info > Dpkg::Control

📖 NAME

Dpkg::Control — parse and manipulate official control-like information

🚀 Quick Reference

Use Case	Command	Description
Create a new control object	Dpkg::Control->new(type => CTRL_INFO_SRC)	Initialize with a specific type to set field order and allowed fields
Change options after creation	$c->set_options(allow_pgp => 1)	Modify parsing behavior (e.g., allow PGP signatures)
Get the current control type	$c->get_type()	Returns one of the CTRL_* constants
Parse a source package control file	my $c = Dpkg::Control->new(type => CTRL_INFO_SRC)	First block of debian/control (source package info)
Parse a binary package control file	my $c = Dpkg::Control->new(type => CTRL_PKG_DEB)	Control file inside a .deb package

📝 DESCRIPTION

The Dpkg::Control object is a smart version of Dpkg::Control::Hash. It associates a type to the control information. That type can be used to know what fields are allowed and in what order they must be output.

The types are constants that are exported by default. Here's the full list:

• 🔹 CTRL_UNKNOWN — This type is the default type, it indicates that the type of control information is not yet known.
• 🔹 CTRL_INFO_SRC — Corresponds to the first block of information in a debian/control file in a Debian source package.
• 🔹 CTRL_INFO_PKG — Corresponds to subsequent blocks of information in a debian/control file in a Debian source package.
• 🔹 CTRL_REPO_RELEASE — Corresponds to a Release file in a repository.
• 🔹 CTRL_INDEX_SRC — Corresponds to an entry in a Sources file of a source package repository.
• 🔹 CTRL_INDEX_PKG — Corresponds to an entry in a Packages file of a binary package repository.
• 🔹 CTRL_PKG_SRC — Corresponds to a .dsc file of a Debian source package.
• 🔹 CTRL_PKG_DEB — Corresponds to the control file generated by dpkg-gencontrol (DEBIAN/control) and to the same file inside .deb packages.
• 🔹 CTRL_FILE_BUILDINFO — Corresponds to a .buildinfo file.
• 🔹 CTRL_FILE_CHANGES — Corresponds to a .changes file.
• 🔹 CTRL_FILE_VENDOR — Corresponds to a vendor file in $Dpkg::CONFDIR/origins/.
• 🔹 CTRL_FILE_STATUS — Corresponds to an entry in dpkg's status file ($Dpkg::ADMINDIR/status).
• 🔹 CTRL_CHANGELOG — Corresponds to the output of dpkg-parsechangelog.
• 🔹 CTRL_COPYRIGHT_HEADER — Corresponds to the header control block in a debian/copyright file in machine readable format.
• 🔹 CTRL_COPYRIGHT_FILES — Corresponds to a files control block in a debian/copyright file in machine readable format.
• 🔹 CTRL_COPYRIGHT_LICENSE — Corresponds to a license control block in a debian/copyright file in machine readable format.
• 🔹 CTRL_TESTS — Corresponds to a package tests control file in debian/tests/control.

⚙️ METHODS

All the methods of Dpkg::Control::Hash are available. Those listed below are either new or overridden with a different behaviour.

• 🔹 $c = Dpkg::Control->new(%opts) — If the type option is given, it's used to setup default values for other options. See set_options() for more details.
• 🔹 $c->set_options(%opts) — Changes the value of one or more options. If the type option is changed, it is used first to define default values for others options. The option allow_pgp is set to 1 for CTRL_PKG_SRC, CTRL_FILE_CHANGES and CTRL_REPO_RELEASE and to 0 otherwise. The option drop_empty is set to 0 for CTRL_INFO_PKG and CTRL_INFO_SRC and to 1 otherwise. The option name is set to a textual description of the type of control information. The output order is also set to match the ordered list returned by Dpkg::Control::Fields::field_ordered_list($type).
• 🔹 $c->get_type() — Returns the type of control information stored. See the type parameter set during new().

📜 CHANGES

🔹 Version 1.03 (dpkg 1.18.11)

New type: CTRL_FILE_BUILDINFO.

🔹 Version 1.02 (dpkg 1.18.8)

New type: CTRL_TESTS.

🔹 Version 1.01 (dpkg 1.18.5)

New types: CTRL_REPO_RELEASE, CTRL_COPYRIGHT_HEADER, CTRL_COPYRIGHT_FILES, CTRL_COPYRIGHT_LICENSE.

🔹 Version 1.00 (dpkg 1.15.6)

Mark the module as public.

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1.21.1 · 2025-09-09 · Dpkg::Control(3perl)