DDF Command and Variable Syntax

DDF files as used in SharePoint to create Solution (WSP) files are an anachronistic throwback to an ancient Microsoft technology: CAB files.  Since CAB files predate the era of blogging, it is not particularly straightforward to find documentation on DDF files.

Unless you actually read the documentation provided by Microsoft, that is...  Relevant excerpts from the MakeCab.doc included in the Microsoft Cabinet Software Development Kit are included below:

"4.2.2. Command Summary

"The following table provides a summary of the MakeCAB Directive File syntax. Directives begin with a period (“.”), followed by a command name, and possibly by blank delimited arguments. Note that a File Copy command is distinguished from a File Reference command by the setting of the GenerateInf variable.  

Command Syntax	Description
;	Comment (anywhere on a DDF line)
src [dest] [/inf=yes|no] [/unique=yes|no] [/x=y ...]	File Copy command
dest  [/x=y ...]	File Reference command
.Define variable=[value]	Define variable to be equal to value (see .Option Explicit)
.Delete variable	Delete a variable definition
.Dump	Display all variable definitions
.InfBegin Disk | Cabinet | Folder	Copy lines to specified INF file section
.InfEnd	End an .InfBegin section
.InfWrite string	Write “string” to file section of INF file
.InfWriteCabinet string	Write “string” to cabinet section of INF file
.InfWriteDisk string	Write “string” to disk section of INF file
.New Disk | Cabinet | Folder	Start a new Disk, Cabinet, or Folder
.Option Explicit	Require .Define first time for user-defined variables
.Set variable=[value]	Set variable to be equal to value
%variable%	Substitute value of variable
<blank line>	Blank lines are ignored

"4.2.3. Variable Summary

Standard Variables	Description
Cabinet=ON | OFF	Turns Cabinet Mode on or off
CabinetFileCountThreshold=count	Threshold count of files per Cabinet
CabinetNamen=filename	Cabinet file name for cabinet number n
CabinetNameTemplate=template	Cabinet file name template; * is replaced by Cabinet number
ChecksumWidth=1 | 2 | ... | 8	Max low-order hex digits displayed by INF csum parameter
ClusterSize=bytesPerCluster	Cluster size on diskette (default is 512 bytes)
Compress=ON | OFF	Turns compression on or off
CompressedFileExtensionChar=char	Last character of the file extension for compressed files
CompressionType=MSZIP	Compression engine
DestinationDir=path	Default path for destination files (stored in cabinet file)
DiskDirectoryn=directory	Output directory name for disk n
DiskDirectoryTemplate=template	Output directory name template; * is replaced by disk number
DiskLabeln=label	Printed disk label name for disk n
DiskLabelTemplate=template	Printed disk label name template; * is replaced by disk number
DoNotCopyFiles= ON | OFF	Controls whether files are actually copied (ACME ADMIN.INF)
FolderFileCountThreshold=count	Threshold count of files per Folder
FolderSizeThreshold=size	Threshold folder size for current folder
GenerateInf=ON | OFF	Control Unified vs. Relation INF generation mode
InfXxx=string	Set default value for INF Parameter Xxx
InfCabinetHeader[n]=string	INF cabinet section header text
InfCabinetLineFormat[n]=format string	INF cabinet section detail line format
InfCommentString=string	INF comment string
InfDateFormat=yyyy-mm-dd | mm/dd/yy	INF date format
InfDiskHeader[n]=string	INF disk section header text
InfDiskLineFormat[n]=format string	INF disk section detail line format
InfFileHeader[n]=string	INF file section header text
InfFileLineFormat[n]=format string	INF file section detail line format
InfFileName=filename	Name of INF file
InfFooter[n]=string	INF footer text
InfHeader[n]=string	INF header text
InfSectionOrder=[D | C | F]*	INF section order (disk, cabinet, file)
MaxCabinetSize=size	Maximum cabinet file size for current cabinet
MaxDiskFileCount=count	Maximum count of files per Disk
MaxDiskSize[n]=size	Maximum disk size
MaxErrors=count	Maximum errors allowed before pass 1 terminates
ReservePerCabinetSize=size	Base amount of space to reserve for FCRESERVE data
ReservePerDataBlockSize=size	Amount of space to reserve in each data block
ReservePerFolderSize=size	Amount of additional space in FCRESERVE for each folder
RptFileName=filename	Name of RPT file
SourceDir=path	Default path for source files
UniqueFiles=ON | OFF	Control whether duplicate desintation file names are allowed

Details of selected commands and variables:

.Define variable=[value]

Define variable to be equal to value.

To use variable, surround it with percent signs (%) -- %variable%.

Using an undefined variable is an error, and will cause MakeCAB to stop before pass 2.

value may include references to other variables.

Leading and trailing blanks in value are discarded.

Blanks may be enclose in quote (“) or apostrophe (‘) marks.

Explicit percent signs (%), quotes (“), or apostrophes (‘) must be specified twice.

NOTE: If .Option Explicit is specified, then you must first use .Define to define any user-defined variables before you can use .Set to modify them. For standard MakeCAB variables, .Define is not permitted, and only .Set may be used on. If .Option Explicit is not specified, then .Define is equivalent to .Set.

.Set variable=value

Set variable to be equal to value.

To use variable, surround it with percent signs (%) -- %variable%.

Using an undefined variable is an error, and will cause MakeCAB to stop before pass 2.

value may include references to other variables.

value may be empty, in which case variable is set to the empty string.

Leading and trailing blanks in value are discarded.

Blanks may be enclose in quote (“) or apostrophe (‘) marks.

Explicit percent signs (%), quotes (“), or apostrophes (‘) must be specified twice.

NOTE: If .Option Explicit is specified, then you must first use .Define to define any user-defined variables before you can use .Set to modify them. For standard MakeCAB variables, .Define is not permitted, and only .Set may be used on.

DestinationDir=path

Path prefix to store in cabinet file for each file in the cabinet.

Default: .Set DestinationDir= ; Default is no path prefix

path is concatenated with a path separator (“\”) and the target file name on File Copy Commands to produce the file name that is stored in cabinet file. EXTRACT.EXE will use this file name as the default name when the file is extracted.

SourceDir=path

The default path used to locate source files specified in File Copy Commands.

Default: .Set SourceDir= ; Default is to look in the current directory

path is concatenated with a path separator (“\”) and the source file name on the File Copy Command to produce the file name used to find the source file.

If path is empty, then the source file name specified on the File Copy Command is not modified.

UniqueFiles=ON | OFF

Controls whether destination file names in a layout must be unique..

Default: .Set UniqueFiles="ON" ; File names must be unique

If UniqueFiles is ON, MakeCAB checks that all destination file names (names stored on disks or in cabinets) are unique, and generates an error (during pass 1) if they are not. ON is the default, since using the same filename twice usually means that the same file was accidentaly included twice, and this would be a waste of disk space.

If UniqueFiles is OFF, MakeCAB permits duplicate destination file names.

The /UNIQUE parameter may be specified on individual File Copy commands to override the value of UniqueFiles.