[Aptitude-devel] Bug#991578: aptitude: document state indicator letters more clearly

Greg Wooledge greg at wooledge.org
Tue Jul 27 20:34:03 BST 2021


Package: aptitude
Version: 0.8.13-3
Severity: wishlist
Tags: patch

This patch improves the documentation of the state indicator letters, used
in the output of the "search" and "why" actions.

-- Package-specific info:
Terminal: rxvt-unicode-256color
$DISPLAY is set.
which aptitude: /usr/bin/aptitude

aptitude version information:
aptitude 0.8.13
Compiler: g++ 10.2.1 20210110
Compiled against:
  apt version 6.0.0
  NCurses version 6.2
  libsigc++ version: 2.10.4
  Gtk+ support disabled.
  Qt support disabled.

Current library versions:
  NCurses version: ncurses 6.2.20201114
  cwidget version: 0.5.18
  Apt version: 6.0.0

aptitude linkage:
	linux-vdso.so.1 (0x00007fff06399000)
	libapt-pkg.so.6.0 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libapt-pkg.so.6.0 (0x00007fa53929c000)
	libncursesw.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libncursesw.so.6 (0x00007fa539261000)
	libtinfo.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtinfo.so.6 (0x00007fa539232000)
	libsigc-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libsigc-2.0.so.0 (0x00007fa539229000)
	libcwidget.so.4 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcwidget.so.4 (0x00007fa539123000)
	libsqlite3.so.0 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libsqlite3.so.0 (0x00007fa538fe0000)
	libboost_iostreams.so.1.74.0 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libboost_iostreams.so.1.74.0 (0x00007fa538fc5000)
	libxapian.so.30 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxapian.so.30 (0x00007fa538da3000)
	libpthread.so.0 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0 (0x00007fa538d81000)
	libstdc++.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 (0x00007fa538bb4000)
	libm.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6 (0x00007fa538a70000)
	libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00007fa538a56000)
	libc.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0x00007fa53888f000)
	libresolv.so.2 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libresolv.so.2 (0x00007fa538875000)
	libz.so.1 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1 (0x00007fa538858000)
	libbz2.so.1.0 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbz2.so.1.0 (0x00007fa538845000)
	liblzma.so.5 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liblzma.so.5 (0x00007fa53881d000)
	liblz4.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liblz4.so.1 (0x00007fa5387fa000)
	libzstd.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libzstd.so.1 (0x00007fa53871d000)
	libudev.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libudev.so.1 (0x00007fa5386f5000)
	libsystemd.so.0 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libsystemd.so.0 (0x00007fa538640000)
	libgcrypt.so.20 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcrypt.so.20 (0x00007fa538520000)
	libxxhash.so.0 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxxhash.so.0 (0x00007fa538507000)
	/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007fa5398c1000)
	libdl.so.2 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2 (0x00007fa538501000)
	librt.so.1 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/librt.so.1 (0x00007fa5384f4000)
	libuuid.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libuuid.so.1 (0x00007fa5384eb000)
	libgpg-error.so.0 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgpg-error.so.0 (0x00007fa5384c5000)

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 11.0
  APT prefers testing-security
  APT policy: (500, 'testing-security'), (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Foreign Architectures: i386

Kernel: Linux 5.10.0-8-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU threads)
Locale: LANG=en_US.utf8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.utf8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled

Versions of packages aptitude depends on:
ii  aptitude-common           0.8.13-3
ii  libapt-pkg6.0             2.2.4
ii  libboost-iostreams1.74.0  1.74.0-9
ii  libc6                     2.31-13
ii  libcwidget4               0.5.18-5
ii  libgcc-s1                 10.2.1-6
ii  libncursesw6              6.2+20201114-2
ii  libsigc++-2.0-0v5         2.10.4-2
ii  libsqlite3-0              3.34.1-3
ii  libstdc++6                10.2.1-6
ii  libtinfo6                 6.2+20201114-2
ii  libxapian30               1.4.18-3

Versions of packages aptitude recommends:
ii  libdpkg-perl    1.20.9
ii  sensible-utils  0.0.14

Versions of packages aptitude suggests:
pn  apt-xapian-index                <none>
pn  aptitude-doc-en | aptitude-doc  <none>
pn  debtags                         <none>
ii  tasksel                         3.68

-- no debconf information
-------------- next part --------------
--- aptitude-0.8.13/doc/en/manpage.xml	2020-05-20 23:32:38.000000000 -0400
+++ aptitude-0.8.13-edited/doc/en/manpage.xml	2021-07-27 15:21:10.599153571 -0400
@@ -696,32 +696,12 @@
 ihA raptor-utils                    - Raptor RDF Parser utilities</screen>
 
           <para>
-	    Each search result is listed on a separate line.  The
-	    first character of each line indicates the current state
-	    of the package: the most common states are
-	    <literal>p</literal>, meaning that no trace of the package
-	    exists on the system, <literal>c</literal>, meaning that
-	    the package was deleted but its configuration files remain
-	    on the system, <literal>i</literal>, meaning that the
-	    package is installed, and <literal>v</literal>, meaning
-	    that the package is virtual.  The second character
-	    indicates the stored action (if any; otherwise a blank
-	    space is displayed) to be performed on the package, with
-	    the most common actions being <literal>i</literal>,
-	    meaning that the package will be installed,
-	    <literal>d</literal>, meaning that the package will be
-	    deleted, and <literal>p</literal>, meaning that the
-	    package and its configuration files will be removed.  If
-	    the third character is <literal>A</literal>, the package
-	    was automatically installed.
+	    Each search result is listed on a separate line.  See
+	    <xref linkend='state_indicators'/> for details.
 	  </para>
 
 	  <para>
-	    For a complete list of the possible state and action
-	    flags, see the section <quote><link
-	    linkend='secAccessingPackageInformation'>Accessing Package
-	    Information</link></quote> in the &aptitude; reference
-	    guide.  To customize the output of
+	    To customize the output of
 	    <literal>search</literal>, see the command-line options
 	    <link
 	    linkend='cmdlineOptionFormat'><literal>-F</literal></link>
@@ -948,6 +928,11 @@
 i A desktop-base  Suggests   gnome | kde | xfce4 | wmaker
 p   kde           Depends    kdepim (>= 4:3.4.3)</screen>
 
+          <para>
+	    Each relevant package is listed on a separate line.  See
+	    <xref linkend='state_indicators'/> for details.
+	  </para>
+
 	  <para>
 	    The command <literal>why</literal> finds a dependency
 	    chain that installs the package named on the command line,
@@ -2405,6 +2390,92 @@
     </variablelist>
   </refsect1>
 
+  <refsect1 id='state_indicators'>
+    <title>State indicators</title>
+
+    <para>Some actions produce a listing of packages, one per line.
+    The first character of each line indicates the current state of
+    the package.</para>
+
+    <variablelist>
+      <varlistentry>
+	<term><literal>p</literal></term>
+	<listitem><para>
+	  No trace of the package exists on the system.
+	</para></listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+
+      <varlistentry>
+	<term><literal>c</literal></term>
+	<listitem><para>
+	  The package was deleted but its configuration files
+	  remain on the system.
+	</para></listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+
+      <varlistentry>
+	<term><literal>i</literal></term>
+	<listitem><para>
+	  The package is installed.
+	</para></listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+
+      <varlistentry>
+	<term><literal>v</literal></term>
+	<listitem><para>
+	  The package is virtual.
+	</para></listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+    </variablelist>
+
+    <para>The second character indicates the stored action (if any;
+    otherwise a blank space is displayed) to be performed on the
+    package.</para>
+
+    <variablelist>
+      <varlistentry>
+	<term><literal>i</literal></term>
+	<listitem><para>
+	  The package will be installed.
+	</para></listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+
+      <varlistentry>
+	<term><literal>d</literal></term>
+	<listitem><para>
+	  The package will be deleted.
+	</para></listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+
+      <varlistentry>
+	<term><literal>p</literal></term>
+	<listitem><para>
+	  The package and its configuration files will be removed.
+	</para></listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+    </variablelist>
+
+    <para>The third character conveys additional information.</para>
+
+    <variablelist>
+      <varlistentry>
+	<term><literal>A</literal></term>
+	<listitem><para>
+	  The package was automatically installed.
+	</para></listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+    </variablelist>
+
+    <para>
+      For a complete list of the possible state and action
+      flags, see the section <quote><link
+      linkend='secAccessingPackageInformation'>Accessing Package
+      Information</link></quote> in the &aptitude; reference
+      guide.
+    </para>
+
+  </refsect1>
+
   <refsect1>
     <title>Environment</title>
 


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