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(kudra: CPANPLUS) Re: To install a module...

by kudra (Vicar)
on Sep 27, 2002 at 10:35 UTC ( [id://201153]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to To install a module...

As of 5.10, CPANPLUS will become part of the core (under another, undetermined name). Although at this point it is at version 0.036 and the public interface is still subject to change, most of the fundamental pieces are in place. Now is a good time to test it out and report any bugs.

One thing that should be noted is that you should not try to install CPANPLUS via CPAN.pm--the interactive install doesn't seem to be handled properly.

You can read about CPANPLUS at sourceforge. There was also an article, although it discusses an earlier version so some syntax might be obsolete. An additional article describes the interface to testing.

Some of the main differences between CPANPLUS and CPAN.pm are:

  • CPANPLUS is designed to work cross-platform (parts of it are written in the Windows environment)
  • CPANPLUS has a layered interface which seperates the shell from the programatic interface.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
•Re: (kudra: CPANPLUS) Re: To install a module...
by merlyn (Sage) on Sep 27, 2002 at 21:42 UTC
    In my first attempts to use it, I noticed:
    • There appears to be no "setting" for "current CPAN archive", so I'd have to go through the whole interactive setting thing just to point differently depending on whether I was online or at 30,000 feet. Ick.
    • I didn't see that it ever reloaded the index files, and that I'd always have to do that manually.
    Both of these will prevent me from using this module on a regular basis.

    Is there a person or persons I should write with this feedback?

    -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

      Index files are reloaded if you start to use them and they are older than one day at the time. You can force a reload in the backend object with my $reload = $cp->reload_indices(update_source => 1); (in the shell it's the 'x' command) and it is also possible to change the update time with the private method $conf->_set_source( update => '1000' ). The first method is documented in Backend.pm.

      By 'no setting for the current CPAN archive', do you mean modifying the URI list based upon where you are? You can set environment variables to do this:

      #!/usr/bin/perl BEGIN { $ENV{ftp_proxy} = 'current.domain.org'; } use CPANPLUS; shell();
      This example comes from the FAQ. "Can I use a local mirror..." might also be appropriate; I'm not completely sure what you're pointing out.

      You can mail the bugs list or the general suggestion list, cpanplus-bugs and cpanplus-info respectively, at lists.sourceforget.net to report bugs or make suggestions. Other contact information is also found on the sourceforge pages.

        OK, so the answer to the first one is that CPANPLUS assumes a policy of "reload after one day" instead of CPAN.pm's "reload after a user-specifiable period of time". That makes sense, but wasn't documented yet.

        As for the second, no. I'm talking about the CPAN mirror setting, like getting the CPAN from http://www.cpan.org/ when I'm online, or getting it from my file:///Users/merlyn/CPAN/ when I'm offline. In CPAN.pm, that's a simple "o conf urllist unshift BLAH". But there appears to be only a very truncated list of settings in CPANPLUS (so far?), and "current CPAN" is not one of them.

        It has nothing to do with FTP proxy settings.

        -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

Re: (kudra: CPANPLUS) Re: To install a module...
by ignatz (Vicar) on Sep 27, 2002 at 21:38 UTC
    I noticed that not enough people are using CPANPLUS, IMNSHO. If you havn't yet, I would highly recommend giving it a test spin.

    Using the testing interface and following along on the cpan-testers mailing list is a great way to learn about what goes on up there on the front lines of Perl module development. Most of the high volume posts are automated uploads and test results, but every now and then you'll see an interesting discussion between testers and module developers as they try to debug failed tests.

    ()-()
     \"/
      `                                                     
    
      I've stopped using CPAN and am trying to stay away from CPANPLUS, mainly because CPAN always seemed to D/L a horde of Modules on first setup (which wasn't too bad in itself) but it also grabbed the latest version of Perl and made you get the latest version. This had bad side effects with some of the scripts which I was running. So I use make on all of the modules I install on the production servers I setup.

      Does CPANPLUS have better dependancy handling?

      BlackJudas
        CPANPLUS should work with core Perl, although it is a lot happier if you will let it install some modules during setup, especially on machines where it might be difficult to use binaries. Certain options, such as md5 checks, require that module be installed. However, if you don't want these modules installed you can decline them during configuration (if you do want them, CPANPLUS will handle the installation before it installs itself).

        As for the normal prereq handling, CPANPLUS allows you to select whether you should always follow prereqs, never follow prereqs, or prompt for each.

        CPANPLUS will decline to install new versions of Perl. It will let you download them, if you like, but because Perl should be installed quite interactively, CPANPLUS insists you do it yourself.

        One advantage you may find to CPANPLUS--which I mention since you talk about production servers--is the programmer's interface which makes it easier to maintain modules on multiple machines. You can set up an install script to install the same modules on multiple machines (and handle known issues with modules and the like). CPAN.pm does allow this, but by poking through the shell. By comparision CPANPLUS is a lot cleaner, since it was designed with the programmer's interface in mind (shells are just layers on top of the interface). Check out Backend for more information on the programmer's interface. It's worth noting, however, that this is version .036, and the interface changes significantly (which it may continue to do until release 1.0) in the upcoming .04 (in particular, return values become objects).

(tye)Re: CPANPLUS
by tye (Sage) on Sep 27, 2002 at 23:44 UTC

    Please, please, please, call it Net::CPAN. Then we can get CGI renamed Net::CGI.

            - tye (I don't supposed you can rename B and O also)
      Some things are known about the name:
      • It won't contain the word CPAN (Andreas did offer the use of CPAN.pm provided there was some backwards compatibility, but many people feel the name is poorly chosen).
      • It will be a top-level name (to protest top-level names in general, talk to p5p not me ;)

      The meaning it will attempt to capture is beyond the scope of the Net:: modules. More time is probably spent determining if you have the Net:: modules than using them... At any rate, CPANPLUS is aimed more at module management than just fetching.

      /me is staying out of this entire quagmire of naming and will just call it CPANPLUS until it gets another name...

      Ps. To comment on sauoq's post: CPANPLUS does allow you to fetch modules from your local file system. I can't say about CPAN.pm since I don't use it.

      Please, please, please, call it Net::CPAN. Then we can get CGI renamed Net::CGI.

      Yuck. No. I wouldn't agree with either of those names. Both CGI's and CPAN's relationship to networking is peripheral.

      CPAN uses various means to retrieve modules over the network but its real job is to determine dependencies, build, and install those modules. Certainly CPAN could have the functionality to access a local archive via the filesystem rather than the network. I don't use CPAN or CPANPLUS (I answered "make" on the poll) so for all I know one or both already have that functionality. It might be especially useful where institutions keep a local CPAN mirror and make it available to their user base via NFS.

      CGI is simply a platform independent interface by which information servers may run external programs. In reality, this is only true for some definitions of "platform independence" and "information servers" but that's its stated goal.1 It currently requires that the external program knows some things about the protocol that the information server is using but the actual network communication takes place through the server itself.

      So, I think putting either CPAN or CGI in Net::* would be a mistake.

      I wouldn't mind seeing name changes for B and O though.

      1That is, its the stated goal of the draft CGI specification not of the CGI module.

      -sauoq
      "My two cents aren't worth a dime.";
      

        Sorry, your claim that CGI.pm isn't for networking is, well, silly.

        As for CPANPLUS, if they want to keep "CPAN" in the name, then the primary way they are going to attach to CPAN is via a network. I don't mind in the least if they decide that this is not really the central purpose of the module and call it something having to do with "module management" or whatever.

        But the point is that the only modules that don't have "::" in their names should be all-lowercase, that is, pragmas. See Filehandles vs. Packages: And the winner is... for one good reason why.

        Other reasons include the "I used CGI" problem. Having a "::" in a module name can avoid a lot of confusion.

                - tye (but I plan to switch to "Person::Tye")
      I'd prefer something like Module::CPAN, Install::CPAN or Update::CPAN though I agree with your other reasoning (in later posts). As for CGI, well, how about Interface::CGI? *Grin*

      Yes, that means I'd like to see the PPM module named Install::PPM (or whichever) instead too.

      What I really would like to see is something like Module::Build get used. Like the guy says, what on earth is make doing in the install process? That is what usually causes me trouble when trouble does arise. (Nope. Haven't tried it. Just liked the idea. And it would be a good namespace to go under).


      You have moved into a dark place.
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
        Maybe ExtUtils::CPAN? Or is that namespace's topic a different one?

        Makeshifts last the longest.

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