3.2. The laboratory

Lintian's laboratory directory can be defined via the LINTIAN_LAB variable (either in the configuration file or as environment variable). If this variable is not defined, Lintian creates a temporary lab in /tmp which is removed again after Lintian has completed its checks. This mode is called temporary lab mode.

In the static lab mode (if the laboratory directory is defined by the user), the laboratory has to be set up first before it can be used by Lintian. This can be done with the -S (or --setup-lab) command line option (see also the next section about the distribution directory).

Here is a sketch of the Lintian laboratory:

   $LINTIAN_LAB/

      source/
       <src-pkg-name>/
        .lintian-status
        dsc                 dsc file
        foo.diff.gz
        foo.orig.tar.gz     (symlinks to actual files)
        binary/
	     <binary 1> -> ../../../binary/<binary 1>
	     ...
	unpacked/           (opt., contains unpacked source package)

      binary/
       <bin-pkg-name>/
        .lintian-status
        index               (output of `dpkg -c')
        control-index       (same for the control.tar.gz of the pkg)
        control/            (contains all control files)
        fields/             (contains all control field settings)
	source -> ../../source/<source pkg>
        deb                 (symlink to actual file)
	unpacked/           (opt., contains unpacked binary package)

      udeb/
       <udeb-pkg-name>/
	...                 (same structure as for binary packages)

      info/
        binary-packages     list of binary packages in archive
        udeb-packages       list of udeb packages in archive
	source-packages     list of source packages in archive