DH_COMPRESS

Section: Debhelper (1)
Updated: 2001-11-17
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NAME

dh_compress - compress files and fix symlinks in package build directories

SYNOPSIS

dh_compress [debhelper options] [-Xitem] [-A] [file ...]

DESCRIPTION

dh_compress is a debhelper program that is responsible for compressing the files in package build directories, and makes sure that any symlinks that pointed to the files before they were compressed are updated to point to the new files.

By default, dh_compress compresses files that debian policy mandates should be compressed, namely all files in usr/share/info, usr/share/man, usr/X11R6/man, files in usr/share/doc that are larger than 4k in size, (except the copyright file, .html files, and files that appear to be already compressed based on their extensions), and all changelog files.

If a debian/package.compress file exists, however, it will be ran as a shell script, and all filenames that the shell script outputs will be compressed instead of the default files. The shell script will be run from inside the package build directory. Note though that using -X is a much better idea in general; you should only use a debian/package.compress file if you really have to.

OPTIONS

-Xitem, --exclude=item: Exclude files that contain ``item'' anywhere in their filename from being compressed. For example, -X.jpeg will exclude jpeg's from compression. You may use this option multiple times to build up a list of things to exclude. You can accomplish the same thing by using a debian/compress file, but this is easier.
-A, --all: Compress all files specified by command line parameters in ALL packages acted on.
file ...: Add these files to the list of files to compress.

CONFORMS TO

Debian policy, version 3.0

AUTHOR

Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 16:17:23 GMT, May 08, 2025