a question about apt_preferences,

[Paul E Condon <pecondon@mesanetworks.net>]

I am attempting to set up apt_preferences to pin priorities on
the basis of the name of a release rather than on the basis of
(stable|testing|unstable). I tried a line :

Pin: release a=etch

but this is ignored by aptitude.
I can set the priority of testing with a line :

Pin: release a=testing

I've looked at the contents of several release files, and see that in
these files the stable/testing/unstable value is in the 'Suite:'
field. In man apt_preferences, this is called the Archive, not the
Suite. This, I think, explains the use of 'a=' in the above config
string.

What I have been calling the release name is found in the 'Codename:'
field. I see in man apt_preferences mention of selecting a specific
release on the basis of origin, with 'o=', version with 'v=', and
label with 'l='.

Is there a similar way of pinning on the contents of the Codename:
field?  

The string 'c=' won't work because it is already in use to select the
'component', i.e., main/contrib/non-free. The string 'v=' won't work
because there is no version# assigned to testing or unstable.

Any ideas?

-- 
Paul E Condon           
pecondon@mesanetworks.net