5.6.21. Files

This field contains a list of files with information about each one. The exact information and syntax varies with the context.

In all cases, Files is a multiline field. The first line of the field value (the part on the same line as Files:) is always empty. The content of the field is expressed as continuation lines, one line per file. Each line must be indented by one space and contain a number of sub-fields, separated by spaces, as described below.

In the .dsc file, each line contains the MD5 checksum, size and filename of the tar file and (if applicable) diff file which make up the remainder of the source package. 14 For example:

  1. Files:
  2.  c6f698f19f2a2aa07dbb9bbda90a2754 571925 example_1.2.orig.tar.gz
  3.  938512f08422f3509ff36f125f5873ba 6220 example_1.2-1.diff.gz

The exact forms of the filenames are described in Source packages as archives.

In the .changes file this contains one line per file being uploaded. Each line contains the MD5 checksum, size, section and priority and the filename. For example:

  1. Files:
  2.  4c31ab7bfc40d3cf49d7811987390357 1428 text extra example_1.2-1.dsc
  3.  c6f698f19f2a2aa07dbb9bbda90a2754 571925 text extra example_1.2.orig.tar.gz
  4.  938512f08422f3509ff36f125f5873ba 6220 text extra example_1.2-1.diff.gz
  5.  7c98fe853b3bbb47a00e5cd129b6cb56 703542 text extra example_1.2-1_i386.deb

The section and priority are the values of the corresponding fields in the main source control file. If no section or priority is specified then - should be used, though section and priority values must be specified for new packages to be installed properly.

The special value byhand for the section in a .changes file indicates that the file in question is not an ordinary package file and must be installed by hand by the distribution maintainers. If the section is byhand the priority should be -.

If a new Debian revision of a package is being shipped and no new original source archive is being distributed the .dsc must still contain the Files field entry for the original source archive package_upstream-version.orig.tar.gz, but the .changes file should leave it out. In this case the original source archive on the distribution site must match exactly, byte-for-byte, the original source archive which was used to generate the .dsc file and diff which are being uploaded.