# man > deb822(5)

---
type: CommandReference
command: deb822
mode: man
section: "5"
source: man-pages
---

## Quick Reference

- Paragraphs (stanzas) separated by blank lines.
- Field syntax: `FieldName: Value` (space after colon conventional).
- Continuation lines: start with space or tab for folded and multiline fields.
- Field names: case-insensitive, composed of US-ASCII characters excluding `:`, `#`, `-`, and control characters.
- Field values: case-sensitive; whitespace before/after value ignored.
- Empty field values only allowed in source package control files (`debian/control`).
- Comments: lines starting with `#` (no leading whitespace) only in source control files and `deb-origin(5)` files; ignored between continuation lines.
- Encoding: UTF-8.

## Name

deb822 — Debian RFC822 control data format

## Synopsis

A control file consists of one or more paragraphs (stanzas) separated by empty lines. Each paragraph contains fields of the form:

FieldName: Value
Continuation lines (for folded or multiline fields) must start with a space or tab. Whitespace, including newlines, is not significant in folded field values, but is significant in multiline field values. Field names must not begin with `#` or `-`. Paragraph separators (empty lines or lines with only spaces/tabs) are not allowed within field values. Blank lines in field values are escaped as ` .` (space followed by dot). Horizontal whitespace around the colon is ignored.

## Syntax Details

- **Simple fields**: single line, no folding.
- **Folded fields**: logical line spanning multiple lines; continuation lines start with space/tab; whitespace (including newlines) not significant.
- **Multiline fields**: multiple continuation lines; whitespace and newlines significant.
- Field names: case-insensitive; values case-sensitive.
- No whitespace allowed inside names (packages, architectures, versions) or version relationships.
- Only one instance of each field name per paragraph.
- Encoding: UTF-8.

## See Also

- [deb-origin(5)](https://manpages.debian.org/deb-origin.5)
- RFC822
- RFC5322