://www.opengroup.org/publications/catalog/c701.htm, or
       sw manual page.

   EXTENDED DEFINITIONS
       A Product Specification File (PSF) can contain Extended Definitions in
       the fileset, product or bundle software definitions.  They would have
       the same level or containment relationship as a file or control_file
       definition in the same contaning object.

       Extended Definitions represent a minimal, expressive form for
       specifying files and file attributes.  Their use in a PSF is optional
       in that an equivalent PSF can be constructed without using them,
       however, their use is encouraged for the sake of brevity and
       orthogonality.

       The swbis implementation requires that no [ordinary] attributes appear
       after Extended Definitions in the containing object, and, requires that
       Extended Definitions appear before logically contained objects.  That
       is, the parser uses the next object keyword to syntacticly and
       logically terminate the current object even if the current object has
       logically contained objects.

   o  Extended Control File Definitions
            checkinstall  source  [path]
            preinstall    source  [path]
            postinstall   source  [path]
            verify        source  [path]
            fix           source  [path]
            checkremove   source  [path]
            preremove     source  [path]
            postremove    source  [path]
            configure     source  [path]
            unconfigure   source  [path]
            request       source  [path]
            unpreinstall  source  [path]
            unpostinstall source  [path]
            space         source  [path]
            control_file  source  [path]

       The source attribute defines the location in distributors's development
       system where the swpackage utility will find the script.  The keyword
       is the value of the tag attribute and tells the utilities when to
       execute the script.  The path attribute is optional and specifies the
       file name in the packages distribution relative to the
       control_directory for software containing the script. If not given the
       tag value is used as the filename.

   o  Directory Mapping
          directory  source  [destination]

       Applies the source attribute as the directory under which the
       subsequently listed files are located.  If destination is defined it
       will be used as a prefix to the path (implied) file definition.  source
       is typically a temporary or build location and dest is its unrealized
       absolute pathname destination.

   o  Recursive File Definition
         file *

       Specifies every file in current source directory.  The directory
       extended definition must be used before the recursive specification.

   o  Explicit File Definition
         file [-t type] [-m mode] [-o owner[,uid]] [-g group[,gid]] [-n] [-v] source [path]

       source


              source defines the pathname of the file to be used as the source
              of file data and/or attributes.  If it is a relative path, then
              swpackage searches for this file relative to the the source
              argument of the directory keyword, if set.  If directory keyword
              is not set then the search is relative to the current working
              directory of the swpackage utility's invocation.

              All attributes for the destination file are taken from the
              source file, unless a file_permissions keyword is active, or the
              -m, -o, or -g options are also included in the file
              specification.

       path

              path defines the destination path where the file will be created
              or installed.  If it is a relative path, then the destination
              path of the of the directory keyword must be active and will be
              used as the path prefix.  If path is not specified then source
              is used as the value of path and directory mapping applied (if
              active).

       -t type

              type may one of 'd' (directory), or  'h' (hard link), or 's'
              (symbolic link).

              -t d  Create a directory.
              If path is not specified source is used as the path attribute.

              -t h  Create a hard link.
              path and source are specified.  source is used as the value of
              the link_source attribute, and path is the value of the path
              attribute.

              -t s  Create a symbolic link.
              path and source are specified.  source is used as the value of
              the link_source attribute, and path is the value of the path
              attribute.

       -m mode

              mode defines the octal mode for the file.

   o  Default Permission Definition
         file_permissions [-m mode] [-u umask] [-o [owner[,]][uid]] [-g [group[,]][gid]]

       Applies to subsequently listed file definitions in a fileset.  These
       attributes will apply where the file attributes were not specified
       explicitly in a file definition.  Subsequent file_permissions
       definitions simply replace previous definitions (resetting all the
       options).

       To reset the file_permission state (i.e. turn it off) use one of the
       following:
           file_permissions ""
            or the preferred way is
           file_permissions -u 000

   o  Excluding Files
          exclude source

       Excludes a previously included file or an entire directory.

   o  Including Files
          include <filename

       The contents of filename may be more definitions for files.  The syntax
       of the included file is PSF syntax.


   SWBIS PSF CONVENTIONS
       This section describes attribute usage and conventions imposed by the
       swbis implementation.  Not all attributes are listed here.  Those that
       are have important effects or particular interest.

   o Distribution Attributes
       The standard defines a limited set of attributes for the distribution
       object.  An expanded set is suggested by the informative annex however
       a conforming implementation is not required act on them.  The reason
       for this is a distribution may be acted upon by a conforming utility in
       such a way that attributes of the distribution become invalid.  For
       this reason, some attributes that refer to an entire "package" [in
       other package managers] are referred from the product object and attain
       their broadened scope by the distributor's convention that their
       distribution contains just one product.

       For example, the package NAME and VERSION are referred from the product
       tag and revision, not the distribution's.  This convention supports
       multiple products in a distribution and is consistent with the
       standard.

       tag

              tag is the short, file system friendly, name of the
              distribution.  Providing a distribution tag is optional.  The
              swbis implementation will use this as the [single] path name
              prefix if there is no distribution.control_directory attribute.
              A distribution tag attribute and swpackage's response to it is
              an implementation extension.  The leading package path can also
              be controlled with the ''-W dir'' option.


       control_directory

              control_directory, in a distribution object, is the constant
              leading package path.  Providing this attribute is optional.  A
              distribution control_directory attribute and swpackage's
              response to it is an implementation extension.  The leading
              package path can also be controlled with the ''-W dir'' option.
              This attribute will be generated by swpackage if not set in a
              PSF.


   o Bundle Attributes
       A bundle defines a collection of products whether or not the
       distribution has all the products present.

       tag

              tag is the short, file system friendly, name of the bundle.
              This value is used by the swbis implementation as a path name
              component in the installed software catalog.  If it is not
              present the product tag is used.


   o Product Attributes
       A product defines the software product.

       tag

              tag is the short, file system friendly, name of the product.
              This value is used by the swbis implementation as a path name
              component in the installed software catalog.  It is required.
              The swbis implementation uses it in a way that is analogous to
              the RPMTAG_NAME attribute, namely as the public recognizable
              name of the package.


       control_directory

              Is the directory name in the distribution under which the
              product contents are located.  This value has no affect on the
              installed software catalog.  If it is not given in a PSF then
              the tag is used.


       revision

              Is the product revision.  It should not contain a "RELEASE"
              attribute part or other version suffix modifiers.  This value is
              used by the swbis implementation as a path name component in the
              installed software catalog.  It is required by swinstall.


       vendor_tag

              This is a short identifying name of the distributor that
              supplied the product and may associate (refer to) a vendor
              object from the INDEX file that has a matching tag attribute.
              This attribute is optional.  This attribute value should strive
              to be unique among all distributors. The swbis implementation
              modifies the intended usage slightly as a string that strives to
              be globally unique for a given product.tag and product.revision.
              In this capacity it serves to distinguish products with the same
              revision and tag from the same or different distributor.  It
              most closely maps to the RPMTAG_RELEASE or "debian_revision"
              attributes.  It is one of the version distinguishing attributes
              of a product specified by the standard.  It is transfered into
              the installed_software catalog (not as a path name component) by
              swinstall.  If this attribute exists there should also be a
              vendor object in the PSF in the distribution object that has
              this tag.  This attribute is assigned the value of
              RPMTAG_RELEASE by swpackage when translating an RPM.


       architecture

              This string is one of the version attributes.  It is used to
              disambiguate products that have the same tag, revision and
              vendor_tag.  It is not used for determining a products
              compatibility with a host.  The form is implementation defined.
              swbis uses the output of GNU config.guess as the value of this
              string.  A wildcard pattern should not be used.  The canonical
              swbis architecture string can be listed with swlist. For example

              swlist -a architecture @ localhost

               Here are some example outputs from real systems.

                  System      `uname -srm`              architecture
              Red Hat 8.0:  Linux 2.4.18 i686        i686-pc-linux-gnu
              OpenSolaris:  SunOS 5.11 i86pc         i386-pc-solaris2.11
              NetBSD 3.1:   NetBSD 3.1 i386          i386-unknown-netbsdelf3.1
              Red Hat 4.1:  Linux 2.0.36 i586        i586-pc-linux-gnulibc1
              Debian 3.1:   Linux 2.6.8-2-386 i686   i686-pc-linux-gnu

       os_name os_release os_version machine_type

              These attributes are used to determine compatibility with a
              host.  They correspond to the uname attributes defined by
              POSIX.1.  If an value is nil or non-existent it is assumed to
              match the host.  All attributes must match for there to be
              compatibility.  Distributors may wish to make these values a
              shell pattern in their PSF's so to match the intended collection
              of hosts.  swbis uses fnmatch (with FLAGS=0) to determine a
              match.


   o Fileset Attributes
       A fileset defines the fileset.

       tag

              tag is the short, file system friendly, name of the fileset.  It
              is required although selection of filesets is  not yet supported
              therefore the end user will have little to do with the fileset
              tag.

       control_directory

              Is the directory name in the product under which the fileset
              contents are located.  This value has no affect on the installed
              software catalog.  If it is not given in a PSF then the tag is
              used.

   o Example Source Package PSF
       This PSF packages every file is current directory. It uses nil control
       directories so the package structure does not change relative to a
       vanilla tarball.

        distribution
          description "fooit - a program from fooware
       that does everything."
          title "fooit - a really cool program"
          COPYING < /usr/local/fooware/legalstuff/COPYING
        vendor
          the_term_vendor_is_misleading false
          tag fooware
          title fooware Consultancy Services, Inc.
          description ""
        vendor
          the_term_vendor_is_misleading true
          tag myfixes1
          title Bug fixes, Set 1
          description "a place for more detailed description"
        product
          tag fooit
          control_directory ""
          revision 1.0
          vendor_tag myfixes1  # Matches the vendor object above
        fileset
           tag fooit-SOURCE
           control_directory ""
           directory .
           file *
           exclude catalog

   o Example Runtime (Binary) Package PSF
       This is a sample PSF for a runtime package.  It implies multiple
       products (e.g. sub-packages) using the bundle.contents attribute.
       Since the bundle and product tags exist in a un-regulated namespace and
       are seen by end users they should be carefully chosen.   Note that the
       bundle and product have the same tag which may force downstream users
       to disambiguate using software selection syntax such as fooit,bv=* or
       fooit,pv=* .

        distribution
          description "fooit - a program from fooware
       that does everything."
          title "fooit - a really cool program"
          COPYING < /usr/local/fooware/legalstuff/COPYING

            vendor
               the_term_vendor_is_misleading false
               tag fooware
               title fooware Consultancy Services, Inc.
               description "Provider of the programs
        that do everything"

            vendor
               the_term_vendor_is_misleading true
                tag fw0
                title fooware fixes
                description "More fixes from the fooware users"

       #  Bundle definition:  Use a bundle
            bundle
                tag fooit
                vendor_tag fooware
                contents fooit,v=fw0 fooit-devel fooit-doc

       #  Product definition:
            product
                tag fooit   # This is the package name
                revision 1.0 # This is the package version
                vendor_tag fw0 # This is a release name e.g. RPMTAG_RELEASE
                postinstall scripts/postinstall
            fileset
                 tag fooit-RUN
                 file doc/man/man1/fooit.1 /usr/man/man1/fooit.1
                 file src/fooit /usr/bin/fooit

APPLICABLE STANDARDS

       POSIX.1, IEEE Std 1387.2-1995 (Identical to ISO 15068-2:1999), Open
       Group CAE C701.

SEE ALSO

        XDSA C701 http://www.opengroup.org/publications/catalog/c701.htm
        info swbis
        sw(5)
        swpackage(8)
        swbisparse(1) -- An implementation extension parser utility.

IDENTIFICATION

        Copyright (C) 2004,2005 Jim Lowe
        Version: 1.13
        Last Updated: 2006-07-01
        Copying Terms: GNU Free Documentation License

BUGS

       None



                                                                  swpackage(5)