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.

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.

           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.

           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@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)