NAME

       Debian::Copyright - manage Debian copyright files

VERSION

       This document describes Debian::Copyright version 0.2 .

SYNOPSIS

           my $c = Debian::Copyright->new();       # construct a new
           $c->read($file1);                       # parse debian copyright file
           $c->read($file2);                       # parse a second
           $c->write($ofile);                      # write to file

DESCRIPTION

       Debian::Copyright can be used for the representation, manipulation and merging of Debian copyright files
       in an object-oriented way. It provides easy reading and writing of the debian/copyright file found in
       Debian source packages. Debian has recently started standardising its copyright files around the machine-
       readable "Format: http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/" in DEP-5 format.

   note on terminology
       The term "Stanza" derives from the dh-make-perl <http://packages.debian.org/sid/dh-make-perl> tool. The
       official term would now be "Paragraph". For the purposes of discussing the DEP-5 format the terms are
       used interchangeably in this documentation.

FIELDS

   header
       An instance of Debian::Copyright::Stanza::Header class. Contains the the first stanza of the copyright
       file. If multiple files were parsed only the first will be retained.

   files
       A hash reference (actually Tie::IxHash instance) with keys being the values of the "Files" clause and
       values instances of Debian::Copyright::Stanza::Files class.

   licenses
       A hash reference (actually Tie::IxHash instance) with keys being the values of the "License" clause and
       values instances of Debian::Copyright::Stanza::License class.

CONSTRUCTOR

   new
       Constructs a new Debian::Copyright instance.

       The "header" field is initialised with an empty string.  The "files_block" and "license_block" fields are
       initialised with an empty instance of Tie::IxHash.

METHODS

   read file
       Parse "copyright" in debian and accessors.

       file can be either a file name, an opened file handle or a string scalar reference.

   write file
       Writes a debian/copyright-like file in file with the contents defined in the accessor fields.

       file can be either a file name, an opened file handle or a string scalar reference.

LIMITATIONS

       This module is written with one particular version of DEP-5 <http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-
       manuals/copyright-format/1.0/> in mind. Furthermore version 0.1 of this software was for a draft version
       the standard. The changes in going from draft to standard were such that it was not worth attempting to
       maintain backwards compatibility.
       Test coverage is not yet complete.

INCOMPATIBILITIES

       This version is not backwards compatible with version 0.1.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       Thanks to Charles Plessy for various comments regarding the documentation.

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE

       Copyright (C) 2011-2012 Nicholas Bamber nicholas@periapt.co.uk

       This module was adapted from Debian::Control.  Copyright (C) 2009 Damyan Ivanov dmn@debian.org [Portions]

       This  program  is  free  software;  you  can  redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU
       General Public License version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.

       This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY  WARRANTY;  without  even
       the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

perl v5.36.0                                       2022-10-14                             Debian::Copyright(3pm)