rcorder(8) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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RCORDER(8)              NetBSD System Manager's Manual              RCORDER(8)


NAME

     rcorder -- print a dependency ordering of interdependent files


SYNOPSIS

     rcorder [-k keep] [-s skip] file ...


DESCRIPTION

     rcorder is designed to print out a dependency ordering of a set of inter-
     dependent files.  Typically it is used to find an execution sequence for
     a set of shell scripts in which certain files must be executed before
     others.

     Each file passed to rcorder should be annotated with special lines (which
     look like comments to the shell) which indicate the dependencies the
     files have upon certain points in the sequence, known as ``conditions'',
     and which indicate, for each file, which ``conditions'' may be expected
     to be filled by that file.

     Within each file, a block containing a series of ``REQUIRE'',
     ``PROVIDE'', ``BEFORE'' and ``KEYWORD'' lines should appear.  The format
     of the lines is rigid.  Each line must begin with a single ``#'', fol-
     lowed by a single space, followed by ``PROVIDE:'', ``REQUIRE:'',
     ``BEFORE:'', or ``KEYWORD:''.  No deviation is permitted.  Each depen-
     dency line is then followed by a series of conditions, separated by
     whitespace.  Multiple ``PROVIDE'', ``REQUIRE'', ``BEFORE'' and
     ``KEYWORD'' lines may appear, but all such lines must appear in a
     sequence without any intervening lines, as once a line that does not fol-
     low the format is reached, parsing stops.

     The options are as follows:

     -k      Add the specified keyword to the ``keep list''.  If any -k option
             is given, only those files containing the matching keyword are
             listed.

     -s      Add the specified keyword to the ``skip list''.  If any -s option
             is given, files containing the matching keyword are not listed.

      An example block follows:

           # REQUIRE: networking syslog
           # REQUIRE: usr
           # PROVIDE: dns nscd

     This block states that the file in which it appears depends upon the
     ``networking'', ``syslog'', and ``usr'' conditions, and provides the
     ``dns'' and ``nscd'' conditions.

     A file may contain zero ``PROVIDE'' lines, in which case it provides no
     conditions, and may contain zero ``REQUIRE'' lines, in which case it has
     no dependencies.  A file containing no ``PROVIDE'', ``REQUIRE'', or
     ``BEFORE'' lines may be output at an arbitrary position in the dependency
     ordering.

     There must be at least one file with no dependencies in the set of argu-
     ments passed to rcorder in order for it to find a starting place in the
     dependency ordering.


DIAGNOSTICS

     rcorder may print one of the following error messages and exit with a
     non-zero status if it encounters an error while processing the file list.

     Requirement %s has no providers, aborting.  No file has a ``PROVIDE''
     line corresponding to a condition present in a ``REQUIRE'' line in
     another file.

     Circular dependency on provision %s, aborting.  A set of files has a cir-
     cular dependency which was detected while processing the stated condi-
     tion.

     Circular dependency on file %s, aborting.  A set of files has a circular
     dependency which was detected while processing the stated file.


SEE ALSO

     rc(8)


HISTORY

     The rcorder program first appeared in NetBSD 1.5.


AUTHORS

     Written by Perry E. Metzger <perry@piermont.com> and Matthew R. Green
     <mrg@eterna.com.au>.

NetBSD 4.0                      April 23, 2003                      NetBSD 4.0