"Jeremy C. Reed" wrote:

> - check if some config datafile is within fifteen days old; if it is older
> then use uname -mr and grab list of all binary packages (i.e.
> ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/packages/1.4.2/i386) and parse it to build
> datafile of available software

  If you do that, both the number of days and the site to grab the list
from should be configurable.  It might also be a good idea to be able to
specify an URI like file:///usr/pkgsrc/packages/All for people who
mirror or bulk-build their binary packages.

> - build list of package names from /usr/pkgsrc/*/*

  This might be a good idea if your tool allows building packages from
source.  If it supports both source and binary installation, a combined
method might be a good idea (get the list of packages from pkgsrc while
getting the list of available binary packages for a specific
architecture from a specific location).

> The old and non-working tkpkg (from FreeBSD) uses
>  pkg_info -I -c [glob -nocomplain *.{tgz,tar.z,tar.gz,tar.Z}]

  Here are a couple of examples:

# pkg_info -I gtk+-1.2.8
gtk+-1.2.8          Gimp toolkit. Libraries for building X11 user
interfaces

# pkg_info -I /usr/pkgsrc/packages/All/gtk+-1.2.8.tgz
/usr/pkgsrc/packages/All/gtk+-1.2.8.tgz Gimp toolkit. Libraries for
building X11 user interfaces

  It doesn't matter whether you specify '-c' as well or not.  The first
form only checks for installed package of the given name, while the
second call analyzes a binary package (or a number thereof if a shell
pattern is used).

> I can't figure out from the script where it is looking for the files.

  The FreeBSD tkpkg probably uses /usr/pkgsrc/packages/All to get its
list of package binaries.

> I also read the manpage but I can't figure out the proper usage for -I
> -c. (Any examples/explanations?)

  See above.  At least on NetBSD, -c doesn't make any difference in this
case.

> By the way, here is an image of my start:
>  http://pilchuck.reedmedia.net/tmp-1552959188/screenshot-1-20000821.png

  Looks nice.

> If there is a more appropriate mailing list, please let me know.

  I believe tech-pkg would be more appropriate as it is meant for both
package and package management related discussions ...

  Cheers
      ,
   Rene