Module::Build::Compat

Module::Build::Compat(User Contributed Perl DocumentatModule::Build::Compat(3)



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 => 'passthrough' );
         ...

DESCRIPTION
       Because ExtUtils::MakeMaker has been the standard way to distribute
       modules for a long time, many tools (CPAN.pm, or your system adminis-
       trator) 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 Make-
       file.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 "cre-
           ate_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 functional-
               ity 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 Mod-
               ule::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 "Mod-
               ule::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 usu-
               ally appear on the command line of the "perl Makefile.PL" com-
               mand - 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 "Make-
               file".

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 refer-
           ence), 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 Make-
           file.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 con-
           tinue 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 AT 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)



perl v5.8.8                       2007-01-14          Module::Build::Compat(3)