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🏷️ NAME

Dpkg::Version – handling and comparing dpkg-style version numbers

🚀 Quick Reference

Use Case	Command	Description
Create a version object	$v = Dpkg::Version->new('1.2.3-1')	Construct a version from a string
Check validity	$v->is_valid()	Returns true if version string is valid
Compare two versions	version_compare($a, $b)	Returns -1, 0, 1 (earlier, equal, later)
Compare with relation	version_compare_relation($a, REL_GT, $b)	Returns 1 if $a > $b
Get epoch	$v->epoch()	Epoch part (e.g., 1 for “1:2.3”)
Get upstream version	$v->version()	Version part without epoch/revision
Get revision	$v->revision()	Debian revision part
Check if native	$v->is_native()	True if no revision present
String conversion, omit epoch	$v->as_string({ omit_epoch => 1 })	Stringify without epoch
Suppress semantic warning	no if $Dpkg::Version::VERSION ge '1.02', warnings => qw(...);	Quiesce bool overload deprecation

📖 DESCRIPTION

The Dpkg::Version module provides pure‑Perl routines to compare dpkg‑style version numbers (as used in Debian packages) and also an object‑oriented interface overriding perl operators to do the right thing when you compare Dpkg::Version objects between them.

🔧 METHODS

• $v = Dpkg::Version->new($version, %opts) — Create a new Dpkg::Version object corresponding to the version indicated in the string (scalar) $version. By default it will accept any string and consider it as a valid version. If you pass the option check => 1, it will return undef if the version is invalid (see version_check for details).
  You can always call $v->is_valid() later to verify validity.
• boolean evaluation — When a Dpkg::Version object is used in boolean context (e.g., if ($v) or $v ? "$v" : 'default') it returns true if the stored version is valid ($v->is_valid()) and false otherwise.
  ⚠️ Notice: Between dpkg 1.15.7.2 and 1.19.1 this overload used to return $v->as_string() when valid, causing “0” versions to be evaluated as false. To catch any code relying on that old behaviour, this overload emits a warning with category Dpkg::Version::semantic_change::overload::bool until dpkg 1.20.x. Once fixed the warning can be quiesced with:

  no if $Dpkg::Version::VERSION ge '1.02',
     warnings => qw(Dpkg::Version::semantic_change::overload::bool);

• $v->is_valid() — ✅ Returns true if the version is valid, false otherwise.
• $v->epoch(), $v->version(), $v->revision() — Returns the corresponding part of the full version string.
• $v->is_native() — 🌱 Returns true if the version is native (no revision), false if it has a revision.
• $v1 <=> $v2, $v1 < $v2, $v1 <= $v2, $v1 > $v2, $v1 >= $v2 — Numerical comparison of version numbers. One operand must be a Dpkg::Version; the other can be any string that represents a version.
• "$v", $v->as_string(), $v->as_string(%options) — Returns the string representation of the version number.
  • omit_epoch (default 0) — 🔢 Omit the epoch in the output string.
  • omit_revision (default 0) — 🔧 Omit the revision in the output string.

⚙️ FUNCTIONS

All the functions are exported by default.

• version_compare($a, $b) — Returns -1 if $a is earlier than $b, 0 if equal, 1 if later. Dies if either is invalid.
• version_compare_relation($a, $rel, $b) — Returns the result (0 or 1) of the given comparison. Built on version_compare(). Allowed $rel values: exported constants REL_GT, REL_GE, REL_EQ, REL_LE, REL_LT.
• $rel = version_normalize_relation($rel_string) — Normalizes a relation string into a constant (REL_GT, …). Supports: “gt”, “ge”, “eq”, “le”, “lt”, “>>”, “>=”, “=”, “<=”, “<<”. “>” and “<” are also accepted but are obsolete aliases for “>=” and “<=”.
• version_compare_string($a, $b) — String comparison for non‑numerical parts. Sorts “~” lowest, digits before non‑digits, letters before other characters, then by ASCII value.
• version_compare_part($a, $b) — Compare two sub‑parts (upstream version or revision) by splitting via version_split_digits() and comparing items. Returns -1, 0, 1.
• @items = version_split_digits($version) — Splits a string into items of all‑digits or all‑non‑digits, e.g., “1.024~beta1+svn234” → (“1”, “.”, “024”, “~beta”, “1”, “+svn”, “234”).
• ($ok, $msg) = version_check($version) / $ok = version_check($version) — Checks validity. Returns 1 in $ok if the version is valid, 0 otherwise; $msg contains the problem description if invalid.

📝 CHANGES

🔖 Version 1.03 (dpkg 1.20.0)

Remove deprecation warning from semantic change in 1.02.

🔖 Version 1.02 (dpkg 1.19.1)

Semantic change: bool evaluation semantics restored to their original behavior.

🔖 Version 1.01 (dpkg 1.17.0)

New argument: Accept an options argument in $v->as_string().
New method: $v->is_native().

🔖 Version 1.00 (dpkg 1.15.6)

Mark the module as public.

1.21.1 2025-09-09 Dpkg::Version(3perl)

🏷️ NAME 🚀 Quick Reference 📖 DESCRIPTION 🔧 METHODS ⚙️ FUNCTIONS 📝 CHANGES