# File utils.rb, line 243
        def readManifest( manifestFile="MANIFEST" )
                message "Building manifest..."
                raise "Missing #{manifestFile}, please remake it" unless File.exists? manifestFile

                manifest = IO::readlines( manifestFile ).collect {|line|
                        line.chomp
                }.select {|line|
                        line !~ /^(\s*(#.*)?)?$/
                }

                filelist = []
                for pat in manifest
                        $stderr.puts "Adding files that match '#{pat}' to the file list" if $VERBOSE
                        filelist |= Dir.glob( pat ).find_all {|f| FileTest.file?(f)}
                end

                message "found #{filelist.length} files.\n"
                return filelist
        end