Info Catalog elisp: Packaging Basics elisp: Packaging elisp: Multi-file Packages

elisp: Simple Packages

 
 39.2 Simple Packages
 ====================
 
 A simple package consists of a single Emacs Lisp source file.  The file
 must conform to the Emacs Lisp library header conventions (Library
 Headers).  The package’s attributes are taken from the various
 headers, as illustrated by the following example:
 
      ;;; superfrobnicator.el --- Frobnicate and bifurcate flanges
 
      ;; Copyright (C) 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 
      ;; Author: J. R. Hacker <jrh@example.com>
      ;; Version: 1.3
      ;; Package-Requires: ((flange "1.0"))
      ;; Keywords: multimedia, frobnicate
      ;; URL: http://example.com/jrhacker/superfrobnicate
 
      ...
 
      ;;; Commentary:
 
      ;; This package provides a minor mode to frobnicate and/or
      ;; bifurcate any flanges you desire.  To activate it, just type
      ...
 
      ;;;###autoload
      (define-minor-mode superfrobnicator-mode
      ...
 
    The name of the package is the same as the base name of the file, as
 written on the first line.  Here, it is ‘superfrobnicator’.
 
    The brief description is also taken from the first line.  Here, it is
 ‘Frobnicate and bifurcate flanges’.
 
    The version number comes from the ‘Package-Version’ header, if it
 exists, or from the ‘Version’ header otherwise.  One or the other _must_
 be present.  Here, the version number is 1.3.
 
    If the file has a ‘;;; Commentary:’ section, this section is used as
 the long description.  (When displaying the description, Emacs omits the
 ‘;;; Commentary:’ line, as well as the leading comment characters in the
 commentary itself.)
 
    If the file has a ‘Package-Requires’ header, that is used as the
 package dependencies.  In the above example, the package depends on the
 ‘flange’ package, version 1.0 or higher.  Library Headers, for a
 description of the ‘Package-Requires’ header.  If the header is omitted,
 the package has no dependencies.
 
    The ‘Keywords’ and ‘URL’ headers are optional, but recommended.  The
 command ‘describe-package’ uses these to add links to its output.  The
 ‘Keywords’ header should contain at least one standard keyword from the
 ‘finder-known-keywords’ list.
 
    The file ought to also contain one or more autoload magic comments,
 as explained in Packaging Basics.  In the above example, a magic
 comment autoloads ‘superfrobnicator-mode’.
 
    Package Archives, for a explanation of how to add a
 single-file package to a package archive.
 

Info Catalog elisp: Packaging Basics elisp: Packaging elisp: Multi-file Packages