Shows dependencies of installed debian packages, recursively if asked

debdeps.py

#!/usr/bin/python

import apt
import sys
import os

def print_deb_deps(name, recurse=1, prep="", _processed=None):
    if _processed is None: _processed={}
    print "%s%s:"%(prep, name),
    sys.stdout.flush()
    try: inst=cache[name].installed
    except KeyError:
        print "(not found in archive)"
        return
    if inst is None:
        print "not installed"
        return
    print inst.version
    if name in _processed:
        print "%s (deps already shown)"%(prep,)
        return
    _processed[name]=inst
    if recurse:
        for dep_group in inst.dependencies:
            for idx,dep in enumerate(dep_group):
                if idx:
                    print prep+"  OR"
                print_deb_deps(dep.name, recurse - 1, prep + "  ", _processed)

if __name__=='__main__':
    if len(sys.argv)<2:
        print >>sys.stderr, "Usage: %s <pkgname> [<recurse=1>]"%(os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]),)
        raise SystemExit(1)
    cache=apt.Cache()
    print_deb_deps(sys.argv[1], 1 if len(sys.argv) < 3 else int(sys.argv[2]))