phpman > perldoc > Module::Build::Compat(3pm)

NAME
    Module::Build::Compat - Compatibility with ExtUtils::MakeMaker

SYNOPSIS
      # In a Build.PL :
      use Module::Build;
      my $build = Module::Build->new
        ( module_name => 'Foo::Bar',
          license     => 'perl',
          create_makefile_pl => 'traditional' );
      ...

DESCRIPTION
    Because "ExtUtils::MakeMaker" has been the standard way to distribute modules for a long time,
    many tools (CPAN.pm, or your system administrator) may expect to find a working Makefile.PL in
    every distribution they download from CPAN. If you want to throw them a bone, you can use
    "Module::Build::Compat" to automatically generate a Makefile.PL for you, in one of several
    different styles.

    "Module::Build::Compat" also provides some code that helps out the Makefile.PL at runtime.

WARNING
    Note that "Module::Build::Compat" more often causes installation issues than solves them, and
    each of the three Makefile.PL generation styles has unique compatibility or functionality issues
    that are unlikely to be fixed. Thus, the use of this module and "create_makefile_pl" is
    discouraged.

METHODS
    create_makefile_pl($style, $build)
        Creates a Makefile.PL in the current directory in one of several styles, based on the
        supplied "Module::Build" object $build. This is typically controlled by passing the desired
        style as the "create_makefile_pl" parameter to "Module::Build"'s "new()" method; the
        Makefile.PL will then be automatically created during the "distdir" action.

        The currently supported styles are:

        traditional
            A Makefile.PL will be created in the "traditional" style, i.e. it will use
            "ExtUtils::MakeMaker" and won't rely on "Module::Build" at all. In order to create the
            Makefile.PL, we'll include the "requires" and "build_requires" dependencies as the
            "PREREQ_PM" parameter.

            You don't want to use this style if during the "perl Build.PL" stage you ask the user
            questions, or do some auto-sensing about the user's environment, or if you subclass
            "Module::Build" to do some customization, because the vanilla Makefile.PL won't do any
            of that. Many standard "Module::Build" features such as "test_requires" are also not
            supported.

        small
            A small Makefile.PL will be created that passes all functionality through to the
            Build.PL script in the same directory. The user must already have "Module::Build"
            installed in order to use this, or else they'll get a module-not-found error.

            This style attempts (with varying success) to translate the Makefile.PL protocol to
            Build.PL, and is unnecessary on any modern toolchain that recognizes
            "configure_requires" metadata described below, as Build.PL will be run by default in
            this case. See <https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Bug/Display.html?id=75936> for an example of
            the issues it may cause.

        passthrough (DEPRECATED)
            This is just like the "small" option above, but if "Module::Build" is not already
            installed on the user's system, the script will offer to use "CPAN.pm" to download it
            and install it before continuing with the build.

            This option has been deprecated and may be removed in a future version of Module::Build.
            Modern CPAN.pm and CPANPLUS will recognize the "configure_requires" metadata property
            and install Module::Build before running Build.PL if Module::Build is listed and
            Module::Build now adds itself to configure_requires by default.

            Perl 5.10.1 includes "configure_requires" support. In the future, when
            "configure_requires" support is deemed sufficiently widespread, the "passthrough" style
            will be removed.

    run_build_pl(args => \@ARGV)
        This method runs the Build.PL script, passing it any arguments the user may have supplied to
        the "perl Makefile.PL" command. Because "ExtUtils::MakeMaker" and "Module::Build" accept
        different arguments, this method also performs some translation between the two.

        "run_build_pl()" accepts the following named parameters:

        args
            The "args" parameter specifies the parameters that would usually appear on the command
            line of the "perl Makefile.PL" command - typically you'll just pass a reference to
            @ARGV.

        script
            This is the filename of the script to run - it defaults to "Build.PL".

    write_makefile()
        This method writes a 'dummy' Makefile that will pass all commands through to the
        corresponding "Module::Build" actions.

        "write_makefile()" accepts the following named parameters:

        makefile
            The name of the file to write - defaults to the string "Makefile".

SCENARIOS
    So, some common scenarios are:

    1.  Just include a Build.PL script (without a Makefile.PL script), and give installation
        directions in a README or INSTALL document explaining how to install the module. In
        particular, explain that the user must install "Module::Build" before installing your
        module.

        Note that if you do this, you may make things easier for yourself, but harder for people
        with older versions of CPAN or CPANPLUS on their system, because those tools generally only
        understand the Makefile.PL/"ExtUtils::MakeMaker" way of doing things.

    2.  Include a Build.PL script and a "traditional" Makefile.PL, created either manually or with
        "create_makefile_pl()". Users won't ever have to install "Module::Build" if they use the
        Makefile.PL, but they won't get to take advantage of "Module::Build"'s extra features
        either.

        For good measure, of course, test both the Makefile.PL and the Build.PL before shipping.

    3.  Include a Build.PL script and a "pass-through" Makefile.PL built using
        "Module::Build::Compat". This will mean that people can continue to use the "old"
        installation commands, and they may never notice that it's actually doing something else
        behind the scenes. It will also mean that your installation process is compatible with older
        versions of tools like CPAN and CPANPLUS.

AUTHOR
    Ken Williams <kwilliams AT cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (c) 2001-2006 Ken Williams. All rights reserved.

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

SEE ALSO
    Module::Build(3), ExtUtils::MakeMaker(3)