The package description files are written in XML. Thus you can edit them with any text editor. But an editor with syntax highlighting is recommended.
The root element of every description is mod:
<mod>
...
</mod>
In the root element can contain the following elements:
name – Name of the package(required):
<name>MyMod</name>
author – Name of the author(required):
<author>Nobody</author>
version – Version of the package(required):
<version>1.2.0</version>
revision – Revision of the description file(increment after edit by one):
<revision>3</revision>
mcversion – Version of Minecraft, for which the package is made for(required):
<mcversion>1.1.0</mcversion>
shortdesc – Short description of the package(optional):
<shortdesc>This is doing something cool</shortdesc>
description – Long description of the package(optional):
<description>This is doing this and that. It can also do ...</description>
dependency – Name of a dependency(optional):
<dependencies>
<dependency>...</dependency>
</dependencies>
download – URL of the download. Specify target name with attribute name and in case the user has to download the file, use the user attribute:
<downloads>
<download name="mod.zip" user="true">http://adf.ly/...</download>
</downloads>
descr – Description of one step. Set the type using the type attribute(The types are listed at Install Descriptions):
<install>
<descr type="...">
...
</descr>
</install>
Currently there are the following types:
<descr type="source2jar">
<source>somesource</source>
<from></from>
<to></to>
</descr>
<descr type="zip2source">
<source>somes</source>
<from>folder/Core.zip</from>
<target>core</target>
</descr>
<descr type="download2source">
<download>mymod.zip</download>
<target>MyMod</target>
</descr>