deb-symbols(5)

NAME

   deb-symbols - Debian's extended shared library information file

SYNOPSIS

   symbols

DESCRIPTION

   The  symbol files are shipped in Debian binary packages, and its format
   is a subset of the template symbol files used by dpkg-gensymbols(1)  in
   Debian source packages.

   The  format for an extended shared library dependency information entry
   in these files is:

   library-soname main-dependency-template
   [| alternative-dependency-template]
   [...]
   [* field-name: field-value]
   [...]
    symbol minimal-version [id-of-dependency-template]

   The library-soname is exactly the value of the SONAME field as exported
   by  objdump(1). A dependency-template is a dependency where #MINVER# is
   dynamically replaced either by  a  version  check  like  "(>=  minimal-
   version)"  or  by  nothing  (if  an  unversioned  dependency  is deemed
   sufficient).

   Each exported symbol (listed as name@version, with version being "Base"
   if  the library is not versioned) is associated to a minimal-version of
   its dependency template (the main dependency template  is  always  used
   and  will end up being combined with the dependency template referenced
   by  id-of-dependency-template  if  present).  The   first   alternative
   dependency template is numbered 1, the second one 2, etc.

   Each entry for a library can also have some fields of meta-information.
   Those fields are stored on lines starting with an asterisk.  Currently,
   the only valid fields are:

   Build-Depends-Package
          It  indicates  the  name of the "-dev" package associated to the
          library and is used by dpkg-shlibdeps  to  make  sure  that  the
          dependency  generated is at least as strict as the corresponding
          build dependency (since dpkg 1.14.13).

   Ignore-Blacklist-Groups
          It indicates what blacklist  groups  should  be  ignored,  as  a
          whitespace  separated  list,  so  that  the symbols contained in
          those groups  get  included  in  the  output  file  (since  dpkg
          1.17.6).   This  should only be necessary for toolchain packages
          providing those blacklisted symbols. The  available  groups  are
          system  dependent, for ELF and GNU-based systems these are aeabi
          and gomp.

EXAMPLES

   Simple symbols file
   libftp.so.3 libftp3 #MINVER#
    DefaultNetbuf@Base 3.1-1-6
    FtpAccess@Base 3.1-1-6
    [...]

   Advanced symbols file
   libGL.so.1 libgl1
   | libgl1-mesa-glx #MINVER#
   * Build-Depends-Package: libgl1-mesa-dev
    publicGlSymbol@Base 6.3-1
    [...]
    implementationSpecificSymbol@Base 6.5.2-7 1
    [...]

SEE ALSO

   https://wiki.debian.org/Projects/ImprovedDpkgShlibdeps
   dpkg-shlibdeps(1), dpkg-gensymbols(1).

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