The sizes and deltas Commands

The sizes and deltas Commands

By default, inst runs with the deltas command in effect; that is, list and step commands report the size of a product or its components as the difference (delta) in space requirements between the installed software on the target and the corresponding software in the distribution. You can display the absolute sizes of software, rather than the delta sizes, by using the sizes command on the View Commands menu. The sizes command remains in effect until you enter a deltas command.

Notice in Example 5-5 that a plus sign (+) follows each product size. The plus sign indicates that these products, which in this case are new, will require additional disk space on the target. At times, upgrade products contain a minus sign (-), indicating that the distribution version is smaller than the corresponding target version.

When the view is set to target software, delta sizes represent the change in disk space that occurs when the software is removed or replaced. In this case, the target contains a larger version of the software than the distribution.