problem comparing capability version strings

["Dave Peterson" <dave_peterson@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I have a question about capability version string comparisons.
Using RPM library calls, I examine the following Centos 5
packages:

    package A: GConf2-devel-2.14.0-9.el5.i386.rpm
    package B: GConf2-2.14.0-9.el5.i386.rpm

I see that one capability required by A is the following:

    capability name:    GConf2
    capability version: 2.14.0
    flags:              RPMSENSE_EQUAL

I also see that one capability provided by B is the following:

    capability name:    GConf2
    capability version: 2.14.0-9.el5
    flags:              RPMSENSE_EQUAL

To see if the GConf2 capability provided by B satisfies A's
requirement, I call rpmvercmp() as follows:

   int result = rpmvercmp("2.14.0", "2.14.0-9.el5");

The return value is -1, indicating that "2.14.0-9.el5" is newer
than "2.14.0".  Since the "flags" value for A is RPMSENSE_EQUAL,
and rpmvercmp() says that the version strings are not equal, I
conclude that the GConf2 capability provided by B does not
satisfy the GConf2 dependency required by A.  Looking at the
packages installed on my own machine, I observe the following:

    $ rpm -qa | grep GConf2
    GConf2-2.14.0-9.el5
    GConf2-devel-2.14.0-9.el5
    $
    $ rpm -q --provides GConf2-2.14.0-9.el5 | grep '^GConf2'
    GConf2 = 2.14.0-9.el5
    $
    $ rpm -q --requires GConf2-devel-2.14.0-9.el5 | grep '^GConf2'
    GConf2 = 2.14.0
    $
    $ rpm -q --whatprovides GConf2
    GConf2-2.14.0-9.el5
    $
    $ rpm -V GConf2-devel-2.14.0-9.el5
    $

It looks like B is the only installed package that provides the
GConf2 capability, and the RPM command doesn't complain that A is
missing any dependencies.

What is going on here?  I suspect that the capability versions
"2.14.0" and "2.14.0-9.el5" should be considered equal due to
some usage convention(s) that I am unaware of.  Is this correct?
What is the proper way to compare two capability version strings
in order to determine whether a package dependency is satisfied?
Is there one way that is guaranteed to work across all distros,
or does it vary from one distro to another?

Thanks,
Dave

_______________________________________________
Rpm-list mailing list
Rpm-list@xxxxxxxxxx
https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/rpm-list