packages and subpackages as single rpm file?

[Ed Rak <rak desanasystems com>]

Hi,

I'd like to use RPM to distribute a package composed of several related but 
disjoint 'components'.  The main package has a version that maps to a unique
list of 'component' versions.  A new package has a new main version and a
new
version for some but not all 'components'.  Installing a new main version
should 
go through the installation procedure for only the 'components' that had
changed.

I'd like for all the package 'components' to exist in a single file.  It
looks 
like I might be able to achieve something like this recursively, but I was
wondering if I could use the RPM subpackage facility to achieve this goal --

that is, make each component a subpackage, set up the main install to
install 
each subpackage, which would execute only if the subpackage had a new
version -- all from a single file.

Has anybody suggestions/experience doing something along these lines?

Thanks,
Ed Rak
rak@ieee.org