Re: Looking for docs on libapt

[erik <devvnull@crosswinds.net>]

On Thu, 07 Sep 2000, you wrote:
> On Tue, 5 Sep 2000, Debian Linux User wrote:
> 
> > detailed) discussion of them anywhere. I have already seen the libapt-pkg-doc
> > material and while useful it is sparse. A concise reference to params
> > and returns and such is what I am looking for.
> 
> Nope, there are alot of functions and things but most of the really
> important stuff is described in that cache document. Ask if you have any
> specific questions.
> 
 Thanks for the response. I have a couple of  questions that would speed
things tremendously; I would like to provide a "Recomends"/"Suggests"
dialog that can do what dselect does - ie. offers preselected "depends"
and an option to add "suggests" and follow up with a new dependancy check.
I could do all of this independantly but I think it would be elegant to
use libapt - and probably much more efficient. Of course I can dig through
the sources to find what I need ( BTW, they are very nicely commented - a
welcome surprise after dpkg :)), but it would help alot if you had time to
list a few relevant code locations. Here's what I will need:

  a. is there a method that can include the "Recommends" and "Suggests"
   in dependancy checking? And what's the return?

  b. Where is the method to " --set-selections" or its equivilant - I ask
this because it is not clear to me what the precise interface with dpkg
is. Do adjustments take place in the cache before sending the final order
to dpkg or is dpkg involved with preliminary adjustment routines?

  c. Is there anything for handling "Priority" in this regard?
  
  d. Where is the interface to the library equivilant to apt-cache <some
option> likely to be found?

  I know these are sort of lazy questions and I apologize - but it would
sure be nice to get a brief tour of these few aspects if you have a few
moments. Its looks like a pretty nice toolkit; I would really enjoy an
introduction to it from someone that knows it well. And, who knows - I
might even come up with something nice for apt ;}.

 Thanks very much for your efforts, apt is a truly killer app! I hope that
I can help to bring it into the spotlight it richly deserves. 

Sincerely,
Erik Winn