When you start Synaptic Package Manager, the following window is displayed.
Table 1. Synaptic Package Manager Window Components
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Menubar | Contains menus that provide access to all functions of Synaptic Package Manager to you. |
| Toolbar | Provides direct access to the main functions refresh, system upgrade, apply and find. |
| Package list | Lists all known packages. The list can be narrowed down using filters. |
| Package details | Provides information about a selected package. |
| Statusbar | Displays the current status of Synaptic Package Manager. |
The toolbar provides access to the main actions and a quick search for packages.
- Actions
- Refresh List
Queries all repositories and rebuild the list of known packages.
- Upgrade System
Marks all available upgrades.
- Apply
Applies all marked changes.
- Find Field
Jump to the fist package in the package list whose name matches the entry.
Tip
For detailed instructions on the find field see the section called “ To Find Packages ”.
The package list shows all known packages by default. You can apply filters to narrow down the list of shown packages, see the section called “ Filters ”.
To arrange the packages, you can choose the following modes from the menu:
Table 2. View Modes
| View | Description |
|---|---|
| Flat list | Lists all packages non hierarchically. |
| Alphabetic tree | Groups the packages by their initial name letter. |
| Section tree | Groups the packages by their section, e.g. "admin", "base", "gnome", etc. |
| Status tree | Groups the packages by their status, e.g. "installed", "not installed", "obsolete" etc. |
| Tag tree | Debian only: Groups the packages by their tag. Tags are keywords provided by third parity. For further instructions and help see the documentation of dwww. |
The column order and the used colours can be changed in the preferences.
The package details area provides information about the selected package and also controls to modify the status, e.g. mark a package for installation.
The notebook exists of the following tabs:
Table 3. Tabs of the details notebook
| Tab | Description |
|---|---|
| Common | Shows basic information of the package: name, short description, maintainer, status, priority, tags (if supported) and version. |
| Description | Shows a long description of the package. |
| Dependencies | Lists required, depending, provided, suggested and recommended packages. |
| Installed files | Lists all installed files of the package. |
| Expert | Allows to override the default version selection of Synaptic Package Manager. |