both from Simon Cozens.
p4raw-id: //depot/cfgperl@6161
schinder Paul Schinder schinder@pobox.com
scotth Scott Henry scotth@sgi.com
seibert Greg Seibert seibert@Lynx.COM
+simon Simon Cozens simon@brecon.co.uk
spider Spider Boardman spider@Orb.Nashua.NH.US
smccam Stephen McCamant smccam@uclink4.berkeley.edu
sugalskd Dan Sugalski sugalskd@osshe.edu
pod/perllol.pod tchrist
pod/perlmod.pod
pod/perlmodinstall.pod jon
-pod/perlmodlib.pod
+pod/perlmodlib.pod simon
+pod/perlmodlib.PL simon
+pod/perlnewmod.pod simon
pod/perlobj.pod
pod/perlop.pod
pod/perlpod.pod lwall
pod/perlmod.pod Module mechanism info
pod/perlmodinstall.pod Installing CPAN Modules
pod/perlmodlib.pod Module policy info
+pod/perlmodlib.PL Generate pod/perlmodlib.pod
pod/perlnumber.pod Semantics of numbers and numeric operations
pod/perlobj.pod Object info
pod/perlop.pod Operator info
perlmod.pod \
perlmodlib.pod \
perlmodinstall.pod \
+ perlnewmod.pod \
perlfork.pod \
perlform.pod \
perllocale.pod \
perlmod.man \
perlmodlib.man \
perlmodinstall.man \
+ perlnewmod.man \
perlfork.man \
perlform.man \
perllocale.man \
perlmod.html \
perlmodlib.html \
perlmodinstall.html \
+ perlnewmod.html \
perlfork.html \
perlform.html \
perllocale.html \
perlmod.tex \
perlmodlib.tex \
perlmodinstall.tex \
+ perlnewmod.tex \
perlfork.tex \
perlform.tex \
perllocale.tex \
podselect: podselect.PL ../lib/Config.pm
$(PERL) -I ../lib podselect.PL
+perlmodlib.pod: $(PERL) perlmodlib.PL ../mv-if-diff
+ rm -f perlmodlib.tmp
+ $(PERL) -I ../lib perlmodlib.PL
+ sh ../mv-if-diff perlmodlib.tmp perlmodlib.pod
+
compile: all
$(REALPERL) -I../lib ../utils/perlcc -regex 's/$$/.exe/' pod2latex pod2man pod2text checkpods -prog -verbose dcf -log ../compilelog;
-
perlmod Perl modules: how they work
perlmodlib Perl modules: how to write and use
perlmodinstall Perl modules: how to install from CPAN
+ perlnewpod Perl modules: preparing a new module for distribution
+
perlform Perl formats
perlunicode Perl unicode support
perllocale Perl locale support
--- /dev/null
+#!../miniperl
+
+open (OUT, ">perlmodlib.tmp") or die $!;
+my (@pragma, @mod);
+open (MANIFEST, "../MANIFEST") or die $!;
+
+while (<MANIFEST>) {
+ my $filename;
+ next unless s|^lib/|| or m|^ext/|;
+ ($filename) = /(\S+)/;
+ $filename =~ s|^[^/]+/|| if $filename =~ s|^ext/||;
+ next unless $filename =~ /\.pm$/;
+ next unless open (MOD, "../lib/$filename");
+ my ($name, $thing);
+ my $foundit=0;
+ {local $/="";
+ while (<MOD>) {
+ next unless /^=head1 NAME/;
+ $foundit++;
+ last;
+ }
+ }
+ next unless $foundit;
+ my $title = <MOD>;
+ chomp($title);
+ close MOD;
+
+ my $perlname = $filename;
+ $perlname =~ s|\.pm$||;
+ $perlname =~ s|/|::|g;
+
+ ($name, $thing) = split / - /, $title,2;
+ next unless $name and $thing;
+ $thing=~s/^perl pragma to //i;
+ $thing=ucfirst($thing);
+ $title = "=item $perlname\n\n$thing\n\n";
+
+ if ($filename=~/[A-Z]/) {
+ push @mod, $title;
+ } else {
+ push @pragma, $title;
+ }
+}
+
+print OUT <<'EOF';
+=head1 NAME
+
+perlmodlib - constructing new Perl modules and finding existing ones
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+=head1 THE PERL MODULE LIBRARY
+
+Many modules are included the Perl distribution. These are described
+below, and all end in F<.pm>. You may discover compiled library
+file (usually ending in F<.so>) or small pieces of modules to be
+autoloaded (ending in F<.al>); these were automatically generated
+by the installation process. You may also discover files in the
+library directory that end in either F<.pl> or F<.ph>. These are
+old libraries supplied so that old programs that use them still
+run. The F<.pl> files will all eventually be converted into standard
+modules, and the F<.ph> files made by B<h2ph> will probably end up
+as extension modules made by B<h2xs>. (Some F<.ph> values may
+already be available through the POSIX, Errno, or Fcntl modules.)
+The B<pl2pm> file in the distribution may help in your conversion,
+but it's just a mechanical process and therefore far from bulletproof.
+
+=head2 Pragmatic Modules
+
+They work somewhat like compiler directives (pragmata) in that they
+tend to affect the compilation of your program, and thus will usually
+work well only when used within a C<use>, or C<no>. Most of these
+are lexically scoped, so an inner BLOCK may countermand them
+by saying:
+
+ no integer;
+ no strict 'refs';
+ no warnings;
+
+which lasts until the end of that BLOCK.
+
+Some pragmas are lexically scoped--typically those that affect the
+C<$^H> hints variable. Others affect the current package instead,
+like C<use vars> and C<use subs>, which allow you to predeclare a
+variables or subroutines within a particular I<file> rather than
+just a block. Such declarations are effective for the entire file
+for which they were declared. You cannot rescind them with C<no
+vars> or C<no subs>.
+
+The following pragmas are defined (and have their own documentation).
+
+=over 12
+
+EOF
+
+print OUT $_ for (sort @pragma);
+
+print OUT <<EOF;
+=back
+
+=head2 Standard Modules
+
+Standard, bundled modules are all expected to behave in a well-defined
+manner with respect to namespace pollution because they use the
+Exporter module. See their own documentation for details.
+
+=over 12
+
+EOF
+
+print OUT $_ for (sort @mod);
+
+print OUT <<'EOF';
+=back
+
+To find out I<all> modules installed on your system, including
+those without documentation or outside the standard release,
+jus tdo this:
+
+ % find `perl -e 'print "@INC"'` -name '*.pm' -print
+
+They should all have their own documentation installed and accessible
+via your system man(1) command. If you do not have a B<find>
+program, you can use the Perl B<find2perl> program instead, which
+generates Perl code as output you can run through perl. If you
+have a B<man> program but it doesn't find your modules, you'll have
+to fix your manpath. See L<perl> for details. If you have no
+system B<man> command, you might try the B<perldoc> program.
+
+=head2 Extension Modules
+
+Extension modules are written in C (or a mix of Perl and C). They
+are usually dynamically loaded into Perl if and when you need them,
+but may also be be linked in statically. Supported extension modules
+include Socket, Fcntl, and POSIX.
+
+Many popular C extension modules do not come bundled (at least, not
+completely) due to their sizes, volatility, or simply lack of time
+for adequate testing and configuration across the multitude of
+platforms on which Perl was beta-tested. You are encouraged to
+look for them on CPAN (described below), or using web search engines
+like Alta Vista or Deja News.
+
+=head1 CPAN
+
+CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network; it's a globally
+replicated trove of Perl materials, including documentation, style
+guides, tricks and traps, alternate ports to non-Unix systems and
+occasional binary distributions for these. Search engines for
+CPAN can be found at http://cpan.perl.com/ and at
+http://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/mod_perl/cpan-search.pl .
+
+Most importantly, CPAN includes around a thousand unbundled modules,
+some of which require a C compiler to build. Major categories of
+modules are:
+
+=over
+
+=item *
+Language Extensions and Documentation Tools
+
+=item *
+Development Support
+
+=item *
+Operating System Interfaces
+
+=item *
+Networking, Device Control (modems) and InterProcess Communication
+
+=item *
+Data Types and Data Type Utilities
+
+=item *
+Database Interfaces
+
+=item *
+User Interfaces
+
+=item *
+Interfaces to / Emulations of Other Programming Languages
+
+=item *
+File Names, File Systems and File Locking (see also File Handles)
+
+=item *
+String Processing, Language Text Processing, Parsing, and Searching
+
+=item *
+Option, Argument, Parameter, and Configuration File Processing
+
+=item *
+Internationalization and Locale
+
+=item *
+Authentication, Security, and Encryption
+
+=item *
+World Wide Web, HTML, HTTP, CGI, MIME
+
+=item *
+Server and Daemon Utilities
+
+=item *
+Archiving and Compression
+
+=item *
+Images, Pixmap and Bitmap Manipulation, Drawing, and Graphing
+
+=item *
+Mail and Usenet News
+
+=item *
+Control Flow Utilities (callbacks and exceptions etc)
+
+=item *
+File Handle and Input/Output Stream Utilities
+
+=item *
+Miscellaneous Modules
+
+=back
+
+Registered CPAN sites as of this writing include the following.
+You should try to choose one close to you:
+
+=over
+
+=item Africa
+
+ South Africa ftp://ftp.is.co.za/programming/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.saix.net/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.sun.ac.za/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftpza.co.za/pub/mirrors/cpan/
+
+
+=item Asia
+
+ China ftp://freesoft.cei.gov.cn/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ Hong Kong ftp://ftp.pacific.net.hk/pub/mirror/CPAN/
+ Indonesia ftp://malone.piksi.itb.ac.id/pub/CPAN/
+ Israel ftp://bioinfo.weizmann.ac.il/pub/software/perl/CPAN/
+ Japan ftp://ftp.dti.ad.jp/pub/lang/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.lab.kdd.co.jp/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.meisei-u.ac.jp/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.ring.gr.jp/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://mirror.nucba.ac.jp/mirror/Perl/
+ Saudi-Arabia ftp://ftp.isu.net.sa/pub/CPAN/
+ Singapore ftp://ftp.nus.edu.sg/pub/unix/perl/CPAN/
+ South Korea ftp://ftp.bora.net/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.kornet.net/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.nuri.net/pub/CPAN/
+ Taiwan ftp://coda.nctu.edu.tw/computer-languages/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.ee.ncku.edu.tw/pub3/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp1.sinica.edu.tw/pub1/perl/CPAN/
+ Thailand ftp://ftp.nectec.or.th/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
+
+
+=item Australasia
+
+ Australia ftp://cpan.topend.com.au/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.labyrinth.net.au/pub/perl-CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.sage-au.org.au/pub/compilers/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ New Zealand ftp://ftp.auckland.ac.nz/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://sunsite.net.nz/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+
+
+=item Central America
+
+ Costa Rica ftp://ftp.ucr.ac.cr/pub/Unix/CPAN/
+
+
+=item Europe
+
+ Austria ftp://ftp.tuwien.ac.at/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ Belgium ftp://ftp.kulnet.kuleuven.ac.be/pub/mirror/CPAN/
+ Bulgaria ftp://ftp.ntrl.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
+ Croatia ftp://ftp.linux.hr/pub/CPAN/
+ Czech Republic ftp://ftp.fi.muni.cz/pub/perl/
+ ftp://sunsite.mff.cuni.cz/Languages/Perl/CPAN/
+ Denmark ftp://sunsite.auc.dk/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ Estonia ftp://ftp.ut.ee/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ Finland ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ France ftp://ftp.grolier.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.oleane.net/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.pasteur.fr/pub/computing/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.uvsq.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ German ftp://ftp.gigabell.net/pub/CPAN/
+ Germany ftp://ftp.archive.de.uu.net/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.freenet.de/pub/ftp.cpan.org/pub/
+ ftp://ftp.gmd.de/packages/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+
+ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/general/programming/languages/script/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.mpi-sb.mpg.de/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/source/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.uni-hamburg.de/pub/soft/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ Germany ftp://ftp.archive.de.uu.net/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.freenet.de/pub/ftp.cpan.org/pub/
+ ftp://ftp.gmd.de/packages/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+
+ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/general/programming/languages/script/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.mpi-sb.mpg.de/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/source/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.uni-hamburg.de/pub/soft/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ Greece ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/lang/perl/
+ Hungary ftp://ftp.kfki.hu/pub/packages/perl/CPAN/
+ Iceland ftp://ftp.gm.is/pub/CPAN/
+ Ireland ftp://cpan.indigo.ie/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://sunsite.compapp.dcu.ie/pub/perl/
+ Italy ftp://cis.uniRoma2.it/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.flashnet.it/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.unina.it/pub/Other/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.unipi.it/pub/mirror/perl/CPAN/
+ Netherlands ftp://ftp.cs.uu.nl/mirror/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ Norway ftp://ftp.uit.no/pub/languages/perl/cpan/
+ ftp://sunsite.uio.no/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ Poland ftp://ftp.man.torun.pl/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.pk.edu.pl/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/CPAN/
+ Portugal ftp://ftp.ci.uminho.pt/pub/mirrors/cpan/
+ ftp://ftp.ist.utl.pt/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.ua.pt/pub/CPAN/
+ Romania ftp://ftp.dnttm.ro/pub/CPAN/
+ Russia ftp://ftp.chg.ru/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.sai.msu.su/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ Slovakia ftp://ftp.entry.sk/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ Slovenia ftp://ftp.arnes.si/software/perl/CPAN/
+ Spain ftp://ftp.etse.urv.es/pub/perl/
+ ftp://ftp.rediris.es/mirror/CPAN/
+ Sweden ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ Switzerland ftp://sunsite.cnlab-switch.ch/mirror/CPAN/
+ Turkey ftp://sunsite.bilkent.edu.tr/pub/languages/CPAN/
+ United Kingdom ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/mirrors/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.flirble.org/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+
+ftp://ftp.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.plig.org/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/CPAN/
+
+
+=item North America
+
+ Alberta ftp://sunsite.ualberta.ca/pub/Mirror/CPAN/
+ California ftp://cpan.nas.nasa.gov/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://cpan.valueclick.com/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ http://download.sourceforge.net/mirrors/CPAN/
+ Colorado ftp://ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ Florida ftp://ftp.cise.ufl.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ Georgia ftp://ftp.twoguys.org/CPAN/
+ Illinois ftp://uiarchive.uiuc.edu/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ Indiana ftp://csociety-ftp.ecn.purdue.edu/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.uwsg.indiana.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ Kentucky ftp://ftp.uky.edu/CPAN/
+ Manitoba ftp://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/CPAN/
+ Massachusetts
+ftp://ftp.ccs.neu.edu/net/mirrors/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.iguide.com/pub/mirrors/packages/perl/CPAN/
+ Mexico ftp://ftp.msg.com.mx/pub/CPAN/
+ New York ftp://ftp.deao.net/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.rge.com/pub/languages/perl/
+ North Carolina ftp://ftp.duke.edu/pub/perl/
+ Nova Scotia ftp://cpan.chebucto.ns.ca/pub/CPAN/
+ Oklahoma ftp://ftp.ou.edu/mirrors/CPAN/
+ Ontario ftp://ftp.crc.ca/pub/packages/lang/perl/CPAN/
+ Oregon ftp://ftp.orst.edu/pub/packages/CPAN/
+ Pennsylvania ftp://ftp.epix.net/pub/languages/perl/
+ Tennessee ftp://ftp.sunsite.utk.edu/pub/CPAN/
+ Texas ftp://ftp.sedl.org/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
+ ftp://jhcloos.com/pub/mirror/CPAN/
+ Utah ftp://mirror.xmission.com/CPAN/
+ Virginia ftp://ftp.perl.org/pub/perl/CPAN/
+ ftp://ruff.cs.jmu.edu/pub/CPAN/
+ Washington ftp://ftp-mirror.internap.com/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.llarian.net/pub/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.spu.edu/pub/CPAN/
+
+
+=item South America
+
+ Brazil ftp://cpan.if.usp.br/pub/mirror/CPAN/
+ ftp://ftp.matrix.com.br/pub/perl/
+ Chile ftp://sunsite.dcc.uchile.cl/pub/Lang/PERL/
+
+=back
+
+For an up-to-date listing of CPAN sites,
+see http://www.perl.com/perl/CPAN/SITES or ftp://www.perl.com/CPAN/SITES .
+
+=head1 Modules: Creation, Use, and Abuse
+
+(The following section is borrowed directly from Tim Bunce's modules
+file, available at your nearest CPAN site.)
+
+Perl implements a class using a package, but the presence of a
+package doesn't imply the presence of a class. A package is just a
+namespace. A class is a package that provides subroutines that can be
+used as methods. A method is just a subroutine that expects, as its
+first argument, either the name of a package (for "static" methods),
+or a reference to something (for "virtual" methods).
+
+A module is a file that (by convention) provides a class of the same
+name (sans the .pm), plus an import method in that class that can be
+called to fetch exported symbols. This module may implement some of
+its methods by loading dynamic C or C++ objects, but that should be
+totally transparent to the user of the module. Likewise, the module
+might set up an AUTOLOAD function to slurp in subroutine definitions on
+demand, but this is also transparent. Only the F<.pm> file is required to
+exist. See L<perlsub>, L<perltoot>, and L<AutoLoader> for details about
+the AUTOLOAD mechanism.
+
+=head2 Guidelines for Module Creation
+
+=over 4
+
+=item Do similar modules already exist in some form?
+
+If so, please try to reuse the existing modules either in whole or
+by inheriting useful features into a new class. If this is not
+practical try to get together with the module authors to work on
+extending or enhancing the functionality of the existing modules.
+A perfect example is the plethora of packages in perl4 for dealing
+with command line options.
+
+If you are writing a module to expand an already existing set of
+modules, please coordinate with the author of the package. It
+helps if you follow the same naming scheme and module interaction
+scheme as the original author.
+
+=item Try to design the new module to be easy to extend and reuse.
+
+Try to C<use warnings;> (or C<use warnings qw(...);>).
+Remember that you can add C<no warnings qw(...);> to individual blocks
+of code that need less warnings.
+
+Use blessed references. Use the two argument form of bless to bless
+into the class name given as the first parameter of the constructor,
+e.g.,:
+
+ sub new {
+ my $class = shift;
+ return bless {}, $class;
+ }
+
+or even this if you'd like it to be used as either a static
+or a virtual method.
+
+ sub new {
+ my $self = shift;
+ my $class = ref($self) || $self;
+ return bless {}, $class;
+ }
+
+Pass arrays as references so more parameters can be added later
+(it's also faster). Convert functions into methods where
+appropriate. Split large methods into smaller more flexible ones.
+Inherit methods from other modules if appropriate.
+
+Avoid class name tests like: C<die "Invalid" unless ref $ref eq 'FOO'>.
+Generally you can delete the C<eq 'FOO'> part with no harm at all.
+Let the objects look after themselves! Generally, avoid hard-wired
+class names as far as possible.
+
+Avoid C<< $r->Class::func() >> where using C<@ISA=qw(... Class ...)> and
+C<< $r->func() >> would work (see L<perlbot> for more details).
+
+Use autosplit so little used or newly added functions won't be a
+burden to programs that don't use them. Add test functions to
+the module after __END__ either using AutoSplit or by saying:
+
+ eval join('',<main::DATA>) || die $@ unless caller();
+
+Does your module pass the 'empty subclass' test? If you say
+C<@SUBCLASS::ISA = qw(YOURCLASS);> your applications should be able
+to use SUBCLASS in exactly the same way as YOURCLASS. For example,
+does your application still work if you change: C<$obj = new YOURCLASS;>
+into: C<$obj = new SUBCLASS;> ?
+
+Avoid keeping any state information in your packages. It makes it
+difficult for multiple other packages to use yours. Keep state
+information in objects.
+
+Always use B<-w>.
+
+Try to C<use strict;> (or C<use strict qw(...);>).
+Remember that you can add C<no strict qw(...);> to individual blocks
+of code that need less strictness.
+
+Always use B<-w>.
+
+Follow the guidelines in the perlstyle(1) manual.
+
+Always use B<-w>.
+
+=item Some simple style guidelines
+
+The perlstyle manual supplied with Perl has many helpful points.
+
+Coding style is a matter of personal taste. Many people evolve their
+style over several years as they learn what helps them write and
+maintain good code. Here's one set of assorted suggestions that
+seem to be widely used by experienced developers:
+
+Use underscores to separate words. It is generally easier to read
+$var_names_like_this than $VarNamesLikeThis, especially for
+non-native speakers of English. It's also a simple rule that works
+consistently with VAR_NAMES_LIKE_THIS.
+
+Package/Module names are an exception to this rule. Perl informally
+reserves lowercase module names for 'pragma' modules like integer
+and strict. Other modules normally begin with a capital letter and
+use mixed case with no underscores (need to be short and portable).
+
+You may find it helpful to use letter case to indicate the scope
+or nature of a variable. For example:
+
+ $ALL_CAPS_HERE constants only (beware clashes with Perl vars)
+ $Some_Caps_Here package-wide global/static
+ $no_caps_here function scope my() or local() variables
+
+Function and method names seem to work best as all lowercase.
+e.g., C<< $obj->as_string() >>.
+
+You can use a leading underscore to indicate that a variable or
+function should not be used outside the package that defined it.
+
+=item Select what to export.
+
+Do NOT export method names!
+
+Do NOT export anything else by default without a good reason!
+
+Exports pollute the namespace of the module user. If you must
+export try to use @EXPORT_OK in preference to @EXPORT and avoid
+short or common names to reduce the risk of name clashes.
+
+Generally anything not exported is still accessible from outside the
+module using the ModuleName::item_name (or C<< $blessed_ref->method >>)
+syntax. By convention you can use a leading underscore on names to
+indicate informally that they are 'internal' and not for public use.
+
+(It is actually possible to get private functions by saying:
+C<my $subref = sub { ... }; &$subref;>. But there's no way to call that
+directly as a method, because a method must have a name in the symbol
+table.)
+
+As a general rule, if the module is trying to be object oriented
+then export nothing. If it's just a collection of functions then
+@EXPORT_OK anything but use @EXPORT with caution.
+
+=item Select a name for the module.
+
+This name should be as descriptive, accurate, and complete as
+possible. Avoid any risk of ambiguity. Always try to use two or
+more whole words. Generally the name should reflect what is special
+about what the module does rather than how it does it. Please use
+nested module names to group informally or categorize a module.
+There should be a very good reason for a module not to have a nested name.
+Module names should begin with a capital letter.
+
+Having 57 modules all called Sort will not make life easy for anyone
+(though having 23 called Sort::Quick is only marginally better :-).
+Imagine someone trying to install your module alongside many others.
+If in any doubt ask for suggestions in comp.lang.perl.misc.
+
+If you are developing a suite of related modules/classes it's good
+practice to use nested classes with a common prefix as this will
+avoid namespace clashes. For example: Xyz::Control, Xyz::View,
+Xyz::Model etc. Use the modules in this list as a naming guide.
+
+If adding a new module to a set, follow the original author's
+standards for naming modules and the interface to methods in
+those modules.
+
+To be portable each component of a module name should be limited to
+11 characters. If it might be used on MS-DOS then try to ensure each is
+unique in the first 8 characters. Nested modules make this easier.
+
+=item Have you got it right?
+
+How do you know that you've made the right decisions? Have you
+picked an interface design that will cause problems later? Have
+you picked the most appropriate name? Do you have any questions?
+
+The best way to know for sure, and pick up many helpful suggestions,
+is to ask someone who knows. Comp.lang.perl.misc is read by just about
+all the people who develop modules and it's the best place to ask.
+
+All you need to do is post a short summary of the module, its
+purpose and interfaces. A few lines on each of the main methods is
+probably enough. (If you post the whole module it might be ignored
+by busy people - generally the very people you want to read it!)
+
+Don't worry about posting if you can't say when the module will be
+ready - just say so in the message. It might be worth inviting
+others to help you, they may be able to complete it for you!
+
+=item README and other Additional Files.
+
+It's well known that software developers usually fully document the
+software they write. If, however, the world is in urgent need of
+your software and there is not enough time to write the full
+documentation please at least provide a README file containing:
+
+=over 10
+
+=item *
+A description of the module/package/extension etc.
+
+=item *
+A copyright notice - see below.
+
+=item *
+Prerequisites - what else you may need to have.
+
+=item *
+How to build it - possible changes to Makefile.PL etc.
+
+=item *
+How to install it.
+
+=item *
+Recent changes in this release, especially incompatibilities
+
+=item *
+Changes / enhancements you plan to make in the future.
+
+=back
+
+If the README file seems to be getting too large you may wish to
+split out some of the sections into separate files: INSTALL,
+Copying, ToDo etc.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item Adding a Copyright Notice.
+
+How you choose to license your work is a personal decision.
+The general mechanism is to assert your Copyright and then make
+a declaration of how others may copy/use/modify your work.
+
+Perl, for example, is supplied with two types of licence: The GNU
+GPL and The Artistic Licence (see the files README, Copying, and
+Artistic). Larry has good reasons for NOT just using the GNU GPL.
+
+My personal recommendation, out of respect for Larry, Perl, and the
+Perl community at large is to state something simply like:
+
+ Copyright (c) 1995 Your Name. All rights reserved.
+ This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
+
+This statement should at least appear in the README file. You may
+also wish to include it in a Copying file and your source files.
+Remember to include the other words in addition to the Copyright.
+
+=item Give the module a version/issue/release number.
+
+To be fully compatible with the Exporter and MakeMaker modules you
+should store your module's version number in a non-my package
+variable called $VERSION. This should be a floating point
+number with at least two digits after the decimal (i.e., hundredths,
+e.g, C<$VERSION = "0.01">). Don't use a "1.3.2" style version.
+See L<Exporter> for details.
+
+It may be handy to add a function or method to retrieve the number.
+Use the number in announcements and archive file names when
+releasing the module (ModuleName-1.02.tar.Z).
+See perldoc ExtUtils::MakeMaker.pm for details.
+
+=item How to release and distribute a module.
+
+It's good idea to post an announcement of the availability of your
+module (or the module itself if small) to the comp.lang.perl.announce
+Usenet newsgroup. This will at least ensure very wide once-off
+distribution.
+
+If possible, register the module with CPAN. You should
+include details of its location in your announcement.
+
+Some notes about ftp archives: Please use a long descriptive file
+name that includes the version number. Most incoming directories
+will not be readable/listable, i.e., you won't be able to see your
+file after uploading it. Remember to send your email notification
+message as soon as possible after uploading else your file may get
+deleted automatically. Allow time for the file to be processed
+and/or check the file has been processed before announcing its
+location.
+
+FTP Archives for Perl Modules:
+
+Follow the instructions and links on:
+
+ http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/00modlist.long.html
+ http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/04pause.html
+
+or upload to one of these sites:
+
+ https://pause.kbx.de/pause/
+ http://pause.perl.org/pause/
+
+and notify <modules@perl.org>.
+
+By using the WWW interface you can ask the Upload Server to mirror
+your modules from your ftp or WWW site into your own directory on
+CPAN!
+
+Please remember to send me an updated entry for the Module list!
+
+=item Take care when changing a released module.
+
+Always strive to remain compatible with previous released versions.
+Otherwise try to add a mechanism to revert to the
+old behavior if people rely on it. Document incompatible changes.
+
+=back
+
+=back
+
+=head2 Guidelines for Converting Perl 4 Library Scripts into Modules
+
+=over 4
+
+=item There is no requirement to convert anything.
+
+If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Perl 4 library scripts should
+continue to work with no problems. You may need to make some minor
+changes (like escaping non-array @'s in double quoted strings) but
+there is no need to convert a .pl file into a Module for just that.
+
+=item Consider the implications.
+
+All Perl applications that make use of the script will need to
+be changed (slightly) if the script is converted into a module. Is
+it worth it unless you plan to make other changes at the same time?
+
+=item Make the most of the opportunity.
+
+If you are going to convert the script to a module you can use the
+opportunity to redesign the interface. The guidelines for module
+creation above include many of the issues you should consider.
+
+=item The pl2pm utility will get you started.
+
+This utility will read *.pl files (given as parameters) and write
+corresponding *.pm files. The pl2pm utilities does the following:
+
+=over 10
+
+=item *
+Adds the standard Module prologue lines
+
+=item *
+Converts package specifiers from ' to ::
+
+=item *
+Converts die(...) to croak(...)
+
+=item *
+Several other minor changes
+
+=back
+
+Being a mechanical process pl2pm is not bullet proof. The converted
+code will need careful checking, especially any package statements.
+Don't delete the original .pl file till the new .pm one works!
+
+=back
+
+=head2 Guidelines for Reusing Application Code
+
+=over 4
+
+=item Complete applications rarely belong in the Perl Module Library.
+
+=item Many applications contain some Perl code that could be reused.
+
+Help save the world! Share your code in a form that makes it easy
+to reuse.
+
+=item Break-out the reusable code into one or more separate module files.
+
+=item Take the opportunity to reconsider and redesign the interfaces.
+
+=item In some cases the 'application' can then be reduced to a small
+
+fragment of code built on top of the reusable modules. In these cases
+the application could invoked as:
+
+ % perl -e 'use Module::Name; method(@ARGV)' ...
+or
+ % perl -mModule::Name ... (in perl5.002 or higher)
+
+=back
+
+=head1 NOTE
+
+Perl does not enforce private and public parts of its modules as you may
+have been used to in other languages like C++, Ada, or Modula-17. Perl
+doesn't have an infatuation with enforced privacy. It would prefer
+that you stayed out of its living room because you weren't invited, not
+because it has a shotgun.
+
+The module and its user have a contract, part of which is common law,
+and part of which is "written". Part of the common law contract is
+that a module doesn't pollute any namespace it wasn't asked to. The
+written contract for the module (A.K.A. documentation) may make other
+provisions. But then you know when you C<use RedefineTheWorld> that
+you're redefining the world and willing to take the consequences.
+EOF
+
+close MANIFEST or warn "$0: failed to close MANIFEST (../MANIFEST): $!";
+close OUT or warn "$0: failed to close OUT (perlmodlib.tmp): $!";
+
Use MakeMaker's uninstalled version of a package
-=item caller
+=item bytes
-Inherit pragmatic attributes from caller's context
+Force byte semantics rather than character semantics
=item charnames
=item diagnostics
-Force verbose warning diagnostics
+Perl compiler pragma to force verbose warning diagnostics
=item fields
-Declare a class's attribute fields at compile-time
+Compile-time class fields
=item filetest
-Control the filetest operators like C<-r>, C<-w> for AFS, etc.
+Control the filetest permission operators
=item integer
=item less
-Request less of something from the compiler (unimplemented)
+Request less of something from the compiler
=item lib
=item locale
-Use or avoid POSIX locales for built-in operations
+Use and avoid POSIX locales for built-in operations
+
+=item open
+
+Set default disciplines for input and output
=item ops
=item overload
-Overload Perl operations
+Package for overloading perl operations
=item re
-Alter regular expression behavior
+Alter regular expression behaviour
=item sigtrap
=item subs
-Predeclare subroutine names
+Predeclare sub names
=item utf8
-Turn on UTF-8 and Unicode support
+Enable/disable UTF-8 in source code
=item vars
-Predeclare global variable names (obsoleted by our())
+Predeclare global variable names (obsolete)
=item warnings
=item AnyDBM_File
-Provide framework for multiple DBM libraries
+Provide framework for multiple DBMs
=item AutoLoader
=item B
-Guts of the Perl code generator (aka compiler)
+The Perl Compiler
=item B::Asmdata
=item B::Deparse
-Perl compiler backend to produce Perl code
+Perl compiler backend to produce perl code
=item B::Disassembler
=item B::Lint
-Module to catch dubious constructs
+Perl lint
=item B::Showlex
Helper module for CC backend
-B::Stash -- XXX NFI XXX
-
=item B::Terse
Walk Perl syntax tree, printing terse info about ops
=item Benchmark
-Benchmark running times of code
+Benchmark running times of Perl code
=item ByteLoader
-Load byte-compiled Perl code
+Load byte compiled perl code
=item CGI
-Simple Common Gateway Interface class
+Simple Common Gateway Interface Class
=item CGI::Apache
-Make things work with CGI.pm against Perl-Apache API
+Backward compatibility module for CGI.pm
=item CGI::Carp
=item CGI::Switch
-Try more than one constructors and return the first object available
+Backward compatibility module for defunct CGI::Switch
=item CPAN
-Query, download, and build Perl modules from CPAN sites
+Query, download and build perl modules from CPAN sites
=item CPAN::FirstTime
-Utility for CPAN::Config file initialization
+Utility for CPAN::Config file Initialization
=item CPAN::Nox
=item Carp
-Act like warn/die from perspective of caller
+Warn of errors (from perspective of caller)
=item Carp::Heavy
Declare struct-like datatypes as Perl classes
-=item Config
-
-Access Perl configuration information
-
=item Cwd
Get pathname of current working directory
=item DB
-Programmatic interface to the Perl debugging API (experimental)
+Programmatic interface to the Perl debugging API (draft, subject to
=item DB_File
Perl5 access to Berkeley DB version 1.x
-=item Data::Dumper
-
-Serialize Perl data structures
-
-=item Devel::DProf
-
-A Perl execution profiler
-
-=item Devel::Peek
-
-A data debugging tool for the XS programmer
-
=item Devel::SelfStubber
Generate stubs for a SelfLoading module
=item Dumpvalue
-Provide screen dump of Perl data
-
-=item DynaLoader
-
-Dynamically load C libraries into Perl code
+Provides screen dump of Perl data.
=item English
-Use English (or awk) names for ugly punctuation variables
+Use nice English (or awk) names for ugly punctuation variables
=item Env
-Access environment variables as regular ones
-
-=item Errno
-
-Load the libc errno.h defines
+Perl module that imports environment variables as scalars or arrays
=item Exporter
-Implement default import method for modules
+Implements default import method for modules
=item Exporter::Heavy
=item ExtUtils::Command
-Utilities to replace common Unix commands in Makefiles etc.
+Utilities to replace common UNIX commands in Makefiles etc.
=item ExtUtils::Embed
-Utilities for embedding Perl in C/C++ programs
+Utilities for embedding Perl in C/C++ applications
=item ExtUtils::Install
=item ExtUtils::MM_Cygwin
-Methods to override Unix behavior in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
+Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
=item ExtUtils::MM_OS2
-Methods to override Unix behavior in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
+Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
=item ExtUtils::MM_Unix
=item ExtUtils::MM_VMS
-Methods to override Unix behavior in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
+Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
=item ExtUtils::MM_Win32
-Methods to override Unix behavior in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
+Methods to override UN*X behaviour in ExtUtils::MakeMaker
=item ExtUtils::MakeMaker
Utilities to write and check a MANIFEST file
-ExtUtils::Miniperl, writemain - Write the C code for perlmain.c
-
=item ExtUtils::Mkbootstrap
Make a bootstrap file for use by DynaLoader
=item Fcntl
-Load the libc fcntl.h defines
+Load the C Fcntl.h defines
=item File::Basename
=item File::DosGlob
-DOS-like globbing and then some
+DOS like globbing and then some
=item File::Find
-Traverse a file tree
-
-=item File::Glob
-
-Perl extension for BSD filename globbing
+Traverse a file tree
=item File::Path
-Create or remove a series of directories
+Create or remove directory trees
=item File::Spec
Methods for Win32 file specs
+=item File::Temp
+
+Return name and handle of a temporary file safely
+
=item File::stat
By-name interface to Perl's built-in stat() functions
=item FindBin
-Locate installation directory of running Perl program
-
-=item GDBM_File
-
-Access to the gdbm library
+Locate directory of original perl script
=item Getopt::Long
=item I18N::Collate
-Compare 8-bit scalar data according to current locale
+Compare 8-bit scalar data according to the current locale
=item IO
-Front-end to load various IO modules
-
-=item IO::Dir
-
-Supply object methods for directory handles
-
-=item IO::File
-
-Supply object methods for filehandles
-
-=item IO::Handle
-
-Supply object methods for I/O handles
-
-=item IO::Pipe
-
-Supply object methods for pipes
-
-=item IO::Poll
-
-Object interface to system poll call
-
-=item IO::Seekable
-
-Supply seek based methods for I/O objects
-
-=item IO::Select
-
-OO interface to the select system call
-
-=item IO::Socket
-
-Object interface to socket communications
-
-=item IO::Socket::INET
-
-Object interface for AF_INET domain sockets
-
-=item IO::Socket::UNIX
-
-Object interface for AF_UNIX domain sockets
-
-=item IPC::Msg
-
-SysV Msg IPC object class
+Load various IO modules
=item IPC::Open2
Open a process for reading, writing, and error handling
-=item IPC::Semaphore
-
-SysV Semaphore IPC object class
-
-=item IPC::SysV
-
-SysV IPC constants
-
=item Math::BigFloat
Arbitrary length float math package
Trigonometric functions
+=item NDBM_File
+
+Tied access to ndbm files
+
=item Net::Ping
Check a remote host for reachability
Generic interface to Perl Compiler backends
-=item Opcode
+=item ODBM_File
-Disable named opcodes when compiling Perl code
+Tied access to odbm files
-=item POSIX
+=item Opcode
-Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1
+Disable named opcodes when compiling perl code
=item Pod::Checker
Check pod documents for syntax errors
+=item Pod::Find
+
+Find POD documents in directory trees
+
=item Pod::Html
Module to convert pod files to HTML
=item Pod::InputObjects
-Manage POD objects
+Objects representing POD input paragraphs, commands, etc.
=item Pod::Man
Convert POD data to formatted *roff input
+=item Pod::ParseUtils
+
+Helpers for POD parsing and conversion
+
=item Pod::Parser
Base class for creating POD filters and translators
+=item Pod::Plainer
+
+Perl extension for converting Pod to old style Pod.
+
=item Pod::Select
Extract selected sections of POD from input
Convert POD data to formatted color ASCII text
+=item Pod::Text::Termcap
+
+Convert POD data to ASCII text with format escapes
+
=item Pod::Usage
Print a usage message from embedded pod documentation
=item Shell
-Run shell commands transparently within Perl
+Run shell commands transparently within perl
=item Socket
-Load the libc socket.h defines and structure manipulators
+Load the C socket.h defines and structure manipulators
=item Symbol
Manipulate Perl symbols and their names
-=item Sys::Hostname
-
-Try every conceivable way to get hostname
+=item Term::ANSIColor
-=item Sys::Syslog
-
-Interface to the libc syslog(3) calls
+Color screen output using ANSI escape sequences
=item Term::Cap
-Termcap interface
+Perl termcap interface
=item Term::Complete
-Word completion module
+Perl word completion module
=item Term::ReadLine
-Interface to various `readline' packages.
+Perl interface to various C<readline> packages. If
=item Test
=item Test::Harness
-Run Perl standard test scripts with statistics
+Run perl standard test scripts with statistics
=item Text::Abbrev
=item Text::ParseWords
-Parse text into a list of tokens or array of arrays
+Parse text into an array of tokens or array of arrays
=item Text::Soundex
-Implementation of the Soundex Algorithm as described by Knuth
-
-Text::Tabs -- expand and unexpand tabs per expand(1) and unexpand(1)
+Implementation of the Soundex Algorithm as Described by Knuth
=item Text::Wrap
=back
To find out I<all> modules installed on your system, including
-those without documentation or outside the standard release,
-just do this:
+those without documentation or outside the standard release,
+jus tdo this:
% find `perl -e 'print "@INC"'` -name '*.pm' -print
-To get a log of all module distributions which have been installed
-since perl was installed, just do:
-
- % perldoc perllocal
-
-Modules should all have their own documentation installed and accessible
-via your system man(1) command, or via the C<perldoc> program. If you do
-not have a B<find>
+They should all have their own documentation installed and accessible
+via your system man(1) command. If you do not have a B<find>
program, you can use the Perl B<find2perl> program instead, which
generates Perl code as output you can run through perl. If you
have a B<man> program but it doesn't find your modules, you'll have
-to fix your manpath. See L<perl> for details.
+to fix your manpath. See L<perl> for details. If you have no
+system B<man> command, you might try the B<perldoc> program.
=head2 Extension Modules
Extension modules are written in C (or a mix of Perl and C). They
are usually dynamically loaded into Perl if and when you need them,
-but may also be linked in statically. Supported extension modules
+but may also be be linked in statically. Supported extension modules
include Socket, Fcntl, and POSIX.
Many popular C extension modules do not come bundled (at least, not
CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network; it's a globally
replicated trove of Perl materials, including documentation, style
-guides, tricks and trap, alternate ports to non-Unix systems and
+guides, tricks and traps, alternate ports to non-Unix systems and
occasional binary distributions for these. Search engines for
CPAN can be found at http://cpan.perl.com/ and at
http://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/mod_perl/cpan-search.pl .
ftp://ftp.freenet.de/pub/ftp.cpan.org/pub/
ftp://ftp.gmd.de/packages/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
- ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/general/programming/languages/script/perl/CPAN/
+
+ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/general/programming/languages/script/perl/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.mpi-sb.mpg.de/pub/perl/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pub/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/source/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.freenet.de/pub/ftp.cpan.org/pub/
ftp://ftp.gmd.de/packages/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
- ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/general/programming/languages/script/perl/CPAN/
+
+ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/general/programming/languages/script/perl/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.mpi-sb.mpg.de/pub/perl/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pub/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/source/CPAN/
Turkey ftp://sunsite.bilkent.edu.tr/pub/languages/CPAN/
United Kingdom ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/mirrors/perl/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.flirble.org/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
- ftp://ftp.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+
+ftp://ftp.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.plig.org/pub/CPAN/
ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.uwsg.indiana.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/
Kentucky ftp://ftp.uky.edu/CPAN/
Manitoba ftp://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/CPAN/
- Massachusetts ftp://ftp.ccs.neu.edu/net/mirrors/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
+ Massachusetts
+ftp://ftp.ccs.neu.edu/net/mirrors/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
ftp://ftp.iguide.com/pub/mirrors/packages/perl/CPAN/
Mexico ftp://ftp.msg.com.mx/pub/CPAN/
New York ftp://ftp.deao.net/pub/CPAN/
totally transparent to the user of the module. Likewise, the module
might set up an AUTOLOAD function to slurp in subroutine definitions on
demand, but this is also transparent. Only the F<.pm> file is required to
-exist. See L<perlsub>, L<perltoot>, and L<AutoLoader> for details about
+exist. See L<perlsub>, L<perltoot>, and L<AutoLoader> for details about
the AUTOLOAD mechanism.
=head2 Guidelines for Module Creation
Try to C<use warnings;> (or C<use warnings qw(...);>).
Remember that you can add C<no warnings qw(...);> to individual blocks
-of code that need less warnings.
+of code that need less warnings.
Use blessed references. Use the two argument form of bless to bless
into the class name given as the first parameter of the constructor,
e.g.,:
sub new {
- my $class = shift;
- return bless {}, $class;
+ my $class = shift;
+ return bless {}, $class;
}
or even this if you'd like it to be used as either a static
or a virtual method.
sub new {
- my $self = shift;
- my $class = ref($self) || $self;
- return bless {}, $class;
+ my $self = shift;
+ my $class = ref($self) || $self;
+ return bless {}, $class;
}
Pass arrays as references so more parameters can be added later
difficult for multiple other packages to use yours. Keep state
information in objects.
-Always use B<-w>.
+Always use B<-w>.
Try to C<use strict;> (or C<use strict qw(...);>).
Remember that you can add C<no strict qw(...);> to individual blocks
-of code that need less strictness.
+of code that need less strictness.
-Always use B<-w>.
+Always use B<-w>.
Follow the guidelines in the perlstyle(1) manual.
Usenet newsgroup. This will at least ensure very wide once-off
distribution.
-If possible, register the module with CPAN. You should
+If possible, register the module with CPAN. You should
include details of its location in your announcement.
Some notes about ftp archives: Please use a long descriptive file
--- /dev/null
+=head1 NAME
+
+perlnewmod - preparing a new module for distribution
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+This document gives you some suggestions about how to go about writing
+Perl modules, preparing them for distribution, and making them available
+via CPAN.
+
+One of the things that makes Perl really powerful is the fact that Perl
+hackers tend to want to share the solutions to problems they've faced,
+so you and I don't have to battle with the same problem again.
+
+The main way they do this is by abstracting the solution into a Perl
+module. If you don't know what one of these is, the rest of this
+document isn't going to be much use to you. You're also missing out on
+an awful lot of useful code; consider having a look at L<perlmod>,
+L<perlmodlib> and L<perlmodinstall> before coming back here.
+
+When you've found that there isn't a module available for what you're
+trying to do, and you've had to write the code yourself, consider
+packaging up the solution into a module and uploading it to CPAN so that
+others can benefit.
+
+=head2 Warning
+
+We're going to primarily concentrate on Perl-only modules here, rather
+than XS modules. XS modules serve a rather different purpose, and
+you should consider different things before distributing them - the
+popularity of the library you are gluing, the portability to other
+operating systems, and so on. However, the notes on preparing the Perl
+side of the module and packaging and distributing it will apply equally
+well to an XS module as a pure-Perl one.
+
+=head2 What should I make into a module?
+
+You should make a module out of any code that you think is going to be
+useful to others. Anything that's likely to fill a hole in the communal
+library and which someone else can slot directly into their program. Any
+part of your code which you can isolate and extract and plug into
+something else is a likely candidate.
+
+Let's take an example. Suppose you're reading in data from a local
+format into a hash-of-hashes in Perl, turning that into a tree, walking
+the tree and then piping each node to an Acme Transmogrifier Server.
+
+Now, quite a few people have the Acme Transmogrifier, and you've had to
+write something to talk the protocol from scratch - you'd almost
+certainly want to make that into a module. The level at which you pitch
+it is up to you: you might want protocol-level modules analogous to
+L<Net::SMTP|Net::SMTP> which then talk to higher level modules analogous
+to L<Mail::Send|Mail::Send>. The choice is yours, but you do want to get
+a module out for that server protocol.
+
+Nobody else on the planet is going to talk your local data format, so we
+can ignore that. But what about the thing in the middle? Building tree
+structures from Perl variables and then traversing them is a nice,
+general problem, and if nobody's already written a module that does
+that, you might want to modularise that code too.
+
+So hopefully you've now got a few ideas about what's good to modularise.
+Let's now see how it's done.
+
+=head2 Step-by-step: Preparing the ground
+
+Before we even start scraping out the code, there are a few things we'll
+want to do in advance.
+
+=over 3
+
+=item Look around
+
+Dig into a bunch of modules to see how they're written. I'd suggest
+starting with L<Text::Tabs|Text::Tabs>, since it's in the standard
+library and is nice and simple, and then looking at something like
+L<Time::Zone|Time::Zone>, L<File::Copy|File::Copy> and then some of the
+C<Mail::*> modules if you're planning on writing object oriented code.
+
+These should give you an overall feel for how modules are laid out and
+written.
+
+=item Check it's new
+
+There are a lot of modules on CPAN, and it's easy to miss one that's
+similar to what you're planning on contributing. Have a good plough
+through the modules list and the F<by-module> directories, and make sure
+you're not the one reinventing the wheel!
+
+=item Discuss the need
+
+You might love it. You might feel that everyone else needs it. But there
+might not actually be any real demand for it out there. If you're unsure
+about the demand you're module will have, consider sending out feelers
+on the C<comp.lang.perl.modules> newsgroup, or as a last resort, ask the
+modules list at C<modules@perl.org>. Remember that this is a closed list
+with a very long turn-around time - be prepared to wait a good while for
+a response from them.
+
+=item Choose a name
+
+Perl modules included on CPAN have a naming hierarchy you should try to
+fit in with. See L<perlmodlib> for more details on how this works, and
+browse around CPAN and the modules list to get a feel of it. At the very
+least, remember this: modules should be title capitalised, (This::Thing)
+fit in with a category, and explain their purpose succinctly.
+
+=item Check again
+
+While you're doing that, make really sure you haven't missed a module
+similar to the one you're about to write.
+
+When you've got your name sorted out and you're sure that your module is
+wanted and not currently available, it's time to start coding.
+
+=back
+
+=head2 Step-by-step: Making the module
+
+=over 3
+
+=item Start with F<h2xs>
+
+Originally a utility to convert C header files into XS modules,
+L<h2xs|h2xs> has become a useful utility for churning out skeletons for
+Perl-only modules as well. If you don't want to use the
+L<Autoloader|Autoloader> which splits up big modules into smaller
+subroutine-sized chunks, you'll say something like this:
+
+ h2xs -AX -n Net::Acme
+
+The C<-A> omits the Autoloader code, C<-X> omits XS elements, and C<-n>
+specifies the name of the module.
+
+=item Use L<strict|strict> and L<warnings|warnings>
+
+A module's code has to be warning and strict-clean, since you can't
+guarantee the conditions that it'll be used under. Besides, you wouldn't
+want to distribute code that wasn't warning or strict-clean anyway,
+right?
+
+=item Use L<Carp|Carp>
+
+The L<Carp|Carp> module allows you to present your error messages from
+the caller's perspective; this gives you a way to signal a problem with
+the caller and not your module. For instance, if you say this:
+
+ warn "No hostname given";
+
+the user will see something like this:
+
+ No hostname given at /usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.0/Net/Acme.pm
+ line 123.
+
+which looks like your module is doing something wrong. Instead, you want
+to put the blame on the user, and say this:
+
+ No hostname given at bad_code, line 10.
+
+You do this by using L<Carp|Carp> and replacing your C<warn>s with
+C<carp>s. If you need to C<die>, say C<croak> instead. However, keep
+C<warn> and C<die> in place for your sanity checks - where it really is
+your module at fault.
+
+=item Use L<Exporter|Exporter> - wisely!
+
+C<h2xs> provides stubs for L<Exporter|Exporter>, which gives you a
+standard way of exporting symbols and subroutines from your module into
+the caller's namespace. For instance, saying C<use Net::Acme qw(&frob)>
+would import the C<frob> subroutine.
+
+The package variable C<@EXPORT> will determine which symbols will get
+exported when the caller simply says C<use Net::Acme> - you will hardly
+ever want to put anything in there. C<@EXPORT_OK>, on the other hand,
+specifies which symbols you're willing to export. If you do want to
+export a bunch of symbols, use the C<%EXPORT_TAGS> and define a standard
+export set - look at L<Exporter> for more details.
+
+=item Use L<plain old documentation|perlpod>
+
+The work isn't over until the paperwork is done, and you're going to
+need to put in some time writing some documentation for your module.
+C<h2xs> will provide a stub for you to fill in; if you're not sure about
+the format, look at L<perlpod> for an introduction. Provide a good
+synopsis of how your module is used in code, a description, and then
+notes on the syntax and function of the individual subroutines or
+methods. Use Perl comments for developer notes and POD for end-user
+notes.
+
+=item Write tests
+
+You're encouraged to create self-tests for your module to ensure it's
+working as intended on the myriad platforms Perl supports; if you upload
+your module to CPAN, a host of testers will build your module and send
+you the results of the tests. Again, C<h2xs> provides a test framework
+which you can extend - you should do something more than just checking
+your module will compile.
+
+=item Write the README
+
+If you're uploading to CPAN, the automated gremlins will extract the
+README file and place that in your CPAN directory. It'll also appear in
+the main F<by-module> and F<by-category> directories if you make it onto
+the modules list. It's a good idea to put here what the module actually
+does in detail, and the user-visible changes since the last release.
+
+=back
+
+=head2 Step-by-step: Distributing your module
+
+=over 3
+
+=item Get a CPAN user ID
+
+Every developer publishing modules on CPAN needs a CPAN ID. See the
+instructions at C<http://www.cpan.org/modules/04pause.html> (or
+equivalent on your nearest mirror) to find out how to do this.
+
+=item C<perl Makefile.PL; make test; make dist>
+
+Once again, C<h2xs> has done all the work for you. It produces the
+standard C<Makefile.PL> you'll have seen when you downloaded and
+installs modules, and this produces a Makefile with a C<dist> target.
+
+Once you've ensured that your module passes its own tests - always a
+good thing to make sure - you can C<make dist>, and the Makefile will
+hopefully produce you a nice tarball of your module, ready for upliad.
+
+=item Upload the tarball
+
+The email you got when you received your CPAN ID will tell you how to
+log in to PAUSE, the Perl Authors Upload SErver. From the menus there,
+you can upload your module to CPAN.
+
+=item Announce to the modules list
+
+Once uploaded, it'll sit unnoticed in your author directory. If you want
+it connected to the rest of the CPAN, you'll need to tell the modules
+list about it. The best way to do this is to email them a line in the
+style of the modules list, like this:
+
+ Net::Acme bdpO Interface to Acme Frobnicator servers FOOBAR
+ ^ ^^^^ ^ ^
+ | |||| Module description Your ID
+ | ||||
+ | |||\- Interface: (O)OP, (r)eferences, (h)ybrid, (f)unctions
+ | |||
+ | ||\-- Language: (p)ure Perl, C(+)+, (h)ybrid, (C), (o)ther
+ | ||
+ Module |\--- Support: (d)eveloper, (m)ailing list, (u)senet, (n)one
+ Name |
+ \---- Maturity: (i)dea, (c)onstructions, (a)lpha, (b)eta,
+ (R)eleased, (M)ature, (S)tandard
+
+plus a description of the module and why you think it should be
+included. If you hear nothing back, that means your module will
+probably appear on the modules list at the next update. Don't try
+subscribing to C<modules@perl.org>; it's not another mailing list. Just
+have patience.
+
+=item Announce to clpa
+
+If you have a burning desire to tell the world about your release, post
+an announcement to the moderated C<comp.lang.perl.announce> newsgroup.
+
+=item Fix bugs!
+
+Once you start accumulating users, they'll send you bug reports. If
+you're lucky, they'll even send you patches. Welcome to the joys of
+maintaining a software project...
+
+=back
+
+=head1 AUTHOR
+
+Simon Cozens, C<simon@cpan.org>
+
+=head1 SEE ALSO
+
+L<perlmod>, L<perlmodlib>, L<perlmodinstall>, L<h2xs>, L<strict>,
+L<Carp>, L<Exporter>, L<perlpod>, L<Test>, L<ExtUtils::MakeMaker>,
+http://www.cpan.org/
=item Pragmatic Modules
-attributes, attrs, autouse, base, blib, caller, charnames, constant,
-diagnostics, fields, filetest, integer, less, lib, locale, ops, overload,
-re, sigtrap, strict, subs, utf8, vars, warnings
+attributes, attrs, autouse, base, blib, bytes, charnames, constant,
+diagnostics, fields, filetest, integer, less, lib, locale, open, ops,
+overload, re, sigtrap, strict, subs, utf8, vars, warnings
=item Standard Modules
B::Showlex, B::Stackobj, B::Terse, B::Xref, Benchmark, ByteLoader, CGI,
CGI::Apache, CGI::Carp, CGI::Cookie, CGI::Fast, CGI::Pretty, CGI::Push,
CGI::Switch, CPAN, CPAN::FirstTime, CPAN::Nox, Carp, Carp::Heavy,
-Class::Struct, Config, Cwd, DB, DB_File, Data::Dumper, Devel::DProf,
-Devel::Peek, Devel::SelfStubber, DirHandle, Dumpvalue, DynaLoader, English,
-Env, Errno, Exporter, Exporter::Heavy, ExtUtils::Command, ExtUtils::Embed,
-ExtUtils::Install, ExtUtils::Installed, ExtUtils::Liblist,
+Class::Struct, Cwd, DB, DB_File, Devel::SelfStubber, DirHandle, Dumpvalue,
+English, Env, Exporter, Exporter::Heavy, ExtUtils::Command,
+ExtUtils::Embed, ExtUtils::Install, ExtUtils::Installed, ExtUtils::Liblist,
ExtUtils::MM_Cygwin, ExtUtils::MM_OS2, ExtUtils::MM_Unix, ExtUtils::MM_VMS,
ExtUtils::MM_Win32, ExtUtils::MakeMaker, ExtUtils::Manifest,
ExtUtils::Mkbootstrap, ExtUtils::Mksymlists, ExtUtils::Packlist,
ExtUtils::testlib, Fatal, Fcntl, File::Basename, File::CheckTree,
-File::Compare, File::Copy, File::DosGlob, File::Find, File::Glob,
-File::Path, File::Spec, File::Spec::Functions, File::Spec::Mac,
-File::Spec::OS2, File::Spec::Unix, File::Spec::VMS, File::Spec::Win32,
-File::stat, FileCache, FileHandle, FindBin, GDBM_File, Getopt::Long,
-Getopt::Std, I18N::Collate, IO, IO::Dir, IO::File, IO::Handle, IO::Pipe,
-IO::Poll, IO::Seekable, IO::Select, IO::Socket, IO::Socket::INET,
-IO::Socket::UNIX, IPC::Msg, IPC::Open2, IPC::Open3, IPC::Semaphore,
-IPC::SysV, Math::BigFloat, Math::BigInt, Math::Complex, Math::Trig,
-Net::Ping, Net::hostent, Net::netent, Net::protoent, Net::servent, O,
-Opcode, POSIX, Pod::Checker, Pod::Html, Pod::InputObjects, Pod::Man,
-Pod::Parser, Pod::Select, Pod::Text, Pod::Text::Color, Pod::Usage,
-SDBM_File, Safe, Search::Dict, SelectSaver, SelfLoader, Shell, Socket,
-Symbol, Sys::Hostname, Sys::Syslog, Term::Cap, Term::Complete,
-Term::ReadLine, Test, Test::Harness, Text::Abbrev, Text::ParseWords,
-Text::Soundex, Text::Wrap, Tie::Array, Tie::Handle, Tie::Hash,
-Tie::RefHash, Tie::Scalar, Tie::SubstrHash, Time::Local, Time::gmtime,
-Time::localtime, Time::tm, UNIVERSAL, User::grent, User::pwent
+File::Compare, File::Copy, File::DosGlob, File::Find, File::Path,
+File::Spec, File::Spec::Functions, File::Spec::Mac, File::Spec::OS2,
+File::Spec::Unix, File::Spec::VMS, File::Spec::Win32, File::Temp,
+File::stat, FileCache, FileHandle, FindBin, Getopt::Long, Getopt::Std,
+I18N::Collate, IO, IPC::Open2, IPC::Open3, Math::BigFloat, Math::BigInt,
+Math::Complex, Math::Trig, NDBM_File, Net::Ping, Net::hostent, Net::netent,
+Net::protoent, Net::servent, O, ODBM_File, Opcode, Pod::Checker, Pod::Find,
+Pod::Html, Pod::InputObjects, Pod::Man, Pod::ParseUtils, Pod::Parser,
+Pod::Plainer, Pod::Select, Pod::Text, Pod::Text::Color, Pod::Text::Termcap,
+Pod::Usage, SDBM_File, Safe, Search::Dict, SelectSaver, SelfLoader, Shell,
+Socket, Symbol, Term::ANSIColor, Term::Cap, Term::Complete, Term::ReadLine,
+Test, Test::Harness, Text::Abbrev, Text::ParseWords, Text::Soundex,
+Text::Wrap, Tie::Array, Tie::Handle, Tie::Hash, Tie::RefHash, Tie::Scalar,
+Tie::SubstrHash, Time::Local, Time::gmtime, Time::localtime, Time::tm,
+UNIVERSAL, User::grent, User::pwent
=item Extension Modules
=item New Things in this Example
-=item EXAMPLE 6 (Coming Soon)
+=item EXAMPLE 6
+
+=item New Things in this Example
=item EXAMPLE 7 (Coming Soon)
=item DESCRIPTION
+is_gv_magical
+
=item AUTHORS
=item SEE ALSO
C<d_mprotect>, C<d_msg>, C<d_msg_ctrunc>, C<d_msg_dontroute>, C<d_msg_oob>,
C<d_msg_peek>, C<d_msg_proxy>, C<d_msgctl>, C<d_msgget>, C<d_msgrcv>,
C<d_msgsnd>, C<d_msync>, C<d_munmap>, C<d_mymalloc>, C<d_nice>,
-C<d_nv_preserves_uv>, C<d_off64_t>, C<d_old_pthread_create_joinable>,
-C<d_oldpthreads>, C<d_oldsock>, C<d_open3>, C<d_pathconf>, C<d_pause>,
-C<d_perl_otherlibdirs>, C<d_phostname>, C<d_pipe>, C<d_poll>,
-C<d_portable>, C<d_PRId64>, C<d_PRIeldbl>, C<d_PRIEldbl>, C<d_PRIfldbl>,
-C<d_PRIFldbl>, C<d_PRIgldbl>, C<d_PRIGldbl>, C<d_PRIi64>, C<d_PRIo64>,
-C<d_PRIu64>, C<d_PRIx64>, C<d_PRIX64>, C<d_pthread_yield>, C<d_pwage>,
-C<d_pwchange>, C<d_pwclass>, C<d_pwcomment>, C<d_pwexpire>, C<d_pwgecos>,
-C<d_pwpasswd>, C<d_pwquota>, C<d_qgcvt>, C<d_quad>, C<d_readdir>,
-C<d_readlink>, C<d_rename>, C<d_rewinddir>, C<d_rmdir>, C<d_safebcpy>,
-C<d_safemcpy>, C<d_sanemcmp>, C<d_sched_yield>, C<d_scm_rights>,
-C<d_seekdir>, C<d_select>, C<d_sem>, C<d_semctl>, C<d_semctl_semid_ds>,
-C<d_semctl_semun>, C<d_semget>, C<d_semop>, C<d_setegid>, C<d_seteuid>,
-C<d_setgrent>, C<d_setgrps>, C<d_sethent>, C<d_setlinebuf>, C<d_setlocale>,
-C<d_setnent>, C<d_setpent>, C<d_setpgid>, C<d_setpgrp2>, C<d_setpgrp>,
-C<d_setprior>, C<d_setpwent>, C<d_setregid>, C<d_setresgid>,
-C<d_setresuid>, C<d_setreuid>, C<d_setrgid>, C<d_setruid>, C<d_setsent>,
-C<d_setsid>, C<d_setvbuf>, C<d_sfio>, C<d_shm>, C<d_shmat>,
-C<d_shmatprototype>, C<d_shmctl>, C<d_shmdt>, C<d_shmget>, C<d_sigaction>,
-C<d_sigsetjmp>, C<d_socket>, C<d_socklen_t>, C<d_sockpair>, C<d_sqrtl>,
-C<d_statblks>, C<d_statfs_f_flags>, C<d_statfs_s>, C<d_statvfs>,
-C<d_stdio_cnt_lval>, C<d_stdio_ptr_lval>, C<d_stdio_stream_array>,
-C<d_stdiobase>, C<d_stdstdio>, C<d_strchr>, C<d_strcoll>, C<d_strctcpy>,
-C<d_strerrm>, C<d_strerror>, C<d_strtod>, C<d_strtol>, C<d_strtold>,
-C<d_strtoll>, C<d_strtoul>, C<d_strtoull>, C<d_strtouq>, C<d_strxfrm>,
-C<d_suidsafe>, C<d_symlink>, C<d_syscall>, C<d_sysconf>, C<d_sysernlst>,
-C<d_syserrlst>, C<d_system>, C<d_tcgetpgrp>, C<d_tcsetpgrp>, C<d_telldir>,
-C<d_telldirproto>, C<d_time>, C<d_times>, C<d_truncate>, C<d_tzname>,
-C<d_umask>, C<d_uname>, C<d_union_semun>, C<d_ustat>, C<d_vendorarch>,
-C<d_vendorbin>, C<d_vendorlib>, C<d_vfork>, C<d_void_closedir>,
-C<d_voidsig>, C<d_voidtty>, C<d_volatile>, C<d_vprintf>, C<d_wait4>,
-C<d_waitpid>, C<d_wcstombs>, C<d_wctomb>, C<d_xenix>, C<date>,
-C<db_hashtype>, C<db_prefixtype>, C<defvoidused>, C<direntrytype>,
-C<dlext>, C<dlsrc>, C<doublesize>, C<drand01>, C<dynamic_ext>
+C<d_nv_preserved_bits>, C<d_nv_preserves_uv>, C<d_off64_t>,
+C<d_old_pthread_create_joinable>, C<d_oldpthreads>, C<d_oldsock>,
+C<d_open3>, C<d_pathconf>, C<d_pause>, C<d_perl_otherlibdirs>,
+C<d_phostname>, C<d_pipe>, C<d_poll>, C<d_portable>, C<d_PRId64>,
+C<d_PRIeldbl>, C<d_PRIEldbl>, C<d_PRIfldbl>, C<d_PRIFldbl>, C<d_PRIgldbl>,
+C<d_PRIGldbl>, C<d_PRIi64>, C<d_PRIo64>, C<d_PRIu64>, C<d_PRIx64>,
+C<d_PRIX64>, C<d_pthread_yield>, C<d_pwage>, C<d_pwchange>, C<d_pwclass>,
+C<d_pwcomment>, C<d_pwexpire>, C<d_pwgecos>, C<d_pwpasswd>, C<d_pwquota>,
+C<d_qgcvt>, C<d_quad>, C<d_readdir>, C<d_readlink>, C<d_rename>,
+C<d_rewinddir>, C<d_rmdir>, C<d_safebcpy>, C<d_safemcpy>, C<d_sanemcmp>,
+C<d_sched_yield>, C<d_scm_rights>, C<d_seekdir>, C<d_select>, C<d_sem>,
+C<d_semctl>, C<d_semctl_semid_ds>, C<d_semctl_semun>, C<d_semget>,
+C<d_semop>, C<d_setegid>, C<d_seteuid>, C<d_setgrent>, C<d_setgrps>,
+C<d_sethent>, C<d_setlinebuf>, C<d_setlocale>, C<d_setnent>, C<d_setpent>,
+C<d_setpgid>, C<d_setpgrp2>, C<d_setpgrp>, C<d_setprior>, C<d_setpwent>,
+C<d_setregid>, C<d_setresgid>, C<d_setresuid>, C<d_setreuid>, C<d_setrgid>,
+C<d_setruid>, C<d_setsent>, C<d_setsid>, C<d_setvbuf>, C<d_sfio>, C<d_shm>,
+C<d_shmat>, C<d_shmatprototype>, C<d_shmctl>, C<d_shmdt>, C<d_shmget>,
+C<d_sigaction>, C<d_sigsetjmp>, C<d_socket>, C<d_socklen_t>, C<d_sockpair>,
+C<d_sqrtl>, C<d_statblks>, C<d_statfs_f_flags>, C<d_statfs_s>,
+C<d_statvfs>, C<d_stdio_cnt_lval>, C<d_stdio_ptr_lval>,
+C<d_stdio_stream_array>, C<d_stdiobase>, C<d_stdstdio>, C<d_strchr>,
+C<d_strcoll>, C<d_strctcpy>, C<d_strerrm>, C<d_strerror>, C<d_strtod>,
+C<d_strtol>, C<d_strtold>, C<d_strtoll>, C<d_strtoul>, C<d_strtoull>,
+C<d_strtouq>, C<d_strxfrm>, C<d_suidsafe>, C<d_symlink>, C<d_syscall>,
+C<d_sysconf>, C<d_sysernlst>, C<d_syserrlst>, C<d_system>, C<d_tcgetpgrp>,
+C<d_tcsetpgrp>, C<d_telldir>, C<d_telldirproto>, C<d_time>, C<d_times>,
+C<d_truncate>, C<d_tzname>, C<d_umask>, C<d_uname>, C<d_union_semun>,
+C<d_ustat>, C<d_vendorarch>, C<d_vendorbin>, C<d_vendorlib>, C<d_vfork>,
+C<d_void_closedir>, C<d_voidsig>, C<d_voidtty>, C<d_volatile>,
+C<d_vprintf>, C<d_wait4>, C<d_waitpid>, C<d_wcstombs>, C<d_wctomb>,
+C<d_xenix>, C<date>, C<db_hashtype>, C<db_prefixtype>, C<defvoidused>,
+C<direntrytype>, C<dlext>, C<dlsrc>, C<doublesize>, C<drand01>,
+C<dynamic_ext>
=item e
projects / p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git / commitdiff