Re: Help identify packages that multiarch support will break
Hi,
On Thu, 03 Mar 2011, Carsten Hey wrote:
> * Raphael Hertzog [2011-03-02 15:06 +0100]:
> > In general parsing the status file should not be done, instead you
> > should use dpkg-query.
>
> Is there any reason for this, except that the format of the status files
> will evolve?
dpkg-query will automatically respect DPKG_ADMINDIR if it's set (and it's
set in maintainer scripts). (this is a new feature in the upcoming version)
And the status file is not a public interface. It's a file used by dpkg.
If tomorrow dpkg supports an optional SQLite internal database through a
plugin, dpkg-query will continue to work but your access to the status
file will not. (This is unlikely to happen any time soon, but you get the
idea)
> > You should use "dpkg-query --control-path <package> <something>" to
>
> Jftr, there is a lot potential for performance improvements in
> dpkg-query, some queries can be done way faster even in gawk.
JFTR, there are also 300+ bugs in the BTS and we are two active developers
on dpkg.
dpkg-query is rarely used in performance sensitive situation, it's not
really my priority to improve it. But if you want to help, you're welcome.
Cheers,
--
Raphaël Hertzog ◈ Debian Developer
Follow my Debian News ▶ http://RaphaelHertzog.com (English)
▶ http://RaphaelHertzog.fr (Français)
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