Re: [Module::Build] Re: Installing arbitrary files with Module::Build

[Randy W. S. <Ra...@Th...>]

On 10/9/2003 5:32 PM, Ken Y. Clark wrote:

>>On Thursday, October 9, 2003, at 04:14  PM, Andrew J. Korty wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Greetings.  I've been trying to decide whether to use Module::Build
>>>for a new project I'm working on.
>>>
>>>One thing that's very difficult with MakeMaker is installing files
>>>other than scripts and modules.  I often want to install configuration
>>>files in /etc, Mason components in the document root, etc.  I had been
>>>doing this with MakeMaker by overriding the method that produces the
>>>install target and substituting commands to install files to other
>>>destinations.  Can Module::Build do this more elegantly?
>>>
>>>I also wonder if Module::Build can help me with another problem
>>>brought about by a recent change in MakeMaker.  Although I can still
>>>specify custom parameters that may be passed via environment variables
>>>when executing Makefile.PL, it will no longer let me pass my own
>>>custom parameters to WriteMakefile.  I do that for things like Mason
>>>component roots.  We need to know the component root at install time
>>>so we can install the components there, but we also need it at run
>>>time to create the ApacheHandler object.  So I'd like to be able to
>>>pass it just once to WriteMakefile,
>>>
>>>-- 
>>>Andrew J. Korty, Principal Security Engineer, GCIA, GCFA
>>>Office of the Vice President for Information Technology
>>>Indiana University
> 
> 
> Andrew,
> 
> I wanted to use Module::Build for this exact same reason.  I found it
> pretty easy to subclass M::B and install templates and config files
> and such.  You can see what I did (and possibly tell me if I could do
> it better) by downloading the "cmap-0.09.tar.gz" from here:
> 
>     https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=27707
> 
> ky

Personally, I'd like to see another namespace maybe M::B::Configure or 
M::Configure where Modules could be added that performed tasks similar 
to the autotools. There could be an ::OS module to get common paths and 
other OS specific config info. Then there could be others like Apache, 
WindowingSystem, etc.

Then M::B could provide the tools for installing such as 
copy_if_modified, etc. (which would need to be modified to take another 
flag to indicate how and where to backup the original file.)

just my $.02

Randy.

-- 
A little learning is a dang'rous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring;
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain;
And drinking largely sobers us again.
                 - Alexander Pope