1CPAN::Meta::History::MeUtsae_r1_C2o(n3t)ributed Perl DocCuPmAeNn:t:aMteitoan::History::Meta_1_2(3)
2
6 CPAN::Meta::History::Meta_1_2 - Version 1.2 metadata specification for
7 META.yml
8
10 This is a historical copy of the version 1.2 specification for META.yml
11 files, copyright by Ken Williams and licensed under the same terms as
12 Perl itself.
13 Modifications from the original:
15 • Various spelling corrections
17 • Include list of valid licenses from Module::Build 0.2611 rather
19 than linking to the module, with minor updates to text and links to
20 reflect versions at the time of publication.
21 • Fixed some dead links to point to active resources.
23
25 --- #YAML:1.0
26 name: Module-Build
27 abstract: Build and install Perl modules
28 version: 0.20
29 author:
30 - Ken Williams <kwilliams@cpan.org>
31 license: perl
32 distribution_type: module
33 requires:
34 Config: 0
35 Cwd: 0
36 Data::Dumper: 0
37 ExtUtils::Install: 0
38 File::Basename: 0
39 File::Compare: 0
40 File::Copy: 0
41 File::Find: 0
42 File::Path: 0
43 File::Spec: 0
44 IO::File: 0
45 perl: 5.005_03
46 recommends:
47 Archive::Tar: 1.00
48 ExtUtils::Install: 0.3
49 ExtUtils::ParseXS: 2.02
50 Pod::Text: 0
51 YAML: 0.35
52 build_requires:
53 Test: 0
54 urls:
55 license: http://dev.perl.org/licenses/
56 meta-spec:
57 version: 1.2
58 url: http://module-build.sourceforge.net/META-spec-v1.2.html
59 generated_by: Module::Build version 0.20
60
62 This document describes version 1.2 of the META.yml specification.
63 The META.yml file describes important properties of contributed Perl
65 distributions such as the ones found on CPAN. It is typically created
66 by tools like Module::Build, Module::Install, and ExtUtils::MakeMaker.
67 The fields in the META.yml file are meant to be helpful for people
69 maintaining module collections (like CPAN), for people writing
70 installation tools (like CPAN.pm or CPANPLUS), or just for people who
71 want to know some stuff about a distribution before downloading it and
72 starting to install it.
73 Note: The latest stable version of this specification can always be
75 found at <http://module-build.sourceforge.net/META-spec-current.html>,
76 and the latest development version (which may include things that won't
77 make it into the stable version can always be found at
78 <http://module-build.sourceforge.net/META-spec-blead.html>.
79
81 META.yml files are written in the YAML format (see
82 <http://www.yaml.org/>).
83 See the following links to learn why we chose YAML instead of, say, XML
85 or Data::Dumper:
86 • Module::Build design plans
88 <http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.makemaker/2002/04/msg407.html>
89 • Not keen on YAML <http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.module-
91 authors/2003/11/msg1353.html>
92 • META Concerns <http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.module-
94 authors/2003/11/msg1385.html>
95
97 distribution
98 This is the primary object described by the META.yml specification.
99 In the context of this document it usually refers to a collection
100 of modules, scripts, and/or documents that are distributed for
101 other developers to use.
102 module
104 This refers to a reusable library of code typically contained in a
105 single file. Currently, we primarily talk of perl modules, but this
106 specification should be open enough to apply to other languages as
107 well (ex. python, ruby).
108
110 Some fields require a version specification (ex. "requires",
111 "recommends", "build_requires", etc.). This section details the
112 version specifications that are currently supported.
113 If a single version is listed, then that version is considered to be
115 the minimum version supported.
116 If 0 is given as the version number, then any version is supported.
118 Additionally, for more complicated requirements, the specification
120 supports a list of versions, each of which may be optionally preceded
121 by a relational operator.
122 Supported operators include < (less than), <= (less than or equal), >
124 (greater than), >= (greater than or equal), == (equal), and != (not
125 equal).
126 If a list is given then it is evaluated from left to right so that any
128 specifications in the list that conflict with a previous specification
129 are overridden by the later.
130 Examples:
132 >= 1.2, != 1.5, < 2.0
134 Any version from version 1.2 onward, except version 1.5, that also
136 precedes version 2.0.
137
139 The first line of a META.yml file should be a valid YAML document
140 header like "--- #YAML:1.0".
141
143 The rest of the META.yml file is one big YAML mapping whose keys are
144 described here.
145 meta-spec
147 Example:
148 meta-spec:
150 version: 1.2
151 url: http://module-build.sourceforge.net/META-spec-v1.2.html
152 (Spec 1.1) [required] {URL} This field indicates the location of the
154 version of the META.yml specification used.
155 name
157 Example:
158 name: Module-Build
160 (Spec 1.0) [required] {string} The name of the distribution which is
162 often created by taking the "main module" in the distribution and
163 changing "::" to "-". Sometimes it's completely different, however, as
164 in the case of the libwww-perl distribution (see
165 <http://search.cpan.org/author/GAAS/libwww-perl/>).
166 version
168 Example:
169 version: 0.20
171 (Spec 1.0) [required] {version} The version of the distribution to
173 which the META.yml file refers.
174 abstract
176 Example:
177 abstract: Build and install Perl modules.
179 (Spec 1.1) [required] {string} A short description of the purpose of
181 the distribution.
182 author
184 Example:
185 author:
187 - Ken Williams <kwilliams@cpan.org>
188 (Spec 1.1) [required] {list of strings} A YAML sequence indicating the
190 author(s) of the distribution. The preferred form is author-name
191 <email-address>.
192 license
194 Example:
195 license: perl
197 (Spec 1.0) [required] {string} The license under which this
199 distribution may be used and redistributed.
200 Must be one of the following licenses:
202 perl
204 The distribution may be copied and redistributed under the same
205 terms as perl itself (this is by far the most common licensing
206 option for modules on CPAN). This is a dual license, in which the
207 user may choose between either the GPL version 1 or the Artistic
208 version 1 license.
209 gpl The distribution is distributed under the terms of the GNU General
211 Public License version 2
212 (<http://opensource.org/licenses/GPL-2.0>).
213 lgpl
215 The distribution is distributed under the terms of the GNU Lesser
216 General Public License version 2
217 (<http://opensource.org/licenses/LGPL-2.1>).
218 artistic
220 The distribution is licensed under the Artistic License version 1,
221 as specified by the Artistic file in the standard perl distribution
222 (<http://opensource.org/licenses/Artistic-Perl-1.0>).
223 bsd The distribution is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License
225 (<http://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause>).
226 open_source
228 The distribution is licensed under some other Open Source
229 Initiative-approved license listed at
230 <http://www.opensource.org/licenses/>.
231 unrestricted
233 The distribution is licensed under a license that is not approved
234 by www.opensource.org <http://www.opensource.org/> but that allows
235 distribution without restrictions.
236 restrictive
238 The distribution may not be redistributed without special
239 permission from the author and/or copyright holder.
240 distribution_type
242 Example:
243 distribution_type: module
245 (Spec 1.0) [optional] {string} What kind of stuff is contained in this
247 distribution. Most things on CPAN are "module"s (which can also mean a
248 collection of modules), but some things are "script"s.
249 Unfortunately this field is basically meaningless, since many
251 distributions are hybrids of several kinds of things, or some new
252 thing, or subjectively different in focus depending on who's using
253 them. Tools like Module::Build and MakeMaker will likely stop
254 generating this field.
255 requires
257 Example:
258 requires:
260 Data::Dumper: 0
261 File::Find: 1.03
262 (Spec 1.0) [optional] {map} A YAML mapping indicating the Perl modules
264 this distribution requires for proper operation. The keys are the
265 module names, and the values are version specifications as described in
266 Module::Build for the "requires" parameter.
267 recommends
269 Example:
270 recommends:
272 Data::Dumper: 0
273 File::Find: 1.03
274 (Spec 1.0) [optional] {map} A YAML mapping indicating the Perl modules
276 this distribution recommends for enhanced operation.
277 ALTERNATIVE: It may be desirable to present to the user which features
279 depend on which modules so they can make an informed decision about
280 which recommended modules to install.
281 Example:
283 optional_features:
285 - foo:
286 description: Provides the ability to blah.
287 requires:
288 Data::Dumper: 0
289 File::Find: 1.03
290 - bar:
291 description: This feature is not available on this platform.
292 excludes_os: MSWin32
293 (Spec 1.1) [optional] {map} A YAML sequence of names for optional
295 features which are made available when its requirements are met. For
296 each feature a description is provided along with any of "requires",
297 "build_requires", "conflicts", "requires_packages", "requires_os", and
298 "excludes_os" which have the same meaning in this subcontext as
299 described elsewhere in this document.
300 build_requires
302 Example:
303 build_requires:
305 Data::Dumper: 0
306 File::Find: 1.03
307 (Spec 1.0) [optional] {map} A YAML mapping indicating the Perl modules
309 required for building and/or testing of this distribution. These
310 dependencies are not required after the module is installed.
311 conflicts
313 Example:
314 conflicts:
316 Data::Dumper: 0
317 File::Find: 1.03
318 (Spec 1.0) [optional] {map} A YAML mapping indicating the Perl modules
320 that cannot be installed while this distribution is installed. This is
321 a pretty uncommon situation.
322 dynamic_config
324 Example:
325 dynamic_config: 0
327 (Spec 1.0) [optional] {boolean} A boolean flag indicating whether a
329 Build.PL or Makefile.PL (or similar) must be executed when building
330 this distribution, or whether it can be built, tested and installed
331 solely from consulting its metadata file. The main reason to set this
332 to a true value if that your module performs some dynamic configuration
333 (asking questions, sensing the environment, etc.) as part of its
334 build/install process.
335 Currently Module::Build doesn't actually do anything with this flag -
337 it's probably going to be up to higher-level tools like CPAN to do
338 something useful with it. It can potentially bring lots of security,
339 packaging, and convenience improvements.
340 If this field is omitted, it defaults to 1 (true).
342 private
344 (Deprecated) (Spec 1.0) [optional] {map} This field has been renamed to
345 "no_index". See below.
346 provides
348 Example:
349 provides:
351 Foo::Bar:
352 file: lib/Foo/Bar.pm
353 version: 0.27_02
354 Foo::Bar::Blah:
355 file: lib/Foo/Bar/Blah.pm
356 Foo::Bar::Baz:
357 file: lib/Foo/Bar/Baz.pm
358 version: 0.3
359 (Spec 1.1) [optional] {map} A YAML mapping that describes all packages
361 provided by this distribution. This information can be (and, in some
362 cases, is) used by distribution and automation mechanisms like PAUSE,
363 CPAN, and search.cpan.org to build indexes saying in which distribution
364 various packages can be found.
365 When using tools like Module::Build that can generate the "provides"
367 mapping for your distribution automatically, make sure you examine what
368 it generates to make sure it makes sense - indexers will usually trust
369 the "provides" field if it's present, rather than scanning through the
370 distribution files themselves to figure out packages and versions.
371 This is a good thing, because it means you can use the "provides" field
372 to tell the indexers precisely what you want indexed about your
373 distribution, rather than relying on them to essentially guess what you
374 want indexed.
375 no_index
377 Example:
378 no_index:
380 file:
381 - My/Module.pm
382 dir:
383 - My/Private
384 package:
385 - My::Module::Stuff
386 namespace:
387 - My::Module::Stuff
388 (Spec 1.1) [optional] {map} A YAML mapping that describes any files,
390 directories, packages, and namespaces that are private (i.e.
391 implementation artifacts) that are not of interest to searching and
392 indexing tools. This is useful when no "provides" field is present.
393 (Note: I'm not actually sure who looks at this field, or exactly what
395 they do with it. This spec could be off in some way from actual
396 usage.)
397 file
399 (Spec 1.1) [optional] Exclude any listed file(s).
401 dir
403 (Spec 1.1) [optional] Exclude anything below the listed directory(ies).
405 package
407 (Spec 1.1) [optional] Exclude the listed package(s).
409 namespace
411 (Spec 1.1) [optional] Excludes anything below the listed namespace(s),
413 but not the listed namespace(s) its self.
414 keywords
416 Example:
417 keywords:
419 - make
420 - build
421 - install
422 (Spec 1.1) [optional] {list} A sequence of keywords/phrases that
424 describe this distribution.
425 resources
427 Example:
428 resources:
430 license: http://dev.perl.org/licenses/
431 homepage: http://sourceforge.net/projects/module-build
432 bugtracker: http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Module-Build
433 MailingList: http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/module-build-general
434 (Spec 1.1) [optional] {map} A mapping of any URL resources related to
436 this distribution. All-lower-case keys, such as "homepage", "license",
437 and "bugtracker", are reserved by this specification, as they have
438 "official" meanings defined here in this specification. If you'd like
439 to add your own "special" entries (like the "MailingList" entry above),
440 use at least one upper-case letter.
441 The current set of official keys is:
443 homepage
445 The official home of this project on the web.
446 license
448 An URL for an official statement of this distribution's license.
449 bugtracker
451 An URL for a bug tracker (e.g. Bugzilla or RT queue) for this
452 project.
453 generated_by
455 Example:
456 generated_by: Module::Build version 0.20
458 (Spec 1.0) [required] {string} Indicates the tool that was used to
460 create this META.yml file. It's good form to include both the name of
461 the tool and its version, but this field is essentially opaque, at
462 least for the moment. If META.yml was generated by hand, it is
463 suggested that the author be specified here.
464 [Note: My meta_stats.pl script which I use to gather statistics
466 regarding META.yml usage prefers the form listed above, i.e. it splits
467 on /\s+version\s+/ taking the first field as the name of the tool that
468 generated the file and the second field as version of that tool. RWS]
469
471 CPAN <http://www.cpan.org/>
472 CPAN.pm
474 CPANPLUS
476 Data::Dumper
478 ExtUtils::MakeMaker
480 Module::Build
482 Module::Install
484 XML <http://www.w3.org/XML/>
486 YAML <http://www.yaml.org/>
488
490 March 14, 2003 (Pi day)
491 • Created version 1.0 of this document.
492 May 8, 2003
494 • Added the "dynamic_config" field, which was missing from the
495 initial version.
496 November 13, 2003
498 • Added more YAML rationale articles.
499 • Fixed existing link to YAML discussion thread to point to new
501 <http://nntp.x.perl.org/group/> site.
502 • Added and deprecated the "private" field.
504 • Added "abstract", "configure", "requires_packages",
506 "requires_os", "excludes_os", and "no_index" fields.
507 • Bumped version.
509 November 16, 2003
511 • Added "generation", "authored_by" fields.
512 • Add alternative proposal to the "recommends" field.
514 • Add proposal for a "requires_build_tools" field.
516 December 9, 2003
518 • Added link to latest version of this specification on CPAN.
519 • Added section "VERSION SPECIFICATIONS".
521 • Chang name from Module::Build::META-spec to
523 CPAN::META::Specification.
524 • Add proposal for "auto_regenerate" field.
526 December 15, 2003
528 • Add "index" field as a compliment to "no_index"
529 • Add "keywords" field as a means to aid searching distributions.
531 • Add "TERMINOLOGY" section to explain certain terms that may be
533 ambiguous.
534 July 26, 2005
536 • Removed a bunch of items (generation, requires_build_tools,
537 requires_packages, configure, requires_os, excludes_os,
538 auto_regenerate) that have never actually been supported, but
539 were more like records of brainstorming.
540 • Changed "authored_by" to "author", since that's always been what
542 it's actually called in actual META.yml files.
543 • Added the "==" operator to the list of supported version-checking
545 operators.
546 • Noted that the "distribution_type" field is basically
548 meaningless, and shouldn't really be used.
549 • Clarified "dynamic_config" a bit.
551 August 23, 2005
553 • Removed the name "CPAN::META::Specification", since that implies
554 a module that doesn't actually exist.
555perl v5.36.0 2022-07-22 CPAN::Meta::History::Meta_1_2(3)