NAME

Perl::Dist::Asset::Distribution - "Perl Distribution" asset for a Win32 Perl

SYNOPSIS

my $distribution = Perl::Dist::Asset::Distribution->new(
    name  => 'MSERGEANT/DBD-SQLite-1.14.tar.gz',
    force => 1,
);

DESCRIPTION

Perl::Dist::Inno supports two methods for adding Perl modules to the installation. The main method is to install it via the CPAN shell.

The second is to download, make, test and install the Perl distribution package independantly, avoiding the use of the CPAN client. Unlike the CPAN installation method, installation the distribution directly does not allow the installation of dependencies, or the ability to discover and install the most recent release of the module.

This secondary method is primarily used to deal with cases where the CPAN shell either fails or does not yet exist. Installation of the Perl toolchain to get a working CPAN client is done exclusively using the direct method, as well as the installation of a few special case modules such as DBD::SQLite where the newest release is broken, but an older release is known to be good.

Perl::Dist::Asset::Distribution is a data class that provides encapsulation and error checking for a "Perl Distribution" to be installed in a Perl::Dist-based Perl distribution using this secondary method.

It is normally created on the fly by the <Perl::Dist::Inno> install_distribution method (and other things that call it).

The specification of the location to retrieve the package is done via the standard mechanism implemented in Perl::Dist::Asset.

METHODS

This class inherits from Perl::Dist::Asset and shares its API.

new

The new constructor takes a series of parameters, validates then and returns a new Perl::Dist::Asset::Binary object.

It inherits all the params described in the Perl::Dist::Asset new method documentation, and adds some additional params.

name

The required name param is the name of the package for the purposes of identification.

This should match the name of the Perl distribution without any version numbers. For example, "File-Spec" or "libwww-perl".

Alternatively, the name param can be a CPAN path to the distribution such as shown in the synopsis.

In this case, the url to fetch from will be derived from the name.

force

Unlike in the CPAN client installation, in which all modules MUST pass their tests to be added, the secondary method allows for cases where it is known that the tests can be safely "forced".

The optional boolean force param allows you to specify is the tests should be skipped and the module installed without validating it.

automated_testing

Many modules contain additional long-running tests, tests that require additional dependencies, or have differing behaviour when installing in a non-user automated environment.

The optional automated_testing param lets you specify that the module should be installed with the AUTOMATED_TESTING environment variable set to true, to make the distribution behave properly in an automated environment (in cases where it doesn't otherwise).

makefilepl_param

Some distributions illegally require you to pass additional non-standard parameters when you invoke "perl Makefile.PL".

The optional makefilepl_param param should be a reference to an ARRAY where each element contains the argument to pass to the Makefile.PL.

The new method returns a Perl::Dist::Asset::Distribution object, or throws an exception (dies) on error.

SUPPORT

Bugs should be reported via the CPAN bug tracker at

http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Perl-Dist

For other issues, contact the author.

AUTHOR

Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>

SEE ALSO

Perl::Dist, Perl::Dist::Inno, Perl::Dist::Asset

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2007 - 2008 Adam Kennedy.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.