Re: common function handling in maintainer scripts
Stephen Gran <sgran@debian.org> schrieb:
> Hello all,
>
> I have a source package that generates multiple binary packages.
> Since the packages are similar in a lot of ways (config file structure,
> handling of config files, etc), I have a lot of functions that are the
> same in several maintainer scripts. Ideally, I would like to split them
> out into a common_functions file, and source it each time, instead of
> having lots of redundant code lying around.
>
> So, the binary packages include a -base, that all of the others using
> maintainer scripts Depend on.I know that I can source the common functions
> file in the postinst of all the other packages besides -base
For the teTeX-3.0 packages, I have taken a different approach, inspired
by Davide Salvetti's nice auctex package: All the maintainer scripts,
and even debian/rules, are created by e-Perl from their corresponding
preinst.in, postinst.in, rules.in, etc. files, and during this
generation process common.functions (and postrm.functions or
postinst.functions) are included. A file debian/variables is also
included, which allows me to define directories, lists of files to act
on, and similar, in a consistent way for all maintainer scripts of all
packages.
This means, of course, that all maintainer scripts ship a copy of each
function definition, sometimes without even using some of them. But on
the other hand I need not care about which script is run under which
circumstances. In particular, I can change variable definitions, like
adding/removing files, and I know that the right thing ends up in the
maintainer script. In your setup, I would have to make all packages
depend on the exact version of the -base package as soon as there is a
change in the common_functions file. Or at least check on every upload
whether this is needed.
You can look at this in the experimental packages from the tetex-base
source, or at
deb http://people.debian.org/~frank/teTeX-3.0 experimental main
deb-src http://people.debian.org/~frank/teTeX-3.0 experimental main
where you can also find tetex-bin (which is stuck in NEW). Or have a
look at the teTeX CVS at
http://cvs.debian.org/tetex-base/debian/?cvsroot=tetex&hideattic=0#dirlist
(the interesting files are all in the Attic, because sarge and sid have
only teTeX-2.0.2).
Regards, Frank
--
Frank Küster
Inst. f. Biochemie der Univ. Zürich
Debian Developer
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