dh_sameversiondep - generate versioned dependency based on the versioned dependencies of the reference

       Modestas Vainius <modax@debian.org>

perl v5.40.1                                       2025-03-08                               DH_SAMEVERSIONDEP(1)

dh_sameversiondep is a helper tool which is able to generate a dependency that is versioned the same way
       as a dependency (coming from the same source) of another reference package.  dh_sameversiondep scans
       debian/control for the specially formatted substvar (see "sameVersionDep substvar SPECIFICATION" section
       below), determines its value and writes it to debian/package.substvars file.

       The most common use case for dh_sameversiondep tool is to keep your liba-dev package dependency on the
       external libb-dev package as tight as your liba package depends on the respective external libb package
       (see "EXAMPLE" section for more information about this use case).

       dh_sameversiondep works as follows:

       •   Searches  for  the  sameVersionDep  substvar  in the Depends, Recommends, Suggests, Enhances and Pre-
           Depends fields of the requested packages. When one is found, it is parsed and the dependencypackage
           name, referencepackage name and dependencytype (either Depends or Recommends etc.) are determined.

       •   All  dependencies  of  the requested type are collected for the dependencypackage based on the dpkg-query--status output. If a multi-arch aware dpkg is detected, this query  is  architecture-qualified
           as needed.

       •   All  dependencies  of  the  requested  type  are  collected  for  the  referencepackage either from
           debian/control (substvars are expanded) or from dpkg-query--status output if  the  package  was  not
           found in debian/control.

       •   Both collections are intersected leaving only common packages in both collections.

       •   Common  package  list is filtered by leaving only those which come from the same source as dependencypackage.

       •   Whatever packages are left (most likely only one), their names are replaced with  dependencypackage
           name  preserving  all versioning information. This result is written to debian/package.substvars file
           as a value of the sameVersionDep substvar being processed.

       dh_sameversiondep is very strict about errors. If either dependencypackage  or  the  referencepackage
       cannot be found or the resulting dependency set is empty, it will fail with an error.

       dh_sameversiondep  MUST  be run before dh_gencontrol. However, it is recommended to run dh_sameversiondep
       after dh_shlibdeps.

       Assume we have the following in debian/control:

           Package: liba
           Depends: libc (>= 0.1), depa, depb, depc

           Package: libb
           Depends: libd (>= 0.2), depd, depe, depf

           Package: libab-dev
           Depends: ${sameVersionDep:libc-dev}, ${sameVersionDep:libd-dev:libb}

       Assuming that libc and libc-dev (both from the same source), as well as libd and libd-dev (both from  the
       same  source)  are  installed,  the  value of "sameVersionDep:libc-dev" will be libc-dev(>=0.1) and the
       value of "sameVersionDep:libd-dev:libb" will be libd-dev(>=0.2).

       "sameVersionDep:libc-dev"  could  also   be   written   as   "sameVersionDep:libc-dev:liba-Depends"   and
       "sameVersionDep:libd-dev:libb"  as "sameVersionDep:libd-dev:libb-Depends" but it is not necessary because
       defaults are sufficient.

       dh_sameversiondep - generate versioned dependency based on the versioned dependencies of the reference
       package.

sameVersionDep substvar can appear in either Depends, Recommends, Suggests, Enhances or Pre-Depends field
       of any binary package. The field, which the substvar appears in, becomes the default dependencytype  for
       that substvar.  sameVersionDep should be formatted as follows (everything is case sensitive):

       ${sameVersionDep:dependency[[:reference]-dependencytype]}

       dependency (mandatory)
           The name of the package which you want to add as a dependency.

       reference (optional)
           The  name  of  the  package  which  dependencies  are  to be intersected with the dependencies of the
           dependency package. Defaults to the first package in debian/control if omitted.

       dependencytype (optional)
           Can be either Depends, Recommends, Suggests, Enhances or Pre-Depends. Defaults to  the  name  of  the
           field  which  the  substvar  was  found  in.  Specifies  which  type of dependencies to consider when
           analyzing dependency package and reference package.

debhelper(7)

dh_sameversiondep [debhelperoptions]