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local/lib/perl5/Module/Build.pm  view on Meta::CPAN

Or, if you're on a platform (like DOS or Windows) that doesn't require
the "./" notation, you can do this:

  perl Build.PL
  Build
  Build test
  Build install


=head1 DESCRIPTION

C<Module::Build> is a system for building, testing, and installing
Perl modules.  It is meant to be an alternative to
C<ExtUtils::MakeMaker>.  Developers may alter the behavior of the
module through subclassing in a much more straightforward way than
with C<MakeMaker>.  It also does not require a C<make> on your system
- most of the C<Module::Build> code is pure-perl and written in a very
cross-platform way.

See L<"MOTIVATIONS"> for more comparisons between C<ExtUtils::MakeMaker>
and C<Module::Build>.

To install C<Module::Build>, and any other module that uses
C<Module::Build> for its installation process, do the following:

  perl Build.PL       # 'Build.PL' script creates the 'Build' script
  ./Build             # Need ./ to ensure we're using this "Build" script
  ./Build test        # and not another one that happens to be in the PATH
  ./Build install

This illustrates initial configuration and the running of three
'actions'.  In this case the actions run are 'build' (the default
action), 'test', and 'install'.  Other actions defined so far include:

  build                          manifest
  clean                          manifest_skip
  code                           manpages
  config_data                    pardist
  diff                           ppd
  dist                           ppmdist
  distcheck                      prereq_data
  distclean                      prereq_report
  distdir                        pure_install
  distinstall                    realclean
  distmeta                       retest
  distsign                       skipcheck
  disttest                       test
  docs                           testall
  fakeinstall                    testcover
  help                           testdb
  html                           testpod
  install                        testpodcoverage
  installdeps                    versioninstall

You can run the 'help' action for a complete list of actions.


=head1 GUIDE TO DOCUMENTATION

The documentation for C<Module::Build> is broken up into sections:

=over

=item General Usage (L<Module::Build>)

This is the document you are currently reading. It describes basic
usage and background information.  Its main purpose is to assist the
user who wants to learn how to invoke and control C<Module::Build>
scripts at the command line.

=item Authoring Reference (L<Module::Build::Authoring>)

This document describes the structure and organization of
C<Module::Build>, and the relevant concepts needed by authors who are
writing F<Build.PL> scripts for a distribution or controlling
C<Module::Build> processes programmatically.

=item API Reference (L<Module::Build::API>)

This is a reference to the C<Module::Build> API.

=item Cookbook (L<Module::Build::Cookbook>)

This document demonstrates how to accomplish many common tasks.  It
covers general command line usage and authoring of F<Build.PL>
scripts.  Includes working examples.

=back


=head1 ACTIONS

There are some general principles at work here.  First, each task when
building a module is called an "action".  These actions are listed
above; they correspond to the building, testing, installing,
packaging, etc., tasks.

Second, arguments are processed in a very systematic way.  Arguments
are always key=value pairs.  They may be specified at C<perl Build.PL>
time (i.e. C<perl Build.PL destdir=/my/secret/place>), in which case
their values last for the lifetime of the C<Build> script.  They may
also be specified when executing a particular action (i.e.
C<Build test verbose=1>), in which case their values last only for the
lifetime of that command.  Per-action command line parameters take
precedence over parameters specified at C<perl Build.PL> time.

The build process also relies heavily on the C<Config.pm> module.
If the user wishes to override any of the
values in C<Config.pm>, she may specify them like so:

  perl Build.PL --config cc=gcc --config ld=gcc

The following build actions are provided by default.

=over 4

=item build

[version 0.01]

If you run the C<Build> script without any arguments, it runs the
C<build> action, which in turn runs the C<code> and C<docs> actions.

This is analogous to the C<MakeMaker> I<make all> target.

=item clean

[version 0.01]

This action will clean up any files that the build process may have
created, including the C<blib/> directory (but not including the
C<_build/> directory and the C<Build> script itself).

=item code

[version 0.20]

This action builds your code base.

By default it just creates a C<blib/> directory and copies any C<.pm>
and C<.pod> files from your C<lib/> directory into the C<blib/>
directory.  It also compiles any C<.xs> files from C<lib/> and places
them in C<blib/>.  Of course, you need a working C compiler (probably
the same one that built perl itself) for the compilation to work
properly.

The C<code> action also runs any C<.PL> files in your F<lib/>
directory.  Typically these create other files, named the same but
without the C<.PL> ending.  For example, a file F<lib/Foo/Bar.pm.PL>
could create the file F<lib/Foo/Bar.pm>.  The C<.PL> files are
processed first, so any C<.pm> files (or other kinds that we deal
with) will get copied correctly.

=item config_data

[version 0.26]

...

=item diff