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man : Module::Build::Authoring(3p)
Module::Build::AuPerliProgrammers RefModule::Build::Authoring(3p)
NAME
Module::Build::Authoring - Authoring Module::Build modules
DESCRIPTION
When creating a "Build.PL" script for a module, something
like the following code will typically be used:
use Module::Build;
my $build = Module::Build->new
(
module_name => 'Foo::Bar',
license => 'perl',
requires => {
'perl' => '5.6.1',
'Some::Module' => '1.23',
'Other::Module' => '>= 1.2, != 1.5, < 2.0',
},
);
$build->create_build_script;
A simple module could get away with something as short as
this for its "Build.PL" script:
use Module::Build;
Module::Build->new(
module_name => 'Foo::Bar',
license => 'perl',
)->create_build_script;
The model used by "Module::Build" is a lot like the
"MakeMaker" metaphor, with the following correspondences:
In Module::Build In ExtUtils::MakeMaker
--------------------------- ------------------------
Build.PL (initial script) Makefile.PL (initial script)
Build (a short perl script) Makefile (a long Makefile)
_build/ (saved state info) various config text in the Makefile
Any customization can be done simply by subclassing
"Module::Build" and adding a method called (for example)
"ACTION_test", overriding the default 'test' action. You
could also add a method called "ACTION_whatever", and then
you could perform the action "Build whatever".
For information on providing compatibility with
"ExtUtils::MakeMaker", see Module::Build::Compat and
<http://www.makemaker.org/wiki/index.cgi?ModuleBuildConversionGuide>;.
STRUCTURE
Module::Build creates a class hierarchy conducive to
customization. Here is the parent-child class hierarchy
in classy ASCII art:
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/--------------------\
| Your::Parent | (If you subclass Module::Build)
\--------------------/
|
|
/--------------------\ (Doesn't define any functionality
| Module::Build | of its own - just figures out what
\--------------------/ other modules to load.)
|
|
/-----------------------------------\ (Some values of $^O may
| Module::Build::Platform::$^O | define specialized functionality.
\-----------------------------------/ Otherwise it's ...::Default, a
| pass-through class.)
|
/--------------------------\
| Module::Build::Base | (Most of the functionality of
\--------------------------/ Module::Build is defined here.)
SUBCLASSING
Right now, there are two ways to subclass Module::Build.
The first way is to create a regular module (in a ".pm"
file) that inherits from Module::Build, and use that
module's class instead of using Module::Build directly:
------ in Build.PL: ----------
#!/usr/bin/perl
use lib q(/nonstandard/library/path);
use My::Builder; # Or whatever you want to call it
my $build = My::Builder->new
(
module_name => 'Foo::Bar', # All the regular args...
license => 'perl',
dist_author => 'A N Other <meAThere.au>',
requires => { Carp => 0 }
);
$build->create_build_script;
This is relatively straightforward, and is the best way to
do things if your My::Builder class contains lots of code.
The "create_build_script()" method will ensure that the
current value of @INC (including the
"/nonstandard/library/path") is propogated to the Build
script, so that My::Builder can be found when running
build actions.
For very small additions, Module::Build provides a
"subclass()" method that lets you subclass Module::Build
more conveniently, without creating a separate file for
your module:
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Module::Build::AuPerliProgrammers RefModule::Build::Authoring(3p)
------ in Build.PL: ----------
#!/usr/bin/perl
use Module::Build;
my $class = Module::Build->subclass
(
class => 'My::Builder',
code => q{
sub ACTION_foo {
print "I'm fooing to death!\n";
}
},
);
my $build = $class->new
(
module_name => 'Foo::Bar', # All the regular args...
license => 'perl',
dist_author => 'A N Other <meAThere.au>',
requires => { Carp => 0 }
);
$build->create_build_script;
Behind the scenes, this actually does create a ".pm" file,
since the code you provide must persist after Build.PL is
run if it is to be very useful.
See also the documentation for the "subclass()" in
Module::Build::API method.
PREREQUISITES
Types of prerequisites
To specify what versions of other modules are used by this
distribution, several types of prerequisites can be
defined with the following parameters:
configure_requires
Items that must be installed before configuring this
distribution (i.e. before running the Build.PL script).
This might be a specific minimum version of
"Module::Build" or any other module the Build.PL needs
in order to do its stuff. Clients like "CPAN.pm" or
"CPANPLUS" will be expected to pick
"configure_requires" out of the META.yml file and
install these items before running the "Build.PL".
*TODO* auto-add M::B? In what circumstances?
build_requires
Items that are necessary for building and testing this
distribution, but aren't necessary after installation.
This can help users who only want to install these
items temporarily. It also helps reduce the size of
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the CPAN dependency graph if everything isn't smooshed
into "requires".
requires
Items that are necessary for basic functioning.
recommends
Items that are recommended for enhanced functionality,
but there are ways to use this distribution without
having them installed. You might also think of this as
"can use" or "is aware of" or "changes behavior in the
presence of".
conflicts
Items that can cause problems with this distribution
when installed. This is pretty rare.
Format of prerequisites
The prerequisites are given in a hash reference, where the
keys are the module names and the values are version
specifiers:
requires => {
Foo::Module => '2.4',
Bar::Module => 0,
Ken::Module => '>= 1.2, != 1.5, < 2.0',
perl => '5.6.0'
},
The above four version specifiers have different effects.
The value '2.4' means that at least version 2.4 of
"Foo::Module" must be installed. The value 0 means that
any version of "Bar::Module" is acceptable, even if
"Bar::Module" doesn't define a version. The more verbose
value '>= 1.2, != 1.5, < 2.0' means that "Ken::Module"'s
version must be at least 1.2, less than 2.0, and not equal
to 1.5. The list of criteria is separated by commas, and
all criteria must be satisfied.
A special "perl" entry lets you specify the versions of
the Perl interpreter that are supported by your module.
The same version dependency-checking semantics are
available, except that we also understand perl's new
double-dotted version numbers.
XS Extensions
Modules which need to compile XS code should list
"ExtUtils::CBuilder" as a "build_requires" element.
SAVING CONFIGURATION INFORMATION
Module::Build provides a very convenient way to save
configuration information that your installed modules (or
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your regression tests) can access. If your Build process
calls the "feature()" or "config_data()" methods, then a
"Foo::Bar::ConfigData" module will automatically be
created for you, where "Foo::Bar" is the "module_name"
parameter as passed to "new()". This module provides
access to the data saved by these methods, and a way to
update the values. There is also a utility script called
"config_data" distributed with Module::Build that provides
a command line interface to this same functionality. See
also the generated "Foo::Bar::ConfigData" documentation,
and the "config_data" script's documentation, for more
information.
STARTING MODULE DEVELOPMENT
When starting development on a new module, it's rarely
worth your time to create a tree of all the files by hand.
Some automatic module-creators are available: the oldest
is "h2xs", which has shipped with perl itself for a long
time. Its name reflects the fact that modules were
originally conceived of as a way to wrap up a C library
(thus the "h" part) into perl extensions (thus the "xs"
part).
These days, "h2xs" has largely been superseded by modules
like "ExtUtils::ModuleMaker", and "Module::Starter". They
have varying degrees of support for "Module::Build".
AUTOMATION
One advantage of Module::Build is that since it's
implemented as Perl methods, you can invoke these methods
directly if you want to install a module non-
interactively. For instance, the following Perl script
will invoke the entire build/install procedure:
my $build = Module::Build->new(module_name => 'MyModule');
$build->dispatch('build');
$build->dispatch('test');
$build->dispatch('install');
If any of these steps encounters an error, it will throw a
fatal exception.
You can also pass arguments as part of the build process:
my $build = Module::Build->new(module_name => 'MyModule');
$build->dispatch('build');
$build->dispatch('test', verbose => 1);
$build->dispatch('install', sitelib => '/my/secret/place/');
Building and installing modules in this way skips creating
the "Build" script.
MIGRATION
Note that if you want to provide both a Makefile.PL and a
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Build.PL for your distribution, you probably want to add
the following to "WriteMakefile" in your Makefile.PL so
that MakeMaker doesn't try to run your Build.PL as a
normal .PL file:
PL_FILES => {},
You may also be interested in looking at the
"Module::Build::Compat" module, which can automatically
create various kinds of Makefile.PL compatibility layers.
AUTHOR
Ken Williams <kwilliamsATcpan.org>
Development questions, bug reports, and patches should be
sent to the Module-Build mailing list at
<module-buildATperl.org>.
Bug reports are also welcome at
<http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Module-Build>;.
The latest development version is available from the
Subversion repository at
<https://svn.perl.org/modules/Module-Build/trunk/>;
SEE ALSO
perl(1), Module::Build(3), Module::Build::API(3),
Module::Build::Cookbook(3), ExtUtils::MakeMaker(3),
YAML(3)
META.yml Specification:
<http://module-build.sourceforge.net/META-spec-current.html>;
<http://www.dsmit.com/cons/>;
<http://search.cpan.org/dist/PerlBuildSystem/>;
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