[dpkg] 96/192: man: Document trailing commas as valid in debian/control dependency fields

[Ximin Luo]

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commit 05bbea38469409fd718e44cb550fabd2f1b073f5
Author: Guillem Jover <guillem at debian.org>
Date:   Tue Sep 5 03:22:31 2017 +0200

    man: Document trailing commas as valid in debian/control dependency fields
    
    For any dependency field found on debian/control, trailing commas are
    accepted and eliminated when generating the binary control files. So
    that things like substvars can be used at the end of the list even if
    they produce no output.
    
    Prompted-by: Mattia Rizzolo <mattia at debian.org>
---
 debian/changelog        |  3 +++
 man/deb-src-control.man | 15 ++++++++++-----
 2 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 41dbfc6..edd91e1 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ dpkg (1.19.0) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
     - Use correct name for archname validator value in dpkg(1) man page.
       Reported by Niels Thykier <niels at thykier.net.
     - Add new deb-src-rules(5) man page.
+    - Document that trailing commas are valid in debian/control dependency
+      fields, which get stripped when generating output files.
+      Prompted by Mattia Rizzolo <mattia at debian.org>.
   * Code internals:
     - Switch perl code to use -> operator for function variables.
   * Build system:
diff --git a/man/deb-src-control.man b/man/deb-src-control.man
index 2adb8b2..1907eee 100644
--- a/man/deb-src-control.man
+++ b/man/deb-src-control.man
@@ -188,7 +188,9 @@ and
 fields is a list of groups of alternative packages.
 Each group is a list of packages separated by vertical bar (or “pipe”)
 symbols, ‘\fB|\fP’.
-The groups are separated by commas ‘\fB,\fP’.
+The groups are separated by commas ‘\fB,\fP’, and can end with a
+trailing comma that will be eliminated when generating the fields
+for \fBdeb\-control\fP(5) (since dpkg 1.10.14).
 Commas are to be read as “AND”, and pipes as “OR”, with pipes
 binding more tightly.
 Each package name is optionally followed by an architecture qualifier
@@ -206,7 +208,9 @@ The syntax of the
 and
 .B Build\-Conflicts\-Indep
 fields is a list of comma-separated package names, where the comma is read
-as an “AND”.
+as an “AND”, and where the list can end with a trailing comma that will
+be eliminated when generating the fields for \fBdeb\-control\fP(5)
+(since dpkg 1.10.14).
 Specifying alternative packages using a “pipe” is not supported.
 Each package name is optionally followed by a version number specification in
 parentheses, an architecture specification in square brackets, and a
@@ -338,9 +342,10 @@ These fields declare relationships between packages. They are discussed in
 the
 .BR deb\-control (5)
 manpage.
-When these fields are found in \fIdebian/control\fP they can also have
-architecture specifications and restriction formulas which will get reduced
-when generating the fields for \fBdeb\-control\fP(5).
+When these fields are found in \fIdebian/control\fP they can also end with
+a trailing comma (since dpkg 1.10.14), have architecture specifications and
+restriction formulas which will all get reduced when generating the fields
+for \fBdeb\-control\fP(5).
 
 .TP
 .BI Subarchitecture: " value"

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