Editing existing packages

Introduction

Most of the information about a package is part of the readme. When a package gets moderated, the admin scripts extract this information (Short:, Architecture:, Version: etc.) from the readme and add it to the Aminet database.

If you want to fix some information of an existing package (like when you made a fault while moderating or encountered something wrong in an old package), you'll first have to use a text editor to edit the package's readme. Once the faults are fixed, you tell the Aminet database to update its entry for that package. i.e. reread the information from the readme.

Editing a readme file

To edit a readme file, you simply invoke a text editor with the readme file in question. The editor is called "pico". So, to edit the readme of text/dtp/openoffice.lha, you would have to make sure you're in Aminet's root directory and then enter the following command at the shell prompt:

pico text/dtp/openoffice.readme

The editor will start and load the readme you specified. After editing it, press CTRL-W ("write out", i.e. save) and CTRL-X ("exit"). You're now back at the shell prompt.

Notes:

• Don't get scared if you accidentally invoke the editor with text/dtp/openoffice.lha instead of text/dtp/openoffice.readme (typical mistake if you just cut'n paste the filename from Aminet's web interface) - the display will go all crazy when pico tries to load a binary file. Just wait until it's finished, then press CTRL-X to exit the editor again (it may ask you if it should save any changes, answer that with "n")

Updating the database

Once the readme is fixed, you have to tell the database that it should update its information about the package you just changed. The required command is called "update", and needs the full (Aminet) path of the package you want to update. Example:

update text/dtp/openoffice.lha

The database will print out a few lines of text describing what it does and then you're back at the shell prompt. The package has been updated, you're done.

Notes:

• You can't move packages this way, i.e. editing the Type: field in the readme and updating the package afterwards will have no effect. See below for information on moving packages

Moving packages to a different location

To move a package to a different directory, you use the "move" command. To move text/dtp/openoffice.lha to the biz/misc directory, you would have to type the following at the shell prompt:

move text/dtp/openoffice2.0.lha biz/misc

You can also rename the package while moving it:

move text/dtp/openoffice2.0.lha biz/misc/openoffice.lha

Even renaming a package without moving it is possible:

move text/dtp/openoffice2.0.lha text/dtp/openoffice.lha

Deleting packages

Deleting packages is often neccessary because an uploader used the Replaces: directive to specify an older version of his package that he wants to have removed. To remove a package from both the database and the filesystem, type

delete text/dtp/openoffice1.0.lha

at the shell prompt. Note that the package will not be deleted, it will be moved to a sort of trashcan. so if you delete something accidentally, it can easily be restored again.