#933501 aptitude cannot search for packages newer than in the archive

Package:
aptitude
Source:
aptitude
Description:
terminal-based package manager
Submitter:
積丹尼 Dan Jacobson
Date:
2019-10-02 18:27:05 UTC
Severity:
wishlist
#933501#5
Date:
2019-07-30 20:24:40 UTC
From:
To:
Consider the case
# set libffi6
# apt-cache policy $@
libffi6:
  Installed: 3.3~20160224-1
  Candidate: 3.3~20160224-1
  Version table:
 *** 3.3~20160224-1 100
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.2.1-9 500
        500 http://opensource.nchc.org.tw/debian unstable/main i386 Packages
# apt-show-versions|grep newer
libffi6:i386 3.3~20160224-1 newer than version in archive
# aptitude --verbose show $@|egrep Version\|State
Version: 3.3~20160224-1
State: installed
Version: 3.2.1-9
State: installed (3.3~20160224-1), upgrade available (3.2.1-9)

Actually technically that should be downgrade, not upgrade.*

But my main point is there is no search pattern to detect it.
not ~U, not ~o, etc. Probably no combination either.
So one must rely on apt-show-versions to find it.

*(As we see in
# aptitude purge $@
...
The following actions will resolve these dependencies:
     Downgrade the following packages:
1)     libffi6 [3.3~20160224-1 (now) -> 3.2.1-9 (unstable)]
)
#933501#10
Date:
2019-10-02 18:24:12 UTC
From:
To:
Control: merge 902536 -1

This has been noticed before in #902536, by you.  Sorry, I don't have a
good suggestion, but would like to learn if there is any.

Cheers,
       Sven