/ 
cpan-watcher-1.3
/ cpan-watcher

NAME

cpan-watcher - keep of uploads to CPAN, and generating a what's new page

SYNOPSIS

cpan-watcher [ -proxy <ftp-proxy> ]
             [ -host <cpan-ftp-host> ]
             [ -root <root-directory> ]
             [ -webdir <directory> ]
             [ -mailto <email-address> ]
             [ -debug ]
             [ -verbose ]
             [ -version ]
             [ -help ]

DESCRIPTION

cpan-watcher checks CPAN for any new modules, or more accurately, for any new files in the modules directory. Every time the script is run, the files seen are stored in a GDBM file, so we can check against them next time.

At the end of each run, cpan-watcher generates a web page which gives a summary of the files which are new, or have been updated, since the last time the script was run.

You can also provide an email address, in which case cpan-watcher will email a summary of what's new to the specified address.

You can configure cpan-watcher with a .cpan-watcher configuration file, as described below.

cpan-watcher ignores CHECKSUMS files.

OPTIONS

-host <host>

Specifies the name of the CPAN ftp host which we should check. This defaults to ftp.funet.fi.

-root <directory>

The path to the directory in which we should recurse, looking for files. Defaults to: /pub/languages/perl/CPAN/authors/id.

-database <path>

The path to the file which we should use to keep details of files seen on CPAN. You must specify this, either in a config file, or on the command-line.

-webdir <path>

The path to the directory in which we should create the web pages.

-proxy <host>

Specifies the name of the host which has your ftp firewall gateway, if you're behind a firewall.

-mailto <email>

If this option is specified, then a summary of the new files will be mailed to the specified address.

-help

Displays a short help message.

-verbose

Turns on verbose information as the script runs.

-debug

Turns on debugging information. Useful mainly for the developer, it displays the HTTP request and response.

-version

Display the version number of the cpan-watcher script.

CONFIGURATION FILE

You can provide the configuration information needed via a .cpan-watcher file in your home directory. All of the command-line variables which take a value can be included in your config file - just drop the leading dash.

The following is a sample .cpan-watcher file:

#
# .cpan-watcher - configuration file for cpan-watcher script
#

proxy    = ftp-gateway.perl.com
host     = ftp.funet.fi
root     = /pub/languages/perl/CPAN/authors/id
mailto   = neilb@cre.canon.co.uk
database = /user/neilb/lib/cpan/database
webdir   = /user/neilb/public_html/cpan

SEE ALSO

http://www.cre.canon.co.uk/perl/

Our Perl pages at Canon Research Centre Europe. We run cpan-watcher weekly, so you can just refer to our web-pages, rather than running the script yourself.

App::Config

Andy Wardley's module for managing application configuration information. This supports command-line options and standard format configuration file for the same configuration options

Net::FTP

Graham Barr's module for performing FTP sessions. This is included as part of the libnet distribution.

AUTHOR

Neil Bowers <neilb@cre.canon.co.uk>

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 1997,1998 Canon Research Centre Europe. All rights reserved.

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