Facets and variants are special properties set on the image and are tags set on actions in a package manifest. The values of facet and variant tags on an action compared with the values of facets and variants set in the image determine whether that package action can be installed.
Each facet and variant tag has a name and a value. A single action can have multiple facet and variant tags. An example of a component with multiple facet and variant tags is an architecture-specific header file that is used by developers, or a component that is only for a SPARC global zone.
Most variant tags can have various values. The value of a variant tag must be set on the image in order for a package that specifies the variant value to be installed. The arch and zone variants are set by the program that creates the image and installs its initial content. The debug.* variants are false in the image by default.
Facet tags set on an action can only have the value true. If you set a particular facet value to false in the image, any files or other actions that specify that facet will not be installed, and currently installed files that specify that facet are uninstalled.
The following algorithm describes how the facets and variants set on the image affect whether a particular action is installed.
Actions with no facet or variant tags are always installed.
Actions with facet tags are installed unless all of the facets or facet patterns matching the tags are set to false on the image. If any facet is set to true or is not explicitly set (true is the default), then the action is installed.
Actions with variant tags are installed only if the values of all the variant tags are the same as the values set in the image.
Actions with both facet and variant tags are installed if both the facets and the variants allow the action to be installed.