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ExtUtils::MakeMaker

Section: Perl Programmers Reference Guide (3)
Updated: perl 5.004, patch 04
Index 

NAME

ExtUtils::MakeMaker - create an extension Makefile 

SYNOPSIS

use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;

WriteMakefile( ATTRIBUTE => VALUE [, ...] );

which is really

MM->new(\%att)->flush; 

DESCRIPTION

This utility is designed to write a Makefile for an extension modulefrom a Makefile.PL. It is based on the Makefile.SH model provided byAndy Dougherty and the perl5-porters.

It splits the task of generating the Makefile into several subroutinesthat can be individually overridden. Each subroutine returns the textit wishes to have written to the Makefile.

MakeMaker is object oriented. Each directory below the currentdirectory that contains a Makefile.PL. Is treated as a separateobject. This makes it possible to write an unlimited number ofMakefiles with a single invocation of WriteMakefile(). 

How To Write A Makefile.PL

The short answer is: Don't.

        Always begin with h2xs.        Always begin with h2xs!        ALWAYS BEGIN WITH H2XS!

even if you're not building around a header file, and even if youdon't have an XS component.

Run h2xs(1) before you start thinking about writing a module. For socalled pm-only modules that consist of *.pm files only, h2xs hasthe -X switch. This will generate dummy files of all kinds that areuseful for the module developer.

The medium answer is:

    use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;    WriteMakefile( NAME => "Foo::Bar" );

The long answer is the rest of the manpage :-) 

Default Makefile Behaviour

The generated Makefile enables the user of the extension to invoke

  perl Makefile.PL # optionally "perl Makefile.PL verbose"  make  make test        # optionally set TEST_VERBOSE=1  make install     # See below

The Makefile to be produced may be altered by adding arguments of theform KEY=VALUE. E.g.

  perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/tmp/myperl5

Other interesting targets in the generated Makefile are

  make config     # to check if the Makefile is up-to-date  make clean      # delete local temp files (Makefile gets renamed)  make realclean  # delete derived files (including ./blib)  make ci         # check in all the files in the MANIFEST file  make dist       # see below the Distribution Support section

 

make test

MakeMaker checks for the existence of a file named test.pl in thecurrent directory and if it exists it adds commands to the test targetof the generated Makefile that will execute the script with the properset of perl -I options.

MakeMaker also checks for any files matching glob("t/*.t"). It willadd commands to the test target of the generated Makefile that executeall matching files via the the Test::Harness manpage module with the -Iswitches set correctly. 

make testdb

A useful variation of the above is the target testdb. It runs thetest under the Perl debugger (see the perldebug manpage). If the filetest.pl exists in the current directory, it is used for the test.

If you want to debug some other testfile, set TEST_FILE variablethusly:

  make testdb TEST_FILE=t/mytest.t

By default the debugger is called using -d option to perl. If youwant to specify some other option, set TESTDB_SW variable:

  make testdb TESTDB_SW=-Dx

 

make install

make alone puts all relevant files into directories that are named bythe macros INST_LIB, INST_ARCHLIB, INST_SCRIPT, INST_MAN1DIR, andINST_MAN3DIR. All these default to something below ./blib if you arenot building below the perl source directory. If you arebuilding below the perl source, INST_LIB and INST_ARCHLIB default to
 ../../lib, and INST_SCRIPT is not defined.

The install target of the generated Makefile copies the files foundbelow each of the INST_* directories to their INSTALL*counterparts. Which counterparts are chosen depends on the setting ofINSTALLDIRS according to the following table:

                           INSTALLDIRS set to                        perl              site

    INST_ARCHLIB    INSTALLARCHLIB    INSTALLSITEARCH    INST_LIB        INSTALLPRIVLIB    INSTALLSITELIB    INST_BIN                  INSTALLBIN    INST_SCRIPT              INSTALLSCRIPT    INST_MAN1DIR             INSTALLMAN1DIR    INST_MAN3DIR             INSTALLMAN3DIR

The INSTALL... macros in turn default to their %Config($Config{installprivlib}, $Config{installarchlib}, etc.) counterparts.

You can check the values of these variables on your system with

    perl '-V:install.*'

And to check the sequence in which the library directories aresearched by perl, run

    perl -le 'print join $/, @INC'

 

PREFIX and LIB attribute

PREFIX and LIB can be used to set several INSTALL* attributes in onego. The quickest way to install a module in a non-standard place mightbe

    perl Makefile.PL LIB=~/lib

This will install the module's architecture-independent files into~/lib, the architecture-dependent files into ~/lib/$archname/auto.

Another way to specify many INSTALL directories with a singleparameter is PREFIX.

    perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=~

This will replace the string specified by $Config{prefix} in all$Config{install*} values.

Note, that in both cases the tilde expansion is done by MakeMaker, notby perl by default, nor by make. Conflicts between parmeters LIB,PREFIX and the various INSTALL* arguments are resolved so that XXX

If the user has superuser privileges, and is not working on AFS(Andrew File System) or relatives, then the defaults forINSTALLPRIVLIB, INSTALLARCHLIB, INSTALLSCRIPT, etc. will be appropriate,and this incantation will be the best:

    perl Makefile.PL; make; make test    make install

make install per default writes some documentation of what has beendone into the file $(INSTALLARCHLIB)/perllocal.pod. This featurecan be bypassed by calling make pure_install. 

AFS users

will have to specify the installation directories as these mostprobably have changed since perl itself has been installed. They willhave to do this by calling

    perl Makefile.PL INSTALLSITELIB=/afs/here/today \        INSTALLSCRIPT=/afs/there/now INSTALLMAN3DIR=/afs/for/manpages    make

Be careful to repeat this procedure every time you recompile anextension, unless you are sure the AFS installation directories arestill valid. 

Static Linking of a new Perl Binary

An extension that is built with the above steps is ready to use onsystems supporting dynamic loading. On systems that do not supportdynamic loading, any newly created extension has to be linked togetherwith the available resources. MakeMaker supports the linking processby creating appropriate targets in the Makefile whenever an extensionis built. You can invoke the corresponding section of the makefile with

    make perl

That produces a new perl binary in the current directory with allextensions linked in that can be found in INST_ARCHLIB , SITELIBEXP,and PERL_ARCHLIB. To do that, MakeMaker writes a new Makefile, onUNIX, this is called Makefile.aperl (may be system dependent). If youwant to force the creation of a new perl, it is recommended, that youdelete this Makefile.aperl, so the directories are searched-throughfor linkable libraries again.

The binary can be installed into the directory where perl normallyresides on your machine with

    make inst_perl

To produce a perl binary with a different name than perl, either say

    perl Makefile.PL MAP_TARGET=myperl    make myperl    make inst_perl

or say

    perl Makefile.PL    make myperl MAP_TARGET=myperl    make inst_perl MAP_TARGET=myperl

In any case you will be prompted with the correct invocation of theinst_perl target that installs the new binary into INSTALLBIN.

make inst_perl per default writes some documentation of what has beendone into the file $(INSTALLARCHLIB)/perllocal.pod. Thiscan be bypassed by calling make pure_inst_perl.

Warning: the inst_perl: target will most probably overwrite yourexisting perl binary. Use with care!

Sometimes you might want to build a statically linked perl althoughyour system supports dynamic loading. In this case you may explicitlyset the linktype with the invocation of the Makefile.PL or make:

    perl Makefile.PL LINKTYPE=static    # recommended

or

    make LINKTYPE=static                # works on most systems

 

Determination of Perl Library and Installation Locations

MakeMaker needs to know, or to guess, where certain things arelocated. Especially INST_LIB and INST_ARCHLIB (where to put the filesduring the make(1) run), PERL_LIB and PERL_ARCHLIB (where to readexisting modules from), and PERL_INC (header files and libperl*.*).

Extensions may be built either using the contents of the perl sourcedirectory tree or from the installed perl library. The recommended wayis to build extensions after you have run `make install' on perlitself. You can do that in any directory on your hard disk that is notbelow the perl source tree. The support for extensions below the extdirectory of the perl distribution is only good for the standardextensions that come with perl.

If an extension is being built below the ext/ directory of the perlsource then MakeMaker will set PERL_SRC automatically (e.g.,../..). If PERL_SRC is defined and the extension is recognized asa standard extension, then other variables default to the following:

  PERL_INC     = PERL_SRC  PERL_LIB     = PERL_SRC/lib  PERL_ARCHLIB = PERL_SRC/lib  INST_LIB     = PERL_LIB  INST_ARCHLIB = PERL_ARCHLIB

If an extension is being built away from the perl source then MakeMakerwill leave PERL_SRC undefined and default to using the installed copyof the perl library. The other variables default to the following:

  PERL_INC     = $archlibexp/CORE  PERL_LIB     = $privlibexp  PERL_ARCHLIB = $archlibexp  INST_LIB     = ./blib/lib  INST_ARCHLIB = ./blib/arch

If perl has not yet been installed then PERL_SRC can be defined on thecommand line as shown in the previous section. 

Which architecture dependent directory?

If you don't want to keep the defaults for the INSTALL* macros,MakeMaker helps you to minimize the typing needed: the usualrelationship between INSTALLPRIVLIB and INSTALLARCHLIB is determinedby Configure at perl compilation time. MakeMaker supports the user whosets INSTALLPRIVLIB. If INSTALLPRIVLIB is set, but INSTALLARCHLIB not,then MakeMaker defaults the latter to be the same subdirectory ofINSTALLPRIVLIB as Configure decided for the counterparts in %Config ,otherwise it defaults to INSTALLPRIVLIB. The same relationship holdsfor INSTALLSITELIB and INSTALLSITEARCH.

MakeMaker gives you much more freedom than needed to configureinternal variables and get different results. It is worth to mention,that make(1) also lets you configure most of the variables that areused in the Makefile. But in the majority of situations this will notbe necessary, and should only be done, if the author of a packagerecommends it (or you know what you're doing). 

Using Attributes and Parameters

The following attributes can be specified as arguments to WriteMakefile()or as NAME=VALUE pairs on the command line:

C

Ref to array of *.c file names. Initialised from a directory scanand the values portion of the XS attribute hash. This is notcurrently used by MakeMaker but may be handy in Makefile.PLs.

CCFLAGS

String that will be included in the compiler call command line betweenthe arguments INC and OPTIMIZE.

CONFIG

Arrayref. E.g. [qw(archname manext)] defines ARCHNAME & MANEXT fromconfig.sh. MakeMaker will add to CONFIG the following values anyway:arcccccdlflagsccdlflagsdlextdlsrcldlddlflagsldflagslibclib_extobj_extranlibsitelibexpsitearchexpso

CONFIGURE

CODE reference. The subroutine should return a hash reference. Thehash may contain further attributes, e.g. {LIBS => ...}, that have tobe determined by some evaluation method.

DEFINE

Something like "-DHAVE_UNISTD_H"

DIR

Ref to array of subdirectories containing Makefile.PLs e.g. [ `sdbm'] in ext/SDBM_File

DISTNAME

Your name for distributing the package (by tar file). This defaults toNAME above.

DL_FUNCS

Hashref of symbol names for routines to be made available asuniversal symbols. Each key/value pair consists of the package nameand an array of routine names in that package. Used only under AIX(export lists) and VMS (linker options) at present. The routinenames supplied will be expanded in the same way as XSUB names areexpanded by the XS() macro. Defaults to

  {"$(NAME)" => ["boot_$(NAME)" ] }

e.g.

  {"RPC" => [qw( boot_rpcb rpcb_gettime getnetconfigent )],   "NetconfigPtr" => [ 'DESTROY'] }

DL_VARS

Array of symbol names for variables to be made available asuniversal symbols. Used only under AIX (export lists) and VMS(linker options) at present. Defaults to []. (e.g. [ qw(Foo_version Foo_numstreams Foo_tree ) ])

EXCLUDE_EXT

Array of extension names to exclude when doing a static build. Thisis ignored if INCLUDE_EXT is present. Consult INCLUDE_EXT for moredetails. (e.g. [ qw( Socket POSIX ) ] )

This attribute may be most useful when specified as a string on thecommandline: perl Makefile.PL EXCLUDE_EXT='Socket Safe'

EXE_FILES

Ref to array of executable files. The files will be copied to theINST_SCRIPT directory. Make realclean will delete them from thereagain.

NO_VC

In general any generated Makefile checks for the current version ofMakeMaker and the version the Makefile was built under. If NO_VC isset, the version check is neglected. Do not write this into yourMakefile.PL, use it interactively instead.

FIRST_MAKEFILE

The name of the Makefile to be produced. Defaults to the contents ofMAKEFILE, but can be overridden. This is used for the second Makefilethat will be produced for the MAP_TARGET.

FULLPERL

Perl binary able to run this extension.

H

Ref to array of *.h file names. Similar to C.

IMPORTS

IMPORTS is only used on OS/2.

INC

Include file dirs eg: "-I/usr/5include -I/path/to/inc"

INCLUDE_EXT

Array of extension names to be included when doing a static build.MakeMaker will normally build with all of the installed extensions whendoing a static build, and that is usually the desired behavior. IfINCLUDE_EXT is present then MakeMaker will build only with those extensionswhich are explicitly mentioned. (e.g. [ qw( Socket POSIX ) ])

It is not necessary to mention DynaLoader or the current extension whenfilling in INCLUDE_EXT. If the INCLUDE_EXT is mentioned but is empty thenonly DynaLoader and the current extension will be included in the build.

This attribute may be most useful when specified as a string on thecommandline: perl Makefile.PL INCLUDE_EXT='POSIX Socket Devel::Peek'

INSTALLARCHLIB

Used by `make install', which copies files from INST_ARCHLIB to thisdirectory if INSTALLDIRS is set to perl.

INSTALLBIN

Directory to install binary files (e.g. tkperl) into.

INSTALLDIRS

Determines which of the two sets of installation directories tochoose: installprivlib and installarchlib versus installsitelib andinstallsitearch. The first pair is chosen with INSTALLDIRS=perl, thesecond with INSTALLDIRS=site. Default is site.

INSTALLMAN1DIR

This directory gets the man pages at `make install' time. Defaults to$Config{installman1dir}.

INSTALLMAN3DIR

This directory gets the man pages at `make install' time. Defaults to$Config{installman3dir}.

INSTALLPRIVLIB

Used by `make install', which copies files from INST_LIB to thisdirectory if INSTALLDIRS is set to perl.

INSTALLSCRIPT

Used by `make install' which copies files from INST_SCRIPT to thisdirectory.

INSTALLSITELIB

Used by `make install', which copies files from INST_LIB to thisdirectory if INSTALLDIRS is set to site (default).

INSTALLSITEARCH

Used by `make install', which copies files from INST_ARCHLIB to thisdirectory if INSTALLDIRS is set to site (default).

INST_ARCHLIB

Same as INST_LIB for architecture dependent files.

INST_BIN

Directory to put real binary files during `make'. These will be copiedto INSTALLBIN during `make install'

INST_EXE

Old name for INST_SCRIPT. Deprecated. Please use INST_SCRIPT if youneed to use it.

INST_LIB

Directory where we put library files of this extension while buildingit.

INST_MAN1DIR

Directory to hold the man pages at `make' time

INST_MAN3DIR

Directory to hold the man pages at `make' time

INST_SCRIPT

Directory, where executable files should be installed during'make'. Defaults to ``./blib/bin'', just to have a dummy location duringtesting. make install will copy the files in INST_SCRIPT toINSTALLSCRIPT.

LDFROM

defaults to ``$(OBJECT)'' and is used in the ld command to specifywhat files to link/load from (also see dynamic_lib below for how tospecify ld flags)

LIBPERL_A

The filename of the perllibrary that will be used together with thisextension. Defaults to libperl.a.

LIB

LIB can only be set at perl Makefile.PL time. It has the effect ofsetting both INSTALLPRIVLIB and INSTALLSITELIB to that value regardless any

LIBS

An anonymous array of alternative libraryspecifications to be searched for (in order) untilat least one library is found. E.g.

  'LIBS' => ["-lgdbm", "-ldbm -lfoo", "-L/path -ldbm.nfs"]

Mind, that any element of the arraycontains a complete set of arguments for the ldcommand. So do not specify

  'LIBS' => ["-ltcl", "-ltk", "-lX11"]

See ODBM_File/Makefile.PL for an example, where an array is needed. Ifyou specify a scalar as in

  'LIBS' => "-ltcl -ltk -lX11"

MakeMaker will turn it into an array with one element.

LINKTYPE

'static' or `dynamic' (default unless usedl=undef inconfig.sh). Should only be used to force static linking (also seelinkext below).

MAKEAPERL

Boolean which tells MakeMaker, that it should include the rules tomake a perl. This is handled automatically as a switch byMakeMaker. The user normally does not need it.

MAKEFILE

The name of the Makefile to be produced.

MAN1PODS

Hashref of pod-containing files. MakeMaker will default this to allEXE_FILES files that include POD directives. The files listedhere will be converted to man pages and installed as was requestedat Configure time.

MAN3PODS

Hashref of .pm and .pod files. MakeMaker will default this to all
 .pod and any .pm files that include POD directives. The files listedhere will be converted to man pages and installed as was requestedat Configure time.

MAP_TARGET

If it is intended, that a new perl binary be produced, this variablemay hold a name for that binary. Defaults to perl

MYEXTLIB

If the extension links to a library that it builds set this to thename of the library (see SDBM_File)

NAME

Perl module name for this extension (DBD::Oracle). This will defaultto the directory name but should be explicitly defined in theMakefile.PL.

NEEDS_LINKING

MakeMaker will figure out, if an extension contains linkable codeanywhere down the directory tree, and will set this variableaccordingly, but you can speed it up a very little bit, if you definethis boolean variable yourself.

NOECHO

Defaults to @. By setting it to an empty string you can generate aMakefile that echos all commands. Mainly used in debugging MakeMakeritself.

NORECURS

Boolean. Attribute to inhibit descending into subdirectories.

OBJECT

List of object files, defaults to `$(BASEEXT)$(OBJ_EXT)', but can be a longstring containing all object files, e.g. ``tkpBind.otkpButton.o tkpCanvas.o''

OPTIMIZE

Defaults to -O. Set it to -g to turn debugging on. The flag ispassed to subdirectory makes.

PERL

Perl binary for tasks that can be done by miniperl

PERLMAINCC

The call to the program that is able to compile perlmain.c. Defaultsto $(CC).

PERL_ARCHLIB

Same as above for architecture dependent files

PERL_LIB

Directory containing the Perl library to use.

PERL_SRC

Directory containing the Perl source code (use of this should beavoided, it may be undefined)

PL_FILES

Ref to hash of files to be processed as perl programs. MakeMakerwill default to any found *.PL file (except Makefile.PL) being keysand the basename of the file being the value. E.g.

  {'foobar.PL' => 'foobar'}

The *.PL files are expected to produce output to the target filesthemselves.

PM

Hashref of .pm files and *.pl files to be installed. e.g.

  {'name_of_file.pm' => '$(INST_LIBDIR)/install_as.pm'}

By default this will include *.pm and *.pl. If a lib directoryexists and is not listed in DIR (above) then any *.pm and *.pl filesit contains will also be included by default. Defining PM in theMakefile.PL will override PMLIBDIRS.

PMLIBDIRS

Ref to array of subdirectories containing library files. Defaults to[ `lib', $(BASEEXT) ]. The directories will be scanned and any filesthey contain will be installed in the corresponding location in thelibrary. A libscan() method can be used to alter the behaviour.Defining PM in the Makefile.PL will override PMLIBDIRS.

PREFIX

Can be used to set the three INSTALL* attributes in one go (except forprobably INSTALLMAN1DIR, if it is not below PREFIX according to%Config). They will have PREFIX as a common directory node and willbranch from that node into lib/, lib/ARCHNAME or whatever Configuredecided at the build time of your perl (unless you override one ofthem, of course).

PREREQ_PM

Hashref: Names of modules that need to be available to run thisextension (e.g. Fcntl for SDBM_File) are the keys of the hash and thedesired version is the value. If the required version number is 0, weonly check if any version is installed already.

SKIP

Arryref. E.g. [qw(name1 name2)] skip (do not write) sections of theMakefile. Caution! Do not use the SKIP attribute for the neglectiblespeedup. It may seriously damage the resulting Makefile. Only use it,if you really need it.

TYPEMAPS

Ref to array of typemap file names. Use this when the typemaps arein some directory other than the current directory or when they arenot named typemap. The last typemap in the list takesprecedence. A typemap in the current directory has highestprecedence, even if it isn't listed in TYPEMAPS. The default systemtypemap has lowest precedence.

VERSION

Your version number for distributing the package. This defaults to0.1.

VERSION_FROM

Instead of specifying the VERSION in the Makefile.PL you can letMakeMaker parse a file to determine the version number. The parsingroutine requires that the file named by VERSION_FROM contains onesingle line to compute the version number. The first line in the filethat contains the regular expression

    /([\$*])(([\w\:\']*)\bVERSION)\b.*\=/

will be evaluated with eval() and the value of the named variableafter the eval() will be assigned to the VERSION attribute of theMakeMaker object. The following lines will be parsed o.k.:

    $VERSION = '1.00';    *VERSION = \'1.01';    ( $VERSION ) = '$Revision: 1.216 $ ' =~ /\$Revision:\s+([^\s]+)/;    $FOO::VERSION = '1.10';    *FOO::VERSION = \'1.11';

but these will fail:

    my $VERSION = '1.01';    local $VERSION = '1.02';    local $FOO::VERSION = '1.30';

The file named in VERSION_FROM is not added as a dependency toMakefile. This is not really correct, but it would be a major painduring development to have to rewrite the Makefile for any smallishchange in that file. If you want to make sure that the Makefilecontains the correct VERSION macro after any change of the file, youwould have to do something like

    depend => { Makefile => '$(VERSION_FROM)' }

See attribute depend below.

XS

Hashref of .xs files. MakeMaker will default this. e.g.

  {'name_of_file.xs' => 'name_of_file.c'}

The .c files will automatically be included in the list of filesdeleted by a make clean.

XSOPT

String of options to pass to xsubpp. This might include -C++ or-extern. Do not include typemaps here; the TYPEMAP parameter exists forthat purpose.

XSPROTOARG

May be set to an empty string, which is identical to -prototypes, or-noprototypes. See the xsubpp documentation for details. MakeMakerdefaults to the empty string.

XS_VERSION

Your version number for the .xs file of this package. This defaultsto the value of the VERSION attribute.

 

Additional lowercase attributes

can be used to pass parameters to the methods which implement thatpart of the Makefile.

clean

  {FILES => "*.xyz foo"}

depend

  {ANY_TARGET => ANY_DEPENDECY, ...}

dist

  {TARFLAGS => 'cvfF', COMPRESS => 'gzip', SUFFIX => 'gz',  SHAR => 'shar -m', DIST_CP => 'ln', ZIP => '/bin/zip',  ZIPFLAGS => '-rl', DIST_DEFAULT => 'private tardist' }

If you specify COMPRESS, then SUFFIX should also be altered, as it isneeded to tell make the target file of the compression. SettingDIST_CP to ln can be useful, if you need to preserve the timestamps onyour files. DIST_CP can take the values `cp', which copies the file,'ln', which links the file, and `best' which copies symbolic links andlinks the rest. Default is `best'.

dynamic_lib

  {ARMAYBE => 'ar', OTHERLDFLAGS => '...', INST_DYNAMIC_DEP => '...'}

installpm

Deprecated as of MakeMaker 5.23. See the pm_to_blib entry in the ExtUtils::MM_Unix manpage.

linkext

  {LINKTYPE => 'static', 'dynamic' or ''}

NB: Extensions that have nothing but *.pm files had to say

  {LINKTYPE => ''}

with Pre-5.0 MakeMakers. Since version 5.00 of MakeMaker such a linecan be deleted safely. MakeMaker recognizes, when there's nothing tobe linked.

macro

  {ANY_MACRO => ANY_VALUE, ...}

realclean

  {FILES => '$(INST_ARCHAUTODIR)/*.xyz'}

tool_autosplit

  {MAXLEN =E<gt> 8}

 

Overriding MakeMaker Methods

If you cannot achieve the desired Makefile behaviour by specifyingattributes you may define private subroutines in the Makefile.PL.Each subroutines returns the text it wishes to have written tothe Makefile. To override a section of the Makefile you caneither say:

        sub MY::c_o { "new literal text" }

or you can edit the default by saying something like:

        sub MY::c_o {            package MY; # so that "SUPER" works right            my $inherited = shift->SUPER::c_o(@_);            $inherited =~ s/old text/new text/;            $inherited;        }

If you running experiments with embedding perl as a library into otherapplications, you might find MakeMaker not sufficient. You'd betterhave a look at ExtUtils::embed which is a collection of utilities forembedding.

If you still need a different solution, try to develop anothersubroutine, that fits your needs and submit the diffs toperl5-portersAATTnicoh.com or comp.lang.perl.misc as appropriate.

For a complete description of all MakeMaker methods see the ExtUtils::MM_Unix manpage.

Here is a simple example of how to add a new target to the generatedMakefile:

    sub MY::postamble {        '    $(MYEXTLIB): sdbm/Makefile            cd sdbm && $(MAKE) all    ';    }

 

Hintsfile support

MakeMaker.pm uses the architecture specific information fromConfig.pm. In addition it evaluates architecture specific hints filesin a hints/ directory. The hints files are expected to be namedlike their counterparts in PERL_SRC/hints, but with an .pl filename extension (eg. next_3_2.pl). They are simply evaled byMakeMaker within the WriteMakefile() subroutine, and can be used toexecute commands as well as to include special variables. The ruleswhich hintsfile is chosen are the same as in Configure.

The hintsfile is eval()ed immediately after the arguments given toWriteMakefile are stuffed into a hash reference $self but before thisreference becomes blessed. So if you want to do the equivalent tooverride or create an attribute you would say something like

    $self->{LIBS} = ['-ldbm -lucb -lc'];

 

Distribution Support

For authors of extensions MakeMaker provides several Makefiletargets. Most of the support comes from the ExtUtils::Manifest module,where additional documentation can be found.

make distcheck

reports which files are below the build directory but not in theMANIFEST file and vice versa. (See ExtUtils::Manifest::fullcheck() fordetails)

make skipcheck

reports which files are skipped due to the entries in theMANIFEST.SKIP file (See ExtUtils::Manifest::skipcheck() fordetails)

make distclean

does a realclean first and then the distcheck. Note that this is notneeded to build a new distribution as long as you are sure, that theMANIFEST file is ok.

make manifest

rewrites the MANIFEST file, adding all remaining files found (SeeExtUtils::Manifest::mkmanifest() for details)

make distdir

Copies all the files that are in the MANIFEST file to a newly createddirectory with the name $(DISTNAME)-$(VERSION). If that directoryexists, it will be removed first.

make disttest

Makes a distdir first, and runs a perl Makefile.PL, a make, anda make test in that directory.

make tardist

First does a distdir. Then a command $(PREOP) which defaults to a nullcommand, followed by $(TOUNIX), which defaults to a null command underUNIX, and will convert files in distribution directory to UNIX formatotherwise. Next it runs tar on that directory into a tarfile anddeletes the directory. Finishes with a command $(POSTOP) whichdefaults to a null command.

make dist

Defaults to $(DIST_DEFAULT) which in turn defaults to tardist.

make uutardist

Runs a tardist first and uuencodes the tarfile.

make shdist

First does a distdir. Then a command $(PREOP) which defaults to a nullcommand. Next it runs shar on that directory into a sharfile anddeletes the intermediate directory again. Finishes with a command$(POSTOP) which defaults to a null command. Note: For shdist to workproperly a shar program that can handle directories is mandatory.

make zipdist

First does a distdir. Then a command $(PREOP) which defaults to a nullcommand. Runs $(ZIP) $(ZIPFLAGS) on that directory into azipfile. Then deletes that directory. Finishes with a command$(POSTOP) which defaults to a null command.

make ci

Does a $(CI) and a $(RCS_LABEL) on all files in the MANIFEST file.

Customization of the dist targets can be done by specifying a hashreference to the dist attribute of the WriteMakefile call. Thefollowing parameters are recognized:

    CI           ('ci -u')    COMPRESS     ('compress')    POSTOP       ('@ :')    PREOP        ('@ :')    TO_UNIX      (depends on the system)    RCS_LABEL    ('rcs -q -Nv$(VERSION_SYM):')    SHAR         ('shar')    SUFFIX       ('Z')    TAR          ('tar')    TARFLAGS     ('cvf')    ZIP          ('zip')    ZIPFLAGS     ('-r')

An example:

    WriteMakefile( 'dist' => { COMPRESS=>"gzip", SUFFIX=>"gz" })

 

SEE ALSO

ExtUtils::MM_Unix, ExtUtils::Manifest, ExtUtils::testlib,ExtUtils::Install, ExtUtils::embed 

AUTHORS

Andy Dougherty <dougheraAATTlafcol.lafayette.edu>, Andreas Ko.nig<A.Koenig@franz.ww.TU-Berlin.DE>, Tim Bunce <Tim.BunceAATTig.co.uk>.VMS support by Charles Bailey <baileyAATTgenetics.upenn.edu>. OS/2support by Ilya Zakharevich <ilyaAATTmath.ohio-state.edu>. Contact themakemaker mailing list mailto:makemakerAATTfranz.ww.tu-berlin.de, ifyou have any questions.

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Index

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

How To Write A Makefile.PL

Default Makefile Behaviour

make test

make testdb

make install

PREFIX and LIB attribute

AFS users

Static Linking of a new Perl Binary

Determination of Perl Library and Installation Locations

Which architecture dependent directory?

Using Attributes and Parameters

Additional lowercase attributes

Overriding MakeMaker Methods

Hintsfile support

Distribution Support

SEE ALSO

AUTHORS

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