1Perl::MinimumVersion(3)User Contributed Perl DocumentatioPnerl::MinimumVersion(3)
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6 Perl::MinimumVersion - Find a minimum required version of perl for Perl
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10 # Create the version checking object
11 $object = Perl::MinimumVersion->new( $filename );
12 $object = Perl::MinimumVersion->new( \$source );
13 $object = Perl::MinimumVersion->new( $ppi_document );
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15 # Find the minimum version
16 $version = $object->minimum_version;
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19 "Perl::MinimumVersion" takes Perl source code and calculates the
20 minimum version of perl required to be able to run it. Because it is
21 based on PPI, it can do this without having to actually load the code.
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23 Currently it tests both the syntax of your code, and the use of
24 explicit version dependencies such as "require 5.005".
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26 Future plans are to also add support for tracing module dependencies.
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28 Using "Perl::MinimumVersion" is dead simple, the synopsis pretty much
29 covers it.
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31 The distribution comes with a script called perlver, which is the
32 easiest way to run "Perl::MinimumVersion" on your code:
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34 % perlver lib/Foo/Bar.pm
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36 See the documentation for perlver for more details.
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39 new
40 # Create the version checking object
41 $object = Perl::MinimumVersion->new( $filename );
42 $object = Perl::MinimumVersion->new( \$source );
43 $object = Perl::MinimumVersion->new( $ppi_document );
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45 The "new" constructor creates a new version checking object for a
46 PPI::Document. You can also provide the document to be read as a file
47 name, or as a "SCALAR" reference containing the code.
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49 Returns a new "Perl::MinimumVersion" object, or "undef" on error.
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51 Document
52 The "Document" accessor can be used to get the PPI::Document object
53 back out of the version checker.
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55 minimum_version
56 The "minimum_version" method is the primary method for finding the
57 minimum perl version required based on "all" factors in the document.
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59 At the present time, this is just syntax and explicit version checks,
60 as Perl::Depends is not yet completed.
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62 Returns a version object, or "undef" on error.
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64 minimum_explicit_version
65 The "minimum_explicit_version" method checks through Perl code for the
66 use of explicit version dependencies such as.
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68 use 5.006;
69 require 5.005_03;
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71 Although there is almost always only one of these in a file, if more
72 than one are found, the highest version dependency will be returned.
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74 Returns a version object, false if no dependencies could be found, or
75 "undef" on error.
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77 minimum_syntax_version $limit
78 The "minimum_syntax_version" method will explicitly test only the
79 Document's syntax to determine it's minimum version, to the extent that
80 this is possible.
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82 It takes an optional parameter of a version object defining the the
83 lowest known current value. For example, if it is already known that it
84 must be 5.006 or higher, then you can provide a param of qv(5.006) and
85 the method will not run any of the tests below this version. This
86 should provide dramatic speed improvements for large and/or complex
87 documents.
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89 The limitations of parsing Perl mean that this method may provide
90 artifically low results, but should not artificially high results.
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92 For example, if "minimum_syntax_version" returned 5.006, you can be
93 confident it will not run on anything lower, although there is a chance
94 that during actual execution it may use some untestable feature that
95 creates a dependency on a higher version.
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97 Returns a version object, false if no dependencies could be found, or
98 "undef" on error.
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100 minimum_external_version
101 WARNING: This method has not been implemented. Any attempted use will
102 throw an exception
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104 The "minimum_external_version" examines code for dependencies on other
105 external files, and recursively traverses the dependency tree applying
106 the same tests to those files as it does to the original.
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108 Returns a "version" object, false if no dependencies could be found, or
109 "undef" on error.
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111 version_markers
112 This method returns a list of pairs in the form:
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114 ($version, \@markers)
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116 Each pair represents all the markers that could be found indicating
117 that the version was the minimum needed version. @markers is an array
118 of strings. Currently, these strings are not as clear as they might
119 be, but this may be changed in the future. In other words: don't rely
120 on them as specific identifiers.
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123 Perl::MinimumVersion does a reasonable job of catching the best-known
124 explicit version dependencies.
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126 However it is exceedingly easy to add a new syntax check, so if you
127 find something this is missing, copy and paste one of the existing 5
128 line checking functions, modify it to find what you want, and report it
129 to rt.cpan.org, along with the version needed.
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131 I don't even need an entire diff... just the function and version.
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134 Write lots more version checkers
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136 - Perl 5.10 operators and language structures
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138 - Three-argument open
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140 Write the explicit version checker
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142 Write the recursive module descend stuff
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144 _while_readdir for postfix while without brackets
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146 Check for more 5.12 features (currently only detecting "package NAME
147 VERSION;", "...", and "use feature ':5.12'")
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150 All bugs should be filed via the CPAN bug tracker at
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152 <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Perl-MinimumVersion>
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154 For other issues, or commercial enhancement or support, contact the
155 author.
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158 Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>
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161 perlver - the command-line script for running "Perl::MinimumVersion" on
162 your code.
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164 Perl::MinimumVersion::Fast - another module which does the same thing.
165 It's a lot faster, but only supports Perl 5.8.1+.
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167 <http://ali.as/>, PPI, version
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170 <https://github.com/neilbowers/Perl-MinimumVersion>
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173 Copyright 2005 - 2014 Adam Kennedy.
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175 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
176 under the same terms as Perl itself.
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178 The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included
179 with this module.
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183perl v5.30.1 2020-01-30 Perl::MinimumVersion(3)