dpkg -s and architecture

[Dale Scheetz <dwarf@polaris.net>]

I have been working on a script to do an ordered upgrade of the base
packages and have run into several snags.
In order to decide whether a package has already been installed, I check
with dpkg -s to get the version, tack it onto the path and package name,
add the .deb to create a string I can compare with the file name of the
package in the archive.
The introduction of the architecture into the package file name has
complicated this comparison. I have been able to work around it by having
two strings to check: /path/package-ver.deb and
/path/package-ver.i386.deb. I also realize that the i386 portion of the
name is only for my architecture. I could use the print-architecture
feature of dpkg to get this right on other machines, but this really
doesn't really fix it.
Is it possible for dpkg to report architecture (and possibly section) with
a dpkg -s? On the other hand, is there anywhere now, that the full content
of the package control file is kept for reference?

TIA,

Dwarf

------------                                          --------------

aka   Dale Scheetz                   Phone:   1 (904) 877-0257
      Flexible Software              Fax:     NONE 
      Black Creek Critters           e-mail:  dwarf@polaris.net

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