Merge remote branch 'allan/backend'

20 files changed, 1415 insertions, 1083 deletions

diff --git a/lib/libalpm/Makefile.am b/lib/libalpm/Makefile.am
index e136b548..bac30389 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/libalpm/Makefile.am
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ libalpm_la_SOURCES = \
 	alpm.h alpm.c \
 	alpm_list.h alpm_list.c \
 	backup.h backup.c \
-	be_files.c \
+	be_local.c \
 	be_package.c \
-	cache.h cache.c \
+	be_sync.c \
 	conflict.h conflict.c \
 	db.h db.c \
 	delta.h delta.c \
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/add.c b/lib/libalpm/add.c
index cc0c4c13..2b6b019b 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/add.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/add.c
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
 #include "alpm_list.h"
 #include "trans.h"
 #include "util.h"
-#include "cache.h"
 #include "log.h"
 #include "backup.h"
 #include "package.h"
@@ -498,7 +497,7 @@ static int commit_single_pkg(pmpkg_t *newpkg, int pkg_current, int pkg_count,
 		oldpkg = _alpm_pkg_dup(local);
 		/* make sure all infos are loaded because the database entry
 		 * will be removed soon */
-		_alpm_db_read(oldpkg->origin_data.db, oldpkg, INFRQ_ALL);
+		_alpm_local_db_read(oldpkg->origin_data.db, oldpkg, INFRQ_ALL);
 
 		EVENT(trans, PM_TRANS_EVT_UPGRADE_START, newpkg, oldpkg);
 		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "upgrading package %s-%s\n",
@@ -544,7 +543,7 @@ static int commit_single_pkg(pmpkg_t *newpkg, int pkg_current, int pkg_count,
 
 	/* prepare directory for database entries so permission are correct after
 	   changelog/install script installation (FS#12263) */
-	if(_alpm_db_prepare(db, newpkg)) {
+	if(_alpm_local_db_prepare(db, newpkg)) {
 		alpm_logaction("error: could not create database entry %s-%s\n",
 				alpm_pkg_get_name(newpkg), alpm_pkg_get_version(newpkg));
 		pm_errno = PM_ERR_DB_WRITE;
@@ -662,7 +661,7 @@ static int commit_single_pkg(pmpkg_t *newpkg, int pkg_current, int pkg_count,
 	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "updating database\n");
 	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "adding database entry '%s'\n", newpkg->name);
 
-	if(_alpm_db_write(db, newpkg, INFRQ_ALL)) {
+	if(_alpm_local_db_write(db, newpkg, INFRQ_ALL)) {
 		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("could not update database entry %s-%s\n"),
 				alpm_pkg_get_name(newpkg), alpm_pkg_get_version(newpkg));
 		alpm_logaction("error: could not update database entry %s-%s\n",
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/be_files.c b/lib/libalpm/be_local.c
index 0f055e03..cd6fac40 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/be_files.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/be_local.c
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 /*
- *  be_files.c
+ *  be_local.c
  *
- *  Copyright (c) 2006 by Christian Hamar <krics@linuxforum.hu>
- *  Copyright (c) 2006 by Miklos Vajna <vmiklos@frugalware.org>
+ *  Copyright (c) 2006-2010 Pacman Development Team <pacman-dev@archlinux.org>
+ *  Copyright (c) 2002-2006 by Judd Vinet <jvinet@zeroflux.org>
  *
  *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -40,329 +40,327 @@
 /* libalpm */
 #include "db.h"
 #include "alpm_list.h"
-#include "cache.h"
 #include "log.h"
 #include "util.h"
 #include "alpm.h"
 #include "handle.h"
 #include "package.h"
+#include "group.h"
 #include "delta.h"
 #include "deps.h"
 #include "dload.h"
 
 
-static int checkdbdir(pmdb_t *db)
+#define LAZY_LOAD(info, errret) \
+	do { \
+		ALPM_LOG_FUNC; \
+		ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(errret)); \
+		ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(errret)); \
+		if(pkg->origin != PKG_FROM_FILE && !(pkg->infolevel & info)) { \
+			_alpm_local_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, info); \
+		} \
+	} while(0)
+
+
+/* Cache-specific accessor functions. These implementations allow for lazy
+ * loading by the files backend when a data member is actually needed
+ * rather than loading all pieces of information when the package is first
+ * initialized.
+ */
+
+const char *_cache_get_filename(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	struct stat buf;
-	const char *path = _alpm_db_path(db);
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, NULL);
+	return pkg->filename;
+}
 
-	if(stat(path, &buf) != 0) {
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "database dir '%s' does not exist, creating it\n",
-				path);
-		if(_alpm_makepath(path) != 0) {
-			RET_ERR(PM_ERR_SYSTEM, -1);
-		}
-	} else if(!S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode)) {
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_WARNING, _("removing invalid database: %s\n"), path);
-		if(unlink(path) != 0 || _alpm_makepath(path) != 0) {
-			RET_ERR(PM_ERR_SYSTEM, -1);
-		}
-	}
-	return(0);
+const char *_cache_get_name(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
+	return pkg->name;
 }
 
-/* create list of directories in db */
-static int dirlist_from_tar(const char *archive, alpm_list_t **dirlist)
+static const char *_cache_get_version(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	struct archive *_archive;
-	struct archive_entry *entry;
+	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
+	return pkg->version;
+}
 
-	if((_archive = archive_read_new()) == NULL)
-		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_LIBARCHIVE, -1);
+static const char *_cache_get_desc(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, NULL);
+	return pkg->desc;
+}
 
-	archive_read_support_compression_all(_archive);
-	archive_read_support_format_all(_archive);
+const char *_cache_get_url(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, NULL);
+	return pkg->url;
+}
 
-	if(archive_read_open_filename(_archive, archive,
-				ARCHIVE_DEFAULT_BYTES_PER_BLOCK) != ARCHIVE_OK) {
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("could not open %s: %s\n"), archive,
-				archive_error_string(_archive));
-		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_PKG_OPEN, -1);
-	}
+time_t _cache_get_builddate(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, 0);
+	return pkg->builddate;
+}
 
-	while(archive_read_next_header(_archive, &entry) == ARCHIVE_OK) {
-		const struct stat *st;
-		const char *entryname; /* the name of the file in the archive */
+time_t _cache_get_installdate(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, 0);
+	return pkg->installdate;
+}
 
-		st = archive_entry_stat(entry);
-		entryname = archive_entry_pathname(entry);
+const char *_cache_get_packager(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, NULL);
+	return pkg->packager;
+}
 
-		if(S_ISDIR(st->st_mode)) {
-			char *name = strdup(entryname);
-			*dirlist = alpm_list_add(*dirlist, name);
-		}
-	}
-	archive_read_finish(_archive);
+const char *_cache_get_md5sum(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, NULL);
+	return pkg->md5sum;
+}
 
-	*dirlist = alpm_list_msort(*dirlist, alpm_list_count(*dirlist), _alpm_str_cmp);
-	return(0);
+const char *_cache_get_arch(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, NULL);
+	return pkg->arch;
 }
 
-static int is_dir(const char *path, struct dirent *entry)
+off_t _cache_get_size(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-#ifdef DT_DIR
-	return(entry->d_type == DT_DIR);
-#else
-	char buffer[PATH_MAX];
-	snprintf(buffer, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", path, entry->d_name);
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, -1);
+	return pkg->size;
+}
 
-	struct stat sbuf;
-	if (!stat(buffer, &sbuf)) {
-		return(S_ISDIR(sbuf.st_mode));
-	}
+off_t _cache_get_isize(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, -1);
+	return pkg->isize;
+}
 
-	return(0);
-#endif
+pmpkgreason_t _cache_get_reason(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, -1);
+	return pkg->reason;
 }
 
-/* create list of directories in db */
-static int dirlist_from_fs(const char *syncdbpath, alpm_list_t **dirlist)
+alpm_list_t *_cache_get_licenses(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	DIR *dbdir;
-	struct dirent *ent = NULL;
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, NULL);
+	return pkg->licenses;
+}
 
-	dbdir = opendir(syncdbpath);
-	if (dbdir != NULL) {
-		while((ent = readdir(dbdir)) != NULL) {
-			char *name = ent->d_name;
-			size_t len;
-			char *entry;
+alpm_list_t *_cache_get_groups(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, NULL);
+	return pkg->groups;
+}
 
-			if(strcmp(name, ".") == 0 || strcmp(name, "..") == 0) {
-				continue;
-			}
+int _cache_has_force(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, -1);
+	return pkg->force;
+}
 
-			if(!is_dir(syncdbpath, ent)) {
-				continue;
-			}
+alpm_list_t *_cache_get_depends(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DEPENDS, NULL);
+	return pkg->depends;
+}
 
-			len = strlen(name);
-			MALLOC(entry, len + 2, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
-			strcpy(entry, name);
-			entry[len] = '/';
-			entry[len+1] = '\0';
-			*dirlist = alpm_list_add(*dirlist, entry);
-		}
-		closedir(dbdir);
-	}
+alpm_list_t *_cache_get_optdepends(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DEPENDS, NULL);
+	return pkg->optdepends;
+}
 
-	*dirlist = alpm_list_msort(*dirlist, alpm_list_count(*dirlist), _alpm_str_cmp);
-	return(0);
+alpm_list_t *_cache_get_conflicts(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DEPENDS, NULL);
+	return pkg->conflicts;
 }
 
-/* remove old directories from dbdir */
-static int remove_olddir(const char *syncdbpath, alpm_list_t *dirlist)
+alpm_list_t *_cache_get_provides(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	alpm_list_t *i;
-	for (i = dirlist; i; i = i->next) {
-		const char *name = i->data;
-		char *dbdir;
-		size_t len = strlen(syncdbpath) + strlen(name) + 2;
-		MALLOC(dbdir, len, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
-		snprintf(dbdir, len, "%s%s", syncdbpath, name);
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "removing: %s\n", dbdir);
-		if(_alpm_rmrf(dbdir) != 0) {
-			_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("could not remove database directory %s\n"), dbdir);
-			free(dbdir);
-			RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_REMOVE, -1);
-		}
-		free(dbdir);
-	}
-	return(0);
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DEPENDS, NULL);
+	return pkg->provides;
 }
 
-/** Update a package database
- *
- * An update of the package database \a db will be attempted. Unless
- * \a force is true, the update will only be performed if the remote
- * database was modified since the last update.
- *
- * A transaction is necessary for this operation, in order to obtain a
- * database lock. During this transaction the front-end will be informed
- * of the download progress of the database via the download callback.
- *
- * Example:
- * @code
- * pmdb_t *db;
- * int result;
- * db = alpm_list_getdata(alpm_option_get_syncdbs());
- * if(alpm_trans_init(0, NULL, NULL, NULL) == 0) {
- *     result = alpm_db_update(0, db);
- *     alpm_trans_release();
- *
- *     if(result > 0) {
- *	       printf("Unable to update database: %s\n", alpm_strerrorlast());
- *     } else if(result < 0) {
- *         printf("Database already up to date\n");
- *     } else {
- *         printf("Database updated\n");
- *     }
- * }
- * @endcode
- *
- * @ingroup alpm_databases
- * @note After a successful update, the \link alpm_db_get_pkgcache()
- * package cache \endlink will be invalidated
- * @param force if true, then forces the update, otherwise update only in case
- * the database isn't up to date
- * @param db pointer to the package database to update
- * @return 0 on success, > 0 on error (pm_errno is set accordingly), < 0 if up
- * to date
- */
-int SYMEXPORT alpm_db_update(int force, pmdb_t *db)
+alpm_list_t *_cache_get_replaces(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	char *dbfile, *dbfilepath, *syncpath;
-	const char *dbpath, *syncdbpath;
-	alpm_list_t *newdirlist = NULL, *olddirlist = NULL;
-	alpm_list_t *onlynew = NULL, *onlyold = NULL;
-	size_t len;
-	int ret;
+	LAZY_LOAD(INFRQ_DESC, NULL);
+	return pkg->replaces;
+}
+
+alpm_list_t *_cache_get_deltas(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
+	/* local pkgs do not have deltas so nothing to load */
+	return pkg->deltas;
+}
 
+alpm_list_t *_cache_get_files(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
 	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
 
 	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_HANDLE_NULL, -1));
-	ASSERT(db != NULL && db != handle->db_local, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_WRONG_ARGS, -1));
-	/* Verify we are in a transaction.  This is done _mainly_ because we need a DB
-	 * lock - if we update without a db lock, we may kludge some other pacman
-	 * process that _has_ a lock.
-	 */
-	ASSERT(handle->trans != NULL, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_TRANS_NULL, -1));
-	ASSERT(handle->trans->state == STATE_INITIALIZED, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_TRANS_NOT_INITIALIZED, -1));
-
-	if(!alpm_list_find_ptr(handle->dbs_sync, db)) {
-		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_NOT_FOUND, -1);
-	}
+	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
+	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
 
-	len = strlen(db->treename) + 4;
-	MALLOC(dbfile, len, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
-	sprintf(dbfile, "%s.db", db->treename);
-
-	dbpath = alpm_option_get_dbpath();
-	len = strlen(dbpath) + 6;
-	MALLOC(syncpath, len, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
-	sprintf(syncpath, "%s%s", dbpath, "sync/");
-
-	ret = _alpm_download_single_file(dbfile, db->servers, syncpath, force);
-	free(dbfile);
-	free(syncpath);
-
-	if(ret == 1) {
-		/* files match, do nothing */
-		pm_errno = 0;
-		return(1);
-	} else if(ret == -1) {
-		/* pm_errno was set by the download code */
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "failed to sync db: %s\n", alpm_strerrorlast());
-		return(-1);
+	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_LOCALDB
+		 && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_FILES)) {
+		_alpm_local_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_FILES);
 	}
+	return pkg->files;
+}
 
-	syncdbpath = _alpm_db_path(db);
-
-	/* form the path to the db location */
-	len = strlen(dbpath) + strlen(db->treename) + 9;
-	MALLOC(dbfilepath, len, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
-	sprintf(dbfilepath, "%ssync/%s.db", dbpath, db->treename);
-
-	if(force) {
-		/* if forcing update, remove the old dir and extract the db */
-		if(_alpm_rmrf(syncdbpath) != 0) {
-			_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("could not remove database %s\n"), db->treename);
-			RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_REMOVE, -1);
-		} else {
-			_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "database dir %s removed\n", _alpm_db_path(db));
-		}
-	} else {
-		/* if not forcing, only remove and extract what is necessary */
-		ret = dirlist_from_tar(dbfilepath, &newdirlist);
-		if(ret) {
-			goto cleanup;
-		}
-		ret = dirlist_from_fs(syncdbpath, &olddirlist);
-		if(ret) {
-			goto cleanup;
-		}
+alpm_list_t *_cache_get_backup(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
 
-		alpm_list_diff_sorted(olddirlist, newdirlist, _alpm_str_cmp, &onlyold, &onlynew);
+	/* Sanity checks */
+	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
+	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
 
-		ret = remove_olddir(syncdbpath, onlyold);
-		if(ret) {
-			goto cleanup;
-		}
+	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_LOCALDB
+		 && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_FILES)) {
+		_alpm_local_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_FILES);
 	}
+	return pkg->backup;
+}
 
-	/* Cache needs to be rebuilt */
-	_alpm_db_free_pkgcache(db);
-
-	checkdbdir(db);
-	ret = _alpm_unpack(dbfilepath, syncdbpath, onlynew, 0);
-
-cleanup:
-	FREELIST(newdirlist);
-	FREELIST(olddirlist);
-	alpm_list_free(onlynew);
-	alpm_list_free(onlyold);
+/**
+ * Open a package changelog for reading. Similar to fopen in functionality,
+ * except that the returned 'file stream' is from the database.
+ * @param pkg the package (from db) to read the changelog
+ * @return a 'file stream' to the package changelog
+ */
+void *_cache_changelog_open(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
 
-	free(dbfilepath);
+	/* Sanity checks */
+	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
+	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
+
+	char clfile[PATH_MAX];
+	snprintf(clfile, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s/%s-%s/changelog",
+			alpm_option_get_dbpath(),
+			alpm_db_get_name(alpm_pkg_get_db(pkg)),
+			alpm_pkg_get_name(pkg),
+			alpm_pkg_get_version(pkg));
+	return fopen(clfile, "r");
+}
 
-	if(ret) {
-		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_SYSTEM, -1);
-	}
+/**
+ * Read data from an open changelog 'file stream'. Similar to fread in
+ * functionality, this function takes a buffer and amount of data to read.
+ * @param ptr a buffer to fill with raw changelog data
+ * @param size the size of the buffer
+ * @param pkg the package that the changelog is being read from
+ * @param fp a 'file stream' to the package changelog
+ * @return the number of characters read, or 0 if there is no more data
+ */
+size_t _cache_changelog_read(void *ptr, size_t size,
+		const pmpkg_t *pkg, const void *fp)
+{
+	return ( fread(ptr, 1, size, (FILE*)fp) );
+}
 
-	return(0);
+/*
+int _cache_changelog_feof(const pmpkg_t *pkg, void *fp)
+{
+	return( feof((FILE*)fp) );
+}
+*/
+
+/**
+ * Close a package changelog for reading. Similar to fclose in functionality,
+ * except that the 'file stream' is from the database.
+ * @param pkg the package that the changelog was read from
+ * @param fp a 'file stream' to the package changelog
+ * @return whether closing the package changelog stream was successful
+ */
+int _cache_changelog_close(const pmpkg_t *pkg, void *fp)
+{
+	return( fclose((FILE*)fp) );
 }
 
+/** The local database operations struct. Get package fields through
+ * lazy accessor methods that handle any backend loading and caching
+ * logic.
+ */
+static struct pkg_operations local_pkg_ops = {
+	.get_filename    = _cache_get_filename,
+	.get_name        = _cache_get_name,
+	.get_version     = _cache_get_version,
+	.get_desc        = _cache_get_desc,
+	.get_url         = _cache_get_url,
+	.get_builddate   = _cache_get_builddate,
+	.get_installdate = _cache_get_installdate,
+	.get_packager    = _cache_get_packager,
+	.get_md5sum      = _cache_get_md5sum,
+	.get_arch        = _cache_get_arch,
+	.get_size        = _cache_get_size,
+	.get_isize       = _cache_get_isize,
+	.get_reason      = _cache_get_reason,
+	.has_force       = _cache_has_force,
+	.get_licenses    = _cache_get_licenses,
+	.get_groups      = _cache_get_groups,
+	.get_depends     = _cache_get_depends,
+	.get_optdepends  = _cache_get_optdepends,
+	.get_conflicts   = _cache_get_conflicts,
+	.get_provides    = _cache_get_provides,
+	.get_replaces    = _cache_get_replaces,
+	.get_deltas      = _cache_get_deltas,
+	.get_files       = _cache_get_files,
+	.get_backup      = _cache_get_backup,
+
+	.changelog_open  = _cache_changelog_open,
+	.changelog_read  = _cache_changelog_read,
+	.changelog_close = _cache_changelog_close,
+};
 
-static int splitname(const char *target, pmpkg_t *pkg)
+static int checkdbdir(pmdb_t *db)
 {
-	/* the format of a db entry is as follows:
-	 *    package-version-rel/
-	 * package name can contain hyphens, so parse from the back- go back
-	 * two hyphens and we have split the version from the name.
-	 */
-	char *tmp, *p, *q;
+	struct stat buf;
+	const char *path = _alpm_db_path(db);
 
-	if(target == NULL || pkg == NULL) {
-		return(-1);
-	}
-	STRDUP(tmp, target, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
-	p = tmp + strlen(tmp);
-
-	/* do the magic parsing- find the beginning of the version string
-	 * by doing two iterations of same loop to lop off two hyphens */
-	for(q = --p; *q && *q != '-'; q--);
-	for(p = --q; *p && *p != '-'; p--);
-	if(*p != '-' || p == tmp) {
-		return(-1);
+	if(stat(path, &buf) != 0) {
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "database dir '%s' does not exist, creating it\n",
+				path);
+		if(_alpm_makepath(path) != 0) {
+			RET_ERR(PM_ERR_SYSTEM, -1);
+		}
+	} else if(!S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode)) {
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_WARNING, _("removing invalid database: %s\n"), path);
+		if(unlink(path) != 0 || _alpm_makepath(path) != 0) {
+			RET_ERR(PM_ERR_SYSTEM, -1);
+		}
 	}
+	return(0);
+}
 
-	/* copy into fields and return */
-	if(pkg->version) {
-		FREE(pkg->version);
-	}
-	STRDUP(pkg->version, p+1, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
-	/* insert a terminator at the end of the name (on hyphen)- then copy it */
-	*p = '\0';
-	if(pkg->name) {
-		FREE(pkg->name);
+static int is_dir(const char *path, struct dirent *entry)
+{
+#ifdef DT_DIR
+	return(entry->d_type == DT_DIR);
+#else
+	char buffer[PATH_MAX];
+	snprintf(buffer, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", path, entry->d_name);
+
+	struct stat sbuf;
+	if (!stat(buffer, &sbuf)) {
+		return(S_ISDIR(sbuf.st_mode));
 	}
-	STRDUP(pkg->name, tmp, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
 
-	free(tmp);
 	return(0);
+#endif
 }
 
-int _alpm_db_populate(pmdb_t *db)
+int _alpm_local_db_populate(pmdb_t *db)
 {
 	int count = 0;
 	struct dirent *ent = NULL;
@@ -380,6 +378,7 @@ int _alpm_db_populate(pmdb_t *db)
 	}
 	while((ent = readdir(dbdir)) != NULL) {
 		const char *name = ent->d_name;
+
 		pmpkg_t *pkg;
 
 		if(strcmp(name, ".") == 0 || strcmp(name, "..") == 0) {
@@ -395,7 +394,7 @@ int _alpm_db_populate(pmdb_t *db)
 			return(-1);
 		}
 		/* split the db entry name */
-		if(splitname(name, pkg) != 0) {
+		if(_alpm_splitname(name, pkg) != 0) {
 			_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("invalid name for database entry '%s'\n"),
 					name);
 			_alpm_pkg_free(pkg);
@@ -410,12 +409,15 @@ int _alpm_db_populate(pmdb_t *db)
 		}
 
 		/* explicitly read with only 'BASE' data, accessors will handle the rest */
-		if(_alpm_db_read(db, pkg, INFRQ_BASE) == -1) {
+		if(_alpm_local_db_read(db, pkg, INFRQ_BASE) == -1) {
 			_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("corrupted database entry '%s'\n"), name);
 			_alpm_pkg_free(pkg);
 			continue;
 		}
-		pkg->origin = PKG_FROM_CACHE;
+
+		pkg->origin = PKG_FROM_LOCALDB;
+		pkg->ops = &local_pkg_ops;
+
 		pkg->origin_data.db = db;
 		/* add to the collection */
 		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_FUNCTION, "adding '%s' to package cache for db '%s'\n",
@@ -443,7 +445,8 @@ static char *get_pkgpath(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info)
 	return(pkgpath);
 }
 
-int _alpm_db_read(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
+
+int _alpm_local_db_read(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
 {
 	FILE *fp = NULL;
 	char path[PATH_MAX];
@@ -457,7 +460,7 @@ int _alpm_db_read(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
 	}
 
 	if(info == NULL || info->name == NULL || info->version == NULL) {
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "invalid package entry provided to _alpm_db_read, skipping\n");
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "invalid package entry provided to _alpm_local_db_read, skipping\n");
 		return(-1);
 	}
 
@@ -518,11 +521,6 @@ int _alpm_db_read(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
 					_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("%s database is inconsistent: version "
 								"mismatch on package %s\n"), db->treename, info->name);
 				}
-			} else if(strcmp(line, "%FILENAME%") == 0) {
-				if(fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp) == NULL) {
-					goto error;
-				}
-				STRDUP(info->filename, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
 			} else if(strcmp(line, "%DESC%") == 0) {
 				if(fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp) == NULL) {
 					goto error;
@@ -592,7 +590,7 @@ int _alpm_db_read(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
 					goto error;
 				}
 				info->reason = (pmpkgreason_t)atol(_alpm_strtrim(line));
-			} else if(strcmp(line, "%SIZE%") == 0 || strcmp(line, "%CSIZE%") == 0) {
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%SIZE%") == 0) {
 				/* NOTE: the CSIZE and SIZE fields both share the "size" field
 				 *       in the pkginfo_t struct.  This can be done b/c CSIZE
 				 *       is currently only used in sync databases, and SIZE is
@@ -602,24 +600,8 @@ int _alpm_db_read(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
 					goto error;
 				}
 				info->size = atol(_alpm_strtrim(line));
-				/* also store this value to isize if isize is unset */
-				if(info->isize == 0) {
-					info->isize = info->size;
-				}
-			} else if(strcmp(line, "%ISIZE%") == 0) {
-				/* ISIZE (installed size) tag only appears in sync repositories,
-				 * not the local one. */
-				if(fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp) == NULL) {
-					goto error;
-				}
-				info->isize = atol(_alpm_strtrim(line));
-			} else if(strcmp(line, "%MD5SUM%") == 0) {
-				/* MD5SUM tag only appears in sync repositories,
-				 * not the local one. */
-				if(fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp) == NULL) {
-					goto error;
-				}
-				STRDUP(info->md5sum, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+				/* also store this value to isize */
+				info->isize = info->size;
 			} else if(strcmp(line, "%REPLACES%") == 0) {
 				while(fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp) && strlen(_alpm_strtrim(line))) {
 					char *linedup;
@@ -702,29 +684,6 @@ int _alpm_db_read(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
 		fp = NULL;
 	}
 
-	/* DELTAS */
-	if(inforeq & INFRQ_DELTAS) {
-		snprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%sdeltas", pkgpath);
-		if((fp = fopen(path, "r"))) {
-			while(!feof(fp)) {
-				if(fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp) == NULL) {
-					break;
-				}
-				_alpm_strtrim(line);
-				if(strcmp(line, "%DELTAS%") == 0) {
-					while(fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp) && strlen(_alpm_strtrim(line))) {
-						pmdelta_t *delta = _alpm_delta_parse(line);
-						if(delta) {
-							info->deltas = alpm_list_add(info->deltas, delta);
-						}
-					}
-				}
-			}
-			fclose(fp);
-			fp = NULL;
-		}
-	}
-
 	/* INSTALL */
 	if(inforeq & INFRQ_SCRIPTLET) {
 		snprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%sinstall", pkgpath);
@@ -747,7 +706,7 @@ error:
 	return(-1);
 }
 
-int _alpm_db_prepare(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info)
+int _alpm_local_db_prepare(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info)
 {
 	mode_t oldmask;
 	int retval = 0;
@@ -771,14 +730,13 @@ int _alpm_db_prepare(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info)
 	return(retval);
 }
 
-int _alpm_db_write(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
+int _alpm_local_db_write(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
 {
 	FILE *fp = NULL;
 	char path[PATH_MAX];
 	mode_t oldmask;
 	alpm_list_t *lp = NULL;
 	int retval = 0;
-	int local = 0;
 	char *pkgpath = NULL;
 
 	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
@@ -792,8 +750,8 @@ int _alpm_db_write(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
 	/* make sure we have a sane umask */
 	oldmask = umask(0022);
 
-	if(strcmp(db->treename, "local") == 0) {
-		local = 1;
+	if(strcmp(db->treename, "local") != 0) {
+		return(-1);
 	}
 
 	/* DESC */
@@ -829,63 +787,49 @@ int _alpm_db_write(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq)
 		if(info->force) {
 			fprintf(fp, "%%FORCE%%\n\n");
 		}
-		if(local) {
-			if(info->url) {
-				fprintf(fp, "%%URL%%\n"
-								"%s\n\n", info->url);
-			}
-			if(info->licenses) {
-				fputs("%LICENSE%\n", fp);
-				for(lp = info->licenses; lp; lp = lp->next) {
-					fprintf(fp, "%s\n", (char *)lp->data);
-				}
-				fprintf(fp, "\n");
-			}
-			if(info->arch) {
-				fprintf(fp, "%%ARCH%%\n"
-								"%s\n\n", info->arch);
-			}
-			if(info->builddate) {
-				fprintf(fp, "%%BUILDDATE%%\n"
-								"%ld\n\n", info->builddate);
-			}
-			if(info->installdate) {
-				fprintf(fp, "%%INSTALLDATE%%\n"
-								"%ld\n\n", info->installdate);
-			}
-			if(info->packager) {
-				fprintf(fp, "%%PACKAGER%%\n"
-								"%s\n\n", info->packager);
-			}
-			if(info->isize) {
-				/* only write installed size, csize is irrelevant once installed */
-				fprintf(fp, "%%SIZE%%\n"
-								"%jd\n\n", (intmax_t)info->isize);
-			}
-			if(info->reason) {
-				fprintf(fp, "%%REASON%%\n"
-								"%u\n\n", info->reason);
-			}
-		} else {
-			if(info->size) {
-				fprintf(fp, "%%CSIZE%%\n"
-								"%jd\n\n", (intmax_t)info->size);
-			}
-			if(info->isize) {
-				fprintf(fp, "%%ISIZE%%\n"
-								"%jd\n\n", (intmax_t)info->isize);
-			}
-			if(info->md5sum) {
-				fprintf(fp, "%%MD5SUM%%\n"
-								"%s\n\n", info->md5sum);
+		if(info->url) {
+			fprintf(fp, "%%URL%%\n"
+							"%s\n\n", info->url);
+		}
+		if(info->licenses) {
+			fputs("%LICENSE%\n", fp);
+			for(lp = info->licenses; lp; lp = lp->next) {
+				fprintf(fp, "%s\n", (char *)lp->data);
 			}
+			fprintf(fp, "\n");
+		}
+		if(info->arch) {
+			fprintf(fp, "%%ARCH%%\n"
+							"%s\n\n", info->arch);
+		}
+		if(info->builddate) {
+			fprintf(fp, "%%BUILDDATE%%\n"
+							"%ld\n\n", info->builddate);
+		}
+		if(info->installdate) {
+			fprintf(fp, "%%INSTALLDATE%%\n"
+							"%ld\n\n", info->installdate);
 		}
+		if(info->packager) {
+			fprintf(fp, "%%PACKAGER%%\n"
+							"%s\n\n", info->packager);
+		}
+		if(info->isize) {
+			/* only write installed size, csize is irrelevant once installed */
+			fprintf(fp, "%%SIZE%%\n"
+							"%jd\n\n", (intmax_t)info->isize);
+		}
+		if(info->reason) {
+			fprintf(fp, "%%REASON%%\n"
+							"%u\n\n", info->reason);
+		}
+
 		fclose(fp);
 		fp = NULL;
 	}
 
 	/* FILES */
-	if(local && (inforeq & INFRQ_FILES)) {
+	if(inforeq & INFRQ_FILES) {
 		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "writing %s-%s FILES information back to db\n",
 				info->name, info->version);
 		snprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%sfiles", pkgpath);
@@ -970,7 +914,7 @@ cleanup:
 	return(retval);
 }
 
-int _alpm_db_remove(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info)
+int _alpm_local_db_remove(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info)
 {
 	int ret = 0;
 	char *pkgpath = NULL;
@@ -991,4 +935,33 @@ int _alpm_db_remove(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info)
 	return(ret);
 }
 
+struct db_operations local_db_ops = {
+	.populate         = _alpm_local_db_populate,
+	.unregister       = _alpm_db_unregister,
+};
+
+pmdb_t *_alpm_db_register_local(void)
+{
+	pmdb_t *db;
+
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	if(handle->db_local != NULL) {
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_WARNING, _("attempt to re-register the 'local' DB\n"));
+		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_NOT_NULL, NULL);
+	}
+
+	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "registering local database\n");
+
+	db = _alpm_db_new("local", 1);
+	db->ops = &local_db_ops;
+	if(db == NULL) {
+		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_CREATE, NULL);
+	}
+
+	handle->db_local = db;
+	return(db);
+}
+
+
 /* vim: set ts=2 sw=2 noet: */
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/be_package.c b/lib/libalpm/be_package.c
index 3d8c4e38..4a8624e5 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/be_package.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/be_package.c
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <locale.h> /* setlocale */
+#include <errno.h>
 
 /* libarchive */
 #include <archive.h>
@@ -39,6 +40,114 @@
 #include "deps.h" /* _alpm_splitdep */
 
 /**
+ * Open a package changelog for reading. Similar to fopen in functionality,
+ * except that the returned 'file stream' is from an archive.
+ * @param pkg the package (file) to read the changelog
+ * @return a 'file stream' to the package changelog
+ */
+void *_package_changelog_open(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
+
+	struct archive *archive = NULL;
+	struct archive_entry *entry;
+	const char *pkgfile = pkg->origin_data.file;
+	int ret = ARCHIVE_OK;
+
+	if((archive = archive_read_new()) == NULL) {
+		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_LIBARCHIVE, NULL);
+	}
+
+	archive_read_support_compression_all(archive);
+	archive_read_support_format_all(archive);
+
+	if (archive_read_open_filename(archive, pkgfile,
+				ARCHIVE_DEFAULT_BYTES_PER_BLOCK) != ARCHIVE_OK) {
+		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_PKG_OPEN, NULL);
+	}
+
+	while((ret = archive_read_next_header(archive, &entry)) == ARCHIVE_OK) {
+		const char *entry_name = archive_entry_pathname(entry);
+
+		if(strcmp(entry_name, ".CHANGELOG") == 0) {
+			return(archive);
+		}
+	}
+	/* we didn't find a changelog */
+	archive_read_finish(archive);
+	errno = ENOENT;
+
+	return(NULL);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Read data from an open changelog 'file stream'. Similar to fread in
+ * functionality, this function takes a buffer and amount of data to read.
+ * @param ptr a buffer to fill with raw changelog data
+ * @param size the size of the buffer
+ * @param pkg the package that the changelog is being read from
+ * @param fp a 'file stream' to the package changelog
+ * @return the number of characters read, or 0 if there is no more data
+ */
+size_t _package_changelog_read(void *ptr, size_t size,
+		const pmpkg_t *pkg, const void *fp)
+{
+	ssize_t sret = archive_read_data((struct archive*)fp, ptr, size);
+	/* Report error (negative values) */
+	if(sret < 0) {
+		pm_errno = PM_ERR_LIBARCHIVE;
+		return(0);
+	} else {
+		return((size_t)sret);
+	}
+}
+
+/*
+int _package_changelog_feof(const pmpkg_t *pkg, void *fp)
+{
+	// note: this doesn't quite work, no feof in libarchive
+	return( archive_read_data((struct archive*)fp, NULL, 0) );
+}
+*/
+
+/**
+ * Close a package changelog for reading. Similar to fclose in functionality,
+ * except that the 'file stream' is from an archive.
+ * @param pkg the package (file) that the changelog was read from
+ * @param fp a 'file stream' to the package changelog
+ * @return whether closing the package changelog stream was successful
+ */
+int _package_changelog_close(const pmpkg_t *pkg, void *fp)
+{
+	return( archive_read_finish((struct archive *)fp) );
+}
+
+
+/** Package file operations struct accessor. We implement this as a method
+ * rather than a static struct as in be_files because we want to reuse the
+ * majority of the default_pkg_ops struct and add only a few operations of
+ * our own on top. The static file_pkg_ops variable inside this function
+ * lets us only initialize an operations struct once which can always be
+ * accessed by this method.
+ */
+static struct pkg_operations *get_file_pkg_ops()
+{
+	static struct pkg_operations *file_pkg_ops = NULL;
+	/* determine whether our static file_pkg_ops struct has been initialized */
+	if(!file_pkg_ops) {
+		MALLOC(file_pkg_ops, sizeof(struct pkg_operations),
+				RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, NULL));
+		memcpy(file_pkg_ops, &default_pkg_ops, sizeof(struct pkg_operations));
+		file_pkg_ops->changelog_open  = _package_changelog_open;
+		file_pkg_ops->changelog_read  = _package_changelog_read;
+		file_pkg_ops->changelog_close = _package_changelog_close;
+	}
+	return(file_pkg_ops);
+}
+
+/**
  * Parses the package description file for a package into a pmpkg_t struct.
  * @param archive the archive to read from, pointed at the .PKGINFO entry
  * @param newpkg an empty pmpkg_t struct to fill with package info
@@ -234,7 +343,9 @@ static pmpkg_t *pkg_load(const char *pkgfile, int full)
 
 	/* internal fields for package struct */
 	newpkg->origin = PKG_FROM_FILE;
+	/* TODO eventually kill/move this? */
 	newpkg->origin_data.file = strdup(pkgfile);
+	newpkg->ops = get_file_pkg_ops();
 
 	if(full) {
 		/* "checking for conflicts" requires a sorted list, ensure that here */
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/be_sync.c b/lib/libalpm/be_sync.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..78038576
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/libalpm/be_sync.c
@@ -0,0 +1,446 @@
+/*
+ *  be_sync.c
+ *
+ *  Copyright (c) 2006-2010 Pacman Development Team <pacman-dev@archlinux.org>
+ *  Copyright (c) 2002-2006 by Judd Vinet <jvinet@zeroflux.org>
+ *
+ *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include "config.h"
+
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <dirent.h>
+#include <ctype.h>
+#include <locale.h>
+
+/* libarchive */
+#include <archive.h>
+#include <archive_entry.h>
+
+/* libalpm */
+#include "util.h"
+#include "log.h"
+#include "alpm.h"
+#include "alpm_list.h"
+#include "package.h"
+#include "handle.h"
+#include "delta.h"
+#include "deps.h"
+#include "dload.h"
+
+/** Update a package database
+ *
+ * An update of the package database \a db will be attempted. Unless
+ * \a force is true, the update will only be performed if the remote
+ * database was modified since the last update.
+ *
+ * A transaction is necessary for this operation, in order to obtain a
+ * database lock. During this transaction the front-end will be informed
+ * of the download progress of the database via the download callback.
+ *
+ * Example:
+ * @code
+ * pmdb_t *db;
+ * int result;
+ * db = alpm_list_getdata(alpm_option_get_syncdbs());
+ * if(alpm_trans_init(0, NULL, NULL, NULL) == 0) {
+ *     result = alpm_db_update(0, db);
+ *     alpm_trans_release();
+ *
+ *     if(result > 0) {
+ *	       printf("Unable to update database: %s\n", alpm_strerrorlast());
+ *     } else if(result < 0) {
+ *         printf("Database already up to date\n");
+ *     } else {
+ *         printf("Database updated\n");
+ *     }
+ * }
+ * @endcode
+ *
+ * @ingroup alpm_databases
+ * @note After a successful update, the \link alpm_db_get_pkgcache()
+ * package cache \endlink will be invalidated
+ * @param force if true, then forces the update, otherwise update only in case
+ * the database isn't up to date
+ * @param db pointer to the package database to update
+ * @return 0 on success, > 0 on error (pm_errno is set accordingly), < 0 if up
+ * to date
+ */
+int SYMEXPORT alpm_db_update(int force, pmdb_t *db)
+{
+	char *dbfile, *syncpath;
+	const char *dbpath;
+	size_t len;
+	int ret;
+
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	/* Sanity checks */
+	ASSERT(handle != NULL, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_HANDLE_NULL, -1));
+	ASSERT(db != NULL && db != handle->db_local, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_WRONG_ARGS, -1));
+	/* Verify we are in a transaction.  This is done _mainly_ because we need a DB
+	 * lock - if we update without a db lock, we may kludge some other pacman
+	 * process that _has_ a lock.
+	 */
+	ASSERT(handle->trans != NULL, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_TRANS_NULL, -1));
+	ASSERT(handle->trans->state == STATE_INITIALIZED, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_TRANS_NOT_INITIALIZED, -1));
+
+	if(!alpm_list_find_ptr(handle->dbs_sync, db)) {
+		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_NOT_FOUND, -1);
+	}
+
+	len = strlen(db->treename) + 4;
+	MALLOC(dbfile, len, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
+	sprintf(dbfile, "%s.db", db->treename);
+
+	dbpath = alpm_option_get_dbpath();
+	len = strlen(dbpath) + 6;
+	MALLOC(syncpath, len, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
+	sprintf(syncpath, "%s%s", dbpath, "sync/");
+
+	ret = _alpm_download_single_file(dbfile, db->servers, syncpath, force);
+	free(dbfile);
+	free(syncpath);
+
+	if(ret == 1) {
+		/* files match, do nothing */
+		pm_errno = 0;
+		return(1);
+	} else if(ret == -1) {
+		/* pm_errno was set by the download code */
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "failed to sync db: %s\n", alpm_strerrorlast());
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	/* Cache needs to be rebuilt */
+	_alpm_db_free_pkgcache(db);
+
+	return(0);
+}
+
+int _alpm_sync_db_populate(pmdb_t *db)
+{
+	int count = 0;
+	struct archive *archive;
+	struct archive_entry *entry;
+	const char * archive_path;
+
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	ASSERT(db != NULL, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_NULL, -1));
+
+	if((archive = archive_read_new()) == NULL)
+		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_LIBARCHIVE, 1);
+
+	archive_read_support_compression_all(archive);
+	archive_read_support_format_all(archive);
+
+	if(archive_read_open_filename(archive, _alpm_db_path(db),
+				ARCHIVE_DEFAULT_BYTES_PER_BLOCK) != ARCHIVE_OK) {
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("could not open %s: %s\n"), _alpm_db_path(db),
+				archive_error_string(archive));
+		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_PKG_OPEN, 1);
+	}
+
+	while(archive_read_next_header(archive, &entry) == ARCHIVE_OK) {
+		const struct stat *st;
+		const char *name;
+		pmpkg_t *pkg;
+
+		st = archive_entry_stat(entry);
+
+		if(S_ISDIR(st->st_mode)) {
+			archive_path = archive_entry_pathname(entry);
+
+			pkg = _alpm_pkg_new();
+			if(pkg == NULL) {
+				archive_read_finish(archive);
+				return(-1);
+			}
+
+			name = archive_entry_pathname(entry);
+
+			if(_alpm_splitname(name, pkg) != 0) {
+				_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("invalid name for database entry '%s'\n"),
+						name);
+				_alpm_pkg_free(pkg);
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			/* duplicated database entries are not allowed */
+			if(_alpm_pkg_find(db->pkgcache, pkg->name)) {
+				_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("duplicated database entry '%s'\n"), pkg->name);
+				_alpm_pkg_free(pkg);
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			pkg->origin = PKG_FROM_SYNCDB;
+			pkg->ops = &default_pkg_ops;
+			pkg->origin_data.db = db;
+
+			/* add to the collection */
+			_alpm_log(PM_LOG_FUNCTION, "adding '%s' to package cache for db '%s'\n",
+					pkg->name, db->treename);
+			db->pkgcache = alpm_list_add(db->pkgcache, pkg);
+			count++;
+		} else {
+			/* we have desc, depends or deltas - parse it */
+			_alpm_sync_db_read(db, archive, entry);
+		}
+	}
+
+	db->pkgcache = alpm_list_msort(db->pkgcache, count, _alpm_pkg_cmp);
+	archive_read_finish(archive);
+
+	return(count);
+}
+
+int _alpm_sync_db_read(pmdb_t *db, struct archive *archive, struct archive_entry *entry)
+{
+	char line[1024];
+	const char *entryname;
+	char *filename, *pkgname, *p, *q;
+	pmpkg_t *pkg;
+
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	if(db == NULL) {
+		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_NULL, -1);
+	}
+
+	if(entry == NULL) {
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "invalid archive entry provided to _alpm_sync_db_read, skipping\n");
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	entryname = archive_entry_pathname(entry);
+
+	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_FUNCTION, "loading package data from archive entry %s\n",
+			entryname);
+
+	/* get package and db file names */
+	STRDUP(pkgname, entryname, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
+	p = pkgname + strlen(pkgname);
+	for(q = --p; *q && *q != '/'; q--);
+	STRDUP(filename, q+1, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
+	for(p = --q; *p && *p != '-'; p--);
+	for(q = --p; *q && *q != '-'; q--);
+	*q = '\0';
+
+	/* package is already in db due to parsing of directory name */
+	pkg = _alpm_pkg_find(db->pkgcache, pkgname);
+	if(pkg == NULL) {
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "package %s not found in %s sync database",
+					pkgname, db->treename);
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	if(strcmp(filename, "desc") == 0) {
+		while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) != NULL) {
+			_alpm_strtrim(line);
+			if(strcmp(line, "%NAME%") == 0) {
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				if(strcmp(_alpm_strtrim(line), pkg->name) != 0) {
+					_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("%s database is inconsistent: name "
+								"mismatch on package %s\n"), db->treename, pkg->name);
+				}
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%VERSION%") == 0) {
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				if(strcmp(_alpm_strtrim(line), pkg->version) != 0) {
+					_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("%s database is inconsistent: version "
+								"mismatch on package %s\n"), db->treename, pkg->name);
+				}
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%FILENAME%") == 0) {
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				STRDUP(pkg->filename, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%DESC%") == 0) {
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				STRDUP(pkg->desc, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%GROUPS%") == 0) {
+				while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) && strlen(_alpm_strtrim(line))) {
+					char *linedup;
+					STRDUP(linedup, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+					pkg->groups = alpm_list_add(pkg->groups, linedup);
+				}
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%URL%") == 0) {
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				STRDUP(pkg->url, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%LICENSE%") == 0) {
+				while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) &&
+							strlen(_alpm_strtrim(line))) {
+					char *linedup;
+					STRDUP(linedup, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+					pkg->licenses = alpm_list_add(pkg->licenses, linedup);
+				}
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%ARCH%") == 0) {
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				STRDUP(pkg->arch, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%BUILDDATE%") == 0) {
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				_alpm_strtrim(line);
+
+				char first = tolower((unsigned char)line[0]);
+				if(first > 'a' && first < 'z') {
+					struct tm tmp_tm = {0}; /* initialize to null in case of failure */
+					setlocale(LC_TIME, "C");
+					strptime(line, "%a %b %e %H:%M:%S %Y", &tmp_tm);
+					pkg->builddate = mktime(&tmp_tm);
+					setlocale(LC_TIME, "");
+				} else {
+					pkg->builddate = atol(line);
+				}
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%PACKAGER%") == 0) {
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				STRDUP(pkg->packager, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%CSIZE%") == 0) {
+				/* NOTE: the CSIZE and SIZE fields both share the "size" field
+				 *       in the pkginfo_t struct.  This can be done b/c CSIZE
+				 *       is currently only used in sync databases, and SIZE is
+				 *       only used in local databases.
+				 */
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				pkg->size = atol(_alpm_strtrim(line));
+				/* also store this value to isize if isize is unset */
+				if(pkg->isize == 0) {
+					pkg->isize = pkg->size;
+				}
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%ISIZE%") == 0) {
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				pkg->isize = atol(_alpm_strtrim(line));
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%MD5SUM%") == 0) {
+				if(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) == NULL) {
+					goto error;
+				}
+				STRDUP(pkg->md5sum, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%REPLACES%") == 0) {
+				while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) &&
+							strlen(_alpm_strtrim(line))) {
+					char *linedup;
+					STRDUP(linedup, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+					pkg->replaces = alpm_list_add(pkg->replaces, linedup);
+				}
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%FORCE%") == 0) {
+				pkg->force = 1;
+			}
+		}
+	} else if(strcmp(filename, "depends") == 0) {
+		while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) != NULL) {
+			_alpm_strtrim(line);
+			if(strcmp(line, "%DEPENDS%") == 0) {
+				while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) &&
+							strlen(_alpm_strtrim(line))) {
+					pmdepend_t *dep = _alpm_splitdep(_alpm_strtrim(line));
+					pkg->depends = alpm_list_add(pkg->depends, dep);
+				}
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%OPTDEPENDS%") == 0) {
+				while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) &&
+							strlen(_alpm_strtrim(line))) {
+					char *linedup;
+					STRDUP(linedup, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+					pkg->optdepends = alpm_list_add(pkg->optdepends, linedup);
+				}
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%CONFLICTS%") == 0) {
+				while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) &&
+							strlen(_alpm_strtrim(line))) {
+					char *linedup;
+					STRDUP(linedup, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+					pkg->conflicts = alpm_list_add(pkg->conflicts, linedup);
+				}
+			} else if(strcmp(line, "%PROVIDES%") == 0) {
+				while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) &&
+							strlen(_alpm_strtrim(line))) {
+					char *linedup;
+					STRDUP(linedup, _alpm_strtrim(line), goto error);
+					pkg->provides = alpm_list_add(pkg->provides, linedup);
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	} else if(strcmp(filename, "deltas") == 0) {
+		while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) != NULL) {
+			_alpm_strtrim(line);
+				if(strcmp(line, "%DELTAS%") == 0) {
+					while(_alpm_archive_fgets(line, sizeof(line), archive) && strlen(_alpm_strtrim(line))) {
+						pmdelta_t *delta = _alpm_delta_parse(line);
+						if(delta) {
+							pkg->deltas = alpm_list_add(pkg->deltas, delta);
+						}
+					}
+				}
+		}
+	} else {
+		 /* unknown database file */
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "unknown database file: %s", filename);
+	}
+
+error:
+	FREE(pkgname);
+	FREE(filename);
+	return(0);
+}
+
+struct db_operations sync_db_ops = {
+	.populate         = _alpm_sync_db_populate,
+	.unregister       = _alpm_db_unregister,
+};
+
+pmdb_t *_alpm_db_register_sync(const char *treename)
+{
+	pmdb_t *db;
+	alpm_list_t *i;
+
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	for(i = handle->dbs_sync; i; i = i->next) {
+		pmdb_t *sdb = i->data;
+		if(strcmp(treename, sdb->treename) == 0) {
+			_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "attempt to re-register the '%s' database, using existing\n", sdb->treename);
+			return sdb;
+		}
+	}
+
+	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "registering sync database '%s'\n", treename);
+
+	db = _alpm_db_new(treename, 0);
+	db->ops = &sync_db_ops;
+	if(db == NULL) {
+		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_CREATE, NULL);
+	}
+
+	handle->dbs_sync = alpm_list_add(handle->dbs_sync, db);
+	return(db);
+}
+
+
+/* vim: set ts=2 sw=2 noet: */
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/cache.c b/lib/libalpm/cache.c
deleted file mode 100644
index a9a7edd9..00000000
--- a/lib/libalpm/cache.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,291 +0,0 @@
-/*
- *  cache.c
- *
- *  Copyright (c) 2006-2010 Pacman Development Team <pacman-dev@archlinux.org>
- *  Copyright (c) 2002-2006 by Judd Vinet <jvinet@zeroflux.org>
- *
- *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
- *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
- *  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
- *  (at your option) any later version.
- *
- *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
- *  GNU General Public License for more details.
- *
- *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
- *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
- */
-
-#include "config.h"
-
-#include <stdio.h>
-#include <stdlib.h>
-#include <errno.h>
-#include <string.h>
-
-/* libalpm */
-#include "cache.h"
-#include "alpm_list.h"
-#include "log.h"
-#include "alpm.h"
-#include "util.h"
-#include "package.h"
-#include "group.h"
-#include "db.h"
-
-/* Returns a new package cache from db.
- * It frees the cache if it already exists.
- */
-int _alpm_db_load_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db)
-{
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	if(db == NULL) {
-		return(-1);
-	}
-	_alpm_db_free_pkgcache(db);
-
-	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "loading package cache for repository '%s'\n",
-			db->treename);
-	if(_alpm_db_populate(db) == -1) {
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG,
-				"failed to load package cache for repository '%s'\n", db->treename);
-		return(-1);
-	}
-
-	db->pkgcache_loaded = 1;
-	return(0);
-}
-
-void _alpm_db_free_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db)
-{
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	if(db == NULL || !db->pkgcache_loaded) {
-		return;
-	}
-
-	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "freeing package cache for repository '%s'\n",
-	                        db->treename);
-
-	alpm_list_free_inner(db->pkgcache, (alpm_list_fn_free)_alpm_pkg_free);
-	alpm_list_free(db->pkgcache);
-	db->pkgcache = NULL;
-	db->pkgcache_loaded = 0;
-
-	_alpm_db_free_grpcache(db);
-}
-
-alpm_list_t *_alpm_db_get_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db)
-{
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	if(db == NULL) {
-		return(NULL);
-	}
-
-	if(!db->pkgcache_loaded) {
-		_alpm_db_load_pkgcache(db);
-	}
-
-	/* hmmm, still NULL ?*/
-	if(!db->pkgcache) {
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "warning: pkgcache is NULL for db '%s'\n", db->treename);
-	}
-
-	return(db->pkgcache);
-}
-
-/* "duplicate" pkg with BASE info (to spare some memory) then add it to pkgcache */
-int _alpm_db_add_pkgincache(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *pkg)
-{
-	pmpkg_t *newpkg;
-
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	if(db == NULL || !db->pkgcache_loaded || pkg == NULL) {
-		return(-1);
-	}
-
-	newpkg = _alpm_pkg_new();
-	if(newpkg == NULL) {
-		return(-1);
-	}
-	newpkg->name = strdup(pkg->name);
-	newpkg->version = strdup(pkg->version);
-	if(newpkg->name == NULL || newpkg->version == NULL) {
-		pm_errno = PM_ERR_MEMORY;
-		_alpm_pkg_free(newpkg);
-		return(-1);
-	}
-	newpkg->origin = PKG_FROM_CACHE;
-	newpkg->origin_data.db = db;
-	newpkg->infolevel = INFRQ_BASE; 
-
-	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "adding entry '%s' in '%s' cache\n",
-						alpm_pkg_get_name(newpkg), db->treename);
-	db->pkgcache = alpm_list_add_sorted(db->pkgcache, newpkg, _alpm_pkg_cmp);
-
-	_alpm_db_free_grpcache(db);
-
-	return(0);
-}
-
-int _alpm_db_remove_pkgfromcache(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *pkg)
-{
-	void *vdata;
-	pmpkg_t *data;
-
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	if(db == NULL || !db->pkgcache_loaded || pkg == NULL) {
-		return(-1);
-	}
-
-	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "removing entry '%s' from '%s' cache\n",
-						alpm_pkg_get_name(pkg), db->treename);
-
-	db->pkgcache = alpm_list_remove(db->pkgcache, pkg, _alpm_pkg_cmp, &vdata);
-	data = vdata;
-	if(data == NULL) {
-		/* package not found */
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "cannot remove entry '%s' from '%s' cache: not found\n",
-							alpm_pkg_get_name(pkg), db->treename);
-		return(-1);
-	}
-
-	_alpm_pkg_free(data);
-
-	_alpm_db_free_grpcache(db);
-
-	return(0);
-}
-
-pmpkg_t *_alpm_db_get_pkgfromcache(pmdb_t *db, const char *target)
-{
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	if(db == NULL) {
-		return(NULL);
-	}
-
-	alpm_list_t *pkgcache = _alpm_db_get_pkgcache(db);
-	if(!pkgcache) {
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "warning: failed to get '%s' from NULL pkgcache\n",
-				target);
-		return(NULL);
-	}
-
-	return(_alpm_pkg_find(pkgcache, target));
-}
-
-/* Returns a new group cache from db.
- */
-int _alpm_db_load_grpcache(pmdb_t *db)
-{
-	alpm_list_t *lp;
-
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	if(db == NULL) {
-		return(-1);
-	}
-
-	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "loading group cache for repository '%s'\n",
-			db->treename);
-
-	for(lp = _alpm_db_get_pkgcache(db); lp; lp = lp->next) {
-		const alpm_list_t *i;
-		pmpkg_t *pkg = lp->data;
-
-		for(i = alpm_pkg_get_groups(pkg); i; i = i->next) {
-			const char *grpname = i->data;
-			alpm_list_t *j;
-			pmgrp_t *grp = NULL;
-			int found = 0;
-
-			/* first look through the group cache for a group with this name */
-			for(j = db->grpcache; j; j = j->next) {
-				grp = j->data;
-
-				if(strcmp(grp->name, grpname) == 0
-						&& !alpm_list_find_ptr(grp->packages, pkg)) {
-					grp->packages = alpm_list_add(grp->packages, pkg);
-					found = 1;
-					break;
-				}
-			}
-			if(found) {
-				continue;
-			}
-			/* we didn't find the group, so create a new one with this name */
-			grp = _alpm_grp_new(grpname);
-			grp->packages = alpm_list_add(grp->packages, pkg);
-			db->grpcache = alpm_list_add(db->grpcache, grp);
-		}
-	}
-
-	db->grpcache_loaded = 1;
-	return(0);
-}
-
-void _alpm_db_free_grpcache(pmdb_t *db)
-{
-	alpm_list_t *lg;
-
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	if(db == NULL || !db->grpcache_loaded) {
-		return;
-	}
-
-	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "freeing group cache for repository '%s'\n",
-	                        db->treename);
-
-	for(lg = db->grpcache; lg; lg = lg->next) {
-		_alpm_grp_free(lg->data);
-		lg->data = NULL;
-	}
-	FREELIST(db->grpcache);
-	db->grpcache_loaded = 0;
-}
-
-alpm_list_t *_alpm_db_get_grpcache(pmdb_t *db)
-{
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	if(db == NULL) {
-		return(NULL);
-	}
-
-	if(!db->grpcache_loaded) {
-		_alpm_db_load_grpcache(db);
-	}
-
-	return(db->grpcache);
-}
-
-pmgrp_t *_alpm_db_get_grpfromcache(pmdb_t *db, const char *target)
-{
-	alpm_list_t *i;
-
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	if(db == NULL || target == NULL || strlen(target) == 0) {
-		return(NULL);
-	}
-
-	for(i = _alpm_db_get_grpcache(db); i; i = i->next) {
-		pmgrp_t *info = i->data;
-
-		if(strcmp(info->name, target) == 0) {
-			return(info);
-		}
-	}
-
-	return(NULL);
-}
-
-/* vim: set ts=2 sw=2 noet: */
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/cache.h b/lib/libalpm/cache.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 6ddcd186..00000000
--- a/lib/libalpm/cache.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
-/*
- *  cache.h
- *
- *  Copyright (c) 2006-2010 Pacman Development Team <pacman-dev@archlinux.org>
- *  Copyright (c) 2002-2006 by Judd Vinet <jvinet@zeroflux.org>
- *
- *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
- *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
- *  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
- *  (at your option) any later version.
- *
- *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
- *  GNU General Public License for more details.
- *
- *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
- *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
- */
-#ifndef _ALPM_CACHE_H
-#define _ALPM_CACHE_H
-
-#include "db.h"
-#include "alpm_list.h"
-#include "group.h"
-#include "package.h"
-
-/* packages */
-int _alpm_db_load_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db);
-void _alpm_db_free_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db);
-int _alpm_db_add_pkgincache(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *pkg);
-int _alpm_db_remove_pkgfromcache(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *pkg);
-alpm_list_t *_alpm_db_get_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db);
-int _alpm_db_ensure_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db, pmdbinfrq_t infolevel);
-pmpkg_t *_alpm_db_get_pkgfromcache(pmdb_t *db, const char *target);
-/* groups */
-int _alpm_db_load_grpcache(pmdb_t *db);
-void _alpm_db_free_grpcache(pmdb_t *db);
-alpm_list_t *_alpm_db_get_grpcache(pmdb_t *db);
-pmgrp_t *_alpm_db_get_grpfromcache(pmdb_t *db, const char *target);
-
-#endif /* _ALPM_CACHE_H */
-
-/* vim: set ts=2 sw=2 noet: */
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/conflict.c b/lib/libalpm/conflict.c
index 694c38db..f3cb9b59 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/conflict.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/conflict.c
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@
 #include "trans.h"
 #include "util.h"
 #include "log.h"
-#include "cache.h"
 #include "deps.h"
 
 pmconflict_t *_alpm_conflict_new(const char *package1, const char *package2, const char *reason)
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/db.c b/lib/libalpm/db.c
index c8a91a2b..79d20d49 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/db.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/db.c
@@ -39,8 +39,9 @@
 #include "log.h"
 #include "util.h"
 #include "handle.h"
-#include "cache.h"
 #include "alpm.h"
+#include "package.h"
+#include "group.h"
 
 /** \addtogroup alpm_databases Database Functions
  * @brief Functions to query and manipulate the database of libalpm
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ pmdb_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_db_register_local(void)
 }
 
 /* Helper function for alpm_db_unregister{_all} */
-static void _alpm_db_unregister(pmdb_t *db)
+void _alpm_db_unregister(pmdb_t *db)
 {
 	if(db == NULL) {
 		return;
@@ -96,6 +97,7 @@ static void _alpm_db_unregister(pmdb_t *db)
 int SYMEXPORT alpm_db_unregister_all(void)
 {
 	alpm_list_t *i;
+	pmdb_t *db;
 
 	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
 
@@ -105,13 +107,16 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_db_unregister_all(void)
 	ASSERT(handle->trans == NULL, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_TRANS_NOT_NULL, -1));
 
 	/* close local database */
-	_alpm_db_unregister(handle->db_local);
-	handle->db_local = NULL;
+	db = handle->db_local;
+	if(db) {
+		db->ops->unregister(db);
+		handle->db_local = NULL;
+	}
 
 	/* and also sync ones */
 	for(i = handle->dbs_sync; i; i = i->next) {
-		pmdb_t *db = i->data;
-		_alpm_db_unregister(db);
+		db = i->data;
+		db->ops->unregister(db);
 		i->data = NULL;
 	}
 	FREELIST(handle->dbs_sync);
@@ -154,7 +159,7 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_db_unregister(pmdb_t *db)
 		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_NOT_FOUND, -1);
 	}
 
-	_alpm_db_unregister(db);
+	db->ops->unregister(db);
 	return(0);
 }
 
@@ -321,7 +326,7 @@ alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_db_search(pmdb_t *db, const alpm_list_t* needles)
 	return(_alpm_db_search(db, needles));
 }
 
-/* Set install reason for a package in db
+/** Set install reason for a package in db
  * @param db pointer to the package database
  * @param name the name of the package
  * @param reason the new install reason
@@ -342,7 +347,7 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_db_set_pkgreason(pmdb_t *db, const char *name, pmpkgreason_t
 
 	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "setting install reason %u for %s/%s\n", reason, db->treename, name);
 	/* read DESC */
-	if(_alpm_db_read(db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC)) {
+	if(_alpm_local_db_read(db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC)) {
 		return(-1);
 	}
 	if(pkg->reason == reason) {
@@ -352,7 +357,7 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_db_set_pkgreason(pmdb_t *db, const char *name, pmpkgreason_t
 	/* set reason (in pkgcache) */
 	pkg->reason = reason;
 	/* write DESC */
-	if(_alpm_db_write(db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC)) {
+	if(_alpm_local_db_write(db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC)) {
 		return(-1);
 	}
 
@@ -361,7 +366,7 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_db_set_pkgreason(pmdb_t *db, const char *name, pmpkgreason_t
 
 /** @} */
 
-static pmdb_t *_alpm_db_new(const char *treename, int is_local)
+pmdb_t *_alpm_db_new(const char *treename, int is_local)
 {
 	pmdb_t *db;
 
@@ -409,10 +414,10 @@ const char *_alpm_db_path(pmdb_t *db)
 			CALLOC(db->_path, 1, pathsize, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, NULL));
 			sprintf(db->_path, "%s%s/", dbpath, db->treename);
 		} else {
-			pathsize = strlen(dbpath) + 5 + strlen(db->treename) + 2;
+			pathsize = strlen(dbpath) + 5 + strlen(db->treename) + 4;
 			CALLOC(db->_path, 1, pathsize, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, NULL));
 			/* all sync DBs now reside in the sync/ subdir of the dbpath */
-			sprintf(db->_path, "%ssync/%s/", dbpath, db->treename);
+			sprintf(db->_path, "%ssync/%s.db", dbpath, db->treename);
 		}
 		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "database path for tree %s set to %s\n",
 				db->treename, db->_path);
@@ -503,52 +508,246 @@ alpm_list_t *_alpm_db_search(pmdb_t *db, const alpm_list_t *needles)
 	return(ret);
 }
 
-pmdb_t *_alpm_db_register_local(void)
+/* Returns a new package cache from db.
+ * It frees the cache if it already exists.
+ */
+int _alpm_db_load_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db)
 {
-	pmdb_t *db;
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	if(db == NULL) {
+		return(-1);
+	}
+	_alpm_db_free_pkgcache(db);
+
+	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "loading package cache for repository '%s'\n",
+			db->treename);
+	if(db->ops->populate(db) == -1) {
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG,
+				"failed to load package cache for repository '%s'\n", db->treename);
+		return(-1);
+	}
 
+	db->pkgcache_loaded = 1;
+	return(0);
+}
+
+void _alpm_db_free_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db)
+{
 	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
 
-	if(handle->db_local != NULL) {
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_WARNING, _("attempt to re-register the 'local' DB\n"));
-		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_NOT_NULL, NULL);
+	if(db == NULL || !db->pkgcache_loaded) {
+		return;
 	}
 
-	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "registering local database\n");
+	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "freeing package cache for repository '%s'\n",
+	                        db->treename);
+
+	alpm_list_free_inner(db->pkgcache, (alpm_list_fn_free)_alpm_pkg_free);
+	alpm_list_free(db->pkgcache);
+	db->pkgcache_loaded = 0;
+
+	_alpm_db_free_grpcache(db);
+}
+
+alpm_list_t *_alpm_db_get_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db)
+{
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
 
-	db = _alpm_db_new("local", 1);
 	if(db == NULL) {
-		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_CREATE, NULL);
+		return(NULL);
 	}
 
-	handle->db_local = db;
-	return(db);
+	if(!db->pkgcache_loaded) {
+		_alpm_db_load_pkgcache(db);
+	}
+
+	/* hmmm, still NULL ?*/
+	if(!db->pkgcache) {
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "warning: pkgcache is NULL for db '%s'\n", db->treename);
+	}
+
+	return(db->pkgcache);
 }
 
-pmdb_t *_alpm_db_register_sync(const char *treename)
+/* "duplicate" pkg then add it to pkgcache */
+int _alpm_db_add_pkgincache(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	pmdb_t *db;
-	alpm_list_t *i;
+	pmpkg_t *newpkg;
 
 	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
 
-	for(i = handle->dbs_sync; i; i = i->next) {
-		pmdb_t *sdb = i->data;
-		if(strcmp(treename, sdb->treename) == 0) {
-			_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "attempt to re-register the '%s' database, using existing\n", sdb->treename);
-			return sdb;
+	if(db == NULL || !db->pkgcache_loaded || pkg == NULL) {
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	newpkg = _alpm_pkg_dup(pkg);
+	if(newpkg == NULL) {
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "adding entry '%s' in '%s' cache\n",
+						alpm_pkg_get_name(newpkg), db->treename);
+	db->pkgcache = alpm_list_add_sorted(db->pkgcache, newpkg, _alpm_pkg_cmp);
+
+	_alpm_db_free_grpcache(db);
+
+	return(0);
+}
+
+int _alpm_db_remove_pkgfromcache(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	void *vdata;
+	pmpkg_t *data;
+
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	if(db == NULL || !db->pkgcache_loaded || pkg == NULL) {
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "removing entry '%s' from '%s' cache\n",
+						alpm_pkg_get_name(pkg), db->treename);
+
+	db->pkgcache = alpm_list_remove(db->pkgcache, pkg, _alpm_pkg_cmp, &vdata);
+	data = vdata;
+	if(data == NULL) {
+		/* package not found */
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "cannot remove entry '%s' from '%s' cache: not found\n",
+							alpm_pkg_get_name(pkg), db->treename);
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	_alpm_pkg_free(data);
+
+	_alpm_db_free_grpcache(db);
+
+	return(0);
+}
+
+pmpkg_t *_alpm_db_get_pkgfromcache(pmdb_t *db, const char *target)
+{
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	if(db == NULL) {
+		return(NULL);
+	}
+
+	alpm_list_t *pkgcache = _alpm_db_get_pkgcache(db);
+	if(!pkgcache) {
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "warning: failed to get '%s' from NULL pkgcache\n",
+				target);
+		return(NULL);
+	}
+
+	return(_alpm_pkg_find(pkgcache, target));
+}
+
+/* Returns a new group cache from db.
+ */
+int _alpm_db_load_grpcache(pmdb_t *db)
+{
+	alpm_list_t *lp;
+
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	if(db == NULL) {
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "loading group cache for repository '%s'\n",
+			db->treename);
+
+	for(lp = _alpm_db_get_pkgcache(db); lp; lp = lp->next) {
+		const alpm_list_t *i;
+		pmpkg_t *pkg = lp->data;
+
+		for(i = alpm_pkg_get_groups(pkg); i; i = i->next) {
+			const char *grpname = i->data;
+			alpm_list_t *j;
+			pmgrp_t *grp = NULL;
+			int found = 0;
+
+			/* first look through the group cache for a group with this name */
+			for(j = db->grpcache; j; j = j->next) {
+				grp = j->data;
+
+				if(strcmp(grp->name, grpname) == 0
+						&& !alpm_list_find_ptr(grp->packages, pkg)) {
+					grp->packages = alpm_list_add(grp->packages, pkg);
+					found = 1;
+					break;
+				}
+			}
+			if(found) {
+				continue;
+			}
+			/* we didn't find the group, so create a new one with this name */
+			grp = _alpm_grp_new(grpname);
+			grp->packages = alpm_list_add(grp->packages, pkg);
+			db->grpcache = alpm_list_add(db->grpcache, grp);
 		}
 	}
 
-	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "registering sync database '%s'\n", treename);
+	db->grpcache_loaded = 1;
+	return(0);
+}
+
+void _alpm_db_free_grpcache(pmdb_t *db)
+{
+	alpm_list_t *lg;
+
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	if(db == NULL || !db->grpcache_loaded) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "freeing group cache for repository '%s'\n",
+	                        db->treename);
+
+	for(lg = db->grpcache; lg; lg = lg->next) {
+		_alpm_grp_free(lg->data);
+		lg->data = NULL;
+	}
+	FREELIST(db->grpcache);
+	db->grpcache_loaded = 0;
+}
+
+alpm_list_t *_alpm_db_get_grpcache(pmdb_t *db)
+{
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
 
-	db = _alpm_db_new(treename, 0);
 	if(db == NULL) {
-		RET_ERR(PM_ERR_DB_CREATE, NULL);
+		return(NULL);
 	}
 
-	handle->dbs_sync = alpm_list_add(handle->dbs_sync, db);
-	return(db);
+	if(!db->grpcache_loaded) {
+		_alpm_db_load_grpcache(db);
+	}
+
+	return(db->grpcache);
+}
+
+pmgrp_t *_alpm_db_get_grpfromcache(pmdb_t *db, const char *target)
+{
+	alpm_list_t *i;
+
+	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
+
+	if(db == NULL || target == NULL || strlen(target) == 0) {
+		return(NULL);
+	}
+
+	for(i = _alpm_db_get_grpcache(db); i; i = i->next) {
+		pmgrp_t *info = i->data;
+
+		if(strcmp(info->name, target) == 0) {
+			return(info);
+		}
+	}
+
+	return(NULL);
 }
 
 /* vim: set ts=2 sw=2 noet: */
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/db.h b/lib/libalpm/db.h
index 1851b5c9..5352e9ee 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/db.h
+++ b/lib/libalpm/db.h
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <time.h>
 
+/* libarchive */
+#include <archive.h>
+#include <archive_entry.h>
+
 /* Database entries */
 typedef enum _pmdbinfrq_t {
 	INFRQ_BASE = 1,
@@ -33,12 +37,16 @@ typedef enum _pmdbinfrq_t {
 	INFRQ_DEPENDS = (1 << 2),
 	INFRQ_FILES = (1 << 3),
 	INFRQ_SCRIPTLET = (1 << 4),
-	INFRQ_DELTAS = (1 << 5),
-	INFRQ_DSIZE = (1 << 6),
+	INFRQ_DSIZE = (1 << 5),
 	/* ALL should be info stored in the package or database */
 	INFRQ_ALL = 0x3F
 } pmdbinfrq_t;
 
+struct db_operations {
+	int (*populate) (pmdb_t *);
+	void (*unregister) (pmdb_t *);
+};
+
 /* Database */
 struct __pmdb_t {
 	char *treename;
@@ -46,12 +54,16 @@ struct __pmdb_t {
 	char *_path;
 	int pkgcache_loaded;
 	int grpcache_loaded;
+	/* also indicates whether we are RO or RW */
 	int is_local;
 	alpm_list_t *pkgcache;
 	alpm_list_t *grpcache;
 	alpm_list_t *servers;
+
+	struct db_operations *ops;
 };
 
+
 /* db.c, database general calls */
 void _alpm_db_free(pmdb_t *db);
 const char *_alpm_db_path(pmdb_t *db);
@@ -59,13 +71,33 @@ int _alpm_db_cmp(const void *d1, const void *d2);
 alpm_list_t *_alpm_db_search(pmdb_t *db, const alpm_list_t *needles);
 pmdb_t *_alpm_db_register_local(void);
 pmdb_t *_alpm_db_register_sync(const char *treename);
+void _alpm_db_unregister(pmdb_t *db);
+pmdb_t *_alpm_db_new(const char *treename, int is_local);
+
+/* be_*.c, backend specific calls */
+int _alpm_local_db_populate(pmdb_t *db);
+int _alpm_local_db_read(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq);
+int _alpm_local_db_prepare(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info);
+int _alpm_local_db_write(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq);
+int _alpm_local_db_remove(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info);
+
+int _alpm_sync_db_populate(pmdb_t *db);
+int _alpm_sync_db_read(pmdb_t *db, struct archive *archive, struct archive_entry *entry);
 
-/* be.c, backend specific calls */
-int _alpm_db_populate(pmdb_t *db);
-int _alpm_db_read(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq);
-int _alpm_db_prepare(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info);
-int _alpm_db_write(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info, pmdbinfrq_t inforeq);
-int _alpm_db_remove(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *info);
+/* cache bullshit */
+/* packages */
+int _alpm_db_load_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db);
+void _alpm_db_free_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db);
+int _alpm_db_add_pkgincache(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *pkg);
+int _alpm_db_remove_pkgfromcache(pmdb_t *db, pmpkg_t *pkg);
+alpm_list_t *_alpm_db_get_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db);
+int _alpm_db_ensure_pkgcache(pmdb_t *db, pmdbinfrq_t infolevel);
+pmpkg_t *_alpm_db_get_pkgfromcache(pmdb_t *db, const char *target);
+/* groups */
+int _alpm_db_load_grpcache(pmdb_t *db);
+void _alpm_db_free_grpcache(pmdb_t *db);
+alpm_list_t *_alpm_db_get_grpcache(pmdb_t *db);
+pmgrp_t *_alpm_db_get_grpfromcache(pmdb_t *db, const char *target);
 
 #endif /* _ALPM_DB_H */
 
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/deps.c b/lib/libalpm/deps.c
index fd893a63..0d8683c2 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/deps.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/deps.c
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
 #include "graph.h"
 #include "package.h"
 #include "db.h"
-#include "cache.h"
 #include "handle.h"
 
 void _alpm_dep_free(pmdepend_t *dep)
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/package.c b/lib/libalpm/package.c
index 717d32ce..09bf78eb 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/package.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/package.c
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@
 #include "log.h"
 #include "util.h"
 #include "db.h"
-#include "cache.h"
 #include "delta.h"
 #include "handle.h"
 #include "deps.h"
@@ -63,7 +62,7 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_free(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_WRONG_ARGS, -1));
 
 	/* Only free packages loaded in user space */
-	if(pkg->origin != PKG_FROM_CACHE) {
+	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_FILE) {
 		_alpm_pkg_free(pkg);
 	}
 
@@ -83,8 +82,7 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_checkmd5sum(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 
 	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_WRONG_ARGS, -1));
 	/* We only inspect packages from sync repositories */
-	ASSERT(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_PKG_INVALID, -1));
-	ASSERT(pkg->origin_data.db != handle->db_local, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_PKG_INVALID, -1));
+	ASSERT(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_SYNCDB, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_PKG_INVALID, -1));
 
 	fpath = _alpm_filecache_find(alpm_pkg_get_filename(pkg));
 
@@ -100,334 +98,194 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_checkmd5sum(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 	return(retval);
 }
 
+/* Default package accessor functions. These will get overridden by any
+ * backend logic that needs lazy access, such as the local database through
+ * a lazy-load cache. However, the defaults will work just fine for fully-
+ * populated package structures. */
+const char *_pkg_get_filename(pmpkg_t *pkg)    { return pkg->filename; }
+const char *_pkg_get_name(pmpkg_t *pkg)        { return pkg->name; }
+const char *_pkg_get_version(pmpkg_t *pkg)     { return pkg->version; }
+const char *_pkg_get_desc(pmpkg_t *pkg)        { return pkg->desc; }
+const char *_pkg_get_url(pmpkg_t *pkg)         { return pkg->url; }
+time_t _pkg_get_builddate(pmpkg_t *pkg)        { return pkg->builddate; }
+time_t _pkg_get_installdate(pmpkg_t *pkg)      { return pkg->installdate; }
+const char *_pkg_get_packager(pmpkg_t *pkg)    { return pkg->packager; }
+const char *_pkg_get_md5sum(pmpkg_t *pkg)      { return pkg->md5sum; }
+const char *_pkg_get_arch(pmpkg_t *pkg)        { return pkg->arch; }
+off_t _pkg_get_size(pmpkg_t *pkg)              { return pkg->size; }
+off_t _pkg_get_isize(pmpkg_t *pkg)             { return pkg->isize; }
+pmpkgreason_t _pkg_get_reason(pmpkg_t *pkg)    { return pkg->reason; }
+int _pkg_has_force(pmpkg_t *pkg)               { return pkg->force; }
+
+alpm_list_t *_pkg_get_licenses(pmpkg_t *pkg)   { return pkg->licenses; }
+alpm_list_t *_pkg_get_groups(pmpkg_t *pkg)     { return pkg->groups; }
+alpm_list_t *_pkg_get_depends(pmpkg_t *pkg)    { return pkg->depends; }
+alpm_list_t *_pkg_get_optdepends(pmpkg_t *pkg) { return pkg->optdepends; }
+alpm_list_t *_pkg_get_conflicts(pmpkg_t *pkg)  { return pkg->conflicts; }
+alpm_list_t *_pkg_get_provides(pmpkg_t *pkg)   { return pkg->provides; }
+alpm_list_t *_pkg_get_replaces(pmpkg_t *pkg)   { return pkg->replaces; }
+alpm_list_t *_pkg_get_deltas(pmpkg_t *pkg)     { return pkg->deltas; }
+alpm_list_t *_pkg_get_files(pmpkg_t *pkg)      { return pkg->files; }
+alpm_list_t *_pkg_get_backup(pmpkg_t *pkg)     { return pkg->backup; }
+
+/** The standard package operations struct. Get fields directly from the
+ * struct itself with no abstraction layer or any type of lazy loading.
+ */
+struct pkg_operations default_pkg_ops = {
+	.get_filename    = _pkg_get_filename,
+	.get_name        = _pkg_get_name,
+	.get_version     = _pkg_get_version,
+	.get_desc        = _pkg_get_desc,
+	.get_url         = _pkg_get_url,
+	.get_builddate   = _pkg_get_builddate,
+	.get_installdate = _pkg_get_installdate,
+	.get_packager    = _pkg_get_packager,
+	.get_md5sum      = _pkg_get_md5sum,
+	.get_arch        = _pkg_get_arch,
+	.get_size        = _pkg_get_size,
+	.get_isize       = _pkg_get_isize,
+	.get_reason      = _pkg_get_reason,
+	.has_force       = _pkg_has_force,
+	.get_licenses    = _pkg_get_licenses,
+	.get_groups      = _pkg_get_groups,
+	.get_depends     = _pkg_get_depends,
+	.get_optdepends  = _pkg_get_optdepends,
+	.get_conflicts   = _pkg_get_conflicts,
+	.get_provides    = _pkg_get_provides,
+	.get_replaces    = _pkg_get_replaces,
+	.get_deltas      = _pkg_get_deltas,
+	.get_files       = _pkg_get_files,
+	.get_backup      = _pkg_get_backup,
+};
+
+/* Public functions for getting package information. These functions
+ * delegate the hard work to the function callbacks attached to each
+ * package, which depend on where the package was loaded from. */
 const char SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_filename(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-
-	return pkg->filename;
+	return pkg->ops->get_filename(pkg);
 }
 
 const char SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_name(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-	return pkg->name;
+	return pkg->ops->get_name(pkg);
 }
 
 const char SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_version(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-	return pkg->version;
+	return pkg->ops->get_version(pkg);
 }
 
 const char SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_desc(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->desc;
+	return pkg->ops->get_desc(pkg);
 }
 
 const char SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_url(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->url;
+	return pkg->ops->get_url(pkg);
 }
 
 time_t SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_get_builddate(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(0));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(0));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->builddate;
+	return pkg->ops->get_builddate(pkg);
 }
 
 time_t SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_get_installdate(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(0));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(0));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->installdate;
+	return pkg->ops->get_installdate(pkg);
 }
 
 const char SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_packager(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->packager;
+	return pkg->ops->get_packager(pkg);
 }
 
 const char SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_md5sum(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->md5sum;
+	return pkg->ops->get_md5sum(pkg);
 }
 
 const char SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_arch(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->arch;
+	return pkg->ops->get_arch(pkg);
 }
 
 off_t SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_get_size(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(-1));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(-1));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->size;
+	return pkg->ops->get_size(pkg);
 }
 
 off_t SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_get_isize(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(-1));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(-1));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->isize;
+	return pkg->ops->get_isize(pkg);
 }
 
 pmpkgreason_t SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_get_reason(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(-1));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(-1));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->reason;
+	return pkg->ops->get_reason(pkg);
 }
 
-alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_licenses(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+int SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_has_force(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->licenses;
+	return pkg->ops->has_force(pkg);
 }
 
-alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_groups(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_licenses(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->groups;
+	return pkg->ops->get_licenses(pkg);
 }
 
-int SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_has_force(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_groups(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(-1));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(-1));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->force;
+	return pkg->ops->get_groups(pkg);
 }
 
 alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_depends(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DEPENDS)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DEPENDS);
-	}
-	return pkg->depends;
+	return pkg->ops->get_depends(pkg);
 }
 
 alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_optdepends(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DEPENDS)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DEPENDS);
-	}
-	return pkg->optdepends;
+	return pkg->ops->get_optdepends(pkg);
 }
 
 alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_conflicts(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DEPENDS)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DEPENDS);
-	}
-	return pkg->conflicts;
+	return pkg->ops->get_conflicts(pkg);
 }
 
 alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_provides(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DEPENDS)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DEPENDS);
-	}
-	return pkg->provides;
+	return pkg->ops->get_provides(pkg);
 }
 
-alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_deltas(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_replaces(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DELTAS)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DELTAS);
-	}
-	return pkg->deltas;
+	return pkg->ops->get_replaces(pkg);
 }
 
-alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_replaces(pmpkg_t *pkg)
+alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_deltas(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_DESC)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_DESC);
-	}
-	return pkg->replaces;
+	return pkg->ops->get_deltas(pkg);
 }
 
 alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_files(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && pkg->origin_data.db == handle->db_local
-		 && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_FILES)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_FILES);
-	}
-	return pkg->files;
+	return pkg->ops->get_files(pkg);
 }
 
 alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_backup(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && pkg->origin_data.db == handle->db_local
-		 && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_FILES)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_FILES);
-	}
-	return pkg->backup;
+	return pkg->ops->get_backup(pkg);
 }
 
 pmdb_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_db(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
 	/* Sanity checks */
 	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE, return(NULL));
+	ASSERT(pkg->origin != PKG_FROM_FILE, return(NULL));
 
 	return(pkg->origin_data.db);
 }
@@ -441,49 +299,7 @@ pmdb_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_get_db(pmpkg_t *pkg)
  */
 void SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_changelog_open(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 {
-	ALPM_LOG_FUNC;
-
-	/* Sanity checks */
-	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(NULL));
-	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(NULL));
-
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE) {
-		char clfile[PATH_MAX];
-		snprintf(clfile, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s/%s-%s/changelog",
-				alpm_option_get_dbpath(),
-				alpm_db_get_name(handle->db_local),
-				alpm_pkg_get_name(pkg),
-				alpm_pkg_get_version(pkg));
-		return fopen(clfile, "r");
-	} else if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_FILE) {
-		struct archive *archive = NULL;
-		struct archive_entry *entry;
-		const char *pkgfile = pkg->origin_data.file;
-
-		if((archive = archive_read_new()) == NULL) {
-			RET_ERR(PM_ERR_LIBARCHIVE, NULL);
-		}
-
-		archive_read_support_compression_all(archive);
-		archive_read_support_format_all(archive);
-
-		if (archive_read_open_filename(archive, pkgfile,
-					ARCHIVE_DEFAULT_BYTES_PER_BLOCK) != ARCHIVE_OK) {
-			RET_ERR(PM_ERR_PKG_OPEN, NULL);
-		}
-
-		while(archive_read_next_header(archive, &entry) == ARCHIVE_OK) {
-			const char *entry_name = archive_entry_pathname(entry);
-
-			if(strcmp(entry_name, ".CHANGELOG") == 0) {
-				return(archive);
-			}
-		}
-		/* we didn't find a changelog */
-		archive_read_finish(archive);
-		errno = ENOENT;
-	}
-	return(NULL);
+	return pkg->ops->changelog_open(pkg);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -501,33 +317,13 @@ void SYMEXPORT *alpm_pkg_changelog_open(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 size_t SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_changelog_read(void *ptr, size_t size,
 		const pmpkg_t *pkg, const void *fp)
 {
-	size_t ret = 0;
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE) {
-		ret = fread(ptr, 1, size, (FILE*)fp);
-	} else if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_FILE) {
-		ssize_t sret = archive_read_data((struct archive*)fp, ptr, size);
-		/* Report error (negative values) */
-		if(sret < 0) {
-			pm_errno = PM_ERR_LIBARCHIVE;
-			ret = 0;
-		} else {
-			ret = (size_t)sret;
-		}
-	}
-	return(ret);
+	return pkg->ops->changelog_read(ptr, size, pkg, fp);
 }
 
 /*
 int SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_changelog_feof(const pmpkg_t *pkg, void *fp)
 {
-	int ret = 0;
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE) {
-		ret = feof((FILE*)fp);
-	} else if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_FILE) {
-		// note: this doesn't quite work, no feof in libarchive
-		ret = archive_read_data((struct archive*)fp, NULL, 0);
-	}
-	return(ret);
+	return pkg->ops->changelog_feof(pkg, fp);
 }
 */
 
@@ -541,13 +337,7 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_changelog_feof(const pmpkg_t *pkg, void *fp)
  */
 int SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_changelog_close(const pmpkg_t *pkg, void *fp)
 {
-	int ret = 0;
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE) {
-		ret = fclose((FILE*)fp);
-	} else if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_FILE) {
-		ret = archive_read_finish((struct archive *)fp);
-	}
-	return(ret);
+	return pkg->ops->changelog_close(pkg, fp);
 }
 
 int SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_has_scriptlet(pmpkg_t *pkg)
@@ -558,9 +348,9 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_pkg_has_scriptlet(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 	ASSERT(handle != NULL, return(-1));
 	ASSERT(pkg != NULL, return(-1));
 
-	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && pkg->origin_data.db == handle->db_local
+	if(pkg->origin == PKG_FROM_LOCALDB
 		 && !(pkg->infolevel & INFRQ_SCRIPTLET)) {
-		_alpm_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_SCRIPTLET);
+		_alpm_local_db_read(pkg->origin_data.db, pkg, INFRQ_SCRIPTLET);
 	}
 	return pkg->scriptlet;
 }
@@ -667,6 +457,7 @@ pmpkg_t *_alpm_pkg_dup(pmpkg_t *pkg)
 
 	/* internal */
 	newpkg->origin = pkg->origin;
+	newpkg->ops = pkg->ops;
 	if(newpkg->origin == PKG_FROM_FILE) {
 		newpkg->origin_data.file = strdup(pkg->origin_data.file);
 	} else {
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/package.h b/lib/libalpm/package.h
index 14f81f92..5ad553ac 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/package.h
+++ b/lib/libalpm/package.h
@@ -31,10 +31,65 @@
 #include "db.h"
 
 typedef enum _pmpkgfrom_t {
-	PKG_FROM_CACHE = 1,
-	PKG_FROM_FILE
+	PKG_FROM_FILE = 1,
+	PKG_FROM_LOCALDB,
+	PKG_FROM_SYNCDB
 } pmpkgfrom_t;
 
+/** Package operations struct. This struct contains function pointers to
+ * all methods used to access data in a package to allow for things such
+ * as lazy package intialization (such as used by the file backend). Each
+ * backend is free to define a stuct containing pointers to a specific
+ * implementation of these methods. Some backends may find using the
+ * defined default_pkg_ops struct to work just fine for their needs.
+ */
+struct pkg_operations {
+	const char *(*get_filename) (pmpkg_t *);
+	const char *(*get_name) (pmpkg_t *);
+	const char *(*get_version) (pmpkg_t *);
+	const char *(*get_desc) (pmpkg_t *);
+	const char *(*get_url) (pmpkg_t *);
+	time_t (*get_builddate) (pmpkg_t *);
+	time_t (*get_installdate) (pmpkg_t *);
+	const char *(*get_packager) (pmpkg_t *);
+	const char *(*get_md5sum) (pmpkg_t *);
+	const char *(*get_arch) (pmpkg_t *);
+	off_t (*get_size) (pmpkg_t *);
+	off_t (*get_isize) (pmpkg_t *);
+	pmpkgreason_t (*get_reason) (pmpkg_t *);
+	int (*has_force) (pmpkg_t *);
+
+	alpm_list_t *(*get_licenses) (pmpkg_t *);
+	alpm_list_t *(*get_groups) (pmpkg_t *);
+	alpm_list_t *(*get_depends) (pmpkg_t *);
+	alpm_list_t *(*get_optdepends) (pmpkg_t *);
+	alpm_list_t *(*get_conflicts) (pmpkg_t *);
+	alpm_list_t *(*get_provides) (pmpkg_t *);
+	alpm_list_t *(*get_replaces) (pmpkg_t *);
+	alpm_list_t *(*get_deltas) (pmpkg_t *);
+	alpm_list_t *(*get_files) (pmpkg_t *);
+	alpm_list_t *(*get_backup) (pmpkg_t *);
+
+	void *(*changelog_open) (pmpkg_t *);
+	size_t (*changelog_read) (void *, size_t, const pmpkg_t *, const void *);
+	int (*changelog_close) (const pmpkg_t *, void *);
+
+	/* still to add:
+	 * free()
+	 * dup()
+	 * checkmd5sum() ?
+	 * has_scriptlet()
+	 * compute_requiredby()
+	 */
+};
+
+/** The standard package operations struct. get fields directly from the
+ * struct itself with no abstraction layer or any type of lazy loading.
+ * The actual definition is in package.c so it can have access to the
+ * default accessor functions which are defined there.
+ */
+extern struct pkg_operations default_pkg_ops;
+
 struct __pmpkg_t {
 	char *filename;
 	char *name;
@@ -67,14 +122,16 @@ struct __pmpkg_t {
 	/* internal */
 	pmpkgfrom_t origin;
 	/* Replaced 'void *data' with this union as follows:
-	origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE, use pkg->origin_data.db
 	origin == PKG_FROM_FILE, use pkg->origin_data.file
+	origin == PKG_FROM_*DB, use pkg->origin_data.db
 	*/
 	union {
 		pmdb_t *db;
 		char *file;
 	} origin_data;
 	pmdbinfrq_t infolevel;
+
+	struct pkg_operations *ops;
 };
 
 pmpkg_t* _alpm_pkg_new(void);
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/po/POTFILES.in b/lib/libalpm/po/POTFILES.in
index 475cf4b4..65637977 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/po/POTFILES.in
+++ b/lib/libalpm/po/POTFILES.in
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ lib/libalpm/add.c
 lib/libalpm/alpm.c
 #lib/libalpm/alpm_list.c
 lib/libalpm/backup.c
-lib/libalpm/be_files.c
+lib/libalpm/be_local.c
 lib/libalpm/be_package.c
+lib/libalpm/be_sync.c
 lib/libalpm/cache.c
 lib/libalpm/conflict.c
 lib/libalpm/db.c
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/remove.c b/lib/libalpm/remove.c
index dfaba03a..b53d85a6 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/remove.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/remove.c
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@
 #include "backup.h"
 #include "package.h"
 #include "db.h"
-#include "cache.h"
 #include "deps.h"
 #include "handle.h"
 #include "alpm.h"
@@ -348,7 +347,7 @@ int _alpm_upgraderemove_package(pmpkg_t *oldpkg, pmpkg_t *newpkg, pmtrans_t *tra
 	/* remove the package from the database */
 	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "updating database\n");
 	_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "removing database entry '%s'\n", pkgname);
-	if(_alpm_db_remove(handle->db_local, oldpkg) == -1) {
+	if(_alpm_local_db_remove(handle->db_local, oldpkg) == -1) {
 		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("could not remove database entry %s-%s\n"),
 				pkgname, alpm_pkg_get_version(oldpkg));
 	}
@@ -443,7 +442,7 @@ int _alpm_remove_packages(pmtrans_t *trans, pmdb_t *db)
 		/* remove the package from the database */
 		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "updating database\n");
 		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "removing database entry '%s'\n", pkgname);
-		if(_alpm_db_remove(db, info) == -1) {
+		if(_alpm_local_db_remove(db, info) == -1) {
 			_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("could not remove database entry %s-%s\n"),
 			          pkgname, alpm_pkg_get_version(info));
 		}
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/sync.c b/lib/libalpm/sync.c
index f8193962..ab3d7871 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/sync.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/sync.c
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@
 #include "log.h"
 #include "package.h"
 #include "db.h"
-#include "cache.h"
 #include "deps.h"
 #include "conflict.h"
 #include "trans.h"
@@ -832,7 +831,7 @@ int _alpm_sync_commit(pmtrans_t *trans, pmdb_t *db_local, alpm_list_t **data)
 		for(j = trans->add; j; j = j->next) {
 			pmpkg_t *spkg = j->data;
 
-			if(spkg->origin == PKG_FROM_CACHE && current == spkg->origin_data.db) {
+			if(spkg->origin != PKG_FROM_FILE && current == spkg->origin_data.db) {
 				const char *fname = NULL;
 
 				fname = alpm_pkg_get_filename(spkg);
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/trans.c b/lib/libalpm/trans.c
index 2e25b787..4dac5981 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/trans.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/trans.c
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@
 #include "sync.h"
 #include "alpm.h"
 #include "deps.h"
-#include "cache.h"
 
 /** \addtogroup alpm_trans Transaction Functions
  * @brief Functions to manipulate libalpm transactions
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/util.c b/lib/libalpm/util.c
index 5bf4ef12..26612418 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/util.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/util.c
@@ -800,4 +800,49 @@ char *_alpm_archive_fgets(char *line, size_t size, struct archive *a)
 	return(line);
 }
 
+int _alpm_splitname(const char *target, pmpkg_t *pkg)
+{
+	/* the format of a db entry is as follows:
+	 *    package-version-rel/
+	 * package name can contain hyphens, so parse from the back- go back
+	 * two hyphens and we have split the version from the name.
+	 */
+	char *tmp, *p, *q;
+
+	if(target == NULL || pkg == NULL) {
+		return(-1);
+	}
+	STRDUP(tmp, target, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
+	p = tmp + strlen(tmp);
+
+	/* remove any trailing '/' */
+	while (*(p - 1) == '/') {
+	  --p;
+	  *p = '\0';
+	}
+
+	/* do the magic parsing- find the beginning of the version string
+	 * by doing two iterations of same loop to lop off two hyphens */
+	for(q = --p; *q && *q != '-'; q--);
+	for(p = --q; *p && *p != '-'; p--);
+	if(*p != '-' || p == tmp) {
+		return(-1);
+	}
+
+	/* copy into fields and return */
+	if(pkg->version) {
+		FREE(pkg->version);
+	}
+	STRDUP(pkg->version, p+1, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
+	/* insert a terminator at the end of the name (on hyphen)- then copy it */
+	*p = '\0';
+	if(pkg->name) {
+		FREE(pkg->name);
+	}
+	STRDUP(pkg->name, tmp, RET_ERR(PM_ERR_MEMORY, -1));
+
+	free(tmp);
+	return(0);
+}
+
 /* vim: set ts=2 sw=2 noet: */
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/util.h b/lib/libalpm/util.h
index 35c4d288..75e2c45f 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/util.h
+++ b/lib/libalpm/util.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include "config.h"
 
 #include "alpm_list.h"
+#include "package.h" /* pmpkg_t */
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ const char *_alpm_filecache_setup(void);
 int _alpm_lstat(const char *path, struct stat *buf);
 int _alpm_test_md5sum(const char *filepath, const char *md5sum);
 char *_alpm_archive_fgets(char *line, size_t size, struct archive *a);
+int _alpm_splitname(const char *target, pmpkg_t *pkg);
 
 #ifndef HAVE_STRSEP
 char *strsep(char **, const char *);
diff --git a/src/pacman/sync.c b/src/pacman/sync.c
index b9497d65..f9d12e4a 100644
--- a/src/pacman/sync.c
+++ b/src/pacman/sync.c
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 
 extern pmdb_t *db_local;
 
-/* if keep_used != 0, then the dirnames which match an used syncdb
+/* if keep_used != 0, then the db files which match an used syncdb
  * will be kept  */
 static int sync_cleandb(const char *dbpath, int keep_used) {
 	DIR *dir;
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ static int sync_cleandb(const char *dbpath, int keep_used) {
 		alpm_list_t *syncdbs = NULL, *i;
 		int found = 0;
 		const char *dname = ent->d_name;
+		size_t len;
 
 		if(strcmp(dname, ".") == 0 || strcmp(dname, "..") == 0) {
 			continue;
@@ -67,23 +68,38 @@ static int sync_cleandb(const char *dbpath, int keep_used) {
 		if(strcmp(dname, "sync") == 0 || strcmp(dname, "local") == 0) {
 			continue;
 		}
+		/* skip the db.lck file */
+		if(strcmp(dname, "db.lck") == 0) {
+			continue;
+		}
 
 		/* build the full path */
 		snprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%s%s", dbpath, dname);
-		/* skip entries that are not dirs (lock file, etc.) */
+
+		/* remove all non-skipped directories and non-database files */
 		stat(path, &buf);
-		if(!S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode)) {
+		len = strlen(path);
+		if(S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode) || strcmp(path+(len-3),".db") != 0) {
+			if(rmrf(path)) {
+				pm_fprintf(stderr, PM_LOG_ERROR,
+					_("could not remove %s\n"), path);
+				closedir(dir);
+				return(1);
+			}
 			continue;
 		}
 
 		if(keep_used) {
+			len = strlen(dname);
+			char *dbname = strndup(dname, len-3);
 			syncdbs = alpm_option_get_syncdbs();
 			for(i = syncdbs; i && !found; i = alpm_list_next(i)) {
 				pmdb_t *db = alpm_list_getdata(i);
-				found = !strcmp(dname, alpm_db_get_name(db));
+				found = !strcmp(dbname, alpm_db_get_name(db));
 			}
+			free(dbname);
 		}
-		/* We have a directory that doesn't match any syncdb.
+		/* We have a database that doesn't match any syncdb.
 		 * Ask the user if he wants to remove it. */
 		if(!found) {
 			if(!yesno(_("Do you want to remove %s?"), path)) {
@@ -92,7 +108,7 @@ static int sync_cleandb(const char *dbpath, int keep_used) {
 
 			if(rmrf(path)) {
 				pm_fprintf(stderr, PM_LOG_ERROR,
-					_("could not remove repository directory\n"));
+					_("could not remove %s\n"), path);
 				closedir(dir);
 				return(1);
 			}
@@ -113,8 +129,8 @@ static int sync_cleandb_all(void) {
 		return(0);
 	}
 	/* The sync dbs were previously put in dbpath/, but are now in dbpath/sync/,
-	 * so we will clean everything in dbpath/ (except dbpath/local/ and dbpath/sync/,
-	 * and only the unused sync dbs in dbpath/sync/ */
+	 * so we will clean everything in dbpath/ (except dbpath/local/ and dbpath/sync/
+	 * and db.lck) and only the unused sync dbs in dbpath/sync/ */
 	ret += sync_cleandb(dbpath, 0);
 
 	sprintf(newdbpath, "%s%s", dbpath, "sync/");