BepFile

Introduction

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.

Syntax

Key types

There are three types of keys in a BepFile: single-value, list-of-values and shell commands.

The key label is subject to the following rules:

• the key label must be in all capitals and consist only of letters (A-Z), numbers (0-9) and underscores
• there may be no whitespace in front of the key label

A key with a single value

KEY = "value"

The syntax is subject to the following rules:

• 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

A key with a list of values

KEY = "value1
       value2
       value3"

The syntax is subject to the rules listed above for a single value key, 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

A key with a list of shell commands

KEY = {
       line1
       line2
       line3
      }

The syntax is subject to these rules:

• the line of the key label ends with an opening brace '{', with nothing following it (except for whitespace)
• each line is indented by whitespace (tabs or spaces)
• the closing brace '}' is on on a seperate line, preceded by whitespace
• the lines between the braces are interpreted as a shell script (bash); hence, it is possible to use conditional execution and insert comments using '#' (see below)

List of keys

The following keys are currently supported in BePorter?:

Key	Description	Type	Syntax	Mandatory	Default
DESCRIPTION	a (short) description of the software package	single, list	text	yes	-
HOMEPAGE	URI pointing to the official homepage of the software package	single	URI	yes	-
SRC_URI	(a list of) URI(s) pointing to the source code archive of the software package	single, list	URI	yes	-
REVISION	indicates the BePort? revision	single	integer (1, 2, 3, ...)	yes	-
STATUS_R5	indicates the status of this port on BeOS R5	single	status (untested, unstable, stable)	no	untested
STATUS_BONE	indicates the status of this port on BeOS BONE/Dano and Zeta	single	status (untested, unstable, stable)	no	untested
STATUS_HAIKU	indicates the status of this port on Haiku	single	status (untested, unstable, stable)	no	untested
DEPEND	(list of) BePort(s) this port depends upon	single, list	category/portname >= portversion	no	-
BUILD	list of shell commands (script) to execute in order to build the port	shell	shell commands	no	-
INSTALL	list of shell commands to execute in order to install the port	shell	shell commands	no	-

Inside the BUILD and INSTALL scripts, it is possible to distinguish between the different BeOS platforms using the BEPORTS_PLATFORM environment variable. It can be one of R5, BONE or HAIKU.

An example of a build script is shown below.

BUILD {
	cd xyz-1.0.0
	if [ "$BEPORTS_PLATFORM" = "BONE" ] ; then
		export EXTRA_CONFARGS="--enable-debug"	# there are still some problems on BONE
	else
		export EXTRA_CONFARGS=""
	fi
	./configure --prefix=/boot/home/config $EXTRA_CONFARGS
	make
}

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 on a line of it's own
• the comment should be preceded with a hash (#)
• there may be whitespace preceding the '#'