phpMan > man > CPAN::Meta::History::Meta_1_0

NAME
    CPAN::Meta::History::Meta_1_0 - Version 1.0 metadata specification for META.yml

PREFACE
    This is a historical copy of the version 1.0 specification for META.yml files, copyright by Ken
    Williams and licensed under the same terms as Perl itself.

    Modifications from the original:

    *   Conversion from the original HTML to POD format

    *   Include list of valid licenses from Module::Build 0.17 rather than linking to the module,
        with minor updates to text and links to reflect versions at the time of publication.

    *   Fixed some dead links to point to active resources.

DESCRIPTION
    This document describes version 1.0 of the META.yml specification.

    The META.yml file describes important properties of contributed Perl distributions such as the
    ones found on CPAN <http://www.cpan.org>. It is typically created by tools like Module::Build
    and ExtUtils::MakeMaker.

    The fields in the META.yml file are meant to be helpful to people maintaining module collections
    (like CPAN), for people writing installation tools (like CPAN or CPANPLUS), or just people who
    want to know some stuff about a distribution before downloading it and starting to install it.

Format
    META.yml files are written in the YAML <http://www.yaml.org/> format. The reasons we chose YAML
    instead of, say, XML or Data::Dumper are discussed in this thread
    <http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.makemaker/2002/04/msg406.html> on the MakeMaker mailing
    list.

    The first line of a META.yml file should be a valid YAML document header
    <http://yaml.org/spec/history/2002-10-31.html#syntax-document> like "--- #YAML:1.0"

Fields
    The rest of the META.yml file is one big YAML mapping
    <http://yaml.org/spec/history/2002-10-31.html#syntax-mapping>, whose keys are described here.

    name
        Example: "Module-Build"

        The name of the distribution. Often created by taking the "main module" in the distribution
        and changing "::" to "-". Sometimes it's completely different, however, as in the case of
        the libwww-perl <http://search.cpan.org/author/GAAS/libwww-perl/> distribution.

    version
        Example: 0.16

        The version of the distribution to which the META.yml file refers.

    license
        Example: "perl"

        The license under which this distribution may be used and redistributed.

        Must be one of the following licenses:

        perl
            The distribution may be copied and redistributed under the same terms as perl itself
            (this is by far the most common licensing option for modules on CPAN). This is a dual
            license, in which the user may choose between either the GPL version 1 or the Artistic
            version 1 license.

        gpl The distribution is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
            version 2 (<http://opensource.org/licenses/GPL-2.0>).

        lgpl
            The distribution is distributed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License
            version 2 (<http://opensource.org/licenses/LGPL-2.1>).

        artistic
            The distribution is licensed under the Artistic License version 1, as specified by the
            Artistic file in the standard perl distribution
            (<http://opensource.org/licenses/Artistic-Perl-1.0>).

        bsd The distribution is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License
            (<http://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause>).

        open_source
            The distribution is licensed under some other Open Source Initiative-approved license
            listed at <http://www.opensource.org/licenses/>.

        unrestricted
            The distribution is licensed under a license that is not approved by www.opensource.org
            <http://www.opensource.org/> but that allows distribution without restrictions.

        restrictive
            The distribution may not be redistributed without special permission from the author
            and/or copyright holder.

    distribution_type
        Example: "module"

        What kind of stuff is contained in this distribution. Most things on CPAN are "module"s
        (which can also mean a collection of modules), but some things are "script"s.

    requires
        Example:

          Data::Dumper: 0
          File::Find: 1.03

        A YAML mapping <http://yaml.org/spec/history/2002-10-31.html#syntax-mapping> indicating the
        Perl modules this distribution requires for proper operation. The keys are the module names,
        and the values are version specifications as described in the documentation for
        Module::Build's "requires" parameter.

        *Note: the exact nature of the fancy specifications like ">= 1.2, != 1.5, < 2.0" is subject
        to change. Advance notice will be given here. The simple specifications like "1.2" will not
        change in format.*

    recommends
        Example:

          Data::Dumper: 0
          File::Find: 1.03

        A YAML mapping <http://yaml.org/spec/history/2002-10-31.html#syntax-mapping> indicating the
        Perl modules this distribution recommends for enhanced operation.

    build_requires
        Example:

          Data::Dumper: 0
          File::Find: 1.03

        A YAML mapping <http://yaml.org/spec/history/2002-10-31.html#syntax-mapping> indicating the
        Perl modules required for building and/or testing of this distribution. These dependencies
        are not required after the module is installed.

    conflicts
        Example:

          Data::Dumper: 0
          File::Find: 1.03

        A YAML mapping <http://yaml.org/spec/history/2002-10-31.html#syntax-mapping> indicating the
        Perl modules that cannot be installed while this distribution is installed. This is a pretty
        uncommon situation.

    dynamic_config
        Example: 0

        A boolean flag indicating whether a Build.PL or Makefile.PL (or similar) must be executed,
        or whether this module can be built, tested and installed solely from consulting its
        metadata file. The main reason to set this to a true value if that your module performs some
        dynamic configuration (asking questions, sensing the environment, etc.) as part of its
        build/install process.

        Currently Module::Build doesn't actually do anything with this flag - it's probably going to
        be up to higher-level tools like CPAN.pm to do something useful with it. It can potentially
        bring lots of security, packaging, and convenience improvements.

    generated_by
        Example: "Module::Build version 0.16"

        Indicates the tool that was used to create this META.yml file. It's good form to include
        both the name of the tool and its version, but this field is essentially opaque, at least
        for the moment.

Related Projects
    DOAP
        An RDF vocabulary to describe software projects. <http://usefulinc.com/doap>.

History
    *   March 14, 2003 (Pi day) - created version 1.0 of this document.

    *   May 8, 2003 - added the "dynamic_config" field, which was missing from the initial version.