.\" This manpage is copyright (C) 1996 Michael Shields <shields@crosslink.net>.
.\" 
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.TH deb\-override 5 "2007-03-07" "Debian Project" "dpkg utilities"
.SH NAME
deb\-override \- Debian archive override file
.
.SH SYNOPSIS
override
.
.SH DESCRIPTION
While most information about a package can be found in the control file,
some must be filled in by the distribution czars rather than by the
maintainer, because they relate to the arrangement of files for release
rather than the actual dependencies and description of the package.
This information is found in the override file.
.PP
The override file has a simple whitespace-delimited format. Comments are
allowed (denoted with a
.BR # ).
.PP
.in +5
.I package
.I priority
.I section
.RI [ maintainerinfo ]
.in -5
.PP
.I package
is the name of the package. Entries in the override file for packages
not found in the tree of binary packages are ignored.
.PP
.I priority
and
.I section
place the package within the release tree; these ought not to be found
in the control file. If the package is found in a subdirectory of
.IR binarydir ,
that will be checked against
.IR section .
.PP
.IR maintainerinfo ,
if present, can be either the name of a maintainer for an unconditional
override, or else
.I oldmaintainer
.B =>
.I newmaintainer
to perform a substitution.
.PP
The override files used to make the official Packages lists may be found
in the
.I indices
directory on any Debian mirror.
.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR dpkg\-scanpackages (1),
.BR dpkg\-scansources (1),
.BR apt\-ftparchive (1).