The `CONTROL` file contains metadata about the port. The syntax is based on [the Debian `control` format][debian] although we only support the subset of fields documented here.
The first paragraph in a `CONTROL` file is the Source paragraph. It must have a `Source`, `Version`, and `Description` field. It can optionally have a `Build-Depends` and `Default-Features` field.
### Examples:
```no-highlight
Source: ace
Version: 6.5.5-1
Description: The ADAPTIVE Communication Environment
When adding new ports be aware that the name may conflict with other projects that are not a part of vcpkg. For example `json` conflicts with too many other projects so you should add a scope to the name such as `taocpp-json` to make it unique. Verify there are no conflicts on a search engine as well as on other package collections.
This field is an alphanumeric string that may also contain `.`, `_`, or `-`. No attempt at ordering versions is made; all versions are treated as bit strings and are only evaluated for equality.
Some projects do not have named releases. In these cases use the date of the version do not have labeled releases, in these cases use the date of the last commit in `YYYY-MM-DD` format. See the `abseil` port as an example.
By convention the first line of the description is a summary of the library. An optional detailed description follows. The detailed description can be multiple lines, all starting with whitespace.
Comma separated list of vcpkg ports the library has a dependency on.
Vcpkg does not distinguish between build-only dependencies and runtime dependencies. The complete list of dependencies needed to successfully use the library should be specified.
*For example: websocketpp is a header only library, and thus does not require any dependencies at install time. However, downstream users need boost and openssl to make use of the library. Therefore, websocketpp lists boost and openssl as dependencies*
Dependencies can be filtered based on the target triplet to support different requirements on Windows Desktop versus the Universal Windows Platform. Currently, the string inside parentheses is substring-compared against the triplet name. There must be a space between the name of the port and the filter. __This will change in a future version to not depend on the triplet name.__
Multiple optional features can be specified in the `CONTROL` files. It must have a `Feature` and `Description` field. It can optionally have a `Build-Depends` field. It must be separated from other paragraphs by one or more empty lines.
On installation the dependencies from all selected features are combined to produce the full dependency list for the build. This field follows the same syntax as `Build-Depends` in the Source Paragraph.
