NAME
    "Module::MakeDist" - Create Unix and ActiveState distros for a new
    module.

Synopsis
            use Module::MakeDist;

            # Work in /perl-modules/Module-MakeDist-1.00/.

            Module::MakeDist -> new
            (
                    name            => 'Module::MakeDist',
                    verbose         => 0,
                    version         => '1.00',
                    work_dir        => '/perl-modules',
            );

Description
    Say we have a new module, KillerApp V 1.00, and in it's directory
    KillerApp-1.00/ are these files:

    *   KillerApp.pm

    *   Makefile.PL

    *   Other files, such as test.pl, t/*.t, examples/*

    Then this module processes the directory KillerApp-1.00/, and generates
    all files required to create shippable distributions (distros) in both
    Unix-style and ActiveState-style (ppm) formats.

    Files created are:

    *   MANIFEST

    *   README

        We run pod2text on KillerApp.pm to create README.

    *   KillerApp.html

        We run pod2html on KillerApp.pm to create KillerApp.html.

        The fancy *.html docs on my web site are output by fancy-pom2.pl,
        which is available elsewhere on my web site.

    *   KillerApp-1.00.tgz

        The Unix-style distro.

        This can be uploaded to CPAN.

    *   KillerApp.ppd

        This can be input to ppm.

    *   x86/KillerApp-1.00.tar.gz

        This is a copy of KillerApp-1.00.tgz. The last time I tested it, ppm
        choked on a file called *.tgz.

    *   KillerApp-1.00.zip

        The ActiveState ppm-style distro. This file contains KillerApp.ppd,
        README, KillerApp.html and x86/KillerApp-1.00.tar.gz.

    We do not use any external programs such as tar, gzip or zip.

Distributions
    This module is available both as a Unix-style distro (*.tgz) and an
    ActiveState-style distro (*.ppd). The latter is shipped in a *.zip file.

    See http://savage.net.au/Perl-modules/html/installing-a-module.html for
    help on unpacking and installing each type of distro.

Usage
    As you can see from the program in the synopsis, which is the code I
    used to generate the distros for this very module, the class does all
    its work in the constructor. You do not call any other methods.

Options
    Here, in alphabetical order, are the options accepted by the
    constructor, together with their default values.

    *   name => ''

        Name must be set to the name of the module. Eg:

                name => 'Module::MakeDist'

        The '::' token is converted to '-', and combined with the version
        string, to construct the name of the directory in which the module's
        files are processed. This directory name is appended to the value of
        the work_dir option.

    *   verbose => 0

        If verbose is set to some value > 0, print statements are activated
        which show the steps in the flow of control.

    *   version => ''

        This is the version string, normally something like '1.00'.

    *   work_dir => '.'

        This is the parent directory of the module directory.

    "Module::MakeDist" does a chdir into "work_dir/name-version" in order to
    start work.

    So, the example in the synopsis would mean this module attempts to work
    in '/perl-modules/Module-MakeDist-1.00/'.

    We use File::Spec to join the directory names.

OS-specific Code
    There are 2 places where the read-only bit on a file is reset.

    The code uses $Config{'osname'} to look for a small selection of known
    OSes, and uses OS-specific commands for 'MSWin32' and 'linux' to do the
    reset.

    Patches are welcome.

Files Shipped
    See the source for subs called _what_to_gzip and _what_to_zip.

    Such lists of files which 'ought to be shipped' can be extended
    indefinitely. Hopefully, no real argument will ensue.

    However, if you do believe specific extra files should be included in
    the Unix-style distro, please let me know.

Slashes 'v' Backslashes
    Perl is, and various Perl programs are, a bit of a mess when it comes to
    processing directory separators:

    *   MANIFEST uses /

        A line from this module's MANIFEST file looks like:

                examples/make-MakeDist.pl

        Using a \ in this context means the file is omitted from the distro.

    *   *.ppd uses \

        A line from this module's Module-MakeDist.ppd file looks like:

                <CODEBASE HREF="x86\Module-MakeDist-1.00.tar.gz" />

        Using a / in this context actually works.

        Not only that, but to run ppm under MS Windows and install a module
        from a Linux box, the CODEBASE must use /.

Credits
    I gained important information from these sources:

    idnopheq
        http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=113448

    Jenda Krynicky
        http://jenda.krynicky.cz/perl/PPM.html

Author
    "Module::MakeDist" was written by Ron Savage *<ron@savage.net.au>* in
    2002.

    Home page: http://savage.net.au/index.html

Copyright
    Australian copyright (c) 2002, Ron Savage. All rights reserved.

            All Programs of mine are 'OSI Certified Open Source Software';
            you can redistribute them and/or modify them under the terms of
            The Artistic License, a copy of which is available at:
            http://www.opensource.org/licenses/index.html