Module::Build::Compat(3Perl Programmers Reference GuidModule::Build::Compat(3)NAMEModule::Build::Compat - Compatibility with ExtUtils::MakeMaker
SYNOPSIS
# In a Build.PL :
use Module::Build;
my $build = Module::Build->new
( module_name => 'Foo::Bar',
license => 'perl',
create_makefile_pl => 'passthrough' );
...
DESCRIPTION
Because ExtUtils::MakeMaker has been the standard way to distribute
modules for a long time, many tools (CPAN.pm, or your system
administrator) may expect to find a working Makefile.PL in every
distribution they download from CPAN. If you want to throw them a
bone, you can use Module::Build::Compat to automatically generate a
Makefile.PL for you, in one of several different styles.
Module::Build::Compat also provides some code that helps out the
Makefile.PL at runtime.
METHODS
create_makefile_pl($style, $build)
Creates a Makefile.PL in the current directory in one of several
styles, based on the supplied Module::Build object $build. This is
typically controlled by passing the desired style as the
"create_makefile_pl" parameter to Module::Build's "new()" method;
the Makefile.PL will then be automatically created during the
"distdir" action.
The currently supported styles are:
small
A small Makefile.PL will be created that passes all
functionality through to the Build.PL script in the same
directory. The user must already have Module::Build installed
in order to use this, or else they'll get a module-not-found
error.
passthrough
This is just like the "small" option above, but if
Module::Build is not already installed on the user's system,
the script will offer to use "CPAN.pm" to download it and
install it before continuing with the build.
traditional
A Makefile.PL will be created in the "traditional" style, i.e.
it will use "ExtUtils::MakeMaker" and won't rely on
"Module::Build" at all. In order to create the Makefile.PL,
we'll include the "requires" and "build_requires" dependencies
as the "PREREQ_PM" parameter.
You don't want to use this style if during the "perl Build.PL"
stage you ask the user questions, or do some auto-sensing about
the user's environment, or if you subclass Module::Build to do
some customization, because the vanilla Makefile.PL won't do
any of that.
run_build_pl(args => \@ARGV)
This method runs the Build.PL script, passing it any arguments the
user may have supplied to the "perl Makefile.PL" command. Because
ExtUtils::MakeMaker and Module::Build accept different arguments,
this method also performs some translation between the two.
"run_build_pl()" accepts the following named parameters:
args
The "args" parameter specifies the parameters that would
usually appear on the command line of the "perl Makefile.PL"
command - typically you'll just pass a reference to @ARGV.
script
This is the filename of the script to run - it defaults to
"Build.PL".
write_makefile()
This method writes a 'dummy' Makefile that will pass all commands
through to the corresponding Module::Build actions.
"write_makefile()" accepts the following named parameters:
makefile
The name of the file to write - defaults to the string
"Makefile".
SCENARIOS
So, some common scenarios are:
1. Just include a Build.PL script (without a Makefile.PL script), and
give installation directions in a README or INSTALL document
explaining how to install the module. In particular, explain that
the user must install Module::Build before installing your module.
Note that if you do this, you may make things easier for yourself,
but harder for people with older versions of CPAN or CPANPLUS on
their system, because those tools generally only understand the
Makefile.PL/"ExtUtils::MakeMaker" way of doing things.
2. Include a Build.PL script and a "traditional" Makefile.PL, created
either manually or with "create_makefile_pl()". Users won't ever
have to install Module::Build if they use the Makefile.PL, but they
won't get to take advantage of Module::Build's extra features
either.
If you go this route, make sure you explicitly set "PL_FILES" in
the call to "WriteMakefile()" (probably to an empty hash
reference), or else MakeMaker will mistakenly run the Build.PL and
you'll get an error message about "Too early to run Build script"
or something. For good measure, of course, test both the
Makefile.PL and the Build.PL before shipping.
3. Include a Build.PL script and a "pass-through" Makefile.PL built
using Module::Build::Compat. This will mean that people can
continue to use the "old" installation commands, and they may never
notice that it's actually doing something else behind the scenes.
It will also mean that your installation process is compatible with
older versions of tools like CPAN and CPANPLUS.
AUTHOR
Ken Williams <kwilliams@cpan.org>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2001-2006 Ken Williams. All rights reserved.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
SEE ALSOModule::Build(3), ExtUtils::MakeMaker(3)perl v5.10.0 2007-12-18 Module::Build::Compat(3)
