15.3. Preparing Your Distribution
Once
you've gotten your module name settled and
you've tested your module with its new name (if
needed), you should make sure your distribution is ready for prime
time. While this is similar to releasing a distribution inhouse, as
described in Chapter 14, you might want to ensure a
few additional things about your distribution:
-
Create a
README file. This file is automatically extracted
to a separate file on the CPAN archives and lets someone view or
download just the key facts about your distribution before fetching
or unpacking the rest.
-
Make and test your
Makefile.PL. Modules without a
Makefile.PL are accepted via PAUSE to go into the
CPAN but usually get a grimace from those of us who download your
stuff because we might have to figure out how to build and install
your distribution.
-
Bring your
MANIFEST up to date. If you add files that should
be part of the distribution, they also need to be in the
MANIFEST. One quick trick is to clean things up as
you would want them in the distribution, and then invoke
make manifest, which updates the
MANIFEST file to be exactly what you are holding
at the moment.
-
Have a logical distribution version
number. The Makefile.PL file should specify either
a VERSION value or a
VERSION_FROM value. If you have a single module
(such as a .pm file) in your distribution,
it's usually best to grab the version number from
there with VERSION_FROM. If you have multiple
files, either designate one of them as the one
you'll always update just before a new release or
use the VERSION within the
Makefile.PL instead. Also keep in mind that your
version number must always increase numerically for newer versions of
your distribution.
-
Have tests! Reread Chapter 14 if you must.
There's nothing that builds more confidence in an
installed distribution than at least a few dozen tests that are run
during the installation phase.
-
Invoke
make disttest, which builds a
distribution archive of everything in MANIFEST,
unpacks the archive into a separate directory, and then runs the
tests on your distribution. If that doesn't work for
you, you can't expect it to work for anyone else who
downloads your distribution from the CPAN.
| | | 15.2. Getting Prepared | | 15.4. Uploading Your Distribution |
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