Module::Metadata(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Module::Metadata(3)
NAME
Module::Metadata - Gather package and POD information from perl module
files
SYNOPSIS
use Module::Metadata;
# information about a .pm file
my $info = Module::Metadata->new_from_file( $file );
my $version = $info->version;
# CPAN META 'provides' field for .pm files in a directory
my $provides = Module::Metadata->provides(
dir => 'lib', version => 2
);
DESCRIPTION
This module provides a standard way to gather metadata about a .pm file
through (mostly) static analysis and (some) code execution. When
determining the version of a module, the $VERSION assignment is
"eval"ed, as is traditional in the CPAN toolchain.
USAGE
Class methods
"new_from_file($filename, collect_pod => 1)"
Constructs a "Module::Metadata" object given the path to a file.
Returns undef if the filename does not exist.
"collect_pod" is a optional boolean argument that determines
whether POD data is collected and stored for reference. POD data
is not collected by default. POD headings are always collected.
If the file begins by an UTF-8, UTF-16BE or UTF-16LE byte-order
mark, then it is skipped before processing, and the content of the
file is also decoded appropriately starting from perl 5.8.
"new_from_handle($handle, $filename, collect_pod => 1)"
This works just like "new_from_file", except that a handle can be
provided as the first argument.
Note that there is no validation to confirm that the handle is a
handle or something that can act like one. Passing something that
isn't a handle will cause a exception when trying to read from it.
The "filename" argument is mandatory or undef will be returned.
You are responsible for setting the decoding layers on $handle if
required.
"new_from_module($module, collect_pod => 1, inc => \@dirs)"
Constructs a "Module::Metadata" object given a module or package
name. Returns undef if the module cannot be found.
In addition to accepting the "collect_pod" argument as described
above, this method accepts a "inc" argument which is a reference to
an array of directories to search for the module. If none are
given, the default is @INC.
If the file that contains the module begins by an UTF-8, UTF-16BE
or UTF-16LE byte-order mark, then it is skipped before processing,
and the content of the file is also decoded appropriately starting
from perl 5.8.
"find_module_by_name($module, \@dirs)"
Returns the path to a module given the module or package name. A
list of directories can be passed in as an optional parameter,
otherwise @INC is searched.
Can be called as either an object or a class method.
"find_module_dir_by_name($module, \@dirs)"
Returns the entry in @dirs (or @INC by default) that contains the
module $module. A list of directories can be passed in as an
optional parameter, otherwise @INC is searched.
Can be called as either an object or a class method.
"provides( %options )"
This is a convenience wrapper around
"package_versions_from_directory" to generate a CPAN META
"provides" data structure. It takes key/value pairs. Valid option
keys include:
version (required)
Specifies which version of the CPAN::Meta::Spec should be used
as the format of the "provides" output. Currently only '1.4'
and '2' are supported (and their format is identical). This
may change in the future as the definition of "provides"
changes.
The "version" option is required. If it is omitted or if an
unsupported version is given, then "provides" will throw an
error.
dir Directory to search recursively for .pm files. May not be
specified with "files".
files
Array reference of files to examine. May not be specified with
"dir".
prefix
String to prepend to the "file" field of the resulting output.
This defaults to lib, which is the common case for most CPAN
distributions with their .pm files in lib. This option ensures
the META information has the correct relative path even when
the "dir" or "files" arguments are absolute or have relative
paths from a location other than the distribution root.
For example, given "dir" of 'lib' and "prefix" of 'lib', the return
value is a hashref of the form:
{
'Package::Name' => {
version => '0.123',
file => 'lib/Package/Name.pm'
},
'OtherPackage::Name' => ...
}
"package_versions_from_directory($dir, \@files?)"
Scans $dir for .pm files (unless @files is given, in which case
looks for those files in $dir - and reads each file for packages
and versions, returning a hashref of the form:
{
'Package::Name' => {
version => '0.123',
file => 'Package/Name.pm'
},
'OtherPackage::Name' => ...
}
The "DB" and "main" packages are always omitted, as are any
"private" packages that have leading underscores in the namespace
(e.g. "Foo::_private")
Note that the file path is relative to $dir if that is specified.
This must not be used directly for CPAN META "provides". See the
"provides" method instead.
"log_info (internal)"
Used internally to perform logging; imported from Log::Contextual
if Log::Contextual has already been loaded, otherwise simply calls
warn.
Object methods
"name()"
Returns the name of the package represented by this module. If
there are more than one packages, it makes a best guess based on
the filename. If it's a script (i.e. not a *.pm) the package name
is 'main'.
"version($package)"
Returns the version as defined by the $VERSION variable for the
package as returned by the "name" method if no arguments are given.
If given the name of a package it will attempt to return the
version of that package if it is specified in the file.
"filename()"
Returns the absolute path to the file.
"packages_inside()"
Returns a list of packages. Note: this is a raw list of packages
discovered (or assumed, in the case of "main"). It is not filtered
for "DB", "main" or private packages the way the "provides" method
does. Invalid package names are not returned, for example
"Foo:Bar". Strange but valid package names are returned, for
example "Foo::Bar::", and are left up to the caller on how to
handle.
"pod_inside()"
Returns a list of POD sections.
"contains_pod()"
Returns true if there is any POD in the file.
"pod($section)"
Returns the POD data in the given section.
AUTHOR
Original code from Module::Build::ModuleInfo by Ken Williams
<kwilliams AT cpan.org>, Randy W. Sims <RandyS AT ThePierianSpring.org>
Released as Module::Metadata by Matt S Trout (mst)
<mst AT shadowcat.uk> with assistance from David Golden (xdg)
<dagolden AT cpan.org>.
COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
Original code Copyright (c) 2001-2011 Ken Williams. Additional code
Copyright (c) 2010-2011 Matt Trout and David Golden. All rights
reserved.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
perl v5.16.3 2013-09-11 Module::Metadata(3)