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1 | \input texinfo.tex @c -*-texinfo-*- |
2 | @c |
3 | @c $Id: common.texi,v 1.1 1999/05/05 19:23:47 mdw Exp $ |
4 | @c |
5 | @c Documentation for `common' |
6 | @c |
7 | @c (c) 1997 Mark Wooding |
8 | @c |
9 | |
10 | @c ----- Licensing notice --------------------------------------------------- |
11 | @c |
12 | @c This file is part of the Common Files Distribution (`common'). |
13 | @c |
14 | @c `Common' is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify |
15 | @c it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by |
16 | @c the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or |
17 | @c (at your option) any later version. |
18 | @c |
19 | @c `Common' is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, |
20 | @c but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of |
21 | @c MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the |
22 | @c GNU General Public License for more details. |
23 | @c |
24 | @c You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License |
25 | @c along with `common'; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, |
26 | @c Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA. |
27 | |
28 | @c ----- Standard boilerplate header ---------------------------------------- |
29 | |
30 | @c --- Formatting header --- |
31 | |
32 | @c %**start of header |
33 | @setfilename common.info |
34 | @settitle The Common Files Distribution |
35 | @paragraphindent 0 |
36 | @iftex |
37 | @input texinice |
38 | @afourpaper |
39 | @end iftex |
40 | @include version.texi |
41 | @c %**end of header |
42 | |
43 | @c --- Info directory entry --- |
44 | |
45 | @direntry |
46 | * Common: (common). The Common Files Distribution. |
47 | @end direntry |
48 | |
49 | @c ----- Introductory stuff and copyright pages ----------------------------- |
50 | @c |
51 | @c Yes indeed, by the way: I'm willing to allow a translation approved |
52 | @c by the FSF, not me. I can't be bothered to vet translations. |
53 | |
54 | @c --- Info version --- |
55 | |
56 | @ifinfo |
57 | |
58 | This file documents version @value{VERSION} of the Common Files Distribution. |
59 | |
60 | Copyright (c) 1997 Mark Wooding |
61 | |
62 | Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this |
63 | manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are |
64 | preserved on all copies. |
65 | |
66 | @ignore |
67 | Permission is granted to process this file through TeX and print the |
68 | results, provided the printed document carries a copying permission |
69 | notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph |
70 | (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual). |
71 | |
72 | @end ignore |
73 | Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this |
74 | manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the |
75 | sections entitled `Copying' and `GNU General Public License' are |
76 | included exactly as in the original, and provided that the entire |
77 | resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission |
78 | notice identical to this one. |
79 | |
80 | Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual |
81 | into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions, |
82 | except that this permission notice may be stated in a translation |
83 | approved by the Free Software Foundation. |
84 | |
85 | @end ifinfo |
86 | |
87 | @c --- Printed version --- |
88 | |
89 | @titlepage |
90 | @title The Common Files Distribution |
91 | @subtitle version @value{VERSION} |
92 | @author Mark Wooding |
93 | @page |
94 | @vskip 0pt plus 1 filll |
95 | |
96 | Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this |
97 | manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are |
98 | preserved on all copies. |
99 | |
100 | Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this |
101 | manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the |
102 | sections entitled `Copying' and `GNU General Public License' are |
103 | included exactly as in the original, and provided that the entire |
104 | resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission |
105 | notice identical to this one. |
106 | |
107 | Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual |
108 | into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions, |
109 | except that this permission notice may be stated in a translation |
110 | approved by the Free Software Foundation. |
111 | |
112 | @end titlepage |
113 | |
114 | |
115 | @c -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
116 | @ifinfo |
117 | @node Top, Copying, (dir), (dir) |
118 | @unnumbered The Common Files Distribution |
119 | |
120 | |
121 | The Common Files Distribution provides a convenient way to manage files |
122 | shared between a number of developments. |
123 | |
124 | This manual documents version @value{VERSION} of the Common Files |
125 | Distribution. |
126 | |
127 | @end ifinfo |
128 | |
129 | @menu |
130 | * Copying:: |
131 | * Introduction:: |
132 | * The file repository:: |
133 | * Text libraries:: |
134 | |
135 | --- The Detailed Node Listing --- |
136 | |
137 | The file repository |
138 | |
139 | * The mklinks command:: |
140 | * The findlinks command:: |
141 | |
142 | Text libraries |
143 | |
144 | * Anatomy:: Structure of a text library. |
145 | * The txtlib program:: |
146 | @end menu |
147 | |
148 | @c -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
149 | @node Copying, Introduction, Top, Top |
150 | @unnumbered The GNU General Public License |
151 | |
152 | @include gpl.texi |
153 | |
154 | @c -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
155 | @node Introduction, The file repository, Copying, Top |
156 | @unnumbered Introduction |
157 | |
158 | |
159 | When you have a number of development trees, managing files which are common |
160 | to all of them starts to become a real pain. When a new version of some file |
161 | comes out, checking out all your source directories, replacing the old |
162 | version with the new one, and committing all the changes back gets to be |
163 | very tiresome rather quickly. |
164 | |
165 | The Common File Distribution attempts to be a solution to some of the |
166 | problems caused sharing files between source trees. It provides a single |
167 | repository for shared files, and lets you create links to the shared copies |
168 | from your source trees. It also provides a simple method for constructing |
169 | text files from small bits of `text libraries'. |
170 | |
171 | The whole lot is held together by a collection of small shell scripts. They |
172 | can easily be modified to suit the requirements of an individual site, or |
173 | used as the basis of other similar scripts. |
174 | |
175 | |
176 | @c -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
177 | @node The file repository, Text libraries, Introduction, Top |
178 | @chapter The file repository |
179 | |
180 | |
181 | When the Common File Distribution is installed, it creates a repository where |
182 | shared files can be placed, and it places a few standard GNU files there. By |
183 | default, the repository is @file{@var{prefix}/share/common}, although this |
184 | can be set using the @code{--datadir} option to the configuration script. |
185 | |
186 | You can place your own files in the repository if you like. If you do, |
187 | they'll be treated in exactly the same way as ones in the distribution. |
188 | |
189 | The command @code{mklinks} reads a list of filenames and creates symbolic |
190 | links to the corresponding names in the repository. This ensures that when a |
191 | file in the repository gets updated, any source trees automatically use the |
192 | new version. Obviously, when you build a source distribution, you must |
193 | ensure that links are followed, rather than saved as links; the @code{h} |
194 | option to @code{tar} does this (this is the default in Automake; @pxref{Top, |
195 | , Overview, automake, GNU Automake}). |
196 | |
197 | The command @code{findlinks} scans the current directory (and its |
198 | subdirectories) for files whose names match those in the repository. |
199 | |
200 | @menu |
201 | * The mklinks command:: |
202 | * The findlinks command:: |
203 | @end menu |
204 | |
205 | |
206 | |
207 | @node The mklinks command, The findlinks command, The file repository, The file repository |
208 | @section The @code{mklinks} command |
209 | |
210 | Links into the file repository are made with the @code{mklinks} command: |
211 | |
212 | @example |
213 | mklinks [@var{file}]... |
214 | @end example |
215 | |
216 | If you don't specify any @code{file}s, it reads @file{.links} from the |
217 | current directory; you can pass @samp{-} to read standard input. The program |
218 | expects the files to contain a list of filenames; for each name read, it |
219 | creates a symbolic link to the appropriate file in the repository. |
220 | |
221 | You can create a list of files which probably need linking using the |
222 | @code{findlinks} command. @xref{The findlinks command}. |
223 | |
224 | |
225 | |
226 | @node The findlinks command, , The mklinks command, The file repository |
227 | @section The @code{findlinks} command |
228 | |
229 | The @code{findlinks} searches the current directory and any subdirectories |
230 | and writes to standard output a list of files whose names match files in the |
231 | file repository. It takes no arguments, although typically output will be |
232 | redirected to the file @file{.links}, which the @code{mklinks} command reads |
233 | by default: |
234 | |
235 | @example |
236 | findlinks >.links |
237 | @end example |
238 | |
239 | |
240 | @c -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
241 | @node Text libraries, , The file repository, Top |
242 | @chapter Text libraries |
243 | |
244 | |
245 | Just being able to share files isn't always good enough: it's sometimes |
246 | useful to able to share small parts of files. The Common Files Distribution |
247 | comes with a simple system for extracting requested parts from a @dfn{text |
248 | library}. |
249 | |
250 | |
251 | @menu |
252 | * Anatomy:: Structure of a text library. |
253 | * The txtlib program:: |
254 | @end menu |
255 | |
256 | |
257 | |
258 | @node Anatomy, The txtlib program, Text libraries, Text libraries |
259 | @section Anatomy of a library file |
260 | |
261 | Text libraries contain a @dfn{header} followed by a number of @dfn{chunks}. |
262 | The start of a chunk is marked by a line containing a string of the form |
263 | @samp{*@@-@var{name}-@@*}; the chunk continues until the start of the next |
264 | chunk, or the end of the file. The header is simply the text preceding the |
265 | first chunk. |
266 | |
267 | Here's a simple example of a text library. |
268 | |
269 | @example |
270 | % -*-tex-*- |
271 | % |
272 | % Collection of useful macros |
273 | % |
274 | |
275 | % *@@-todo-@@* |
276 | |
277 | \newcommand\todo[1]@{% |
278 | \par% |
279 | \dimen@@\linewidth% |
280 | \advance\dimen@@-\tw@@\fboxsep% |
281 | \advance\dimen@@-\tw@@\fboxrule% |
282 | \fbox@{\expandafter\parbox\expandafter@{\the\dimen@@@}@{% |
283 | \begin@{note@}[To do:]% |
284 | #1% |
285 | \end@{note@}% |
286 | @}@}% |
287 | \par% |
288 | @} |
289 | |
290 | % *@@-indexing-@@* |
291 | |
292 | \newindex@{default@}@{idx@}@{ind@}@{Index@} |
293 | \atdef^@{\index@} |
294 | \atdef_@{\index*@} |
295 | @end example |
296 | |
297 | The file contains a short header containing a line to tell Emacs what mode |
298 | to use when editing it and a brief description of the file. It contains two |
299 | chunks, named @code{todo} and @code{indexing} |
300 | |
301 | |
302 | @node The txtlib program, , Anatomy, Text libraries |
303 | @section The @code{txtlib} program |
304 | |
305 | The @code{txtlib} program can be used to perform some simple operations on |
306 | text libraries: |
307 | |
308 | @example |
309 | txtlib [-x] [-o @var{file}] @var{library}... |
310 | txtlib -l @var{library}... |
311 | @end example |
312 | |
313 | By default, or if the @code{-x} option is given, @code{txtlib} extracts |
314 | chunks from libraries. It reads a list of chunk names from standard input, |
315 | one per line. It then examines each @var{library} named on the command line, |
316 | and extracts the requested chunks, writing them to standard output, or to a |
317 | named file. Note that the chunks are extracted in the order they appear in |
318 | the libraries, not the order in which their chunk names were listed. |
319 | |
320 | If the @code{-l} option is given, @code{txtlib} scans each @var{library} in |
321 | turn, writing the names of all the chunks it finds to standard output. |
322 | |
323 | |
324 | |
325 | |
326 | @c -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
327 | |
328 | @contents |
329 | @bye |