dpkg-parsechangelog(1)                      dpkg suite                     dpkg-parsechangelog(1)

NAME
       dpkg-parsechangelog - parse Debian changelog files

SYNOPSIS
       dpkg-parsechangelog [option...]

DESCRIPTION
       dpkg-parsechangelog  reads  and parses the changelog of an unpacked Debian source tree and
       outputs the information in it to standard output in a machine-readable form.

OPTIONS
       -l, --file changelog-file
              Specifies the changelog file to read information  from.   A  ‘-’  can  be  used  to
              specify reading from standard input.  The default is debian/changelog.

       -F changelog-format
              Specifies the format of the changelog. By default the format is read from a special
              line near the bottom of the changelog  or  failing  that  defaults  to  the  debian
              standard format. See also CHANGELOG FORMATS.

       -L libdir
              Obsolete  option  without effect (since dpkg 1.18.8).  Setting the perl environment
              variables PERL5LIB or PERLLIB has a similar effect when looking for the parser perl
              modules.

       -S, --show-field field
              Specifies the name of the field to show (since dpkg 1.17.0).  The field name is not
              printed, only its value.

       -?, --help
              Show the usage message and exit.

       --version
              Show the version and exit.

   Parser Options
       The following options can be used to influence the output of the  changelog  parser,  e.g.
       the range of entries or the format of the output.

       --format output-format
              Set the output format. Currently supported values are dpkg and rfc822.  dpkg is the
              classic output format (from  before  this  option  existed)  and  the  default.  It
              consists  of  one  paragraph in Debian control format (see deb-control(5)). If more
              than one entry is requested, then most  fields  are  taken  from  the  first  entry
              (usually the most recent entry), except otherwise stated:

              Source: pkg-name

              Version: version

              Distribution: target-distribution

              Urgency: urgency
                     The  highest  urgency  of  all  included  entries  is  used, followed by the
                     concatenated (space-separated) comments from all the versions requested.

              Maintainer: author

              Date: date
                     The date of the entry as a string, as it appears in the changelog.   With  a
                     strptime(3) format "%a, %d %b %Y %T %z", but where the day of the week might
                     not actually correspond to the real day obtained from the rest of  the  date
                     string.   If  you  need  a more accurate representation of the date, use the
                     Timestamp field, but take into account it might not be possible  to  map  it
                     back to the exact value in this field.

              Timestamp: timestamp
                     The  date of the entry as a timestamp in seconds since the epoch (since dpkg
                     1.18.8).

              Closes: bug-number
                     The Closes fields of all included entries are merged.

              Changes: changelog-entries
                     The text of all changelog entries is concatenated.  To  make  this  field  a
                     valid  Debian control format multiline field empty lines are replaced with a
                     single full stop and all lines is intended by one space character. The exact
                     content depends on the changelog format.

              The Version, Distribution, Urgency, Maintainer and Changes fields are mandatory.

              There might be additional user-defined fields present.

              The  rfc822  format  uses the same fields but outputs a separate paragraph for each
              changelog entry so that all metadata for each entry is preserved.

       --reverse
              Include all changes in reverse order (since  dpkg  1.19.1).   Note:  for  the  dpkg
              format the first entry will be the most ancient entry.

       --all  Include all changes. Note: other options have no effect when this is in use.

       -s, --since version
       -v version
              Include all changes later than version.

       -u, --until version
              Include all changes earlier than version.

       -f, --from version
              Include all changes equal or later than version.

       -t, --to version
              Include all changes up to or equal than version.

       -c, --count number
       -n number
              Include number entries from the top (or the tail if number is lower than 0).

       -o, --offset number
              Change  the starting point for --count, counted from the top (or the tail if number
              is lower than 0).

CHANGELOG FORMATS
       It is possible to use a different format to the standard one, by providing  a  parser  for
       that alternative format.

       In  order  to  have dpkg-parsechangelog run the new parser, a line must be included within
       the  last  40  lines  of  the  changelog  file,  matching  the  Perl  regular  expression:
       “\schangelog-format:\s+([0-9a-z]+)\W”.   The part in parentheses should be the name of the
       format. For example:

              @@@ changelog-format: otherformat @@@

       Changelog format names are non-empty strings of lowercase alphanumerics (“a-z0-9”).

       If  such  a  line  exists  then  dpkg-parsechangelog  will  look  for  the  parser  as   a
       Dpkg::Changelog::Otherformat  perl  module;  it is an error for it not being present.  The
       parser name in the perl module will be automatically capitalized.  The  default  changelog
       format is debian, and a parser for it is provided by default.

       The  parser  should  be  derived from the Dpkg::Changelog class and implement the required
       documented interface.

       If the changelog format which is being parsed always or almost always leaves a blank  line
       between  individual  change notes, these blank lines should be stripped out, so as to make
       the resulting output compact.

       If the changelog format does not contain date or package name information this information
       should  be omitted from the output. The parser should not attempt to synthesize it or find
       it from other sources.

       If the changelog does not have the expected format the parser  should  error  out,  rather
       than trying to muddle through and possibly generating incorrect output.

       A changelog parser may not interact with the user at all.

NOTES
       All Parser Options except for -v are only supported since dpkg 1.14.16.

       Short option parsing with non-bundled values available only since dpkg 1.18.0.

ENVIRONMENT
       DPKG_COLORS
              Sets  the  color mode (since dpkg 1.18.5).  The currently accepted values are: auto
              (default), always and never.

       DPKG_NLS
              If set, it will be used to decide whether to activate Native Language Support, also
              known  as internationalization (or i18n) support (since dpkg 1.19.0).  The accepted
              values are: 0 and 1 (default).

FILES
       debian/changelog
              The changelog file, used to obtain version-dependent information about  the  source
              package,  such as the urgency and distribution of an upload, the changes made since
              a particular release, and the source version number itself.

SEE ALSO
       deb-changelog(5).

1.19.7                                      2019-06-03                     dpkg-parsechangelog(1)

Usage: dpkg-parsechangelog [<option>...]

Options:
  -l <changelog-file>      get per-version info from this file.
  -F <changelog-format>    force changelog format.
  -S, --show-field <field> show the values for <field>.
  -?, --help               show this help message.
      --version            show the version.

Parser options:
      --format <output-format>
                           set output format (defaults to 'dpkg').
      --reverse            include all changes in reverse order.
      --all                include all changes.
  -s, --since <version>    include all changes later than <version>.
  -v <version>             ditto.
  -u, --until <version>    include all changes earlier than <version>.
  -f, --from <version>     include all changes equal or later than <version>.
  -t, --to <version>       include all changes up to or equal than <version>.
  -c, --count <number>     include <number> entries from the top (or tail
                             if <number> is lower than 0).
  -n <number>              ditto.
  -o, --offset <number>    change starting point for --count, counted from
                             the top (or tail if <number> is lower than 0).