1CPAN::Meta::History(3)User Contributed Perl DocumentationCPAN::Meta::History(3)
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6 CPAN::Meta::History - history of CPAN Meta Spec changes
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9 version 2.120921
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12 The CPAN Meta Spec has gone through several iterations. It was
13 originally written in HTML and later revised into POD (though published
14 in HTML generated from the POD). Fields were added, removed or
15 changed, sometimes by design and sometimes to reflect real-world usage
16 after the fact.
17 This document reconstructs the history of the CPAN Meta Spec based on
19 change logs, repository commit messages and the published HTML files.
20 In some cases, particularly prior to version 1.2, the exact version
21 when certain fields were introduced or changed is inconsistent between
22 sources. When in doubt, the published HTML files for versions 1.0 to
23 1.4 as they existed when version 2 was developed are used as the
24 definitive source.
25 Starting with version 2, the specification document is part of the
27 CPAN-Meta distribution and will be published on CPAN as
28 CPAN::Meta::Spec.
29 Going forward, specification version numbers will be integers and
31 decimal portions will correspond to a release date for the CPAN::Meta
32 library.
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35 Version 2
36 April 2010
37 · Revised spec examples as perl data structures rather than YAML
39 · Switched to JSON serialization from YAML
41 · Specified allowed version number formats
43 · Replaced 'requires', 'build_requires', 'configure_requires',
45 'recommends' and 'conflicts' with new 'prereqs' data structure
46 divided by phase (configure, build, test, runtime, etc.) and
47 relationship (requires, recommends, suggests, conflicts)
48 · Added support for 'develop' phase for requirements for maintaining
50 a list of authoring tools
51 · Changed 'license' to a list and revised the set of valid licenses
53 · Made 'dynamic_config' mandatory to reduce confusion
55 · Changed 'resources' subkey 'repository' to a hash that clarifies
57 repository type, url for browsing and url for checkout
58 · Changed 'resources' subkey 'bugtracker' to a hash for either web or
60 mailto resource
61 · Changed specification of 'optional_features':
63 · Added formal specification and usage guide instead of just
65 example
66 · Changed to use new prereqs data structure instead of individual
68 keys
69 · Clarified intended use of 'author' as generalized contact list
71 · Added 'release_status' field to indicate stable, testing or
73 unstable status to provide hints to indexers
74 · Added 'description' field for a longer description of the
76 distribution
77 · Formalized use of "x_" or "X_" for all custom keys not listed in
79 the official spec
80 Version 1.4
82 June 2008
83 · Noted explicit support for 'perl' in prerequisites
85 · Added 'configure_requires' prerequisite type
87 · Changed 'optional_features'
89 · Example corrected to show map of maps instead of list of maps
91 (though descriptive text said 'map' even in v1.3)
92 · Removed 'requires_packages', 'requires_os' and 'excluded_os' as
94 valid subkeys
95 Version 1.3
97 November 2006
98 · Clarified that all prerequisites take version range specifications
100 · Added 'no_index' subkey 'directory' and removed 'dir' to match
102 actual usage in the wild
103 · Added a 'repository' subkey to 'resources'
105 Version 1.2
107 August 2005
108 · Re-wrote and restructured spec in POD syntax
110 · Changed 'name' to be mandatory
112 · Changed 'generated_by' to be mandatory
114 · Changed 'license' to be mandatory
116 · Added required 'abstract' field
118 · Added required 'author' field
120 · Added required 'meta-spec' field to define 'version' (and 'url') of
122 the CPAN Meta Spec used for metadata
123 · Added 'provides' field
125 · Added 'no_index' field and deprecated 'private' field. 'no_index'
127 subkeys include 'file', 'dir', 'package' and 'namespace'
128 · Added 'keywords' field
130 · Added 'resources' field with subkeys 'homepage', 'license', and
132 'bugtracker'
133 · Added 'optional_features' field as an alternate under 'recommends'.
135 Includes 'description', 'requires', 'build_requires', 'conflicts',
136 'requires_packages', 'requires_os' and 'excluded_os' as valid
137 subkeys
138 · Removed 'license_uri' field
140 Version 1.1
142 May 2003
143 · Changed 'version' to be mandatory
145 · Added 'private' field
147 · Added 'license_uri' field
149 Version 1.0
151 March 2003
152 · Original release (in HTML format only)
154 · Included 'name', 'version', 'license', 'distribution_type',
156 'requires', 'recommends', 'build_requires', 'conflicts',
157 'dynamic_config', 'generated_by'
158
160 · David Golden <dagolden@cpan.org>
161 · Ricardo Signes <rjbs@cpan.org>
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165 This software is copyright (c) 2010 by David Golden and Ricardo Signes.
166 This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
168 the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.
169perl v5.16.3 2012-04-01 CPAN::Meta::History(3)