DESCRIPTION
The rcorder utility is designed to print out a dependency ordering of a set of interdependent files. Typically it is used to find an execution sequence for a set of shell scripts in which certain files must be executed before others. Each file passed to rcorder must be annotated with special lines (which look like comments to the shell) which indicate the dependencies the files have upon certain points in the sequence, known as "conditions", and which indicate, for each file, which "conditions" may be expected to be filled by that file.
Within each file, a block containing a series of "REQUIRE", "PROVIDE", "BEFORE" and "KEYWORD" lines must appear. The format of the lines is rigid. Each line must begin with a single ‘#’, followed by a single space, followed by "PROVIDE:", "REQUIRE:", "BEFORE:", or "KEYWORD:". No deviation is permitted. Each dependency line is then followed by a series of conditions, separated by whitespace. Multiple "PROVIDE", "REQUIRE", "BEFORE" and "KEYWORD" lines may appear, but all such lines must appear in a sequence without any intervening lines, as once a line that does not follow the format is reached, parsing stops.
The options are as follows:
