Description of Problem: There is no way to test for which packages will be upgraded by --freshen. This greatly reduces the utility of --freshen because you can't tell if you're going to get into something complicated, as when a complex config file is upgraded and you need to be sure your config and the new software are in sync, or something dangerous, like a upgrade to the kernel. This is especially significant when trying to apply the updates from RedHat, as lots of update rpms wind up in one directory. I'd like some combination of -v --freshen and --test to provide clues as to what's going to happen. Or at least what packages are going to be freshened.
Try rpm -Fvv --test --noscripts --notriggers ... The output is copious, but complete. (And, AFAIK, --noscripts and --notriggers are implied by --test, but Just In Case ...)
I'll grant that -Fvv is acceptable if you'll commit to a particular script, like: rpm -Fvv --test --noscripts --notriggers *.rpm 2>&1 | grep '^D: package: ' | cut -d ' ' -f 3 which will _allways_ produce the list of new packages to be installed. If you won't commit, I stick by my claim that "There is no way to test for which packages will be upgraded by --freshen." (I wouldn't take the bait if I were you... :-)
I'll commit to a relatively simple, deterministic way of identifying what packages are gonna be installed, but I reserve the right to change the "D: package:" string if I need to. How's that? :-)