Dep.pl Manual

This document is about dep.pl, the dependency analyst.

1. Introduction		A few words about dep.pl
2. Usage		How to use dep.pl
3. Examples		Some useful examples
GNU Free Documentation License		License for this manual

1. Introduction

Well, dep.pl is a program that checks the dependencies of a set of files, then it produces some sort of output. This output can be a full-detailed report with status messages, a brief report, even without status messages, or only the filenames of the shared objects.

The program depends on ldd, so if ldd can't check the dependency of a file, dep.pl will be unable too.

2. Usage

The usage is very simple after you understood the programs basic behaviour. The best way to do this is to read through the source, or experiment with it.

Synopsis

dep.pl [options] files...

Options

• `--bare', `-b'

  When printing the filenames of the required shared objects, dep.pl separates them with a newline. This options makes a single whitespace the new separator instead.

• `--chroot=[path]', `-C=[path]'

  Simulates a chroot into [path]. So if a file appears to be outside, the program will prepend [path] before the filename, forcing it to be inside.

• `--check-area=[path]', `-c=[path]'

  Skip all files that are outside [path]. This will skip those symbolic links that are inside [path], but their destination isn't.

• `--err', `-e'

  Print all messages to STDERR, instead of STDOUT. Except of course, the filenames of the required shared objects. This option is mainly used to pass the results to another program, but still be able to see the progress.

• `--exclude=[list]', `-x=[list]'

  Colon separated list of files to exclude from the checking list. If a filename in this list begins with "/", it will match a filename in the checking list, if that filename begins with the string in the exclude list. In all other cases, a file will be removed from the checking list if a string in the exclude list is contained within it.

  Colon separated list of files to exclude from the checking list. If a filename in this list begins with "/", it will match a filename in the checking list, if that filename begins with the string in the exclude list. In all other cases, a file will be removed from the checking list if a string in the exclude list is contained within it.

• `--force=[ln]', `-f=[ln]'

  When specified, dep.pl will use the [ln] language, if the message file for it can be found.

• `--help', `-h'

  Displays a summary of options, then quits.

• `--libs', `-l'

  Turn full-detailed mode off. That means, display the filenames of the shared objects only at the end, not as soon as possible. It produces less output, and I think it looks nicer.

• `--license', `-L'

  Prints out the text of the GNU General Public License

• `--nohup', `-n'

  Ignore the HUP signal. For that case, when you want to run the program in background, and logout.

• `--recursive', `-R'

  Turn recursive mode on. Without this option, when dep.pl encounters a directory, it simply skips it. If it is passed to it, the program will list its contents, and add it to its list.

• `--report', `-r'

  This is the default mode. When specified, it does not matter if `--quiet' or `--libs' was specified too, they will be ignored. In this mode, dep.pl produces a full-detailed report, by printing the shared objects used by a file right after finished checking it.

• `--stat=[level]', `-s=[level]'

  Just for fanatics. This option is used to display some little statistics: number of files found, number of required shared objects, a top-list, and so on. You can specify the detail level by giving this option an optional [level] argument. The higher this number is, the detailed the statistics will be.

• `--status=[boolean]', `-S=[boolean]'

  Controls the display of status messages. Turning status messages off is a very bad idea, for it turns off the display of shared objects too. The only use of this option is to test the speed of the program. Or to have joy in the clean statistics, to make status messages unable to ruin the sight...

• `--quiet', `-q'

  Quiet mode. Do not print any message, just the final conclusion: the filenames of the required shared objects.

• `--version', `-v'

  Print out version information, then exit.

3. Examples

dep.pl /bin/bash /bin/ash /bin/*sh

This will check /bin/bash, /bin/ash and every file in /bin that ends with sh. Also because no option is specified, the program will operate in full-detailed mode.

dep.pl /bin/*sh /tmp

This will check all files in /bin that end with sh, operate in full-detailed mode, and skip /tmp, because that is a directory, and recursive mode is turned off by default.

dep.pl /bin/*sh /tmp -R

Calling dep.pl this way will behave just like the second example, except one thing: it will check all files in /tmp too, because recursion is turned on.

dep.pl /bin -lR

Using this syntax, the program will check all files in /bin, but using the basic report mode. That is, not printing the library filenames right after checking a file.

dep.pl /bin -elR >/tmp/needed-files

The same as the fourth example, but it will print every status message to STDERR, only the library filenames will be printed to STDOUT, and that is redirected to a file for later processing.

dep.pl /bin -elR 2>/tmp/messages

The same as the fifth example, but it redirects STDERR to a file, so STDOUT can be passed directly to another program. This way, status messages can be stored for later processing.

dep.pl /bin -qR

Quiet mode. Hides all messages, only the library filenames are printed at the end, separated by a newline.

dep.pl /bin -bqR

Ahhh, quiet! Calling the program like this will cause to hide all status messages, error messages and everything. Only the filenames will be printed, without a newline after each.

dep.pl /bin -beqR

Exactly the same as the previous example.

dep.pl /bin -qrR

The same as dep.pl /bin -R, because explicitly specifying -r overrides all other options. That means, if you call dep.pl with an extra -r, it won't matter if you specified any either -q or -l, they will be ignored.

dep.pl /bin -S=off

Try it! -S is a tricky option. It is foolish to use it without -s, for it will turn off every status message, therefore only the banner will be printed.

dep.pl /bin -S=off -s

This will finally work. It will omit every status message, even the filenames of the libraries, but will produce a little statistics.

dep.pl /bin -s=1 -lR

My personal favourite. Turn full-detailed mode off, but display some status messages, and produce the currently available most detailed statistics.

dep.pl /home/virtual/host1 -lR

This will check all files within /home/virtual/host1, even those that are outside of it. This is possible if a symlink in /home/virtual/host1 points to a directory outside.

dep.pl /home/virtual/host1 -lR -x=/home/virtual/host1/proc

The same as the previous example, but skips all files in /home/virtual/host1/proc. This is very useful if one wants to debug an already set up, working virtual host, where the proc file-system is vital, therefore can't be unmounted.

dep.pl /home/virtual/host1 -lR -x=/home/virtual/host1/proc -c=/home/virtual/host1

Exactly the same as the example above, except that it will skip files that are outside /home/virtual/host1. You can redirect the output to a file for later analysis to find symlinks pointing outside the virtual root.

dep.pl /home/virtual/host1 -lRn -x=/home/virtual/host1/proc -c=/home/virtual/host1 &>output &

Does the same as the previous example, except that all output will be redirected to the file output, the program will run in the background, and we can logout, it won't disturb it.

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Usage
3. Examples
GNU Free Documentation License

Preamble
APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS
VERBATIM COPYING
COPYING IN QUANTITY
MODIFICATIONS
COMBINING DOCUMENTS
COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS
TRANSLATION
TERMINATION
FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents

Short Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Usage
3. Examples
GNU Free Documentation License

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