Filters enable you to narrow down the list of shown packages by a variety of package attributes.
Synaptic Package Manager comes with a set of predefined filters.
Table 4. Predefined Filters
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| All packages | Display all known packages. |
| Marked Changes | Display all packages that are marked for a status change. |
| Pkg with Debconf | Display all packages that can be configured through debconf (Debian only). |
| Broken | Display only packages with broken dependencies. |
| Upgradable (upstream) | Display all packages that can be upgraded to a later upstream version. |
Because of some interface changes the set of predefined filters changed, too. The old and deprecated filters are not removed automatically by Synaptic.
Table 5. Deprecated Filters
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Install | Display only currently installed packages. |
| Not installed | Display only currently not installed packages. |
| Upgradable | Display only packages with a later version available. |
| Broken | Display only packages with broken dependencies. |
| Programmed Changes | Display only packages marked to be modified. |
| New in archive | Display only new packages since the last repository update. |
| Residual | Display only former installed packages that left data or configuration files on the system. |
| Pkg with Debconf | Display only packages that can be configured through the debian package configuration system, so called debconf. |
| Obsolete or locally installed | Display only packages that are not (for longer) included in one of the specified repositories. |
| Search Filter | Display the results of the last package search. |
To apply a filter follow these steps:
Choose from the category combobox in the main window.
Choose the wished filter from the category selector.
Filters can be created, deleted and modified in the filter editor:
Choose → from the menu.
The filter editor contains the following components:
- List of Filter
Shows a list of available filters.
- Rules
Rules allow you to define which packages should be shown in the list. A package has to fulfill all selected criteria.
- Status
Allows you to search packages by status.
- Section
Allows you to search packages by section.
- Properties
Allows you to search packages by a variety of attributes e.g. name, dependencies or origin.
- Keywords
Keywords are based on debtags. Only Debian GNU/Linux with installed "debtags" supports this feature.