Setting Default Values for the mode, owner, and group Fields

To set default values for the mode, owner, and group fields for specific package objects, you can insert the !default command into the prototype file. For example,

!default 0644 root other

This command's range starts from where it is inserted and extends to the end of the file, but does not span to included files.

However, for directories (file type d) and editable files (file type e) that you know exist on target systems (like /usr or /etc/vfstab), make sure that the mode, owner, and group fields in the prototype file are set to question marks (?). That way you will not destroy existing settings that a site administrator may have modified.