Package information (pkg-info)

The pkg-info tool is used to display information about a package. In addition to displaying the installation path component of a file (used in configuration files) it can be used to display a list of installed packages, what subpackages are installed, if common links have been created for the package, what the common links are, and populate the package installation database. As with the pkg-inst tool, pkg-info is independent of the underlying package managment system.

The --link-listing option displays the subpackage components that have common links associated with them. A sample run of pkg-info with --link-listing=short on Solaris follows:

    $ pkg-info --link-listing=short python
    python
      checking if v2.1.2-12 installed (TWW.python212) ... yes
        installed instances ... TWW.python212.man TWW.python212.pkg 
        TWW.python212.doc TWW.python212.rte
        searching for common links ... found
      common links ...
        bin: TWW.python212.pkg TWW.python212.rte
        man: TWW.python212.man
    

A sample run with --link-listing=long to display the common links created follows:

    $ pkg-info --link-listing=long python
    python
      checking if v2.1.2-12 installed (TWW.python212) ... yes
        installed instances ... TWW.python212.man TWW.python212.pkg 
        TWW.python212.doc TWW.python212.rte
        searching for common links ... found
        links/wrappers in common directories ...
          l /opt/TWWfsw/man/man1/python.1 -> /opt/TWWfsw/python212/man/man1/python.1
          l /opt/TWWfsw/bin/gfplus -> /opt/TWWfsw/python212p/bin/gfplus
          l /opt/TWWfsw/bin/gfserver -> /opt/TWWfsw/python212p/bin/gfserver
          l /opt/TWWfsw/bin/xmlproc_parse -> /opt/TWWfsw/python212p/bin/xmlproc_parse
          l /opt/TWWfsw/bin/xmlproc_val -> /opt/TWWfsw/python212p/bin/xmlproc_val
          W /opt/TWWfsw/bin/pydoc
          W /opt/TWWfsw/bin/python
          W /opt/TWWfsw/bin/python2.1
    

If a description entry exists for a package, a description can be printed using the --print=description option:

    $ pkg-info --print=description python
    python
      checking if v2.1.2-12 installed (TWW.python212) ... yes
        installed instances ... TWW.python212.man TWW.python212.pkg 
        TWW.python212.doc TWW.python212.rte
        description ...
          Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented 
          programming language. Python combines remarkable power with very 
          clear syntax. It has modules, classes, exceptions, very high 
          level dynamic data types, and dynamic typing. There are 
          interfaces to many system calls and libraries, as well as to 
          various windowing systems (X11, Motif, Tk, Mac, MFC). New 
          built-in modules are easily written in C or C++. Python is also 
          usable as an extension language for applications that need a 
          programmable interface. It is also usable as an extension 
          language for applications that need a programmable interface.
    

A repository can also be queried for information about a package:

    $ pkg-info --depot=http://updates.thewrittenword.com --dist-ver=6.1
    --login=<login> --password=<password> --print=description python-2.2.2
    python
      depot containing v2.2.2-6 of this package ...
        http://updates.il.thewrittenword.com
      installation path component for v2.2.2 ... python222
      instances ... TWW.python222.man TWW.python222.pkg TWW.python222.doc 
      TWW.python222.rte
      dependencies ... 
        TWW.openssl097.rte [openssl] (v>=0.9.7.3)
      description ...
        Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming 
        language. Python combines remarkable power with very clear syntax. 
        It has modules, classes, exceptions, very high level dynamic data 
        types, and dynamic typing. There are interfaces to many system 
        calls and libraries, as well as to various windowing systems (X11, 
        Motif, Tk, Mac, MFC). New built-in modules are easily written in C 
        or C++. Python is also usable as an extension language for 
        applications that need a programmable interface. It is also usable 
        as an extension language for applications that need a programmable 
        interface.
    

While each package management system has a utility to display a list of installed packages, the pkg-info tool was designed primarily to provide a list of the installed packages independent of those already installed on the operating system.

The package installation database is used to obtain a list of installed packages. The old pre-1.4 global package database, "/opt/TWWfsw/pkgutils15/share/pkg-db.xml", is used as a fallback if the package is not found in the installation database. All packages in the installation database and global package database are queried to determine which packages are installed. In time, the global package database will be deprecated and the package installation database will become the sole source of installed packages. To populate the package installation database from an existing installation, use the --update-pkg-db option as follows:

    $ ls -ld /var/opt/TWWfsw/pkgutils15/libpng-1.0.14
    /var/opt/TWWfsw/pkgutils15/libpng-1.0.14: No such file or directory
    $ pkg-info --update-pkg-db --verbose
    ...
    libpng
      checking if v1.0.14 installed (TWWpng10) ... yes
        installed instances ... TWWpng10u TWWpng10m
        updating package database entry for runtime fileset ... done
        updating package database entry for man fileset ... done
    ...
    $ ls -ld /var/opt/TWWfsw/pkgutils15/libpng-1.0.14
    -rw-r--r--   1 root     root         510 Jul 16 18:27 libpng-1.0.14