NAME¶
Module::Build::Compat - Compatibility with ExtUtils::MakeMaker
SYNOPSIS¶
# In a Build.PL :
use Module::Build;
my $build = Module::Build->new
( module_name => 'Foo::Bar',
license => 'perl',
create_makefile_pl => 'traditional' );
...
DESCRIPTION¶
Because "ExtUtils::MakeMaker" has been the standard way to distribute
modules for a long time, many tools (CPAN.pm, or your system administrator)
may expect to find a working
Makefile.PL in every distribution they
download from CPAN. If you want to throw them a bone, you can use
"Module::Build::Compat" to automatically generate a
Makefile.PL for you, in one of several different styles.
"Module::Build::Compat" also provides some code that helps out the
Makefile.PL at runtime.
METHODS¶
- create_makefile_pl($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:
- 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.
- 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 (DEPRECATED)
- 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.
This option has been deprecated and may be removed in a future version of
Module::Build. Modern CPAN.pm and CPANPLUS will recognize the
"configure_requires" metadata property and install Module::Build
before running Build.PL if Module::Build is listed and Module::Build now
adds itself to configure_requires by default.
Perl 5.10.1 includes "configure_requires" support. In the future,
when "configure_requires" support is deemed sufficiently
widespread, the "passthrough" style will be removed.
- 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.
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 ALSO¶
Module::Build(3), ExtUtils::MakeMaker(3)