CXUX_BROKEN_CONSTANT_CONVERT isn't used anymore.
[p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git] / lib / ExtUtils / MakeMaker / Tutorial.pod
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479d2113 1package ExtUtils::MakeMaker::Tutorial;
2
3use vars qw($VERSION);
4$VERSION = 0.01;
5
6
7=head1 NAME
8
9ExtUtils::MakeMaker::Tutorial - Writing a module with MakeMaker
10
11=head1 SYNOPSIS
12
13 use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;
14
15 WriteMakefile(
16 NAME => 'Your::Module',
17 VERSION_FROM => 'lib/Your/Module.pm'
18 );
19
20=head1 DESCRIPTION
21
22This is a short tutorial on writing a simple module with MakeMaker.
2530b651 23Its really not that hard.
24
479d2113 25
26=head2 The Mantra
27
28MakeMaker modules are installed using this simple mantra
29
30 perl Makefile.PL
31 make
32 make test
33 make install
34
35There are lots more commands and options, but the above will do it.
36
2530b651 37
479d2113 38=head2 The Layout
39
2530b651 40The basic files in a module look something like this.
479d2113 41
42 Makefile.PL
43 MANIFEST
44 lib/Your/Module.pm
45
46That's all that's strictly necessary. There's additional files you might
2530b651 47want:
479d2113 48
49 lib/Your/Other/Module.pm
50 t/some_test.t
51 t/some_other_test.t
52 Changes
53 README
54 INSTALL
55 MANIFEST.SKIP
56 bin/some_program
57
58=over 4
59
60=item Makefile.PL
61
62When you run Makefile.PL, it makes a Makefile. That's the whole point of
63MakeMaker. The Makefile.PL is a simple module which loads
64ExtUtils::MakeMaker and runs the WriteMakefile() function with a few
65simple arguments.
66
67Here's an example of what you need for a simple module:
68
69 use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;
70
71 WriteMakefile(
72 NAME => 'Your::Module',
73 VERSION_FROM => 'lib/Your/Module.pm'
74 );
75
76NAME is the top-level namespace of your module. VERSION_FROM is the file
77which contains the $VERSION variable for the entire distribution. Typically
78this is the same as your top-level module.
79
80
81=item MANIFEST
82
83A simple listing of all the files in your distribution.
84
85 Makefile.PL
86 MANIFEST
87 lib/Your/Module.pm
88
dd0810f9 89File paths in a MANIFEST always use Unix conventions (ie. /) even if you're
2530b651 90not on Unix.
91
92You can write this by hand or generate it with 'make manifest'.
93
479d2113 94
95=item lib/
96
2530b651 97This is the directory where your .pm and .pod files you wish to have
98installed go. They are layed out according to namespace. So Foo::Bar
99is lib/Foo/Bar.pm.
479d2113 100
101
102=item t/
103
104Tests for your modules go here. Each test filename ends with a .t.
105So t/foo.t. 'make test' will run these tests. The directory is flat,
106you cannot, for example, have t/foo/bar.t run by 'make test'.
107
2530b651 108Tests are run from the top level of your distribution. So inside a test
109you would refer to ./lib to enter the lib directory, for example.
110
479d2113 111
112=item Changes
113
2530b651 114A log of changes you've made to this module. The layout is free-form.
115Here's an example:
116
117 1.01 Fri Apr 11 00:21:25 PDT 2003
118 - thing() does some stuff now
119 - fixed the wiggy bug in withit()
120
121 1.00 Mon Apr 7 00:57:15 PDT 2003
122 - "Rain of Frogs" now supported
479d2113 123
124
125=item README
126
2530b651 127A short description of your module, what it does, why someone would use it
128and its limitations. CPAN automatically pulls your README file out of
129the archive and makes it available to CPAN users, it is the first thing
130they will read to decide if your module is right for them.
131
132
479d2113 133=item INSTALL
134
2530b651 135Instructions on how to install your module along with any dependencies.
136Suggested information to include here:
137
138 any extra modules required for use
139 the minimum version of Perl required
140 if only works on certain operating systems
141
142
479d2113 143=item MANIFEST.SKIP
144
2530b651 145A file full of regular expressions to exclude when using 'make
146manifest' to generate the MANIFEST. These regular expressions
dd0810f9 147are checked against each file path found in the distribution (so
2530b651 148you're matching against "t/foo.t" not "foo.t").
149
150Here's a sample:
151
152 ~$ # ignore emacs and vim backup files
153 .bak$ # ignore manual backups
154 \# # ignore CVS old revision files and emacs temp files
155
156Since # can be used for comments, # must be escaped.
157
158MakeMaker comes with a default MANIFEST.SKIP to avoid things like
159version control directories and backup files. Specifying your own
160will override this default.
161
162
479d2113 163=item bin/
164
2530b651 165
479d2113 166=back
167
168=head1 SEE ALSO
169
170L<perlmodstyle> gives stylistic help writing a module.
171
2530b651 172L<perlnewmod> gives more information about how to write a module.
173
479d2113 174There are modules to help you through the process of writing a module:
ea1be4b8 175L<ExtUtils::ModuleMaker>, L<Module::Install>, L<PAR>
479d2113 176
177=cut
178
1791;