The --qf or --queryformat option allows you to create custom queries with the rpm command, although in a rather difficult manner. You need to pass a query format string, the syntax of which originates with the C printf function and requires precision.

The basic syntax of the query format is %{tag_name}. (The percent sign is about the only part that comes from the C printf function.) You can combine tag names to display more than one item per package. You can also add formatting options following C language conventions.

For example, to list all package names, use a command like the following:

# rpm -qa --qf "%{NAME}"

redhat-menusglibccracklibgdbmgmplibacllibjpeglincpcreshadow-

utilslibtermcapfreetypeinfofileutilspsmiscntpmountcracklib-dictskrb5-libscyrus-

saslusermodeXftlibpnglibxmllibbonobopythonpygtk2pyxf86configredhat-config-

usersredhat-config-keyboardrpm404-pythongnome-vfs2libgnomeuiashbind-utilscyrus-

sasl-plaindos2unixethtoolfingergroffautofskbdconfiglesslibtool-

libslockdevmailcapMAKEDEVmouseconfignetpbmntsysvORBitpartedppppsutilsrdaterhnlibrp

mrshsetuptoolstatserialtarlilopciutilstimeconfigunzipkernel-pcmcia-

csanacronXFree86

This command used the simplest format, which is just the value of the tag in the package headers, in this case the package names. Because we used no other formatting, this command outputs all the package names smashed together. To deal with this problem in the output, you can place a \n, the C language convention for a newline character, at the end of the format string. This fixes the output considerably.

For example (showing just the first few entries):

# rpm -qa --qf "%{NAME}\n"

redhat-menus

glibc

cracklib

gdbm

gmp

libacl

libjpeg

linc

pcre

shadow-utils

libtermcap

freetype

info

fileutils

psmisc

ntp

mount

cracklib-dicts

krb5-libs

cyrus-sasl

usermode

Xft

This command provides a custom query that is essentially the same as the rpm -qa command. You’ll likely not use this command in favor of the simpler rpm option, but you can use this example as a guide for creating your own custom queries.

Cross Reference

A great many of the command-line options to the rpm command are defined as popt aliases. These popt aliases define the rpm command-line options in terms of longer query format strings. See Chapter 20, Customizing RPM Behavior for more information on popt.

You can add items to the query string and use C language conventions for formatting and controlling the amount of space provided for each item output.

For example, the following command prints the name and platform for all packages, showing the first few entries, formatted with 20 characters for each item:

rpm -qa --qf "%-20{NAME} %-20{PLATFORM}\n"

redhat-menus noarch-redhat-linux-gnu

glibc i686-redhat-linux-gnu

cracklib i386-redhat-linux

gdbm i386-redhat-linux-gnu

gmp i386-redhat-linux-gnu

libacl i386-redhat-linux-gnu

libjpeg i386-redhat-linux

linc i386-redhat-linux-gnu

pcre i386-redhat-linux

shadow-utils i386-redhat-linux-gnu

libtermcap i386-redhat-linux

freetype i386-redhat-linux-gnu

info i386-redhat-linux-gnu

fileutils i386-redhat-linux-gnu

psmisc i386-redhat-linux

ntp i386-redhat-linux-gnu

mount i386-redhat-linux-gnu

cracklib-dicts i386-redhat-linux

krb5-libs i386-redhat-linux-gnu

cyrus-sasl i386-redhat-linux-gnu

usermode i386-redhat-linux-gnu

Xft i386-redhat-linux-gnu