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 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.
--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.
--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.
--no-conf, --noconf
Do not read any configuration files. This can only be used as the
first option given on the command-line.
--help, -h
Show a summary of options.
--version, -v
Show version and copyright information.
--quiet, -q
Be quiet if no differences were found.
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.
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 non-zero, and will depend upon the type of error encountered: if it
was an external error, then it will be the exit code of that program,
else it should be 255.
debdiff was originally written as a shell script by Yann Dirson
<[email protected]> and rewritten in Perl with many more features by
Julian Gilbey <[email protected]>. The software may be freely
redistributed under the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public
License, version 2.
