RCORDER(8)						    BSD System Manager's Manual 						RCORDER(8)

NAME

     rcorder -- print a dependency ordering of interdependent files

SYNOPSIS

     rcorder [-k keep] [-s skip] file ...

DESCRIPTION

     rcorder is designed to print out a dependency ordering of a set of interdependent files.  Typically it is used to find an execution sequence
     for a set of shell scripts in which certain files must be executed before others.

     Each file passed to rcorder should be annotated with special lines (which look like comments to the shell) which indicate the dependencies
     the files have upon certain points in the sequence, known as ``conditions'', and which indicate, for each file, which ``conditions'' may be
     expected to be filled by that file.

     Within each file, a block containing a series of ``REQUIRE'', ``PROVIDE'', ``BEFORE'' and ``KEYWORD'' lines should appear.  The format of the
     lines is rigid.  Each line must begin with a single ``#'', followed by a single space, followed by ``PROVIDE:'', ``REQUIRE:'', ``BEFORE:'',
     or ``KEYWORD:''.  No deviation is permitted.  Each dependency line is then followed by a series of conditions, separated by whitespace.  Mul-
     tiple ``PROVIDE'', ``REQUIRE'', ``BEFORE'' and ``KEYWORD'' lines may appear, but all such lines must appear in a sequence without any inter-
     vening lines, as once a line that does not follow the format is reached, parsing stops.

     The options are as follows:

     -k      Add the specified keyword to the ``keep list''.  If any -k option is given, only those files containing the matching keyword are
	     listed.

     -s      Add the specified keyword to the ``skip list''.  If any -s option is given, files containing the matching keyword are not listed.

      An example block follows:

	   # REQUIRE: networking syslog
	   # REQUIRE: usr
	   # PROVIDE: dns nscd

     This block states that the file in which it appears depends upon the ``networking'', ``syslog'', and ``usr'' conditions, and provides the
     ``dns'' and ``nscd'' conditions.

     A file may contain zero ``PROVIDE'' lines, in which case it provides no conditions, and may contain zero ``REQUIRE'' lines, in which case it
     has no dependencies.  A file containing no ``PROVIDE'', ``REQUIRE'', or ``BEFORE'' lines may be output at an arbitrary position in the depen-
     dency ordering.

     There must be at least one file with no dependencies in the set of arguments passed to rcorder in order for it to find a starting place in
     the dependency ordering.

DIAGNOSTICS

     rcorder may print one of the following error messages and exit with a non-zero status if it encounters an error while processing the file
     list.

     Requirement %s has no providers, aborting.  No file has a ``PROVIDE'' line corresponding to a condition present in a ``REQUIRE'' line in
     another file.

     Circular dependency on provision %s, aborting.  A set of files has a circular dependency which was detected while processing the stated con-
     dition.

     Circular dependency on file %s, aborting.	A set of files has a circular dependency which was detected while processing the stated file.

SEE ALSO

     rc(8)

HISTORY

     The rcorder program first appeared in NetBSD 1.5.

AUTHORS

     Written by Perry E. Metzger <perry@piermont.com> and Matthew R. Green <mrg@eterna.com.au>.

BSD
								  April 23, 2003							       BSD