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README
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NAME
CPAN - query, download and build perl modules from CPAN sites
SYNOPSIS
Interactive mode:
perl -MCPAN -e shell;
Batch mode:
use CPAN;
# modules:
$mod = "Acme::Meta";
install $mod;
CPAN::Shell->install($mod); # same thing
CPAN::Shell->expandany($mod)->install; # same thing
CPAN::Shell->expand("Module",$mod)->install; # same thing
CPAN::Shell->expand("Module",$mod)
->distribution->install; # same thing
# distributions:
$distro = "NWCLARK/Acme-Meta-0.01.tar.gz";
install $distro; # same thing
CPAN::Shell->install($distro); # same thing
CPAN::Shell->expandany($distro)->install; # same thing
CPAN::Shell->expand("Distribution",$distro)->install; # same thing
STATUS
This module will eventually be replaced by CPANPLUS. CPANPLUS is kind of
a modern rewrite from ground up with greater extensibility and more
features but no full compatibility. If you're new to CPAN.pm, you
probably should investigate if CPANPLUS is the better choice for you.
If you're already used to CPAN.pm you're welcome to continue using it. I
intend to support it until somebody convinces me that there is a both
superior and sufficiently compatible drop-in replacement.
COMPATIBILITY
CPAN.pm is regularly tested to run under 5.004, 5.005, and assorted
newer versions. It is getting more and more difficult to get the minimal
prerequisites working on older perls. It is close to impossible to get
the whole Bundle::CPAN working there. If you're in the position to have
only these old versions, be advised that CPAN is designed to work fine
without the Bundle::CPAN installed.
To get things going, note that GBARR/Scalar-List-Utils-1.18.tar.gz is
compatible with ancient perls and that File::Temp is listed as a
prerequisite but CPAN has reasonable workarounds if it is missing.
DESCRIPTION
The CPAN module is designed to automate the make and install of perl
modules and extensions. It includes some primitive searching
capabilities and knows how to use Net::FTP or LWP (or some external
download clients) to fetch the raw data from the net.
Modules are fetched from one or more of the mirrored CPAN (Comprehensive
Perl Archive Network) sites and unpacked in a dedicated directory.
The CPAN module also supports the concept of named and versioned
*bundles* of modules. Bundles simplify the handling of sets of related
modules. See Bundles below.
The package contains a session manager and a cache manager. There is no
status retained between sessions. The session manager keeps track of
what has been fetched, built and installed in the current session. The
cache manager keeps track of the disk space occupied by the make
processes and deletes excess space according to a simple FIFO mechanism.
All methods provided are accessible in a programmer style and in an
interactive shell style.
Interactive Mode
The interactive mode is entered by running
perl -MCPAN -e shell
which puts you into a readline interface. You will have the most fun if
you install Term::ReadKey and Term::ReadLine to enjoy both history and
command completion.
Once you are on the command line, type 'h' and the rest should be
self-explanatory.
The function call "shell" takes two optional arguments, one is the
prompt, the second is the default initial command line (the latter only
works if a real ReadLine interface module is installed).
The most common uses of the interactive modes are
Searching for authors, bundles, distribution files and modules
There are corresponding one-letter commands "a", "b", "d", and "m" for
each of the four categories and another, "i" for any of the mentioned
four. Each of the four entities is implemented as a class with
slightly differing methods for displaying an object.
Arguments you pass to these commands are either strings exactly
matching the identification string of an object or regular expressions
that are then matched case-insensitively against various attributes of
the objects. The parser recognizes a regular expression only if you
enclose it between two slashes.
The principle is that the number of found objects influences how an
item is displayed. If the search finds one item, the result is
displayed with the rather verbose method "as_string", but if we find
more than one, we display each object with the terse method
"as_glimpse".
make, test, install, clean modules or distributions
These commands take any number of arguments and investigate what is
necessary to perform the action. If the argument is a distribution
file name (recognized by embedded slashes), it is processed. If it is
a module, CPAN determines the distribution file in which this module
is included and processes that, following any dependencies named in
the module's META.yml or Makefile.PL (this behavior is controlled by
the configuration parameter "prerequisites_policy".)
Any "make" or "test" are run unconditionally. An
install <distribution_file>
also is run unconditionally. But for
install <module>
CPAN checks if an install is actually needed for it and prints *module
up to date* in the case that the distribution file containing the
module doesn't need to be updated.
CPAN also keeps track of what it has done within the current session
and doesn't try to build a package a second time regardless if it
succeeded or not. The "force" pragma may precede another command
(currently: "make", "test", or "install") and executes the command
from scratch and tries to continue in case of some errors.
Example:
cpan> install OpenGL
OpenGL is up to date.
cpan> force install OpenGL
Running make
OpenGL-0.4/
OpenGL-0.4/COPYRIGHT
[...]
The "notest" pragma may be set to skip the test part in the build
process.
Example:
cpan> notest install Tk
A "clean" command results in a
make clean
being executed within the distribution file's working directory.
get, readme, perldoc, look module or distribution
"get" downloads a distribution file without further action. "readme"
displays the README file of the associated distribution. "Look" gets
and untars (if not yet done) the distribution file, changes to the
appropriate directory and opens a subshell process in that directory.
"perldoc" displays the pod documentation of the module in html or
plain text format.
ls author
ls globbing_expression
The first form lists all distribution files in and below an author's
CPAN directory as they are stored in the CHECKUMS files distributed on
CPAN. The listing goes recursive into all subdirectories.
The second form allows to limit or expand the output with shell
globbing as in the following examples:
ls JV/make*
ls GSAR/*make*
ls */*make*
The last example is very slow and outputs extra progress indicators
that break the alignment of the result.
Note that globbing only lists directories explicitly asked for, for
example FOO/* will not list FOO/bar/Acme-Sthg-n.nn.tar.gz. This may be
regarded as a bug and may be changed in future versions.
failed
The "failed" command reports all distributions that failed on one of
"make", "test" or "install" for some reason in the currently running
shell session.
Lockfile
Interactive sessions maintain a lockfile, per default "~/.cpan/.lock"
(but the directory can be configured via the "cpan_home" config
variable). The shell is a bit picky if you try to start another CPAN
session. It dies immediately if there is a lockfile and the lock seems
to belong to a running process. In case you want to run a second shell
session, it is probably safest to maintain another directory, say
"~/.cpan-for-X/" and a "~/.cpan-for-X/CPAN/MyConfig.pm" that contains
the configuration options. Then you can start the second shell with
perl -I ~/.cpan-for-X -MCPAN::MyConfig -MCPAN -e shell
Signals
CPAN.pm installs signal handlers for SIGINT and SIGTERM. While you are
in the cpan-shell it is intended that you can press "^C" anytime and
return to the cpan-shell prompt. A SIGTERM will cause the cpan-shell
to clean up and leave the shell loop. You can emulate the effect of a
SIGTERM by sending two consecutive SIGINTs, which usually means by
pressing "^C" twice.
CPAN.pm ignores a SIGPIPE. If the user sets inactivity_timeout, a
SIGALRM is used during the run of the "perl Makefile.PL" or "perl
Build.PL" subprocess.
CPAN::Shell
The commands that are available in the shell interface are methods in
the package CPAN::Shell. If you enter the shell command, all your input
is split by the Text::ParseWords::shellwords() routine which acts like
most shells do. The first word is being interpreted as the method to be
called and the rest of the words are treated as arguments to this
method. Continuation lines are supported if a line ends with a literal
backslash.
autobundle
"autobundle" writes a bundle file into the
"$CPAN::Config->{cpan_home}/Bundle" directory. The file contains a list
of all modules that are both available from CPAN and currently installed
within @INC. The name of the bundle file is based on the current date
and a counter.
recompile
recompile() is a very special command in that it takes no argument and
runs the make/test/install cycle with brute force over all installed
dynamically loadable extensions (aka XS modules) with 'force' in effect.
The primary purpose of this command is to finish a network installation.
Imagine, you have a common source tree for two different architectures.
You decide to do a completely independent fresh installation. You start
on one architecture with the help of a Bundle file produced earlier.
CPAN installs the whole Bundle for you, but when you try to repeat the
job on the second architecture, CPAN responds with a "Foo up to date"
message for all modules. So you invoke CPAN's recompile on the second
architecture and you're done.
Another popular use for "recompile" is to act as a rescue in case your
perl breaks binary compatibility. If one of the modules that CPAN uses
is in turn depending on binary compatibility (so you cannot run CPAN
commands), then you should try the CPAN::Nox module for recovery.
upgrade
The "upgrade" command first runs an "r" command and then installs the
newest versions of all modules that were listed by that.
mkmyconfig
mkmyconfig() writes your own CPAN::MyConfig file into your ~/.cpan/
directory so that you can save your own preferences instead of the
system wide ones.
The four "CPAN::*" Classes: Author, Bundle, Module, Distribution
Although it may be considered internal, the class hierarchy does matter
for both users and programmer. CPAN.pm deals with above mentioned four
classes, and all those classes share a set of methods. A classical
single polymorphism is in effect. A metaclass object registers all
objects of all kinds and indexes them with a string. The strings
referencing objects have a separated namespace (well, not completely
separated):
Namespace Class
words containing a "/" (slash) Distribution
words starting with Bundle:: Bundle
everything else Module or Author
Modules know their associated Distribution objects. They always refer to
the most recent official release. Developers may mark their releases as
unstable development versions (by inserting an underbar into the module
version number which will also be reflected in the distribution name
when you run 'make dist'), so the really hottest and newest distribution
is not always the default. If a module Foo circulates on CPAN in both
version 1.23 and 1.23_90, CPAN.pm offers a convenient way to install
version 1.23 by saying
install Foo
This would install the complete distribution file (say
BAR/Foo-1.23.tar.gz) with all accompanying material. But if you would
like to install version 1.23_90, you need to know where the distribution
file resides on CPAN relative to the authors/id/ directory. If the
author is BAR, this might be BAR/Foo-1.23_90.tar.gz; so you would have
to say
install BAR/Foo-1.23_90.tar.gz
The first example will be driven by an object of the class CPAN::Module,
the second by an object of class CPAN::Distribution.
Programmer's interface
If you do not enter the shell, the available shell commands are both
available as methods ("CPAN::Shell->install(...)") and as functions in
the calling package ("install(...)").
There's currently only one class that has a stable interface -
CPAN::Shell. All commands that are available in the CPAN shell are
methods of the class CPAN::Shell. Each of the commands that produce
listings of modules ("r", "autobundle", "u") also return a list of the
IDs of all modules within the list.
expand($type,@things)
The IDs of all objects available within a program are strings that can
be expanded to the corresponding real objects with the
"CPAN::Shell->expand("Module",@things)" method. Expand returns a list
of CPAN::Module objects according to the @things arguments given. In
scalar context it only returns the first element of the list.
expandany(@things)
Like expand, but returns objects of the appropriate type, i.e.
CPAN::Bundle objects for bundles, CPAN::Module objects for modules and
CPAN::Distribution objects for distributions. Note: it does not expand
to CPAN::Author objects.
Programming Examples
This enables the programmer to do operations that combine
functionalities that are available in the shell.
# install everything that is outdated on my disk:
perl -MCPAN -e 'CPAN::Shell->install(CPAN::Shell->r)'
# install my favorite programs if necessary:
for $mod (qw(Net::FTP Digest::SHA Data::Dumper)){
my $obj = CPAN::Shell->expand('Module',$mod);
$obj->install;
}
# list all modules on my disk that have no VERSION number
for $mod (CPAN::Shell->expand("Module","/./")){
next unless $mod->inst_file;
# MakeMaker convention for undefined $VERSION:
next unless $mod->inst_version eq "undef";
print "No VERSION in ", $mod->id, "\n";
}
# find out which distribution on CPAN contains a module:
print CPAN::Shell->expand("Module","Apache::Constants")->cpan_file
Or if you want to write a cronjob to watch The CPAN, you could list
all modules that need updating. First a quick and dirty way:
perl -e 'use CPAN; CPAN::Shell->r;'
If you don't want to get any output in the case that all modules are
up to date, you can parse the output of above command for the regular
expression //modules are up to date// and decide to mail the output
only if it doesn't match. Ick?
If you prefer to do it more in a programmer style in one single
process, maybe something like this suits you better:
# list all modules on my disk that have newer versions on CPAN
for $mod (CPAN::Shell->expand("Module","/./")){
next unless $mod->inst_file;
next if $mod->uptodate;
printf "Module %s is installed as %s, could be updated to %s from CPAN\n",
$mod->id, $mod->inst_version, $mod->cpan_version;
}
If that gives you too much output every day, you maybe only want to
watch for three modules. You can write
for $mod (CPAN::Shell->expand("Module","/Apache|LWP|CGI/")){
as the first line instead. Or you can combine some of the above
tricks:
# watch only for a new mod_perl module
$mod = CPAN::Shell->expand("Module","mod_perl");
exit if $mod->uptodate;
# new mod_perl arrived, let me know all update recommendations
CPAN::Shell->r;
Methods in the other Classes
The programming interface for the classes CPAN::Module,
CPAN::Distribution, CPAN::Bundle, and CPAN::Author is still considered
beta and partially even alpha. In the following paragraphs only those
methods are documented that have proven useful over a longer time and
thus are unlikely to change.
CPAN::Author::as_glimpse()
Returns a one-line description of the author
CPAN::Author::as_string()
Returns a multi-line description of the author
CPAN::Author::email()
Returns the author's email address
CPAN::Author::fullname()
Returns the author's name
CPAN::Author::name()
An alias for fullname
CPAN::Bundle::as_glimpse()
Returns a one-line description of the bundle
CPAN::Bundle::as_string()
Returns a multi-line description of the bundle
CPAN::Bundle::clean()
Recursively runs the "clean" method on all items contained in the
bundle.
CPAN::Bundle::contains()
Returns a list of objects' IDs contained in a bundle. The associated
objects may be bundles, modules or distributions.
CPAN::Bundle::force($method,@args)
Forces CPAN to perform a task that normally would have failed. Force
takes as arguments a method name to be called and any number of
additional arguments that should be passed to the called method. The
internals of the object get the needed changes so that CPAN.pm does
not refuse to take the action. The "force" is passed recursively to
all contained objects.
CPAN::Bundle::get()
Recursively runs the "get" method on all items contained in the
bundle
CPAN::Bundle::inst_file()
Returns the highest installed version of the bundle in either @INC
or "$CPAN::Config-"{cpan_home}>. Note that this is different from
CPAN::Module::inst_file.
CPAN::Bundle::inst_version()
Like CPAN::Bundle::inst_file, but returns the $VERSION
CPAN::Bundle::uptodate()
Returns 1 if the bundle itself and all its members are uptodate.
CPAN::Bundle::install()
Recursively runs the "install" method on all items contained in the
bundle
CPAN::Bundle::make()
Recursively runs the "make" method on all items contained in the
bundle
CPAN::Bundle::readme()
Recursively runs the "readme" method on all items contained in the
bundle
CPAN::Bundle::test()
Recursively runs the "test" method on all items contained in the
bundle
CPAN::Distribution::as_glimpse()
Returns a one-line description of the distribution
CPAN::Distribution::as_string()
Returns a multi-line description of the distribution
CPAN::Distribution::author
Returns the CPAN::Author object of the maintainer who uploaded this
distribution
CPAN::Distribution::clean()
Changes to the directory where the distribution has been unpacked
and runs "make clean" there.
CPAN::Distribution::containsmods()
Returns a list of IDs of modules contained in a distribution file.
Only works for distributions listed in the 02packages.details.txt.gz
file. This typically means that only the most recent version of a
distribution is covered.
CPAN::Distribution::cvs_import()
Changes to the directory where the distribution has been unpacked
and runs something like
cvs -d $cvs_root import -m $cvs_log $cvs_dir $userid v$version
there.
CPAN::Distribution::dir()
Returns the directory into which this distribution has been
unpacked.
CPAN::Distribution::force($method,@args)
Forces CPAN to perform a task that normally would have failed. Force
takes as arguments a method name to be called and any number of
additional arguments that should be passed to the called method. The
internals of the object get the needed changes so that CPAN.pm does
not refuse to take the action.
CPAN::Distribution::get()
Downloads the distribution from CPAN and unpacks it. Does nothing if
the distribution has already been downloaded and unpacked within the
current session.
CPAN::Distribution::install()
Changes to the directory where the distribution has been unpacked
and runs the external command "make install" there. If "make" has
not yet been run, it will be run first. A "make test" will be issued
in any case and if this fails, the install will be canceled. The
cancellation can be avoided by letting "force" run the "install" for
you.
Note that install() gives no meaningful return value. See
uptodate().
CPAN::Distribution::isa_perl()
Returns 1 if this distribution file seems to be a perl distribution.
Normally this is derived from the file name only, but the index from
CPAN can contain a hint to achieve a return value of true for other
filenames too.
CPAN::Distribution::look()
Changes to the directory where the distribution has been unpacked
and opens a subshell there. Exiting the subshell returns.
CPAN::Distribution::make()
First runs the "get" method to make sure the distribution is
downloaded and unpacked. Changes to the directory where the
distribution has been unpacked and runs the external commands "perl
Makefile.PL" or "perl Build.PL" and "make" there.
CPAN::Distribution::perldoc()
Downloads the pod documentation of the file associated with a
distribution (in html format) and runs it through the external
command lynx specified in "$CPAN::Config-"{lynx}>. If lynx isn't
available, it converts it to plain text with external command
html2text and runs it through the pager specified in
"$CPAN::Config-"{pager}>
CPAN::Distribution::prereq_pm()
Returns the hash reference that has been announced by a distribution
as the merge of the "requires" element and the "build_requires"
element of the META.yml or the "PREREQ_PM" hash in the
"Makefile.PL". Note: works only after an attempt has been made to
"make" the distribution. Returns undef otherwise.
CPAN::Distribution::readme()
Downloads the README file associated with a distribution and runs it
through the pager specified in "$CPAN::Config-"{pager}>.
CPAN::Distribution::read_yaml()
Returns the content of the META.yml of this distro as a hashref.
Note: works only after an attempt has been made to "make" the
distribution. Returns undef otherwise.
CPAN::Distribution::test()
Changes to the directory where the distribution has been unpacked
and runs "make test" there.
CPAN::Distribution::uptodate()
Returns 1 if all the modules contained in the distribution are
uptodate. Relies on containsmods.
CPAN::Index::force_reload()
Forces a reload of all indices.
CPAN::Index::reload()
Reloads all indices if they have not been read for more than
"$CPAN::Config-"{index_expire}> days.
CPAN::InfoObj::dump()
CPAN::Author, CPAN::Bundle, CPAN::Module, and CPAN::Distribution
inherit this method. It prints the data structure associated with an
object. Useful for debugging. Note: the data structure is considered
internal and thus subject to change without notice.
CPAN::Module::as_glimpse()
Returns a one-line description of the module in four columns: The
first column contains the word "Module", the second column consists
of one character: an equals sign if this module is already installed
and uptodate, a less-than sign if this module is installed but can
be upgraded, and a space if the module is not installed. The third
column is the name of the module and the fourth column gives
maintainer or distribution information.
CPAN::Module::as_string()
Returns a multi-line description of the module
CPAN::Module::clean()
Runs a clean on the distribution associated with this module.
CPAN::Module::cpan_file()
Returns the filename on CPAN that is associated with the module.
CPAN::Module::cpan_version()
Returns the latest version of this module available on CPAN.
CPAN::Module::cvs_import()
Runs a cvs_import on the distribution associated with this module.
CPAN::Module::description()
Returns a 44 character description of this module. Only available
for modules listed in The Module List
(CPAN/modules/00modlist.long.html or 00modlist.long.txt.gz)
CPAN::Module::distribution()
Returns the CPAN::Distribution object that contains the current
version of this module.
CPAN::Module::dslip_status()
Returns a hash reference. The keys of the hash are the letters "D",
"S", "L", "I", and <P>, for development status, support level,
language, interface and public licence respectively. The data for
the DSLIP status are collected by pause.perl.org when authors
register their namespaces. The values of the 5 hash elements are
one-character words whose meaning is described in the table below.
There are also 5 hash elements "DV", "SV", "LV", "IV", and <PV> that
carry a more verbose value of the 5 status variables.
Where the 'DSLIP' characters have the following meanings:
D - Development Stage (Note: *NO IMPLIED TIMESCALES*):
i - Idea, listed to gain consensus or as a placeholder
c - under construction but pre-alpha (not yet released)
a/b - Alpha/Beta testing
R - Released
M - Mature (no rigorous definition)
S - Standard, supplied with Perl 5
S - Support Level:
m - Mailing-list
d - Developer
u - Usenet newsgroup comp.lang.perl.modules
n - None known, try comp.lang.perl.modules
a - abandoned; volunteers welcome to take over maintainance
L - Language Used:
p - Perl-only, no compiler needed, should be platform independent
c - C and perl, a C compiler will be needed
h - Hybrid, written in perl with optional C code, no compiler needed
+ - C++ and perl, a C++ compiler will be needed
o - perl and another language other than C or C++
I - Interface Style
f - plain Functions, no references used
h - hybrid, object and function interfaces available
n - no interface at all (huh?)
r - some use of unblessed References or ties
O - Object oriented using blessed references and/or inheritance
P - Public License
p - Standard-Perl: user may choose between GPL and Artistic
g - GPL: GNU General Public License
l - LGPL: "GNU Lesser General Public License" (previously known as
"GNU Library General Public License")
b - BSD: The BSD License
a - Artistic license alone
o - open source: appoved by www.opensource.org
d - allows distribution without restrictions
r - restricted distribtion
n - no license at all
CPAN::Module::force($method,@args)
Forces CPAN to perform a task that normally would have failed. Force
takes as arguments a method name to be called and any number of
additional arguments that should be passed to the called method. The
internals of the object get the needed changes so that CPAN.pm does
not refuse to take the action.
CPAN::Module::get()
Runs a get on the distribution associated with this module.
CPAN::Module::inst_file()
Returns the filename of the module found in @INC. The first file
found is reported just like perl itself stops searching @INC when it
finds a module.
CPAN::Module::inst_version()
Returns the version number of the module in readable format.
CPAN::Module::install()
Runs an "install" on the distribution associated with this module.
CPAN::Module::look()
Changes to the directory where the distribution associated with this
module has been unpacked and opens a subshell there. Exiting the
subshell returns.
CPAN::Module::make()
Runs a "make" on the distribution associated with this module.
CPAN::Module::manpage_headline()
If module is installed, peeks into the module's manpage, reads the
headline and returns it. Moreover, if the module has been downloaded
within this session, does the equivalent on the downloaded module
even if it is not installed.
CPAN::Module::perldoc()
Runs a "perldoc" on this module.
CPAN::Module::readme()
Runs a "readme" on the distribution associated with this module.
CPAN::Module::test()
Runs a "test" on the distribution associated with this module.
CPAN::Module::uptodate()
Returns 1 if the module is installed and up-to-date.
CPAN::Module::userid()
Returns the author's ID of the module.
Cache Manager
Currently the cache manager only keeps track of the build directory
($CPAN::Config->{build_dir}). It is a simple FIFO mechanism that deletes
complete directories below "build_dir" as soon as the size of all
directories there gets bigger than $CPAN::Config->{build_cache} (in MB).
The contents of this cache may be used for later re-installations that
you intend to do manually, but will never be trusted by CPAN itself.
This is due to the fact that the user might use these directories for
building modules on different architectures.
There is another directory ($CPAN::Config->{keep_source_where}) where
the original distribution files are kept. This directory is not covered
by the cache manager and must be controlled by the user. If you choose
to have the same directory as build_dir and as keep_source_where
directory, then your sources will be deleted with the same fifo
mechanism.
Bundles
A bundle is just a perl module in the namespace Bundle:: that does not
define any functions or methods. It usually only contains documentation.
It starts like a perl module with a package declaration and a $VERSION
variable. After that the pod section looks like any other pod with the
only difference being that *one special pod section* exists starting
with (verbatim):
=head1 CONTENTS
In this pod section each line obeys the format
Module_Name [Version_String] [- optional text]
The only required part is the first field, the name of a module (e.g.
Foo::Bar, ie. *not* the name of the distribution file). The rest of the
line is optional. The comment part is delimited by a dash just as in the
man page header.
The distribution of a bundle should follow the same convention as other
distributions.
Bundles are treated specially in the CPAN package. If you say 'install
Bundle::Tkkit' (assuming such a bundle exists), CPAN will install all
the modules in the CONTENTS section of the pod. You can install your own
Bundles locally by placing a conformant Bundle file somewhere into your
@INC path. The autobundle() command which is available in the shell
interface does that for you by including all currently installed modules
in a snapshot bundle file.
Prerequisites
If you have a local mirror of CPAN and can access all files with "file:"
URLs, then you only need a perl better than perl5.003 to run this
module. Otherwise Net::FTP is strongly recommended. LWP may be required
for non-UNIX systems or if your nearest CPAN site is associated with a
URL that is not "ftp:".
If you have neither Net::FTP nor LWP, there is a fallback mechanism
implemented for an external ftp command or for an external lynx command.
Finding packages and VERSION
This module presumes that all packages on CPAN
* declare their $VERSION variable in an easy to parse manner. This
prerequisite can hardly be relaxed because it consumes far too much
memory to load all packages into the running program just to determine
the $VERSION variable. Currently all programs that are dealing with
version use something like this
perl -MExtUtils::MakeMaker -le \
'print MM->parse_version(shift)' filename
If you are author of a package and wonder if your $VERSION can be
parsed, please try the above method.
* come as compressed or gzipped tarfiles or as zip files and contain a
"Makefile.PL" or "Build.PL" (well, we try to handle a bit more, but
without much enthusiasm).
Debugging
The debugging of this module is a bit complex, because we have
interferences of the software producing the indices on CPAN, of the
mirroring process on CPAN, of packaging, of configuration, of
synchronicity, and of bugs within CPAN.pm.
For code debugging in interactive mode you can try "o debug" which will
list options for debugging the various parts of the code. You should
know that "o debug" has built-in completion support.
For data debugging there is the "dump" command which takes the same
arguments as make/test/install and outputs the object's Data::Dumper
dump.
Floppy, Zip, Offline Mode
CPAN.pm works nicely without network too. If you maintain machines that
are not networked at all, you should consider working with file: URLs.
Of course, you have to collect your modules somewhere first. So you
might use CPAN.pm to put together all you need on a networked machine.
Then copy the $CPAN::Config->{keep_source_where} (but not
$CPAN::Config->{build_dir}) directory on a floppy. This floppy is kind
of a personal CPAN. CPAN.pm on the non-networked machines works nicely
with this floppy. See also below the paragraph about CD-ROM support.
CONFIGURATION
When the CPAN module is used for the first time, a configuration dialog
tries to determine a couple of site specific options. The result of the
dialog is stored in a hash reference $CPAN::Config in a file
CPAN/Config.pm.
The default values defined in the CPAN/Config.pm file can be overridden
in a user specific file: CPAN/MyConfig.pm. Such a file is best placed in
$HOME/.cpan/CPAN/MyConfig.pm, because $HOME/.cpan is added to the search
path of the CPAN module before the use() or require() statements.
The configuration dialog can be started any time later again by issuing
the command " o conf init " in the CPAN shell. A subset of the
configuration dialog can be run by issuing "o conf init VAR" where VAR
is any valid config variable.
Currently the following keys in the hash reference $CPAN::Config are
defined:
build_cache size of cache for directories to build modules
build_dir locally accessible directory to build modules
cache_metadata use serializer to cache metadata
commands_quote prefered character to use for quoting external
commands when running them. Defaults to double
quote on Windows, single tick everywhere else;
can be set to space to disable quoting
check_sigs if signatures should be verified
cpan_home local directory reserved for this package
dontload_list arrayref: modules in the list will not be
loaded by the CPAN::has_inst() routine
getcwd see below
gzip location of external program gzip
histfile file to maintain history between sessions
histsize maximum number of lines to keep in histfile
inactivity_timeout breaks interactive Makefile.PLs or Build.PLs
after this many seconds inactivity. Set to 0 to
never break.
index_expire after this many days refetch index files
inhibit_startup_message
if true, does not print the startup message
keep_source_where directory in which to keep the source (if we do)
make location of external make program
make_arg arguments that should always be passed to 'make'
make_install_make_command
the make command for running 'make install', for
example 'sudo make'
make_install_arg same as make_arg for 'make install'
makepl_arg arguments passed to 'perl Makefile.PL'
mbuild_arg arguments passed to './Build'
mbuild_install_arg arguments passed to './Build install'
mbuild_install_build_command
command to use instead of './Build' when we are
in the install stage, for example 'sudo ./Build'
mbuildpl_arg arguments passed to 'perl Build.PL'
pager location of external program more (or any pager)
prefer_installer legal values are MB and EUMM: if a module comes
with both a Makefile.PL and a Build.PL, use the
former (EUMM) or the latter (MB); if the module
comes with only one of the two, that one will be
used in any case
prerequisites_policy
what to do if you are missing module prerequisites
('follow' automatically, 'ask' me, or 'ignore')
proxy_user username for accessing an authenticating proxy
proxy_pass password for accessing an authenticating proxy
scan_cache controls scanning of cache ('atstart' or 'never')
tar location of external program tar
term_is_latin if true internal UTF-8 is translated to ISO-8859-1
(and nonsense for characters outside latin range)
test_report email test reports (if CPAN::Reporter is installed)
unzip location of external program unzip
urllist arrayref to nearby CPAN sites (or equivalent locations)
wait_list arrayref to a wait server to try (See CPAN::WAIT)
ftp_passive if set, the envariable FTP_PASSIVE is set for downloads
ftp_proxy, } the three usual variables for configuring
http_proxy, } proxy requests. Both as CPAN::Config variables
no_proxy } and as environment variables configurable.
You can set and query each of these options interactively in the cpan
shell with the command set defined within the "o conf" command:
"o conf <scalar option>"
prints the current value of the *scalar option*
"o conf <scalar option> <value>"
Sets the value of the *scalar option* to *value*
"o conf <list option>"
prints the current value of the *list option* in MakeMaker's neatvalue
format.
"o conf <list option> [shift|pop]"
shifts or pops the array in the *list option* variable
"o conf <list option> [unshift|push|splice] <list>"
works like the corresponding perl commands.
Note on config variable getcwd
CPAN.pm changes the current working directory often and needs to
determine its own current working directory. Per default it uses
Cwd::cwd but if this doesn't work on your system for some reason,
alternatives can be configured according to the following table:
cwd Cwd::cwd
getcwd Cwd::getcwd
fastcwd Cwd::fastcwd
backtickcwd external command cwd
Note on urllist parameter's format
urllist parameters are URLs according to RFC 1738. We do a little
guessing if your URL is not compliant, but if you have problems with
file URLs, please try the correct format. Either:
file://localhost/whatever/ftp/pub/CPAN/
or
file:///home/ftp/pub/CPAN/
urllist parameter has CD-ROM support
The "urllist" parameter of the configuration table contains a list of
URLs that are to be used for downloading. If the list contains any
"file" URLs, CPAN always tries to get files from there first. This
feature is disabled for index files. So the recommendation for the owner
of a CD-ROM with CPAN contents is: include your local, possibly outdated
CD-ROM as a "file" URL at the end of urllist, e.g.
o conf urllist push file://localhost/CDROM/CPAN
CPAN.pm will then fetch the index files from one of the CPAN sites that
come at the beginning of urllist. It will later check for each module if
there is a local copy of the most recent version.
Another peculiarity of urllist is that the site that we could
successfully fetch the last file from automatically gets a preference
token and is tried as the first site for the next request. So if you add
a new site at runtime it may happen that the previously preferred site
will be tried another time. This means that if you want to disallow a
site for the next transfer, it must be explicitly removed from urllist.
SECURITY
There's no strong security layer in CPAN.pm. CPAN.pm helps you to
install foreign, unmasked, unsigned code on your machine. We compare to
a checksum that comes from the net just as the distribution file itself.
But we try to make it easy to add security on demand:
Cryptographically signed modules
Since release 1.77 CPAN.pm has been able to verify cryptographically
signed module distributions using Module::Signature. The CPAN modules
can be signed by their authors, thus giving more security. The simple
unsigned MD5 checksums that were used before by CPAN protect mainly
against accidental file corruption.
You will need to have Module::Signature installed, which in turn
requires that you have at least one of Crypt::OpenPGP module or the
command-line gpg tool installed.
You will also need to be able to connect over the Internet to the public
keyservers, like pgp.mit.edu, and their port 11731 (the HKP protocol).
The configuration parameter check_sigs is there to turn signature
checking on or off.
EXPORT
Most functions in package CPAN are exported per default. The reason for
this is that the primary use is intended for the cpan shell or for
one-liners.
ENVIRONMENT
When the CPAN shell enters a subshell via the look command, it sets the
environment CPAN_SHELL_LEVEL to 1 or increments it if it is already set.
When the config variable ftp_passive is set, all downloads will be run
with the environment variable FTP_PASSIVE set to this value. This is in
general a good idea as it influences both Net::FTP and LWP based
connections. The same effect can be achieved by starting the cpan shell
with this environment variable set. For Net::FTP alone, one can also
always set passive mode by running libnetcfg.
POPULATE AN INSTALLATION WITH LOTS OF MODULES
Populating a freshly installed perl with my favorite modules is pretty
easy if you maintain a private bundle definition file. To get a useful
blueprint of a bundle definition file, the command autobundle can be
used on the CPAN shell command line. This command writes a bundle
definition file for all modules that are installed for the currently
running perl interpreter. It's recommended to run this command only once
and from then on maintain the file manually under a private name, say
Bundle/my_bundle.pm. With a clever bundle file you can then simply say
cpan> install Bundle::my_bundle