1Module::Build::AuthorinUgs(e3r)Contributed Perl DocumentMaotdiuolne::Build::Authoring(3)
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6 Module::Build::Authoring - Authoring Module::Build modules
7
9 When creating a "Build.PL" script for a module, something like the
10 following code will typically be used:
11 use Module::Build;
13 my $build = Module::Build->new
14 (
15 module_name => 'Foo::Bar',
16 license => 'perl',
17 requires => {
18 'perl' => '5.6.1',
19 'Some::Module' => '1.23',
20 'Other::Module' => '>= 1.2, != 1.5, < 2.0',
21 },
22 );
23 $build->create_build_script;
24 A simple module could get away with something as short as this for its
26 "Build.PL" script:
27 use Module::Build;
29 Module::Build->new(
30 module_name => 'Foo::Bar',
31 license => 'perl',
32 )->create_build_script;
33 The model used by "Module::Build" is a lot like the "MakeMaker"
35 metaphor, with the following correspondences:
36 In Module::Build In ExtUtils::MakeMaker
38 --------------------------- ------------------------
39 Build.PL (initial script) Makefile.PL (initial script)
40 Build (a short perl script) Makefile (a long Makefile)
41 _build/ (saved state info) various config text in the Makefile
42 Any customization can be done simply by subclassing "Module::Build" and
44 adding a method called (for example) "ACTION_test", overriding the
45 default 'test' action. You could also add a method called
46 "ACTION_whatever", and then you could perform the action "Build
47 whatever".
48 For information on providing compatibility with "ExtUtils::MakeMaker",
50 see Module::Build::Compat and
51 <http://www.makemaker.org/wiki/index.cgi?ModuleBuildConversionGuide>.
52
54 Module::Build creates a class hierarchy conducive to customization.
55 Here is the parent-child class hierarchy in classy ASCII art:
56 /--------------------\
58 | Your::Parent | (If you subclass Module::Build)
59 \--------------------/
60 |
61 |
62 /--------------------\ (Doesn't define any functionality
63 | Module::Build | of its own - just figures out what
64 \--------------------/ other modules to load.)
65 |
66 |
67 /-----------------------------------\ (Some values of $^O may
68 | Module::Build::Platform::$^O | define specialized functionality.
69 \-----------------------------------/ Otherwise it's ...::Default, a
70 | pass-through class.)
71 |
72 /--------------------------\
73 | Module::Build::Base | (Most of the functionality of
74 \--------------------------/ Module::Build is defined here.)
75
77 Right now, there are two ways to subclass Module::Build. The first way
78 is to create a regular module (in a ".pm" file) that inherits from
79 Module::Build, and use that module's class instead of using
80 Module::Build directly:
81 ------ in Build.PL: ----------
83 #!/usr/bin/perl
84 use lib q(/nonstandard/library/path);
86 use My::Builder; # Or whatever you want to call it
87 my $build = My::Builder->new
89 (
90 module_name => 'Foo::Bar', # All the regular args...
91 license => 'perl',
92 dist_author => 'A N Other <me@here.net.au>',
93 requires => { Carp => 0 }
94 );
95 $build->create_build_script;
96 This is relatively straightforward, and is the best way to do things if
98 your My::Builder class contains lots of code. The
99 "create_build_script()" method will ensure that the current value of
100 @INC (including the "/nonstandard/library/path") is propagated to the
101 Build script, so that My::Builder can be found when running build
102 actions. If you find that you need to "chdir" into a different
103 directories in your subclass methods or actions, be sure to always
104 return to the original directory (available via the "base_dir()"
105 method) before returning control to the parent class. This is
106 important to avoid data serialization problems.
107 For very small additions, Module::Build provides a "subclass()" method
109 that lets you subclass Module::Build more conveniently, without
110 creating a separate file for your module:
111 ------ in Build.PL: ----------
113 #!/usr/bin/perl
114 use Module::Build;
116 my $class = Module::Build->subclass
117 (
118 class => 'My::Builder',
119 code => q{
120 sub ACTION_foo {
121 print "I'm fooing to death!\n";
122 }
123 },
124 );
125 my $build = $class->new
127 (
128 module_name => 'Foo::Bar', # All the regular args...
129 license => 'perl',
130 dist_author => 'A N Other <me@here.net.au>',
131 requires => { Carp => 0 }
132 );
133 $build->create_build_script;
134 Behind the scenes, this actually does create a ".pm" file, since the
136 code you provide must persist after Build.PL is run if it is to be very
137 useful.
138 See also the documentation for the "subclass()" in Module::Build::API
140 method.
141
143 Types of prerequisites
144 To specify what versions of other modules are used by this
145 distribution, several types of prerequisites can be defined with the
146 following parameters:
147 configure_requires
149 Items that must be installed before configuring this distribution
150 (i.e. before running the Build.PL script). This might be a specific
151 minimum version of "Module::Build" or any other module the Build.PL
152 needs in order to do its stuff. Clients like "CPAN.pm" or
153 "CPANPLUS" will be expected to pick "configure_requires" out of the
154 META.yml file and install these items before running the "Build.PL".
155 If no configure_requires is specified, the current version of
157 Module::Build is automatically added to configure_requires.
158 build_requires
160 Items that are necessary for building and testing this distribution,
161 but aren't necessary after installation. This can help users who
162 only want to install these items temporarily. It also helps reduce
163 the size of the CPAN dependency graph if everything isn't smooshed
164 into "requires".
165 requires
167 Items that are necessary for basic functioning.
168 recommends
170 Items that are recommended for enhanced functionality, but there are
171 ways to use this distribution without having them installed. You
172 might also think of this as "can use" or "is aware of" or "changes
173 behavior in the presence of".
174 test_requires
176 Items that are necessary for testing.
177 conflicts
179 Items that can cause problems with this distribution when installed.
180 This is pretty rare.
181 Format of prerequisites
183 The prerequisites are given in a hash reference, where the keys are the
184 module names and the values are version specifiers:
185 requires => {
187 Foo::Module => '2.4',
188 Bar::Module => 0,
189 Ken::Module => '>= 1.2, != 1.5, < 2.0',
190 perl => '5.6.0'
191 },
192 The above four version specifiers have different effects. The value
194 '2.4' means that at least version 2.4 of "Foo::Module" must be
195 installed. The value 0 means that any version of "Bar::Module" is
196 acceptable, even if "Bar::Module" doesn't define a version. The more
197 verbose value '>= 1.2, != 1.5, < 2.0' means that "Ken::Module"'s
198 version must be at least 1.2, less than 2.0, and not equal to 1.5. The
199 list of criteria is separated by commas, and all criteria must be
200 satisfied.
201 A special "perl" entry lets you specify the versions of the Perl
203 interpreter that are supported by your module. The same version
204 dependency-checking semantics are available, except that we also
205 understand perl's new double-dotted version numbers.
206 XS Extensions
208 Modules which need to compile XS code should list "ExtUtils::CBuilder"
209 as a "build_requires" element.
210
212 Module::Build provides a very convenient way to save configuration
213 information that your installed modules (or your regression tests) can
214 access. If your Build process calls the "feature()" or "config_data()"
215 methods, then a "Foo::Bar::ConfigData" module will automatically be
216 created for you, where "Foo::Bar" is the "module_name" parameter as
217 passed to "new()". This module provides access to the data saved by
218 these methods, and a way to update the values. There is also a utility
219 script called "config_data" distributed with Module::Build that
220 provides a command line interface to this same functionality. See also
221 the generated "Foo::Bar::ConfigData" documentation, and the
222 "config_data" script's documentation, for more information.
223
225 When starting development on a new module, it's rarely worth your time
226 to create a tree of all the files by hand. Some automatic module-
227 creators are available: the oldest is "h2xs", which has shipped with
228 perl itself for a long time. Its name reflects the fact that modules
229 were originally conceived of as a way to wrap up a C library (thus the
230 "h" part) into perl extensions (thus the "xs" part).
231 These days, "h2xs" has largely been superseded by modules like
233 "ExtUtils::ModuleMaker", and "Module::Starter". They have varying
234 degrees of support for "Module::Build".
235
237 One advantage of Module::Build is that since it's implemented as Perl
238 methods, you can invoke these methods directly if you want to install a
239 module non-interactively. For instance, the following Perl script will
240 invoke the entire build/install procedure:
241 my $build = Module::Build->new(module_name => 'MyModule');
243 $build->dispatch('build');
244 $build->dispatch('test');
245 $build->dispatch('install');
246 If any of these steps encounters an error, it will throw a fatal
248 exception.
249 You can also pass arguments as part of the build process:
251 my $build = Module::Build->new(module_name => 'MyModule');
253 $build->dispatch('build');
254 $build->dispatch('test', verbose => 1);
255 $build->dispatch('install', sitelib => '/my/secret/place/');
256 Building and installing modules in this way skips creating the "Build"
258 script.
259
261 Note that if you want to provide both a Makefile.PL and a Build.PL for
262 your distribution, you probably want to add the following to
263 "WriteMakefile" in your Makefile.PL so that "MakeMaker" doesn't try to
264 run your Build.PL as a normal .PL file:
265 PL_FILES => {},
267 You may also be interested in looking at the "Module::Build::Compat"
269 module, which can automatically create various kinds of Makefile.PL
270 compatibility layers.
271
273 Ken Williams <kwilliams@cpan.org>
274 Development questions, bug reports, and patches should be sent to the
276 Module-Build mailing list at <module-build@perl.org>.
277 Bug reports are also welcome at
279 <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Module-Build>.
280 The latest development version is available from the Git repository at
282 <https://github.com/Perl-Toolchain-Gang/Module-Build>
283
285 perl(1), Module::Build(3), Module::Build::API(3),
286 Module::Build::Cookbook(3), ExtUtils::MakeMaker(3), YAML(3)
287 META.yml Specification: CPAN::Meta::Spec
289 <http://www.dsmit.com/cons/>
291 <http://search.cpan.org/dist/PerlBuildSystem/>
293perl v5.36.0 2022-07-22 Module::Build::Authoring(3)