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.\" ========================================================================
.\"
.IX Title "Package::Locator 3pm"
.TH Package::Locator 3pm "2022-06-16" "perl v5.34.0" "User Contributed Perl Documentation"
.\" For nroff, turn off justification.  Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
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.SH "NAME"
Package::Locator \- Find a package among CPAN\-like repositories
.SH "VERSION"
.IX Header "VERSION"
version 0.010
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
.Vb 1
\&  use Package::Locator;
\&
\&  # Basic search...
\&  my $locator = Package::Locator\->new();
\&  my $url = locator\->locate( package => \*(AqTest::More\*(Aq );
\&
\&  # Search for first within multiple repositories:
\&  my $repos = [ qw(http://cpan.pair.com http://my.company.com/DPAN) ];
\&  my $locator = Package::Locator\->new( repository_urls => $repos );
\&  my $url = locator\->locate( package => \*(AqTest::More\*(Aq );
\&
\&  # Search for first where version >= 0.34:
\&  my $repos = [ qw(http://cpan.pair.com http://my.company.com/DPAN) ];
\&  my $locator = Package::Locator\->new( repository_urls => $repos );
\&  my $url = locator\->locate( package => \*(AqTest::More\*(Aq version => 0.34);
\&
\&  # Search for latest where version  >= 0.34:
\&  my $repos = [ qw(http://cpan.pair.com http://my.company.com/DPAN) ];
\&  my $locator = Package::Locator\->new( repository_urls => $repos );
\&  my $url = locator\->locate( package => \*(AqTest::More\*(Aq version => 0.34, latest => 1);
\&
\&  # Search for specific dist on multiple repositories...:
\&  my $repos = [ qw(http://cpan.pair.com http://my.company.com/DPAN) ];
\&  my $locator = Package::Locator\->new( repository_urls => $repos );
\&  my $url = locator\->locate( distribution => \*(AqA/AU/AUTHOR/Foo\-1.0.tar.gz\*(Aq);
.Ve
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
Package::Locator attempts to answer the question: \*(L"Where can I find
a distribution that will provide this package?\*(R"  The answer is divined
by searching the indexes for one or more CPAN-like repositories.  If
you also provide a specific version number, Package::Locator will
attempt to find a distribution with that version of the package, or
higher.  You can also ask to find the latest version of a package
across all the indexes.
.PP
Package::Locator only looks at the index files for each repository,
and those indexes only contain information about the latest versions
of the packages within that repository.  So Package::Locator is not
BackPAN magic \*(-- you cannot use it to find precisely which
distribution a particular package (or file) came from.  For that
stuff, see \f(CW"/See Also"\fR.
.SH "CONSTRUCTOR"
.IX Header "CONSTRUCTOR"
.ie n .SS "new( %attributes )"
.el .SS "new( \f(CW%attributes\fP )"
.IX Subsection "new( %attributes )"
All the attributes listed below can be passed to the constructor, and
retrieved via accessor methods with the same name.  All attributes are
read-only, and cannot be changed once the object is constructed.
.SH "ATTRIBUTES"
.IX Header "ATTRIBUTES"
.SS "repository_urls => [ qw(http://somewhere http://somewhere.else) ]"
.IX Subsection "repository_urls => [ qw(http://somewhere http://somewhere.else) ]"
An array reference containing the base URLs of the repositories you
want to search.  These are usually \s-1CPAN\s0 mirrors, but can be any
website or local directory that is organized in a CPAN-like structure.
For each request, repositories are searched in the order you specified
them here.  This defaults to http://cpan.perl.org.
.ie n .SS "user_agent => $user_agent_obj"
.el .SS "user_agent => \f(CW$user_agent_obj\fP"
.IX Subsection "user_agent => $user_agent_obj"
The LWP::UserAgent object that will fetch index files.  If you do
not provide a user agent, then a default one will be constructed for
you.
.SS "cache_dir => '/some/directory/path'"
.IX Subsection "cache_dir => '/some/directory/path'"
The path (as a string or Path::Class::Dir object) to a directory
where the index file will be cached.  If the directory does not exist,
it will be created for you.  If you do not specify a cache directory,
then a temporary directory will be used.  The temporary directory will
be deleted when your application terminates.
.ie n .SS "force => $boolean"
.el .SS "force => \f(CW$boolean\fP"
.IX Subsection "force => $boolean"
Causes any cached index files to be removed, thus forcing a new one to
be downloaded when the object is constructed.  This only has effect if
you specified the \f(CW\*(C`cache_dir\*(C'\fR attribute.  The default is false.
.SH "METHODS"
.IX Header "METHODS"
.SS "\fBindexes()\fP"
.IX Subsection "indexes()"
Returns a list of Package::Locator::Index objects representing the
indexes of each of the repositories.  The indexes are only populated
on-demand when the \f(CW\*(C`locate\*(C'\fR method is called.  The order of the
indexes is the same as the order of the repositories defined by the
\&\f(CW\*(C`repository_urls\*(C'\fR attribute.
.SS "locate( package => 'Foo::Bar' )"
.IX Subsection "locate( package => 'Foo::Bar' )"
.SS "locate( package => 'Foo::Bar', latest => 1 )"
.IX Subsection "locate( package => 'Foo::Bar', latest => 1 )"
.SS "locate( package => 'Foo::Bar', version => '1.2')"
.IX Subsection "locate( package => 'Foo::Bar', version => '1.2')"
.SS "locate( package => 'Foo::Bar', version => '1.2', latest => 1 )"
.IX Subsection "locate( package => 'Foo::Bar', version => '1.2', latest => 1 )"
.SS "locate ( distribution => 'A/AU/AUTHOR/Foo\-Bar\-1.0.tar.gz' )"
.IX Subsection "locate ( distribution => 'A/AU/AUTHOR/Foo-Bar-1.0.tar.gz' )"
Given the name of a package, searches all the repository indexes and
returns the \s-1URL\s0 to a distribution containing that requested package,
or the distribution you requested.
.PP
If you also specify a \f(CW\*(C`version\*(C'\fR, then you'll always get a
distribution that contains that version of the package or higher.  If
you also specify \f(CW\*(C`latest\*(C'\fR then you'll always get the distribution
that contains the latest version of the package that can be found in
all the indexes.  Otherwise you'll just get the first distribution we
can find that satisfies your request.
.PP
If you give a distribution path instead, then you'll just get back the
\&\s-1URL\s0 to the first distribution we find at that path in any of the
repository indexes.
.PP
If neither the package nor the distribution path can be found in any
of the indexes, returns undef.
.SS "\fBclear_cache()\fP"
.IX Subsection "clear_cache()"
Deletes the cached index files.  Any subsequent calls to the \f(CW\*(C`locate\*(C'\fR
method will cause the index files to be fetched anew.
.SH "MOTIVATION"
.IX Header "MOTIVATION"
The \s-1CPAN\s0 module also provides a mechanism for locating packages or
distributions, much like Package::Locator does.  However, \s-1CPAN\s0
assumes that all repositories are \s-1CPAN\s0 mirrors, so it only searches
the first repository that it can contact.
.PP
My secret ambition is to fill the world with lots of DarkPAN
repositories \*(-- each with its own set of distributions.  For that
scenario, I need to search multiple repositories at the same time.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IX Header "SEE ALSO"
If you need to locate a distribution that contains a precise version
of a file rather than just a version that is \*(L"new enough\*(R", then look
at some of these:
.PP
Dist::Surveyor
.PP
BackPAN::Index
.PP
BackPAN::Version::Discover
.SH "SUPPORT"
.IX Header "SUPPORT"
.SS "Perldoc"
.IX Subsection "Perldoc"
You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  perldoc Package::Locator
.Ve
.SS "Websites"
.IX Subsection "Websites"
The following websites have more information about this module, and may be of help to you. As always,
in addition to those websites please use your favorite search engine to discover more resources.
.IP "\(bu" 4
Search \s-1CPAN\s0
.Sp
The default \s-1CPAN\s0 search engine, useful to view \s-1POD\s0 in \s-1HTML\s0 format.
.Sp
<http://search.cpan.org/dist/Package\-Locator>
.IP "\(bu" 4
\&\s-1CPAN\s0 Ratings
.Sp
The \s-1CPAN\s0 Ratings is a website that allows community ratings and reviews of Perl modules.
.Sp
<http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Package\-Locator>
.IP "\(bu" 4
\&\s-1CPAN\s0 Testers
.Sp
The \s-1CPAN\s0 Testers is a network of smokers who run automated tests on uploaded \s-1CPAN\s0 distributions.
.Sp
<http://www.cpantesters.org/distro/P/Package\-Locator>
.IP "\(bu" 4
\&\s-1CPAN\s0 Testers Matrix
.Sp
The \s-1CPAN\s0 Testers Matrix is a website that provides a visual overview of the test results for a distribution on various Perls/platforms.
.Sp
<http://matrix.cpantesters.org/?dist=Package\-Locator>
.IP "\(bu" 4
\&\s-1CPAN\s0 Testers Dependencies
.Sp
The \s-1CPAN\s0 Testers Dependencies is a website that shows a chart of the test results of all dependencies for a distribution.
.Sp
<http://deps.cpantesters.org/?module=Package::Locator>
.SS "Bugs / Feature Requests"
.IX Subsection "Bugs / Feature Requests"
<https://github.com/thaljef/Package\-Locator/issues>
.SS "Source Code"
.IX Subsection "Source Code"
<https://github.com/thaljef/Package\-Locator>
.PP
.Vb 1
\&  git clone git://github.com/thaljef/Package\-Locator.git
.Ve
.SH "AUTHOR"
.IX Header "AUTHOR"
Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer <jeff@imaginative\-software.com>
.SH "COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE"
.IX Header "COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE"
This software is copyright (c) 2011 by Imaginative Software Systems.
.PP
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.