.TH dpkg\-genchanges 1 "2011-08-14" "Debian Project" "dpkg utilities"
.SH NAME
dpkg\-genchanges \- generate Debian .changes files
.
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B dpkg\-genchanges
.RI [ option ...]
.br
.
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B dpkg\-genchanges
reads information from an unpacked and built Debian source tree and
from the files it has generated and generates a Debian upload control
file
.RB ( .changes " file)."
.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.BR \-b ", " \-B ", " \-A
Specifies that a binary-only build is taking place (no source files are
to be included). There's no distinction between \fB\-b\fP, \fB\-B\fP and
\fB\-A\fP, the produced
.B .changes
file will include whatever files were created by the
.B binary\-*
target(s) of the package being built.
.TP
.B \-S
Specifies that only the source should be uploaded (no binary packages
will be included).
.PP
The \fB\-s\fP\fIx\fP options control whether the original source archive is
included in the upload if any source is being generated (i.e.
.BR \-b " or " \-B
haven't been used).
.TP
.B \-si
By default, or if specified, the original source will be included only if
the upstream version number (the version without epoch and without Debian
revision) differs from the upstream version number of the previous
changelog entry.
.TP
.B \-sa
Forces the inclusion of the original source.
.TP
.B \-sd
Forces the exclusion of the original source and includes only the diff.
.fi
.TP
.BI \-v version
Causes changelog information from all versions strictly later than
.I version
to be used.
.TP
.BI \-C changesdescription
Read the description of the changes from the file
.I changesdescription
rather than using the information from the source tree's changelog
file.
.TP
.BI \-m maintaineraddress
Use
.I maintaineraddress
as the name and email address of the maintainer for this package,
rather than using the information from the source tree's control file.
.TP
.BI \-e maintaineraddress
Use
.I maintaineraddress
as the name and email address of the maintainer for this upload,
rather than using the information from the source tree's changelog.
.TP
.BI \-V name = value
Set an output substitution variable.
See \fBdeb\-substvars\fP(5) for a discussion of output substitution.
.TP
.BI \-T substvarsfile
Read substitution variables in
.IR substvarsfile ;
the default is
.BR debian/substvars .
No variable substitution is done on any of the fields that are output,
however the special variable \fIFormat\fR will override the field of the
same name. This option can be used multiple times to read substitution
variables from multiple files.

.TP
.BI \-D field = value
Override or add an output control file field.
.TP
.BI \-U field
Remove an output control file field.
.TP
.BI \-c controlfile
Specifies the main source control file to read information from. The
default is
.BR debian/control .
.TP
.BI \-l changelogfile
Specifies the change log file to read information from. The
default is
.BR debian/changelog .
.TP
.BI \-f fileslistfile
Read the list of files to be uploaded here, rather than using
.BR debian/files .
.TP
.BI \-F changelogformat
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.
.TP
.BI \-u uploadfilesdir
Look for the files to be uploaded in
.I uploadfilesdir
rather than
.B ..
.RB ( dpkg\-genchanges
needs to find these files so that it can include their sizes and
checksums in the
.B .changes
file).
.TP
.B \-q
Usually
.B dpkg\-genchanges
will produce informative messages on standard error, for example about
how many of the package's source files are being uploaded.
.B \-q
suppresses these messages.
.TP
.BR \-h ", " \-\-help
Show the usage message and exit.
.TP
.BR \-\-version
Show the version and exit.
.
.SH FILES
.TP
.B debian/files
The list of generated files which are part of the upload being
prepared.
.B dpkg\-genchanges
reads the data here when producing a
.B .changes
file.
.
.SH AUTHORS
Copyright \(co 1995-1996 Ian Jackson
.br
Copyright \(co 2000 Wichert Akkerman
.sp
This is free software; see the GNU General Public Licence version 2 or later
for copying conditions. There is NO WARRANTY.