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Small changes to README, mostly just to postpone making any real changes. :)

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Dan McGee 2007-02-08 05:58:11 +00:00
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README
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==========================================================================
README:
Overview and internals of the ALPM library and the PACMAN frontend.
This document describes the state of the implementation before its CVS
import.
At this stage, the code is in pre-alpha state, but the design should not
change that much.
There's still need for some work to get the current code properly working.
The tag "ORE" was added in various places in the code, each time a point
remains unclear or is not yet implemented.
==========================================================================
ALPM library overview & internals
=================================
Here is a list of the main objects and files from the ALPM (i.e. Arch
Linux Package Management) library.
This document, whilst not exhaustive, also indicates some limitations
(on purpose, or sometimes due to its poor design) of the library at the
present time.
Here is a list of the main objects and files from the ALPM (i.e. Arch Linux
Package Management) library. This document, whilst not exhaustive, also
indicates some limitations (on purpose, or sometimes due to its poor design) of
the library at the present time.
Note: there is one special file ("alpm.h") which is the public interface
that should be distributed and installed on systems with the library.
Only structures, data and functions declared within this file are made
available to the frontend.
Lots of structures are of an opaque type and their fields are only
accessible in read-only mode, through some clearly defined functions.
There is one special file,"alpm.h", which is the public interface that
should be distributed and installed on systems with the library. Only
structures, data and functions declared within this file are made available to
the frontend. Lots of structures are of an opaque type and their fields are
only accessible in read-only mode, through some clearly defined functions.
Note: several structures and functions have been renamed compared to
pacman 2.9 code.
This was done at first for the sake of naming scheme consistency, and
then primarily because of potential namespace conflicts between library
and frontend spaces.
Indeed, it is not possible to have two different functions with the same
name declared in both spaces.
To avoid such conflicts, some function names have been prepended with
"_alpm_".
In a general manner, public library functions are named
"alpm_<type>_<action>" (examples: alpm_trans_commit(),
alpm_lib_release(), alpm_pkg_getinfo(), ...).
Internal (and thus private) functions should be named "_alpm_XXX" for
instance (examples: _alpm_needbackup(), _alpm_runscriplet(), ...).
As of now, this scheme is only applied to most sensitive functions
(mainly the ones from util.c), which have generic names, and thus, which
are likely to be redefined in the frontend.
One can consider that the frontend should have the priority in function
names choice, and that it is up to the library to hide its symbols to
avoid conflicts with the frontend ones.
Finally, functions defined and used inside a single file should be
defined as "static".
In addition to "alpm.h", the interfaces of "alpm_list.h" have also been made
available to the frontend. It is not a requirement for the frontend to use
these list functions; however, it prevents frontends from having to reimplement
possibly useful functions.
Several structures and functions have been renamed compared to pacman 2.9 code.
This was done at first for the sake of naming scheme consistency, and then
primarily because of potential namespace conflicts between library and frontend
spaces. Indeed, it is not possible to have two different functions with the
same name declared in both spaces. To avoid such conflicts, internal function
names have been prepended with "_alpm_".
In a general manner, public library functions are named "alpm_<type>_<action>"
(examples: alpm_trans_commit(), alpm_lib_release(), alpm_pkg_getinfo(), ...).
Internal (and thus private) functions should be named "_alpm_XXX" for instance
(examples: _alpm_needbackup(), _alpm_runscriplet(), ...). Functions defined and
used inside a single file should be defined as "static".
NOTE: The below descriptions may be severely outdated. Yes it needs updating,
but it may be better done by doxygen comments and generated documentation.
[HANDLE] (see handle.c)