Perl::MinimumVersion(3pm)

1Perl::MinimumVersion(3)User Contributed Perl DocumentatioPnerl::MinimumVersion(3)
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NAME

6       Perl::MinimumVersion - Find a minimum required version of perl for Perl
7       code
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SYNOPSIS

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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DESCRIPTION

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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METHODS

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.
81
82       It takes an optional parameter of a version object defining the lowest
83       known current value. For example, if it is already known that it must
84       be 5.006 or higher, then you can provide a param of qv(5.006) and the
85       method will not run any of the tests below this version. This should
86       provide dramatic speed improvements for large and/or complex documents.
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88       The limitations of parsing Perl mean that this method may provide
89       artificially low results, but should not artificially high results.
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91       For example, if "minimum_syntax_version" returned 5.006, you can be
92       confident it will not run on anything lower, although there is a chance
93       that during actual execution it may use some untestable feature that
94       creates a dependency on a higher version.
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96       Returns a version object, false if no dependencies could be found, or
97       "undef" on error.
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99   minimum_external_version
100       WARNING: This method has not been implemented. Any attempted use will
101       throw an exception
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103       The "minimum_external_version" examines code for dependencies on other
104       external files, and recursively traverses the dependency tree applying
105       the same tests to those files as it does to the original.
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107       Returns a "version" object, false if no dependencies could be found, or
108       "undef" on error.
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110   version_markers
111       This method returns a list of pairs in the form:
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113         ($version, \@markers)
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115       Each pair represents all the markers that could be found indicating
116       that the version was the minimum needed version.  @markers is an array
117       of strings.  Currently, these strings are not as clear as they might
118       be, but this may be changed in the future.  In other words: don't rely
119       on them as specific identifiers.
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BUGS

122       Perl::MinimumVersion does a reasonable job of catching the best-known
123       explicit version dependencies.
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125       However it is exceedingly easy to add a new syntax check, so if you
126       find something this is missing, copy and paste one of the existing 5
127       line checking functions, modify it to find what you want, and report it
128       to rt.cpan.org, along with the version needed.
129
130       I don't even need an entire diff... just the function and version.
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TO DO

133       Write lots more version checkers
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135       - Perl 5.10 operators and language structures
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137       - Three-argument open
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139       Write the explicit version checker
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141       Write the recursive module descend stuff
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143       _while_readdir for postfix while without brackets
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145       Check for more 5.12 features (currently only detecting "package NAME
146       VERSION;", "...", and "use feature ':5.12'")
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SUPPORT

149       All bugs should be filed via the CPAN bug tracker at
150
151       <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Perl-MinimumVersion>
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153       For other issues, or commercial enhancement or support, contact the
154       author.
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AUTHORS

157       Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>
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REPOSITORY

169       <https://github.com/neilbowers/Perl-MinimumVersion>
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COPYRIGHT

172       Copyright 2005 - 2014 Adam Kennedy.
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174       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
175       under the same terms as Perl itself.
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177       The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included
178       with this module.
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182perl v5.36.0                      2023-01-20           Perl::MinimumVersion(3)