A .bep file is a ''recipe'' that BePorter uses to fetch, patch, build and install a software package. It is an ASCII file that contains a list of keys with corresponding (lists of) values. The syntax is as follows. For a key with a '''single value''':

{{{
KEY = "value"
}}}

The syntax is subject to the following rules:
 * the key label must be in all capitals and consist only of letters (A-Z) and underscores
 * there may be no whitespace in front of the key label
 * there may be whitespace around the '=', but it is not required
 * the value should be enclosed within double quotes
 * there may be whitespace after the closing quote

For a key with a '''list of values''':

{{{
KEY = "value1
       value2
       value3"
}}}

The syntax is subject to the rules listed above, plus the following:
 * one value is entered per line, with the first on the line of the key label
 * every value but the first is indented by whitespace (tabs or spaces)
 * only one set of double quotes encloses the list, as is visible from the example above
 * the closing double quote is on the same ling as the last value of the list

The following keys are to be currently supported in BePorter:

 {{{DESCRIPTION}}}:
  a (short) description of the software package
 {{{HOMEPAGE}}}:
  URI pointing to the official homepage of the software package
 {{{SRC_URI}}}:
  (a list of) URI(s) pointing to the source code archive of the software package
 {{{UNPACK}}}:
  indicates the type of archive: {{{tgz}}} (tar gzip) or {{{tbz}}} (tar bzip2)[[BR]]
  default = {{{tgz}}}
 {{{REVISION}}}:
  indicates the BePort revision: {{{1}}}, {{{2}}}, {{{3}}}, ...
 {{{PATCH}}}:
  indicates whether BeOS-specific patching is required: {{{YES}}} or {{{NO}}}[[BR]]
  default = {{{NO}}}
 {{{WORKING}}}:
  indicates whether this BePort is fully working: {{{YES}}} or {{{NO}}}[[BR]]
  default = {{{YES}}}
 {{{DEPEND}}}:
  list of !BePorts this port depends upon: {{{category/portname >= portversion}}}
 {{{BUILD}}}:
  list of shell commands to execute in order to build the port  
 {{{INSTALL}}}:
  list of shell commands to execute in order to install the port  

When a key is not listed in the BepFile, BePorter assumes the default value, or an empty string/list (if no default value is specified above).


Note: It is possible that the names and/or the use of these keys may change as BePorter evolves. Keys may also be added and removed. When BePorter gets a release, the key set shall be frozen.

It is possible to insert '''comments''' in the BepFile.
 * the comment should be preceded with a hash (#)
 * there may be whitespace preceding the '#'