qi: Bump to version 2.4 (Release Candidate 5)

[dragora.git] / qi / doc / qi.info

This is qi.info, produced by makeinfo version 6.5 from qi-header.texi.

This user guide is for Qi (version 2.4-rc5, 16 Mar 2021), which is a
simple but well-integrated package manager.

   Copyright © 2019-2021 Matias Andres Fonzo, Santiago del Estero,
Argentina.

     Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
     document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
     Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software
     Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts,
     and with no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the license is included in
     the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
INFO-DIR-SECTION Package management
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Qi: (qi).                   A user-friendly package manager.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

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File: qi.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Introduction to Qi,  Up: (dir)

Qi user guide
*************

This user guide is for Qi (version 2.4-rc5, 16 Mar 2021).

* Menu:

* Introduction to Qi::        Description and features of qi
* Invoking qi::               Command-line options
* The qirc file::             Configuration file
* Packages::                  Managing packages
* Recipes::                   Building packages
* Order files::               Handling build order
* Creating packages::         Making Qi packages
* Examining packages::        Debugging purposes
* Qi exit status::            Exit codes
* Index::


   Copyright (C) 2019-2021 Matias Fonzo.

   Qi's home page can be found at <https://www.dragora.org>.
Send bug reports or suggestions to <dragora-users@nongnu.org>.

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File: qi.info,  Node: Introduction to Qi,  Next: Invoking qi,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

1 Introduction to Qi
********************

Qi is a simple but well-integrated package manager.  It can create,
install, remove, and upgrade software packages.  Qi produces binary
packages using recipes, which are files containing specific instructions
to build each package from source.  Qi can manage multiple packages
under a single directory hierarchy.  This method allows to maintain a
set of packages and multiple versions of them.  This means that Qi could
be used as the main package manager or complement the existing one.

   Qi offers a friendly command line interface, a global configuration
file, a simple recipe layout to deploy software packages; also works
with binary packages in parallel, speeding up installations and packages
in production.  The format used for packages is a simplified but safe
POSIX pax archive compressed with lzip.

   Qi is a modern (POSIX-compliant) shell script released under the
terms of the GNU General Public License.  There are only two major
dependencies for the magic: graft(1) and tarlz(1), the rest is expected
to be found in any Unix-like system.

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File: qi.info,  Node: Invoking qi,  Next: The qirc file,  Prev: Introduction to Qi,  Up: Top

2 Invoking qi
*************

This chapter describes the synopsis for invoking Qi.

     Usage: qi COMMAND [OPTION...] [FILE]...

One mandatory command specifies the operation that 'qi' should perform,
options are meant to detail how this operation should be performed
during or after the process.

Qi supports the following commands:

'warn'
     Warn about files that will be installed.

'install'
     Install packages.

'remove'
     Remove packages.

'upgrade'
     Upgrade packages.

'extract'
     Extract packages for debugging purposes.

'create'
     Create a .tlz package from directory.

'build'
     Build packages using recipe names.

'order'
     Resolve build order through .order files

Options when installing, removing, or upgrading software packages:

'-f'
'--force'
     Force upgrade of pre-existing packages.

'-k'
'--keep'
     Keep directories when build/remove/upgrade.

     Keep (don't delete) the package directory when using remove/upgrade
     command.

     This will also try to preserve the directories '${srcdir}' and
     '${destdir}' when using build command.  Its effect is available in
     recipes as '${keep_srcdir}' and '${keep_destdir}'.  See *note
     Special variables: Recipes. for details.

'-p'
'--prune'
     Prune conflicts.

'-P'
'--packagedir=<dir>'
     Set directory for package installations.

'-t'
'--targetdir=<dir>'
     Set target directory for symbolic links.

'-r'
'--rootdir=<dir>'
     Use the fully qualified named directory as the root directory for
     all qi operations.

     Note: the target directory and the package directory will be
     relative to the specified directory, excepting the graft log file.

Options when building software packages using recipes:

'-a'
'--architecture'
     Set architecture name for the package.

'-j'
'--jobs'
     Parallel jobs for the compiler.

     This option sets the variable '${jobs}'.  If not specified, default
     sets to 1.

'-S'
'--skip-questions'
     Skip questions on completed recipes.

'-1'
'--increment'
     Increment release number ('${release}' + 1).

     The effect of this option will be omitted if -no-package is being
     used.

'-n'
'--no-package'
     Do not create a .tlz package.

'-i'
'--install'
     Install package after the build.

'-u'
'--upgrade'
     Upgrade package after the build.

'-o'
'--outdir=<dir>'
     Where the packages produced will be written.

     This option sets the variable '${outdir}'.

'-w'
'--worktree=<dir>'
     Where archives, patches, recipes are expected.

     This option sets the variable '${worktree}'.

'-s'
'--sourcedir=<dir>'
     Where compressed sources will be found.

     This option sets the variable '${tardir}'.

Other options:

'-v'
'--verbose'
     Be verbose (an extra -v gives more).

     It sets the verbosity level, default sets to 0.

     The value 1 is used for more verbosity while the value 2 is too
     detailed.  Although at the moment it is limited to graft(1)
     verbosity.

'-N'
'--no-rc'
     Do not read the configuration file.

     This will ignore reading the qirc file.

'-L'
'--show-location'
     Print default directory locations and exit.

     This will print the target directory, package directory, working
     tree, the directory for sources, and the output directory for the
     packages produced.

'-h'
'--help'
     Display the usage and exit.

'-V'
'--version'

     This will print the (short) version information and then exit.

     The same can be achieved if Qi is invoked as 'qi version'.

   When FILE is -, qi can read from the standard input.  See examples
from the *note Packages:: section.

   Exit status: 0 for a normal exit, 1 for minor common errors (help
usage, support not available, etc), 2 to indicate a command execution
error; 3 for integrity check error on compressed files, 4 for empty, not
regular, or expected files, 5 for empty or not defined variables, 6 when
a package already exist, 10 for network manager errors.  For more
details, see the *note Qi exit status:: section.

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File: qi.info,  Node: The qirc file,  Next: Packages,  Prev: Invoking qi,  Up: Top

3 The qirc file
***************

The global 'qirc' file offers a way to define variables and tools (such
as a download manager) for default use.  This file is used by qi at
runtime, e.g., to build, install, remove or upgrade packages.

   Variables and their possible values must be declared as any other
variable in the shell.

The command line options related to the package directory and target
directory and some of the command line options used for the build
command, have the power to override the values declared on 'qirc'.  See
*note Invoking qi::.

The order in which qi looks for this file is:

  1. '${HOME}/.qirc' Effective user.

  2. '${sysconfdir}/qirc' System-wide.

   If you intend to run qi as effective user, the file
'${sysconfdir}/qirc' could be copied to '${HOME}/.qirc' setting the
paths for '${packagedir}' and '${targetdir}' according to the '$HOME'.

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File: qi.info,  Node: Packages,  Next: Recipes,  Prev: The qirc file,  Up: Top

4 Packages
**********

A package is a suite of programs usually distributed in binary form
which may also contain manual pages, documentation, or any other file
associated to a specific software.

   The package format used by qi is a simplified POSIX pax archive
compressed using lzip(1).  The file extension for packages ends in
'.tlz'.

Both package installation and package de-installation are managed using
two important (internal) variables: '${packagedir}' and '${targetdir}',
these values can be changed in the configuration file or via options.

   '${packagedir}' is a common directory tree where the package contents
will be decompressed (will reside).

   '${targetdir}' is a target directory where the links will be made by
graft(1) taking '${packagedir}/package_name' into account.

Packages are installed in self-contained directory trees and symbolic
links from a common area are made to the package files.  This allows
multiple versions of the same package to coexist on the same system.

4.1 Package conflicts
=====================

All the links to install or remove a package are handled by graft(1).
Since multiple packages can be installed or removed at the same time,
certain conflicts may arise between the packages.

graft(2) defines a CONFLICT as one of the following conditions:

   * If the package object is a directory and the target object exists
     but is not a directory.

   * If the package object is not a directory and the target object
     exists and is not a symbolic link.

   * If the package object is not a directory and the target object
     exists and is a symbolic link to something other than the package
     object.

The default behavior of qi for an incoming package is to ABORT if a
conflict arises.  When a package is going to be deleted, qi tells to
graft(1) to remove those parts that are not in conflict, leaving the
links to the belonging package.  This behavior can be forced if the
-prune option is given.

4.2 Installing packages
=======================

To install a single package, simply type:

     qi install coreutils_8.30_i586-1@tools.tlz

To install multiple packages at once, type:

     qi install gcc_8.3.0_i586-1@devel.tlz rafaela_2.2_i586-1@legacy.tlz ...

Warn about the files that will be linked:

     qi warn bash_5.0_i586-1@shells.tlz

   This is to verify the content of a package before installing it.

See the process of an installation:

     qi install --verbose mariana_3.0_i586-1@woman.tlz

   A second -verbose or -v option gives more (very verbose).

Installing package in a different location:

     qi install --rootdir=/media/floppy lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors.tlz

   Important: the -rootdir option assumes '${targetdir}' and
'${packagedir}'.  See the following example:

     qi install --rootdir=/home/selk lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors.tlz

   The content of "lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors.tlz" will be
decompressed into '/home/selk/pkgs/lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors'.
Assuming that the main binary for lzip is under
'/home/selk/pkgs/lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors/usr/bin/' the target for
"usr/bin" will be created at '/home/selk'.  Considering that you have
exported the 'PATH' as '${HOME}/usr/bin', now the system is able to see
the recent lzip command.

Installing from a list of packages using standard input:

     qi install - < PACKAGELIST.txt

   Or in combination with another tool:
     sort -u PACKAGELIST.txt | qi install -

   The sort command will read and sorts the list of declared packages,
while trying to have unique entries for each statement.  The output
produced is captured by Qi to install each package.

   An example of a list containing package names is:
     /var/cache/qi/packages/amd64/tcl_8.6.9_amd64-1@devel.tlz
     /var/cache/qi/packages/amd64/tk_8.6.9.1_amd64-1@devel.tlz
     /var/cache/qi/packages/amd64/vala_0.42.3_amd64-1@devel.tlz

4.3 Removing packages
=====================

To remove a package, simply type:

     qi remove xz_5.2.4_i586-1@compressors.tlz

Remove command will match the package name using '${packagedir}' as
prefix.  For example, if the value of '${packagedir}' has been set to
/usr/pkg, this will be equal to:

     qi remove /usr/pkg/xz_5.2.4_i586-1@compressors

Detailed output:

     qi remove --verbose /usr/pkg/xz_5.2.4_i586-1@compressors

   A second -verbose or -v option gives more (very verbose).

By default the remove command does not preserve a package directory
after removing its links from '${targetdir}', but this behavior can be
changed if the -keep option is passed:

     qi remove --keep /usr/pkg/lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors

   This means that the links to the package can be reactivated, later:

     cd /usr/pkg && graft -i lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors

Removing package from a different location:

     qi remove --rootdir=/home/cthulhu xz_5.2.4_i586-1@compressors

Removing a package using standard input:

     echo vala_0.42.3_amd64-1@devel | qi remove -

   This will match with the package directory.

4.4 Upgrading packages
======================

The upgrade command inherits the properties of the installation and
removal process.  To make sure that a package is updated, the package is
installed in a temporary directory taking '${packagedir}' into account.
Once the incoming package is pre-installed, qi can proceed to search and
delete packages that have the same name (considered as previous ones).
Finally, the package is re-installed at its final location and the
temporary directory is removed.

   Since updating a package can be crucial and so to perform a
successful upgrade, from start to finish, you will want to ignore some
important system signals during the upgrade process, those signals are
SIGHUP, SIGINT, SIGQUIT, SIGABRT, and SIGTERM.

To upgrade a package, just type:

     qi upgrade gcc_9.0.1_i586-1@devel.tlz

   This will proceed to upgrade "gcc_9.0.1_i586-1@devel" removing any
other version of "gcc" (if any).

If you want to keep the package directories of versions found during the
upgrade process, just pass:

     qi upgrade --keep gcc_9.0.1_i586-1@devel.tlz

To see the upgrade process:

     qi upgrade --verbose gcc_9.0.1_i586-1@devel.tlz

   A second -verbose or -v option gives more (very verbose).

To force the upgrade of an existing package:

     qi upgrade --force gcc_9.0.1_i586-1@devel.tlz

4.4.1 Package blacklist
-----------------------

To implement general package facilities, either to install, remove or
maintain the hierarchy of packages in a clean manner, qi makes use of
the pruning operation via graft(1) by default:

   There is a risk if those are crucial packages for the proper
functioning of the system, because it implies the deactivation of
symbolic from the target directory, _especially_ when transitioning an
incoming package into its final location during an upgrade.

A blacklist of package names has been devised for the case where a user
decides to upgrade all the packages in the system, or just the crucial
ones, such as the C library.

   The blacklist is related to the upgrade command only, consists in
installing a package instead of updating it or removing previous
versions of it; the content of the package will be updated over the
existing content at '${packagedir}', while the existing links from
'${targetdir}' will be preserved.  A pruning of links will be carried
out in order to re-link possible differences with the recent content,
this helps to avoid leaving dead links in the target directory.

Package names for the blacklist to be declared must be set from the
configuration file.

   ---------- Footnotes ----------

   (1) For more details about tarlz and the lzip format, visit
<https://lzip.nongnu.org/tarlz.html>.

   (2) The official guide for Graft can be found at
<http://peters.gormand.com.au/Home/tools/graft/graft.html>.

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File: qi.info,  Node: Recipes,  Next: Order files,  Prev: Packages,  Up: Top

5 Recipes
*********

A recipe is a file telling qi what to do.  Most often, the recipe tells
qi how to build a binary package from a source tarball.

   A recipe has two parts: a list of variable definitions and a list of
sections.  By convention, the syntax of a section is:

     section_name()
     {
         section lines
     }

   The section name is followed by parentheses, one newline and an
opening brace.  The line finishing the section contains just a closing
brace.  The section names or the function names currently recognized are
'build'.

   The 'build' section (or *shell function*) is an augmented shell
script that contains the main instructions for building a software
source.

5.1 Variables
=============

A "variable" is a *shell variable* defined either in 'qirc' or in a
recipe to represent a string of text, called the variable's "value".
These values are substituted by explicit request in the definitions of
other variables or in calls to external commands.

   Variables can represent lists of file names, options to pass to
compilers, programs to run, directories to look in for source files,
directories to write output to, or anything else you can imagine.

   Definitions of variables in qi have four levels of precedence.
Options which define variables from the command-line override those
specified in the 'qirc' file, while variables defined in the recipe
override those specified in 'qirc', taking priority over those variables
set by command-line options.  Finally, the variables have default values
if they are not defined anywhere.

   Options that set variables through the command-line can only
reference variables defined in 'qirc' and variables with default values.

   Definitions of variables in 'qirc' can only reference variables
previously defined in 'qirc' and variables with default values.

   Definitions of variables in the recipe can only reference variables
set by the command-line, variables previously defined in the recipe,
variables defined in 'qirc', and variables with default values.

5.2 Special variables
=====================

There are variables which can only be set using the command line options
or via 'qirc', there are other special variables which can be defined or
redefined in a recipe.  See the following definitions:

   'outdir' is the directory where the packages produced are written.
This variable can be redefined per-recipe.  Default sets to
'/var/cache/qi/packages'.

   'worktree' is the working tree where archives, patches, and recipes
are expected.  This variable can not be redefined in the recipe.
Default sets to '/usr/src/qi'.

   'tardir' is defined in the recipe to the directory where the tarball
containing the source can be found.  The full name of the tarball is
composed as '${tardir}/$tarname'.  Its value is available in the recipe
as '${tardir}'; a value of .  for 'tardir' sets it to the value of CWD
(Current Working Directory), this is where the recipe lives.

   'arch' is the architecture to compose the package name.  Its value is
available in the recipe as '${arch}'.  Default value is the one that was
set in the Qi configuration.

   'jobs' is the number of parallel jobs to pass to the compiler.  Its
value is available in the recipe as '${jobs}'.  The default value is 1.

   The two variables '${srcdir}' and '${destdir}' can be set in the
recipe, as any other variable, but if they are not, qi uses default
values for them when building a package.

   'srcdir' contains the source code to be compiled, and defaults to
'${program}-${version}'.  'destdir' is the place where the built package
will be installed, and defaults to '${TMPDIR}/package-${program}'.

   If 'pkgname' is left undefined, the special variable 'program' is
assigned by default.  If 'pkgversion' is left undefined, the special
variable 'version' is assigned by default.

   'pkgname' and 'pkgversion' along with: 'version', 'arch', 'release',
and (optionally) 'pkgcategory' are used to produce the package name in
the form:
'${pkgname}_${pkgversion}_${arch}-${release}[@${pkgcategory}].tlz'

   'pkgcategory' is an optional special variable that can be defined on
the recipe to categorize the package name.  If it is defined, then the
package output will be composed as
'${pkgname}_${pkgversion}_${arch}-${release}[@${pkgcategory}.tlz'.
Automatically, the value of 'pkgcategory' will be prefixed using the '@'
(at) symbol which will be added to the last part of the package name.

   A special variable called 'replace' can be used to declare package
names that will be replaced at installation time.

   The special variables 'keep_srcdir' and 'keep_destdir' are provided
in order to preserve the directories '${srcdir}' or '${destdir}', if
those exists as such.  Note: The declaration of these variables are
subject to manual deactivation; its purpose in recipes is to preserve
the directories that relate to the package's build (source) and
destination directory, that is so that another recipe can get a new
package (or meta package) from there.  For example, the declarations can
be done as:

     keep_srcdir=keep_srcdir
     keep_destdir=keep_destdir

   Then from another recipe you would proceed to copy the necessary
files that will compose the meta package, from the main function you
must deactivate the variables at the end:

     unset keep_srcdir
     unset keep_destdir

   This will leave the 'keep_srcdir' and 'keep_destdir' variables blank
to continue with the rest of the recipes.

A typical recipe contains the following variables:

   * 'program': Software name.

     It matches the source name.  It is also used to compose the name of
     the package if '${pkgname}' is not specified.

   * 'version': Software version.

     It matches the source name.  It is also used to compose the version
     of the package if '${pkgversion}' is not specified.

   * 'arch': Software architecture.

     It is used to compose the architecture of the package in which it
     is build.

   * 'release': Release number.

     This is used to reflect the release number of the package.  It is
     recommended to increase this number after any significant change in
     the recipe or post-install script.

   * 'pkgcategory': Package category.

     Optional but recommended variable to categorize the package name
     when it is created.

Obtaining sources over the network must be declared in the recipe using
the 'fetch' variable.

   The variables 'netget' and 'rsync' can be defined in 'qirc' to
establish a network downloader in order to get the sources.  If they are
not defined, qi uses default values:

   'netget' is the general network downloader tool, defaults sets to
'wget -c -w1 -t3 --no-check-certificate'.

   'rsync' is the network tool for sources containing the prefix for the
RSYNC protocol, default sets to 'rsync -v -a -L -z -i --progress'.

   The variable 'description' is used to print the package description
when a package is installed.

   A description has two parts: a brief description, and a long
description.  By convention, the syntax of 'description' is:

     description="
     Brief description.

     Long description.
     "

   The first line of the value represented is a brief description of the
software (called "blurb").  A blank line separates the _brief
description_ from the _long description_, which should contain a more
descriptive description of the software.

An example looks like:

     description="
     The GNU core utilities.

     The GNU core utilities are the basic file, shell and text manipulation
     utilities of the GNU operating system.  These are the core utilities
     which are expected to exist on every operating system.
     "

   Please consider a length limit of 78 characters as maximum, because
the same one would be used on the meta file creation.  See *note The
meta file: Recipes. section.

   The 'homepage' variable is used to declare the main site or home
page:

     homepage=http://www.gnu.org/software/gcc

   The variable 'license' is used for license information(1).  Some code
in the program can be covered by license A, license B, or license C. For
"separate licensing" or "heterogeneous licensing", we suggest using *|*
for a disjunction, *&* for a conjunction (if that ever happens in a
significant way), and comma for heterogeneous licensing.  Comma would
have lower precedence, plus added special terms.

     license="LGPL, GPL | Artistic - added permission"

5.3 Writing recipes
===================

Originally, Qi was designed for the version 3 of Dragora GNU/Linux; this
doesn't mean you can't use it in another distribution, just that if you
do, you'll have to try it out for yourself.  To help with this, here are
some references to well-written recipes:

   * <http://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/dragora.git/tree/recipes>
   * <http://notabug.org/dragora/dragora/src/master/recipes>
   * <http://notabug.org/dragora/dragora-extras/src/master/recipes>
   * 
     <http://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/dragora/dragora-extras.git/tree/recipes>

5.4 Building packages
=====================

A recipe is any valid regular file.  Qi sets priorities for reading a
recipe, the order in which qi looks for a recipe is:

  1. Current working directory.

  2. If the specified path name does not contain "recipe" as the last
     component.  Qi will complete it by adding "recipe" to the path
     name.

  3. If the recipe is not in the current working directory, it will be
     searched under '${worktree}/recipes'.  The last component will be
     completed adding "recipe" to the specified path name.

To build a single package, type:

     qi build x-apps/xterm

Multiple jobs can be passed to the compiler to speed up the build
process:

     qi build --jobs 3 x-apps/xterm

Update or install the produced package (if not already installed) when
the build command ends:

     qi build -j3 --upgrade x-apps/xterm

Only process a recipe but do not create the binary package:

     qi build --no-package dict/aspell

   The options -install or -upgrade have no effect when -no-package is
given.

This is useful to inspect the build process of the above recipe:

   qi build -keep -no-package dict/aspell 2>&1 | tee aspell-log.txt

   The -keep option could preserve the source directory and the
destination directory for later inspection.  A log file of the build
process will be created redirecting both, standard error and standard
output to tee(1).

5.5 Variables from the environment
==================================

Qi has environment variables which can be used at build time:

   The variable 'TMPDIR' sets the temporary directory for sources, which
is used for package extractions (see *note Examining packages::) and is
prepended to the value of '${srcdir}' and '${destdir}' in build command.
By convention its default value is equal to '/usr/src/qi/build'.

   The variables 'QICFLAGS', 'QICXXFLAGS', 'QILDFLAGS', and 'QICPPFLAGS'
have no effect by default.  The environment variables such as 'CFLAGS',
'CXXFLAGS', 'LDFLAGS', and 'CPPFLAGS' are unset at compile time:

Recommended practice is to set variables in the command line of
'configure' or _make(1)_ instead of exporting to the environment.  As
follows:

   <http://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Environment.html>
     It is not wise for makefiles to depend for their functioning on
     environment variables set up outside their control, since this
     would cause different users to get different results from the same
     makefile.  This is against the whole purpose of most makefiles.

   Setting environment variables for configure is deprecated because
running configure in varying environments can be dangerous.

   <http://gnu.org/savannah-checkouts/gnu/autoconf/manual/autoconf-2.69/html_node/Defining-Variables.html>
     Variables not defined in a site shell script can be set in the
     environment passed to configure.  However, some packages may run
     configure again during the build, and the customized values of
     these variables may be lost.  In order to avoid this problem, you
     should set them in the configure command line, using 'VAR=value'.
     For example:

     './configure CC=/usr/local2/bin/gcc'

   <http://www.gnu.org/savannah-checkouts/gnu/autoconf/manual/autoconf-2.69/html_node/Setting-Output-Variables.html>
     If for instance the user runs 'CC=bizarre-cc ./configure', then the
     cache, config.h, and many other output files depend upon bizarre-cc
     being the C compiler.  If for some reason the user runs ./configure
     again, or if it is run via './config.status --recheck', (See
     Automatic Remaking, and see config.status Invocation), then the
     configuration can be inconsistent, composed of results depending
     upon two different compilers.  [...]  Indeed, while configure can
     notice the definition of CC in './configure CC=bizarre-cc', it is
     impossible to notice it in 'CC=bizarre-cc ./configure', which,
     unfortunately, is what most users do.  [...]  configure: error:
     changes in the environment can compromise the build.

   If the 'SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH' environment variable is set to a UNIX
timestamp (defined as the number of seconds, excluding leap seconds,
since 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 UTC.); then the given timestamp will be used
to overwrite any newer timestamps on the package contents (when it is
created).  More information about this can be found at
<https://reproducible-builds.org/specs/source-date-epoch/>.

5.6 The meta file
=================

The "meta file" is a regular file created during the build command, it
contains information about the package such as package name, package
version, architecture, release, fetch address, description, and other
minor data extracted from processed recipes.  The name of the file is
generated as '${full_pkgname}.tlz.txt', and its purpose is to reflect
essential information to the user without having to look inside the
package content.  The file format is also intended to be used by other
scripts or by common Unix tools.

   The content of a meta file looks like:

     #
     # Pattern scanning and processing language.
     #
     # The awk utility interprets a special-purpose programming language
     # that makes it possible to handle simple data-reformatting jobs
     # with just a few lines of code.  It is a free version of 'awk'.
     #
     # GNU awk implements the AWK utility which is part of
     # IEEE Std 1003.1 Shell and Utilities (XCU).
     #

     QICFLAGS="-O2"
     QICXXFLAGS="-O2"
     QILDFLAGS=""
     pkgname=gawk
     pkgversion=5.0.1
     arch=amd64
     release=1
     pkgcategory="tools"
     full_pkgname=gawk_5.0.1_amd64-1@tools
     blurb="Pattern scanning and processing language."
     homepage="http://www.gnu.org/software/gawk"
     license="GPLv3+"
     fetch="http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gawk/gawk-5.0.1.tar.lz"
     replace=""

   Package descriptions are extracted from the variable 'description'
where each line is interpreted literally and pre-formatted to fit in
(exactly) *80 columns*, plus the character '#' and a blank space is
prefixed to every line (shell comments).

In addition to the Special variables, there are implicit variables such
as 'blurb':

   The 'blurb' variable is related to the special variable
'description'.  Its value is made from the first (substantial) line of
'description', mentioned as the "brief description".

   ---------- Footnotes ----------

   (1) The proposal for 'license' was made by Richard M. Stallman at
<http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnu-linux-libre/2016-05/msg00003.html>.

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File: qi.info,  Node: Order files,  Next: Creating packages,  Prev: Recipes,  Up: Top

6 Order files
*************

The order command has the purpose of resolving the build order through
.order files.  An order file contains a list of recipe names, by default
does not perform any action other than to print a resolved list in
descending order.  For example, if *a* depends on *b* and *c*, and *c*
depends on *b* as well, the file might look like:

     a: c b
     b:
     c: b

   Each letter represents a recipe name, complete dependencies for the
first recipe name are listed in descending order, which is printed from
right to left, and removed from left to right:

   OUTPUT

     b
     c
     a

   Blank lines, colons and parentheses are simply ignored.  Comment
lines beginning with '#' are allowed.

An order file could be used to build a series of packages, for example,
if the content is:

     # Image handling libraries

     libs/libjpeg-turbo: devel/nasm
     x-libs/jasper: libs/libjpeg-turbo
     libs/tiff: libs/libjpeg-turbo

   To proceed with each recipe, we can type:

     qi order imglibs.order | qi build --install -

   The output of 'qi order imglibs.order' tells to qi in which order it
should build the recipes:

     devel/nasm
     libs/libjpeg-turbo
     x-libs/jasper
     libs/tiff

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File: qi.info,  Node: Creating packages,  Next: Examining packages,  Prev: Order files,  Up: Top

7 Creating packages
*******************

The creation command is an internal function of qi to make new Qi
compatible packages.  A package is produced using the contents of the
Current Working Directory and the package file is written out.

     Usage: qi create [OUTPUT/PACKAGENAME.TLZ]...

   The argument for the file name to be written must contain a fully
qualified named directory as the output directory where the package
produced will be written.  The file name should be composed using the
full name: name-version-architecture-release[@pkgcategory].tlz

   EXAMPLE

     cd /usr/pkg
     cd claws-mail_3.17.1_amd64-1@x-apps
     qi create /var/cache/qi/packages/claws-mail_3.17.1_amd64-1@x-apps

   In this case, the package "claws-mail_3.17.1_amd64-1@x-apps" will be
written into '/var/cache/qi/packages/'.

All packages produced are complemented by a checksum file (.sha256).

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File: qi.info,  Node: Examining packages,  Next: Qi exit status,  Prev: Creating packages,  Up: Top

8 Examining packages
********************

The extraction command serves to examine binary packages for debugging
purposes.  It decompresses a package into a single directory, verifying
its integrity and preserving all of it properties (owner and
permission).

     Usage: qi extract [PACKAGENAME.TLZ]...

   EXAMPLE

     qi extract mksh_R56c_amd64-1@shells.tlz

   This action will put the content of "mksh_R56c_amd64-1@shells.tlz"
into a single directory, this is a private directory for the user who
requested the action, creation operation will be equal to *u=rwx,g=,o=
(0700)*.  The package content will reside on this location, default mask
to deploy the content will be equal to *u=rwx,g=rwx,o=rwx (0000)*.

Note: the creation of the custom directory is influenced by the value of
the 'TMPDIR' variable.

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File: qi.info,  Node: Qi exit status,  Next: Index,  Prev: Examining packages,  Up: Top

9 Qi exit status
****************

All the exit codes are described in this chapter.

'0'
     Successful completion (no errors).

'1'
     Minor common errors:

        * Help usage on illegal options or required arguments.

        * Program needed by qi (prerequisite) is not available.

'2'
     Command execution error:

     This code is used to return the evaluation of an external command
     or shell arguments in case of failure.

'3'
     Integrity check error for compressed files.

     Compressed files means:

        * A tarball file from tar(1).  Supported extensions: .tar,
          .tar.gz, .tgz, .tar.Z, .tar.bz2, .tbz2, .tbz, .tar.xz, .txz

        * A tarball file from tarlz(1).  Supported extensions: .tar.lz,
          .tlz

        * Zip files from unzip(1).  Supported extensions: .zip, .ZIP

        * Gzip files from gzip(1).  Supported extensions: .gz, .Z

        * Bzip2 files from bzip2(1).  Supported extension: .bz2

        * Lzip files from lzip(1).  Supported extension: .lz

        * Xz files from xz(1).  Supported extension: .xz

'4'
     File empty, not regular, or expected.

     It's commonly expected:

        * An argument for giving commands.

        * A regular file or readable directory.

        * An expected extension: .tlz, .sha256, .order.

        * A protocol supported by the network downloader tool.

'5'
     Empty or not defined variable:

     This code is used to report empty or undefined variables (usually
     variables coming from a recipe or assigned arrays that are tested).

'6'
     Package already installed:

     The package directory for an incoming .tlz package already exists.

'10'
     Network manager error:

     This code is used if the network downloader tool fails for some
     reason.

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File: qi.info,  Node: Index,  Prev: Qi exit status,  Up: Top

Index
*****

\0\b[index\0\b]
* Menu:

* configuration file:                    The qirc file.       (line   6)
* environment variables:                 Recipes.             (line 281)
* exit codes:                            Qi exit status.      (line   6)
* handling build order:                  Order files.         (line   6)
* introduction to qi:                    Introduction to Qi.  (line   6)
* invocation:                            Invoking qi.         (line   6)
* managing packages:                     Packages.            (line   6)
* package blacklist:                     Packages.            (line 189)
* package build:                         Recipes.             (line 235)
* package conflicts:                     Packages.            (line  31)
* package creation:                      Creating packages.   (line   6)
* package de-installation:               Packages.            (line 112)
* package examination:                   Examining packages.  (line   6)
* package installation:                  Packages.            (line  56)
* package upgrade:                       Packages.            (line 151)
* recipes:                               Recipes.             (line   6)
* special variables:                     Recipes.             (line  58)
* the meta file:                         Recipes.             (line 338)
* variables:                             Recipes.             (line  29)
* writing recipes:                       Recipes.             (line 221)


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Node: Top\x7f814
Node: Introduction to Qi\x7f1605
Node: Invoking qi\x7f2792
Node: The qirc file\x7f6920
Node: Packages\x7f7884
Ref: Packages-Footnote-1\x7f15560
Ref: Packages-Footnote-2\x7f15662
Node: Recipes\x7f15775
Ref: Recipes-Footnote-1\x7f31308
Node: Order files\x7f31453
Node: Creating packages\x7f32774
Node: Examining packages\x7f33762
Node: Qi exit status\x7f34678
Node: Index\x7f36548
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