Bug#571776: document symbols
Okay, once more for the win. Here is the current version of the patch,
incorporating substantial improvements from Jonathan Nieder and hopefully
incorporating all the feedback in subsequent discussion.
I'm looking for seconds so that we can finally merge this monster.
Presented as a diff since that was the request last time, but the branch
has also been pushed to the Policy Git repository, so if you want to
review it various other ways, you can start at:
http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=dbnpolicy/policy.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/bug571776-rra
or with a Policy Git checkout and look at the bug571776-rra branch.
diff --git a/policy.sgml b/policy.sgml
index 8c654d1..fa1c39a 100644
--- a/policy.sgml
+++ b/policy.sgml
@@ -889,10 +889,11 @@ zope.
Among those files are the package maintainer scripts
and <file>control</file>, the <qref id="binarycontrolfiles">binary
package control file</qref> that contains the control fields for
- the package. Other control information files
- include <qref id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps">the <file>shlibs</file>
- file</qref> used to store shared library dependency information
- and the <file>conffiles</file> file that lists the package's
+ the package. Other control information files include
+ the <qref id="sharedlibs-symbols"><file>symbols</file> file</qref>
+ or <qref id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps"><file>shlibs</file> file</qref>
+ used to store shared library dependency information and
+ the <file>conffiles</file> file that lists the package's
configuration files (described in <ref id="config-files">).
</p>
@@ -5633,17 +5634,29 @@ Built-Using: grub2 (= 1.99-9), loadlin (= 1.6e-1)
be placed in a package named
<package><var>libraryname</var><var>soversion</var></package>,
where <var>soversion</var> is the version number in
- the <tt>SONAME</tt> of the shared library.
- See <ref id="shlibs"> for detailed information on how to
- determine this version. Alternatively, if it would be confusing
- to directly append <var>soversion</var>
- to <var>libraryname</var> (if, for example, <var>libraryname</var>
- itself ends in a number), you should use
+ the <tt>SONAME</tt> of the shared library. Alternatively, if it
+ would be confusing to directly append <var>soversion</var>
+ to <var>libraryname</var> (if, for
+ example, <var>libraryname</var> itself ends in a number), you
+ should use
<package><var>libraryname</var>-<var>soversion</var></package>
instead.
</p>
<p>
+ To determine the <var>soversion</var>, look at
+ the <tt>SONAME</tt> of the library, stored in the
+ ELF <tt>SONAME</tt> attribute. it is usually of the
+ form <tt><var>name</var>.so.<var>major-version</var></tt> (for
+ example, <tt>libz.so.1</tt>). The version part is the part
+ which comes after <tt>.so.</tt>, so in that example it
+ is <tt>1</tt>. The soname may instead be of the
+ form <tt><var>name</var>-<var>major-version</var>.so</tt>, such
+ as <tt>libdb-5.1.so</tt>, in which case the name would
+ be <tt>libdb</tt> and the version would be <tt>5.1</tt>.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
If you have several shared libraries built from the same source
tree, you may lump them all together into a single shared
library package provided that all of their <tt>SONAME</tt>s will
@@ -5678,9 +5691,8 @@ Built-Using: grub2 (= 1.99-9), loadlin (= 1.6e-1)
linked against the old shared library. Correct versioning of
dependencies on the newer shared library by binaries that use
the new interfaces is handled via
- the <qref id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps"><tt>shlibs</tt>
- system</qref> or via symbols files (see
- <manref name="deb-symbols" section="5">).
+ the <qref id="sharedlibs-depends"><tt>symbols</tt>
+ or <tt>shlibs</tt> system</qref>.
</p>
<p>
@@ -5949,361 +5961,889 @@ Built-Using: grub2 (= 1.99-9), loadlin (= 1.6e-1)
</p>
</sect>
- <sect id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps">
- <heading>Dependencies between the library and other packages -
- the <tt>shlibs</tt> system</heading>
+ <sect id="sharedlibs-depends">
+ <heading>Dependencies between the library and other
+ packages</heading>
<p>
If a package contains a binary or library which links to a
- shared library, we must ensure that when the package is
- installed on the system, all of the libraries needed are
- also installed. This requirement led to the creation of the
- <tt>shlibs</tt> system, which is very simple in its design:
- any package which <em>provides</em> a shared library also
- provides information on the package dependencies required to
- ensure the presence of this library, and any package which
- <em>uses</em> a shared library uses this information to
- determine the dependencies it requires. The files which
- contain the mapping from shared libraries to the necessary
- dependency information are called <file>shlibs</file> files.
+ shared library, we must ensure that, when the package is
+ installed on the system, all of the libraries needed are also
+ installed. These dependencies must be added to the binary
+ package when it is built, since they may change based on which
+ version of a shared library the binary or library was linked
+ with even if there are no changes to the source of the binary
+ (for example, symbol versions change, macros become functions or
+ vice versa, or the binary package may determine at compile-time
+ whether new library interfaces are available and can be called).
+ To allow these dependencies to be constructed, shared libraries
+ must provide either a <file>symbols</file> file or
+ a <file>shlibs</file> file. These provide information on the
+ package dependencies required to ensure the presence of
+ interfaces provided by this library. Any package with binaries
+ or libraries linking to a shared library must use these files to
+ determine the required dependencies when it is built. Other
+ packages which use a shared library (for example using
+ <tt>dlopen()</tt>) should compute appropriate dependencies
+ using these files at build time as well.
</p>
<p>
- When a package is built which contains any shared libraries, it
- must provide a <file>shlibs</file> file for other packages to
- use. When a package is built which contains any shared
- libraries or compiled binaries, it must run
- <qref id="pkg-dpkg-shlibdeps"><prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn></qref>
- on these to determine the libraries used and hence the
- dependencies needed by this package.<footnote>
- <p>
+ The two mechanisms differ in the degree of detail that they
+ provide. A <file>symbols</file> file documents, for each symbol
+ exported by a library, the minimal version of the package any
+ binary using this symbol will need. This is typically the
+ version of the package in which the symbol was introduced. This
+ information permits detailed analysis of the symbols used by a
+ particular package and construction of an accurate dependency,
+ but it requires the package maintainer to track more information
+ about the shared library.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ A <file>shlibs</file> file, in contrast, only documents the last
+ time the library ABI changed in any way. It only provides
+ information about the library as a whole, not individual
+ symbols. When a package is built using a shared library with
+ only a <file>shlibs</file> file, the generated dependency will
+ require a version of the shared library equal to or newer than
+ the version of the last ABI change. This generates
+ unnecessarily restrictive dependencies compared
+ to <file>symbols</file> files if none of the symbols used by the
+ package have changed. This, in turn, may make upgrades
+ needlessly complex and unnecessarily restrict use of the package
+ on systems with older versions of the shared libraries.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <file>shlibs<file> files also only support a limited range of
+ library SONAMEs, making it difficult to use <file>shlibs</file>
+ files in some unusual corner cases.<footnote>
+ A <file>shlibs</file> file represents an SONAME as a library
+ name and version number, such as <tt>libfoo VERSION</tt>,
+ instead of recording the actual SONAME. If the SONAME doesn't
+ match one of the two expected formats
+ (<tt>libfoo-VERSION.so</tt> or <tt>libfoo.so.VERSION</tt>), it
+ cannot be represented.
+ </footnote>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <file>symbols</file> files are therefore recommended for most
+ shared library packages since they provide more accurate
+ dependencies. For most C libraries, the additional detail
+ required by <file>symbols</file> files is not too difficult to
+ maintain. However, maintaining exhaustive symbols information
+ for a C++ library can be quite onerous, so <file>shlibs</file>
+ files may be more appropriate for most C++ libraries. Libraries
+ with a corresponding udeb must also provide
+ a <file>shlibs</file> file, since the udeb infrastructure does
+ not use <file>symbols</file> files.
+ </p>
+
+ <sect1 id="dpkg-shlibdeps">
+ <heading>Generating dependencies on shared libraries</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ When a package that contains any shared libraries or compiled
+ binaries is built, it must run <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> on
+ each shared library and compiled binary to determine the
+ libraries used and hence the dependencies needed by the
+ package.<footnote>
<prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> will use a program
like <prgn>objdump</prgn> or <prgn>readelf</prgn> to find
- the libraries directly needed by the binaries or shared
- libraries in the package.
- </p>
+ the libraries and the symbols in those libraries directly
+ needed by the binaries or shared libraries in the package.
+ </footnote>
+ To do this, put a call to <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> into
+ your <file>debian/rules</file> file in the source package.
+ List all of the compiled binaries, libraries, or loadable
+ modules in your package.<footnote>
+ The easiest way to call <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>
+ correctly is to use a package helper framework such
+ as <package>debhelper</package>. If you are
+ using <package>debhelper</package>,
+ the <prgn>dh_shlibdeps</prgn> program will do this work for
+ you. It will also correctly handle multi-binary packages.
+ </footnote>
+ <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> will use the <file>symbols</file>
+ or <file>shlibs</file> files installed by the shared libraries
+ to generate dependency information. The package must then
+ provide a substitution variable into which the discovered
+ dependency information can be placed.
+ </p>
- <p>
- We say that a binary <tt>foo</tt> <em>directly</em> uses
- a library <tt>libbar</tt> if it is explicitly linked
- with that library (that is, the library is listed in the ELF
- <tt>NEEDED</tt> attribute, caused by adding <tt>-lbar</tt>
- to the link line when the binary is created). Other
- libraries that are needed by <tt>libbar</tt> are linked
- <em>indirectly</em> to <tt>foo</tt>, and the dynamic
- linker will load them automatically when it loads
- <tt>libbar</tt>. A package should depend on the libraries
- it directly uses, but not the libraries it indirectly uses.
- The dependencies for those libraries will automatically pull
- in the other libraries.
- </p>
+ <p>
+ If you are creating a udeb for use in the Debian Installer,
+ you will need to specify that <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>
+ should use the dependency line of type <tt>udeb</tt> by adding
+ the <tt>-tudeb</tt> option<footnote>
+ <prgn>dh_shlibdeps</prgn> from the <tt>debhelper</tt> suite
+ will automatically add this option if it knows it is
+ processing a udeb.
+ </footnote>. If there is no dependency line of
+ type <tt>udeb</tt> in the <file>shlibs</file>
+ file, <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> will fall back to the
+ regular dependency line.
+ </p>
- <p>
+ <p>
+ <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> puts the dependency information
+ into the <file>debian/substvars</file> file by default, which
+ is then used by <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>. You will need
+ to place a <tt>${shlibs:Depends}</tt> variable in
+ the <tt>Depends</tt> field in the control file of every binary
+ package built by this source package that contains compiled
+ binaries, libraries, or loadable modules. If you have
+ multiple binary packages, you will need to
+ call <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> on each one which contains
+ compiled libraries or binaries. For example, you could use
+ the <tt>-T</tt> option to the <tt>dpkg</tt> utilities to
+ specify a different <file>substvars</file> file for each
+ binary package.<footnote>
+ Again, <prgn>dh_shlibdeps</prgn>
+ and <prgn>dh_gencontrol</prgn> will handle everything except
+ the addition of the variable to the control file for you if
+ you're using <package>debhelper</package>, including
+ generating separate <file>substvars</file> files for each
+ binary package and calling <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> with
+ the appropriate flags.
+ </footnote>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ For more details on <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>,
+ see <manref name="dpkg-shlibdeps" section="1">.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ We say that a binary <tt>foo</tt> <em>directly</em> uses a
+ library <tt>libbar</tt> if it is explicitly linked with that
+ library (that is, the library is listed in the
+ ELF <tt>NEEDED</tt> attribute, caused by adding <tt>-lbar</tt>
+ to the link line when the binary is created). Other libraries
+ that are needed by <tt>libbar</tt> are
+ linked <em>indirectly</em> to <tt>foo</tt>, and the dynamic
+ linker will load them automatically when it
+ loads <tt>libbar</tt>. A package should depend on the
+ libraries it directly uses, but not the libraries it only uses
+ indirectly. The dependencies for the libraries used
+ directly will automatically pull in the indirectly-used
+ libraries. <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> will handle this logic
+ automatically, but package maintainers need to be aware of
+ this distinction between directly and indirectly using a
+ library if they have to override its results for some reason.
+ <footnote>
A good example of where this helps is the following. We
could update <tt>libimlib</tt> with a new version that
- supports a new graphics format called dgf (but retaining the
- same major version number) and depends on <tt>libdgf</tt>.
- If we used <prgn>ldd</prgn> to add dependencies for every
- library directly or indirectly linked with a binary, every
- package that uses <tt>libimlib</tt> would need to be
- recompiled so it would also depend on <tt>libdgf</tt> or it
- wouldn't run due to missing symbols. Since dependencies are
- only added based on ELF <tt>NEEDED</tt> attribute, packages
+ supports a new revision of a graphics format called dgf (but
+ retaining the same major version number) and depends on a
+ new library package <package>libdgf4</package> instead of
+ the older <package>libdgf3</package>. If we
+ used <prgn>ldd</prgn> to add dependencies for every library
+ directly or indirectly linked with a binary, every package
+ that uses <tt>libimlib</tt> would need to be recompiled so
+ it would also depend on <package>libdgf4</package> in order
+ to retire the older <package>libdgf3</package> package.
+ Since dependencies are only added based on
+ ELF <tt>NEEDED</tt> attribute, packages
using <tt>libimlib</tt> can rely on <tt>libimlib</tt> itself
- having the dependency on <tt>libdgf</tt> and so they would
- not need rebuilding.
- </p>
- </footnote>
- </p>
-
- <p>
- In the following sections, we will first describe where the
- various <tt>shlibs</tt> files are to be found, then how to
- use <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>, and finally the <tt>shlibs</tt>
- file format and how to create them if your package contains a
- shared library.
- </p>
-
- <sect1>
- <heading>The <tt>shlibs</tt> files present on the system</heading>
-
- <p>
- There are several places where <tt>shlibs</tt> files are
- found. The following list gives them in the order in which
- they are read by
- <qref id="pkg-dpkg-shlibdeps"><prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn></qref>.
- (The first one which gives the required information is used.)
- </p>
-
- <p>
- <list>
- <item>
- <p><file>debian/shlibs.local</file></p>
-
- <p>
- This lists overrides for this package. This file should
- normally not be used, but may be needed temporarily in
- unusual situations to work around bugs in other packages,
- or in unusual cases where the normally declared dependency
- information in the installed <file>shlibs</file> file for
- a library cannot be used. This file overrides information
- obtained from any other source.
- </p>
- </item>
-
- <item>
- <p><file>/etc/dpkg/shlibs.override</file></p>
-
- <p>
- This lists global overrides. This list is normally
- empty. It is maintained by the local system
- administrator.
- </p>
- </item>
-
- <item>
- <p><file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files in the "build directory"</p>
-
- <p>
- When packages are being built,
- any <file>debian/shlibs</file> files are copied into the
- control information file area of the temporary build
- directory and given the name <file>shlibs</file>. These
- files give details of any shared libraries included in the
- same package.<footnote>
- An example may help here. Let us say that the source
- package <tt>foo</tt> generates two binary
- packages, <tt>libfoo2</tt> and <tt>foo-runtime</tt>.
- When building the binary packages, the two packages are
- created in the directories <file>debian/libfoo2</file>
- and <file>debian/foo-runtime</file> respectively.
- (<file>debian/tmp</file> could be used instead of one of
- these.) Since <tt>libfoo2</tt> provides the
- <tt>libfoo</tt> shared library, it will require a
- <tt>shlibs</tt> file, which will be installed in
- <file>debian/libfoo2/DEBIAN/shlibs</file>, eventually to
- become <file>/var/lib/dpkg/info/libfoo2.shlibs</file>.
- When <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> is run on the
- executable <file>debian/foo-runtime/usr/bin/foo-prog</file>,
- it will examine
- the <file>debian/libfoo2/DEBIAN/shlibs</file> file to
- determine whether <tt>foo-prog</tt>'s library
- dependencies are satisfied by any of the libraries
- provided by <tt>libfoo2</tt>. For this reason,
- <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> must only be run once all of
- the individual binary packages' <tt>shlibs</tt> files
- have been installed into the build directory.
- </footnote>
- </p>
- </item>
-
- <item>
- <p><file>/var/lib/dpkg/info/*.shlibs</file></p>
-
- <p>
- These are the <file>shlibs</file> files corresponding to
- all of the packages installed on the system, and are
- maintained by the relevant package maintainers.
- </p>
- </item>
-
- <item>
- <p><file>/etc/dpkg/shlibs.default</file></p>
-
- <p>
- This file lists any shared libraries whose packages
- have failed to provide correct <file>shlibs</file> files.
- It was used when the <file>shlibs</file> setup was first
- introduced, but it is now normally empty. It is
- maintained by the <tt>dpkg</tt> maintainer.
- </p>
- </item>
- </list>
- </p>
- </sect1>
-
- <sect1>
- <heading>How to use <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> and the
- <file>shlibs</file> files</heading>
-
- <p>
- Put a call to
- <qref id="pkg-dpkg-shlibdeps"><prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn></qref>
- into your <file>debian/rules</file> file. If your package
- contains only compiled binaries and libraries (but no scripts),
- you can use a command such as:
- <example compact="compact">
-dpkg-shlibdeps debian/tmp/usr/bin/* debian/tmp/usr/sbin/* \
- debian/tmp/usr/lib/*
- </example>
- Otherwise, you will need to explicitly list the compiled
- binaries and libraries.<footnote>
- If you are using <tt>debhelper</tt>, the
- <prgn>dh_shlibdeps</prgn> program will do this work for you.
- It will also correctly handle multi-binary packages.
- </footnote>
- </p>
-
- <p>
- This command puts the dependency information into the
- <file>debian/substvars</file> file, which is then used by
- <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>. You will need to place a
- <tt>${shlibs:Depends}</tt> variable in the <tt>Depends</tt>
- field in the control file for this to work.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- If you have multiple binary packages, you will need to call
- <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> on each one which contains
- compiled libraries or binaries. In such a case, you will
- need to use the <tt>-T</tt> option to the <tt>dpkg</tt>
- utilities to specify a different <file>substvars</file> file.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- If you are creating a udeb for use in the Debian Installer,
- you will need to specify that <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>
- should use the dependency line of type <tt>udeb</tt> by
- adding the <tt>-tudeb</tt> option<footnote>
- <prgn>dh_shlibdeps</prgn> from the <tt>debhelper</tt> suite
- will automatically add this option if it knows it is
- processing a udeb.
- </footnote>. If there is no dependency line of
- type <tt>udeb</tt> in the <file>shlibs</file>
- file, <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> will fall back to the regular
- dependency line.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- For more details on <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>, please see
- <ref id="pkg-dpkg-shlibdeps"> and
- <manref name="dpkg-shlibdeps" section="1">.
- </p>
- </sect1>
-
- <sect1 id="shlibs">
- <heading>The <file>shlibs</file> File Format</heading>
-
- <p>
- Each <file>shlibs</file> file has the same format. Lines
- beginning with <tt>#</tt> are considered to be comments and
- are ignored. Each line is of the form:
- <example compact="compact">
-[<var>type</var>: ]<var>library-name</var> <var>soname-version</var> <var>dependencies ...</var>
- </example>
- </p>
-
- <p>
- We will explain this by reference to the example of the
- <tt>zlib1g</tt> package, which (at the time of writing)
- installs the shared library <file>/usr/lib/libz.so.1.1.3</file>.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- <var>type</var> is an optional element that indicates the type
- of package for which the line is valid. The only type currently
- in use is <tt>udeb</tt>. The colon and space after the type are
- required.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- <var>library-name</var> is the name of the shared library,
- in this case <tt>libz</tt>. (This must match the name part
- of the soname, see below.)
- </p>
-
- <p>
- <var>soname-version</var> is the version part of the soname of
- the library. The soname is the thing that must exactly match
- for the library to be recognized by the dynamic linker, and is
- usually of the form
- <tt><var>name</var>.so.<var>major-version</var></tt>, in our
- example, <tt>libz.so.1</tt>.<footnote>
- This can be determined using the command
- <example compact="compact">
-objdump -p /usr/lib/libz.so.1.1.3 | grep SONAME
+ having the dependency on an appropriate version
+ of <tt>libdgf</tt> and do not need rebuilding.
+ </footnote>
+ </p>
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="sharedlibs-updates">
+ <heading>Shared library ABI changes</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ Maintaining a shared library package using
+ either <file>symbols</file> or <file>shlibs</file> files
+ requires being aware of the exposed ABI of the shared library
+ and any changes to it. Both <file>symbols</file>
+ and <file>shlibs</file> files record every change to the ABI
+ of the shared library; <file>symbols</file> files do so per
+ public symbol, whereas <file>shlibs</file> files record only
+ the last change for the entire library.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ There are two types of ABI changes: ones that are
+ backward-compatible and ones that are not. An ABI change is
+ backward-compatible if any reasonable program or library that
+ was linked with the previous version of the shared library
+ will still work correctly with the new version of the shared
+ library.<footnote>
+ An example of an "unreasonable" program is one that uses
+ library interfaces that are documented as internal and
+ unsupported. If the only programs or libraries affected by
+ a change are "unreasonable" ones, other techniques, such as
+ declaring <tt>Breaks</tt> relationships with affected
+ packages or treating their usage of the library as bugs in
+ those packages, may be appropriate instead of changing the
+ SONAME. However, the default approach is to change the
+ SONAME for any change to the ABI that could break a program.
+ </footnote>
+ Adding new symbols to the shared library is a
+ backward-compatible change. Removing symbols from the shared
+ library is not. Changing the behavior of a symbol may or may
+ not be backward-compatible depending on the change; for
+ example, changing a function to accept a new enum constant not
+ previously used by the library is generally
+ backward-compatible, but changing the members of a struct that
+ is passed into library functions is generally not unless the
+ library takes special precautions to accept old versions of
+ the data structure.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ ABI changes that are not backward-compatible normally require
+ changing the <tt>SONAME</tt> of the library and therefore the
+ shared library package name, which forces rebuilding all
+ packages using that shared library to update their
+ dependencies and allow them to use the new version of the
+ shared library. For more information,
+ see <ref id="sharedlibs-runtime">. The remainder of this
+ section will deal with backward-compatible changes.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Backward-compatible changes require either updating or
+ recording the <var>minimal-version</var> for that symbol
+ in <file>symbols</file> files or updating the version in
+ the <var>dependencies</var> in <file>shlibs</file> files. For
+ more information on how to do this in the two formats, see
+ <ref id="symbols"> and <ref id="shlibs">. Below are general
+ rules that apply to both files.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ The easy case is when a public symbol is added. Simply add
+ the version at which the symbol was introduced
+ (for <file>symbols</file> files) or update the dependency
+ version (for <file>shlibs</file>) files. But special care
+ should be taken to update dependency versions when the
+ behavior of a public symbol changes. This is easy to neglect,
+ since there is no automated method of determining such
+ changes, but failing to update versions in this case may
+ result in binary packages with too-weak dependencies that will
+ fail at runtime, possibly in ways that can cause security
+ vulnerabilities. If the package maintainer believes that a
+ symbol behavior change may have occurred but isn't sure, it's
+ safer to update the version rather than leave it unmodified.
+ This may result in unnecessarily strict dependencies, but it
+ ensures that packages whose dependencies are satisfied will
+ work properly.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ A common example of when a change to the is required is a
+ function that takes an enum or struct argument that controls
+ what the function does. For example:
+ <example>
+ enum library_op { OP_FOO, OP_BAR };
+ int library_do_operation(enum library_op);
</example>
- </footnote>
- The version part is the part which comes after
- <tt>.so.</tt>, so in our case, it is <tt>1</tt>. The soname may
- instead be of the form
- <tt><var>name</var>-<var>major-version</var>.so</tt>, such
- as <tt>libdb-4.8.so</tt>, in which case the name would
- be <tt>libdb</tt> and the version would be <tt>4.8</tt>.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- <var>dependencies</var> has the same syntax as a dependency
- field in a binary package control file. It should give
- details of which packages are required to satisfy a binary
- built against the version of the library contained in the
- package. See <ref id="depsyntax"> for details.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- In our example, if the first version of the <tt>zlib1g</tt>
- package which contained a minor number of at least
- <tt>1.3</tt> was <var>1:1.1.3-1</var>, then the
- <tt>shlibs</tt> entry for this library could say:
- <example compact="compact">
-libz 1 zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.3)
- </example>
- The version-specific dependency is to avoid warnings from
- the dynamic linker about using older shared libraries with
- newer binaries.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- As zlib1g also provides a udeb containing the shared library,
- there would also be a second line:
- <example compact="compact">
-udeb: libz 1 zlib1g-udeb (>= 1:1.1.3)
- </example>
- </p>
- </sect1>
-
- <sect1>
- <heading>Providing a <file>shlibs</file> file</heading>
-
- <p>
- If your package provides a shared library, you need to create
- a <file>shlibs</file> file following the format described above.
- It is usual to call this file <file>debian/shlibs</file> (but if
- you have multiple binary packages, you might want to call it
- <file>debian/shlibs.<var>package</var></file> instead). Then
- let <file>debian/rules</file> install it in the control
- information file area:
- <example compact="compact">
-install -m644 debian/shlibs debian/tmp/DEBIAN
- </example>
- or, in the case of a multi-binary package:
- <example compact="compact">
-install -m644 debian/shlibs.<var>package</var> debian/<var>package</var>/DEBIAN/shlibs
- </example>
- An alternative way of doing this is to create the
- <file>shlibs</file> file in the control information file area
- directly from <file>debian/rules</file> without using
- a <file>debian/shlibs</file> file at all,<footnote>
- This is what <prgn>dh_makeshlibs</prgn> in
- the <package>debhelper</package> suite does. If your package
- also has a udeb that provides a shared
- library, <prgn>dh_makeshlibs</prgn> can automatically generate
- the <tt>udeb:</tt> lines if you specify the name of the udeb
- with the <tt>--add-udeb</tt> option.
- </footnote>
- since the <file>debian/shlibs</file> file itself is ignored by
- <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- As <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> reads the
- <file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files in all of the binary packages
- being built from this source package, all of the
- <file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files should be installed before
- <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> is called on any of the binary
- packages.
- </p>
- </sect1>
+ If a new operation, <tt>OP_BAZ</tt>, is added,
+ the <var>minimal-version</var>
+ of <tt>library_do_operation</tt> (for <file>symbols</file>
+ files) or the version in the dependency for the shared library
+ (for <file>shlibs</file> files) must be increased to the
+ version at which <tt>OP_BAZ</tt> was introduced. Otherwise, a
+ binary built against the new version of the library (having
+ detected at compile-time that the library
+ supports <tt>OP_BAZ</tt>) may be installed with a shared
+ library that doesn't support <tt>OP_BAZ</tt> and will fail at
+ runtime when it tries to pass <tt>OP_BAZ</tt> into this
+ function.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Dependency versions in either <file>symbols</file>
+ or <file>shlibs</file> files normally should not contain the
+ Debian revision of the package, since the library behavior is
+ normally fixed for a particular upstream version and any
+ Debian packaging of that upstream version will have the same
+ behavior. In the rare case that the library behavior was
+ changed in a particular Debian revision, appending <tt>~</tt>
+ to the end of the version that includes the Debian revision is
+ recommended, since this allows backports of the shared library
+ package using the normal backport versioning convention to
+ satisfy the dependency.
+ </p>
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="sharedlibs-symbols">
+ <heading>The <tt>symbols</tt> system</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ In the following sections, we will first describe where the
+ various <file>symbols</file> files are to be found, then
+ the <file>symbols</file> file format, and finally how to
+ create <file>symbols</file> files if your package contains a
+ shared library.
+ </p>
+
+ <sect2 id="symbols-paths">
+ <heading>The <file>symbols</file> files present on the
+ system</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ <file>symbols</file> files for a shared library are normally
+ provided by the shared library package as a control file,
+ but there are several override paths that are checked first
+ in case that information is wrong or missing. The following
+ list gives them in the order in which they are read
+ by <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> The first one that contains
+ the required information is used.
+ <list>
+ <item>
+ <p><file>debian/*/DEBIAN/symbols</file></p>
+
+ <p>
+ During the package build, if the package itself
+ contains shared libraries with <file>symbols</file>
+ files, they will be generated in these staging
+ directories by <prgn>dpkg-gensymbols</prgn>
+ (see <ref id="providing-symbols">). <file>symbols</file>
+ files found in the build tree take precedence
+ over <file>symbols</file> files from other binary
+ packages.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ These files must exist
+ before <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> is run or the
+ dependencies of binaries and libraries from a source
+ package on other libraries from that same source
+ package will not be correct. In practice, this means
+ that <prgn>dpkg-gensymbols</prgn> must be run
+ before <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> during the package
+ build.<footnote>
+ An example may clarify. Suppose the source
+ package <tt>foo</tt> generates two binary
+ packages, <tt>libfoo2</tt> and <tt>foo-runtime</tt>.
+ When building the binary packages, the contents of
+ the packages are staged in the
+ directories <file>debian/libfoo2</file>
+ and <file>debian/foo-runtime</file> respectively.
+ (<file>debian/tmp</file> could be used instead of
+ one of these.) Since <tt>libfoo2</tt> provides
+ the <tt>libfoo</tt> shared library, it will contain
+ a <tt>symbols</tt> file, which will be installed
+ in <file>debian/libfoo2/DEBIAN/symbols</file>,
+ eventually to be included as a control file in that
+ package. When <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> is run on
+ the
+ executable <file>debian/foo-runtime/usr/bin/foo-prog</file>,
+ it will examine
+ the <file>debian/libfoo2/DEBIAN/symbols</file> file
+ to determine whether <tt>foo-prog</tt>'s library
+ dependencies are satisfied by any of the libraries
+ provided by <tt>libfoo2</tt>. Since those binaries
+ were linked against the just-built shared library as
+ part of the build process, the <file>symbols</file>
+ file for the newly-built <tt>libfoo2</tt> must take
+ precedence over a <file>symbols</file> file for any
+ other <tt>libfoo2</tt> package already installed on
+ the system.
+ </footnote>
+ </p>
+ </item>
+
+ <item>
+ <p>
+ <file>/etc/dpkg/symbols/<var>package</var>.symbols.<var>arch</var></file>
+ and <file>/etc/dpkg/symbols/<var>package</var>.symbols</file>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Per-system overrides of shared library dependencies.
+ These files normally do not exist. They are
+ maintained by the local system administrator and must
+ not be created by any Debian package.
+ </p>
+ </item>
+
+ <item>
+ <p><file>symbols</file> control files for packages
+ installed on the system</p>
+
+ <p>
+ The <file>symbols</file> control files for all the
+ packages currently installed on the system are
+ searched last. This will be the most common source of
+ shared library dependency information. These are
+ normally found
+ in <file>/var/lib/dpkg/info/*.symbols</file>, but
+ packages should not rely on this and instead should
+ use <tt>dpkg-query --control-path <var>package</var>
+ symbols</tt> if for some reason these files need to be
+ examined.
+ </p>
+ </item>
+ </list>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Be aware that if a <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> exists
+ in the source package, it will override
+ any <file>symbols</file> files. This is the only case where
+ a <file>shlibs</file> is used despite <file>symbols</file>
+ files being present. See <ref id="shlibs-paths">
+ and <ref id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps"> for more information.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="symbols">
+ <heading>The <file>symbols</file> File Format</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ The following documents the format of
+ the <file>symbols</file> control file as included in binary
+ packages. These files are built from
+ template <file>symbols</file> files in the source package
+ by <prgn>dpkg-gensymbols</prgn>. The template files support
+ a richer syntax that allows <prgn>dpkg-gensymbols</prgn> to
+ do some of the tedious work involved in
+ maintaining <file>symbols</file> files, such as handling C++
+ symbols or optional symbols that may not exist on particular
+ architectures. When writing <file>symbols</file> files for
+ a shared library package, refer
+ to <manref name="dpkg-gensymbols" section="1"> for the
+ richer syntax.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ A <file>symbols</file> may contain one or more entries, one
+ for each shared library contained in the package
+ corresponding to that <file>symbols</file>. Each entry has
+ the following format:
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <example>
+ <var>library-soname</var> <var>main-dependency-template</var>
+ [| <var>alternative-dependency-template</var>]
+ [...]
+ [* <var>field-name</var>: <var>field-value</var>]
+ [...]
+ <var>symbol</var> <var>minimal-version</var>[ <var>id-of-dependency-template</var> ]
+ </example>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ To explain this format, we'll use the the <tt>zlib1g</tt>
+ package as an example, which (at the time of writing)
+ installs the shared
+ library <file>/usr/lib/libz.so.1.2.3.4</file>. Mandatory
+ lines will be described first, followed by optional lines.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <var>library-soname</var> must contain exactly the value of
+ the ELF <tt>SONAME</tt> attribute of the shared library. In
+ our example, this is <tt>libz.so.1</tt>.<footnote>
+ This can be determined by using the command
+ <example compact="compact">
+ readelf -d /usr/lib/libz.so.1.2.3.4 | grep SONAME
+ </example>
+ </footnote>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <var>main-dependency-template</var> has the same syntax as a
+ dependency field in a binary package control file, except
+ that the string <tt>#MINVER#</tt> is replaced by a version
+ restriction like <tt>(>= <var>version</var>)</tt> or by
+ nothing if an unversioned dependency is deemed sufficient.
+ The version restriction will be based on which symbols from
+ the shared library are referenced and the version at which
+ they were introduced (see below). In nearly all
+ cases, <var>main-dependency-template</var> will
+ be <tt><var>package</var> #MINVER#</tt>,
+ where <var>package</var> is the name of the binary package
+ containing the shared library. This adds a simple,
+ possibly-versioned dependency on the shared library package.
+ In some rare cases, such as when multiple packages provide
+ the same shared library ABI, the dependency template may
+ need to be more complex.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ In our example, the first line of
+ the <tt>zlib1g</tt> <file>symbols</file> file would be:
+ <example compact="compact">
+ libz.so.1 zlib1g #MINVER#
+ </example>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Each public symbol exported by the shared library must have
+ a corresponding symbol line, indented by one
+ space. <var>symbol</var> is the exported symbol (which, for
+ C++, means the mangled symbol) followed by <tt>@</tt> and
+ the symbol version, or the string <tt>Base</tt> if there is
+ no symbol version. <var>minimal-version</var> is the most
+ recent version of the shared library that changed the
+ behavior of that symbol, whether by adding it, changing its
+ function signature (the parameters, their types, or the
+ return type), or its behavior in a way that is visible to a
+ caller. <var>id-of-dependency-template</var> is an optional
+ field that references
+ an <var>alternative-dependency-template</var>; see below for
+ a full description.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ For example, <tt>libz.so.1</tt> contains the
+ symbols <tt>compress</tt>
+ and <tt>compressBound</tt>. <tt>compress</tt> has no symbol
+ version and last changed its behavior in upstream
+ version <tt>1:1.1.4</tt>. <tt>compressBound</tt> has the
+ symbol version <tt>ZLIB_1.2.0</tt>, was introduced in
+ upstream version <tt>1:1.2.0</tt>, and has not changed its
+ behavior. Its <file>symbols</file> file therefore contains
+ the lines:
+ <example compact="compact">
+ compress@Base 1:1.1.4
+ compressBound@ZLIB_1.2.0 1:1.2.0
+ </example>
+ Packages using only <tt>compress</tt> would then get a
+ dependency on <tt>zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.4)</tt>, but packages
+ using <tt>compressBound</tt> would get a dependency
+ on <tt>zlib1g (>= 1:1.2.0)</tt>.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ One or more <var>alternative-dependency-template</var> lines
+ may be provided. These are used in cases where some symbols
+ in the shared library should use one dependency template
+ while others should use a different template. The
+ alternative dependency templates are used only if a symbol
+ line contains the <var>id-of-dependency-template</var>
+ field. The first alternative dependency template is
+ numbered 1, the second 2, and so forth.<footnote>
+ An example of where this may be needed is with a library
+ that implements the libGL interface. All GL
+ implementations provide the same set of base interfaces,
+ and then may provide some additional interfaces only used
+ by programs that require that specific GL implementation.
+ So, for example, libgl1-mesa-glx may use the
+ following <file>symbols</file> file:
+ <example>
+ libGL.so.1 libgl1
+ | libgl1-mesa-glx #MINVER#
+ publicGlSymbol@Base 6.3-1
+ [...]
+ implementationSpecificSymbol@Base 6.5.2-7 1
+ [...]
+ </example>
+ Binaries or shared libraries using
+ only <tt>publicGlSymbol</tt> would depend only
+ on <tt>libgl1</tt> (which may be provided by multiple
+ packages), but ones
+ using <tt>implementationSpecificSymbol</tt> would get a
+ dependency on <tt>libgl1-mesa-glx (>= 6.5.2-7)</tt>
+ </footnote>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Finally, the entry for the library may contain one or more
+ metadata fields. Currently, the only
+ supported <var>field-name</var>
+ is <tt>Build-Depends-Package</tt>, whose value lists
+ the <qref id="sharedlibs-dev">library development
+ package</qref> on which packages using this shared library
+ declare a build dependency. If this field is
+ present, <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> uses it to ensure that
+ the resulting binary package dependency on the shared
+ library is at least as strict as the source package
+ dependency on the shared library development
+ package.<footnote>
+ This field should normally not be necessary, since if the
+ behavior of any symbol has changed, the corresponding
+ symbol <var>minimal-version</var> should have been
+ increased. But including it makes the <tt>symbols</tt>
+ system more robust by tightening the dependency in cases
+ where the package using the shared library specifically
+ requires at least a particular version of the shared
+ library development package for some reason.
+ </footnote>
+ For our example, the <tt>zlib1g</tt> <file>symbols</file>
+ file would contain:
+ <example compact="compact">
+ * Build-Depends-Package: zlib1g-dev
+ </example>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Also see <manref name="deb-symbols" section="5">.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="providing-symbols">
+ <heading>Providing a <file>symbols</file> file</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ If your package provides a shared library, you should
+ arrange to include a <file>symbols</file> control file
+ following the format described above in that package. You
+ must include either a <file>symbols</file> control file or
+ a <file>shlibs</file> control file.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Normally, this is done by creating a <file>symbols</file> in
+ the source package
+ named <file>debian/<var>package</var>.symbols</file>
+ or <file>debian/symbols</file>, possibly
+ with <file>.<var>arch</var></file> appended if the symbols
+ information varies by architecture. This file may use the
+ extended syntax documented in <manref name="dpkg-gensymbols"
+ section="1">. Then, call <prgn>dpkg-gensymbols</prgn> as
+ part of the package build process. It will
+ create <file>symbols</file> files in the package staging
+ area based on the binaries and libraries in the package
+ staging area and the <file>symbols</file> files in the
+ source package.<footnote>
+ If you are
+ using <tt>debhelper</tt>, <prgn>dh_makeshlibs</prgn> will
+ take care of calling either <prgn>dpkg-gensymbols</prgn>
+ or generating a <file>shlibs</file> file as appropriate.
+ </footnote>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Packages that provide <file>symbols</file> files must keep
+ them up-to-date to ensure correct dependencies in packages
+ that use the shared libraries. This means updating
+ the <file>symbols</file> file whenever a new public symbol
+ is added, changing the <var>minimal-version</var> field
+ whenever a symbol changes behavior or signature in a
+ backward-compatible way (see <ref id="sharedlibs-updates">),
+ and changing the <var>library-soname</var>
+ and <var>main-dependency-template</var>, and probably all of
+ the <var>minimal-version</var> fields, when the library
+ changes <tt>SONAME</tt>. Removing a public symbol from
+ the <file>symbols</file> file because it's no longer
+ provided by the library normally requires changing
+ the <tt>SONAME</tt> of the library.
+ See <ref id="sharedlibs-runtime"> for more information
+ on <tt>SONAME</tt>s.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+ </sect1>
+
+ <sect1 id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps">
+ <heading>The <tt>shlibs</tt> system</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ The <tt>shlibs</tt> system is an simpler alternative to
+ the <tt>symbols</tt> system for declaring dependencies for
+ shared libraries. It may be more appropriate for C++
+ libraries and other cases where tracking individual symbols is
+ too difficult. It predated the <tt>symbols</tt> system and is
+ therefore frequently seen in older packages. It is also
+ required for udebs, which do not support <tt>symbols</tt>.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ In the following sections, we will first describe where the
+ various <file>shlibs</file> files are to be found, then how to
+ use <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>, and finally
+ the <file>shlibs</file> file format and how to create them.
+ </p>
+
+ <sect2 id="shlibs-paths">
+ <heading>The <file>shlibs</file> files present on the
+ system</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ There are several places where <tt>shlibs</tt> files are
+ found. The following list gives them in the order in which
+ they are read by <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>. (The first
+ one which gives the required information is used.)
+ <list>
+ <item>
+ <p><file>debian/shlibs.local</file></p>
+
+ <p>
+ This lists overrides for this package. This file
+ should normally not be used, but may be needed
+ temporarily in unusual situations to work around bugs
+ in other packages, or in unusual cases where the
+ normally declared dependency information in the
+ installed <file>shlibs</file> file for a library
+ cannot be used. This file overrides information
+ obtained from any other source.
+ </p>
+ </item>
+
+ <item>
+ <p><file>/etc/dpkg/shlibs.override</file></p>
+
+ <p>
+ This lists global overrides. This list is normally
+ empty. It is maintained by the local system
+ administrator.
+ </p>
+ </item>
+
+ <item>
+ <p><file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files in the "build
+ directory"</p>
+
+ <p>
+ These files are generated as part of the package build
+ process and staged for inclusion as control files in
+ the binary packages being built. They provide details
+ of any shared libraries included in the same package.
+ </p>
+ </item>
+
+ <item>
+ <p><file>shlibs</file> control files for packages
+ installed on the system</p>
+
+ <p>
+ The <file>shlibs</file> control files for all the
+ packages currently installed on the system. These are
+ normally found
+ in <file>/var/lib/dpkg/info/*.symbols</file>, but
+ packages should not rely on this and instead should
+ use <tt>dpkg-query --control-path <var>package</var>
+ shlibs</tt> if for some reason these files need to be
+ examined.
+ </p>
+ </item>
+
+ <item>
+ <p><file>/etc/dpkg/shlibs.default</file></p>
+
+ <p>
+ This file lists any shared libraries whose packages
+ have failed to provide correct <file>shlibs</file>
+ files. It was used when the <file>shlibs</file> setup
+ was first introduced, but it is now normally empty.
+ It is maintained by the <tt>dpkg</tt> maintainer.
+ </p>
+ </item>
+ </list>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ If a <file>symbols</file> file for a shared library package
+ is available, <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> will always use it
+ in preference to a <file>shlibs</file>, with the exception
+ of <file>debian/shlibs.local</file>. The latter overrides
+ any other <file>shlibs</file> or <file>symbols</file> files.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2 id="shlibs">
+ <heading>The <file>shlibs</file> File Format</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ Each <file>shlibs</file> file has the same format. Lines
+ beginning with <tt>#</tt> are considered to be comments and
+ are ignored. Each line is of the form:
+ <example compact="compact">
+ [<var>type</var>: ]<var>library-name</var> <var>soname-version</var> <var>dependencies ...</var>
+ </example>
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ We will explain this by reference to the example of the
+ <tt>zlib1g</tt> package, which (at the time of writing)
+ installs the shared
+ library <file>/usr/lib/libz.so.1.2.3.4</file>.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <var>type</var> is an optional element that indicates the
+ type of package for which the line is valid. The only type
+ currently in use is <tt>udeb</tt>. The colon and space
+ after the type are required.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <var>library-name</var> is the name of the shared library,
+ in this case <tt>libz</tt>. (This must match the name part
+ of the soname, see below.)
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <var>soname-version</var> is the version part of the
+ ELF <tt>SONAME</tt> attribute of the library, determined the
+ same way that the <var>soversion</var> component of the
+ recommended shared library package name is determined.
+ See <ref id="sharedlibs-runtime"> for the details.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ <var>dependencies</var> has the same syntax as a dependency
+ field in a binary package control file. It should give
+ details of which packages are required to satisfy a binary
+ built against the version of the library contained in the
+ package. See <ref id="depsyntax"> for details on the
+ syntax, and <ref id="sharedlibs-updates"> for details on how
+ to maintain the dependency version constraint.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ In our example, if the last change to the <tt>zlib1g</tt>
+ package that could change behavior for a client of that
+ library was in version <tt>1:1.2.3.3.dfsg-1</tt>, then
+ the <tt>shlibs</tt> entry for this library could say:
+ <example compact="compact">
+ libz 1 zlib1g (>= 1:1.2.3.3.dfsg-1)
+ </example>
+ This version restriction must be new enough that any binary
+ built against the current version of the library will work
+ with any version of the shared library that satisfies that
+ dependency.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ As zlib1g also provides a udeb containing the shared
+ library, there would also be a second line:
+ <example compact="compact">
+ udeb: libz 1 zlib1g-udeb (>= 1:1.2.3.3.dfsg-1)
+ </example>
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2>
+ <heading>Providing a <file>shlibs</file> file</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ To provide a <file>shlibs</file> file for a shared library
+ binary package, create a <file>shlibs</file> file following
+ the format described above and place it in
+ the <file>DEBIAN</file> directory for that package during
+ the build. It will then be included as a control file for
+ that package<footnote>
+ This is what <prgn>dh_makeshlibs</prgn> in
+ the <package>debhelper</package> suite does. If your
+ package also has a udeb that provides a shared
+ library, <prgn>dh_makeshlibs</prgn> can automatically
+ generate the <tt>udeb:</tt> lines if you specify the name
+ of the udeb with the <tt>--add-udeb</tt> option.
+ </footnote>.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Since <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> reads
+ the <file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files in all of the binary
+ packages being built from this source package, all of
+ the <file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files should be installed
+ before <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> is called on any of the
+ binary packages.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+ </sect1>
</sect>
</chapt>
@@ -7900,8 +8440,9 @@ INSTALL = install -s # (or use strip on the files in debian/tmp)
Although not enforced by the build tools, shared libraries
must be linked against all libraries that they use symbols from
in the same way that binaries are. This ensures the correct
- functioning of the <qref id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps">shlibs</qref>
- system and guarantees that all libraries can be safely opened
+ functioning of the <qref id="sharedlibs-symbols">symbols</qref>
+ and <qref id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps">shlibs</qref>
+ systems and guarantees that all libraries can be safely opened
with <tt>dlopen()</tt>. Packagers may wish to use the gcc
option <tt>-Wl,-z,defs</tt> when building a shared library.
Since this option enforces symbol resolution at build time,
@@ -10713,82 +11254,10 @@ END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
</heading>
<p>
- This program is usually called from <file>debian/rules</file>
- just before <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> (see <ref
- id="pkg-sourcetree">), in the top level of the source tree.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Its arguments are executables and shared libraries
- <footnote>
- <p>
- They may be specified either in the locations in the
- source tree where they are created or in the locations
- in the temporary build tree where they are installed
- prior to binary package creation.
- </p>
- </footnote> for which shared library dependencies should
- be included in the binary package's control file.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- If some of the found shared libraries should only
- warrant a <tt>Recommends</tt> or <tt>Suggests</tt>, or if
- some warrant a <tt>Pre-Depends</tt>, this can be achieved
- by using the <tt>-d<var>dependency-field</var></tt> option
- before those executable(s). (Each <tt>-d</tt> option
- takes effect until the next <tt>-d</tt>.)
- </p>
-
- <p>
- <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> does not directly cause the
- output control file to be modified. Instead by default it
- adds to the <file>debian/substvars</file> file variable
- settings like <tt>shlibs:Depends</tt>. These variable
- settings must be referenced in dependency fields in the
- appropriate per-binary-package sections of the source
- control file.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- For example, a package that generates an essential part
- which requires dependencies, and optional parts that
- which only require a recommendation, would separate those
- two sets of dependencies into two different fields.<footnote>
- At the time of writing, an example for this was the
- <package/xmms/ package, with Depends used for the xmms
- executable, Recommends for the plug-ins and Suggests for
- even more optional features provided by unzip.
- </footnote>
- It can say in its <file>debian/rules</file>:
- <example>
- dpkg-shlibdeps -dDepends <var>program anotherprogram ...</var> \
- -dRecommends <var>optionalpart anotheroptionalpart</var>
- </example>
- and then in its main control file <file>debian/control</file>:
- <example>
- <var>...</var>
- Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}
- Recommends: ${shlibs:Recommends}
- <var>...</var>
- </example>
- </p>
-
- <p>
- Sources which produce several binary packages with
- different shared library dependency requirements can use
- the <tt>-p<var>varnameprefix</var></tt> option to override
- the default <tt>shlibs:</tt> prefix (one invocation of
- <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> per setting of this option).
- They can thus produce several sets of dependency
- variables, each of the form
- <tt><var>varnameprefix</var>:<var>dependencyfield</var></tt>,
- which can be referred to in the appropriate parts of the
- binary package control files.
+ See <manref name="dpkg-shlibdeps" section="1">.
</p>
</sect1>
-
<sect1 id="pkg-dpkg-distaddfile">
<heading>
<prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> - adds a file to
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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