WHAT? Manifest::Write is a plugin for Dist::Zilla, a replacement for standard plugin Manifest. Manifest::Write writes annotated MANIFEST: each filename is followed by a comment, explaining origin of the file, whether it is part of software, meta information, or 3rd party file. WHY? MANIFEST is a metainfo file, a part of every distribution. It is a plain list of files included into the distribution. Typical MANIFEST looks like: Build.PL COPYING Changes MANIFEST META.yml README lib/Foo.pm t/00-compile.t xt/author/eol.t xt/author/no-tabs.t Format of manifest allows comments, but comments are rarely used. As it noted before, manifest is a plain list of files. However, files included into a distribution differ: 1. Some files are created by software author (in the example above, lib/Assa.pm *could* be such file). Some of these files may be processed by various filters (like PodWeaver). 2. Some files contain distribution metainformation (META.yml and MANIFEST itself). 3. Some files may be generated by a tool from third party templates (Dist-Zilla and its plugins can generate a lot of various files, in the example above all the tests *could* be generated, as well as Build.PL, COPYING, and even Changes). Sometimes you may want (or have) to trace an origin of a file: whether this file created by author or automatically added, if the file was processed or added as-is. With a typical manifest you have to *guess* origin of each file, because distribution build tool, Dist-Zilla, throws this information away. Manifest::Write saves this information in comments: Build.PL # 3rd party file added by ModuleBuildTiny COPYING # Foo file added by GatherFromManifest Changes # Foo file added by GatherFromManifest MANIFEST # metainfo file built by Manifest::Write META.yml # metainfo file built by MetaYAML README # Foo file added by GatherFromManifest lib/Foo.pm # Foo file added by GatherFromManifest and modified by PkgVersion t/00-compile.t # 3rd party file added by Test::Compile xt/author/eol.t # 3rd party file added by Test::EOL xt/author/no-tabs.t # 3rd party file added by Test::NoTabs (In the example above "Foo" is name of manifested distribution.) With such annotated manifest there is no need to *guess*, you just *know*. NAMING perl-Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write is official software name. However, in Perl world prefix "perl-" is redundant and not used. For example, on meta::cpan this software is named as Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write. In the rest of the documentation shortened name Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write is used as synonym for full name perl-Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write. We are in the Perl world, aren't we? You may notice that name may be spelled with dashes (Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write) or with double colons (Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write). Strictly speaking, there is difference: the first one is software name, while the second is name of Perl package, but often these names are interchangeable especially if software consists of single package. FORMS You may face Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write in *source* or *distribution* forms. If you are going to have annotated MANIFEST in your distribution, you will likely be interested in *using* Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write *distribution*. If you are going to *develop* (or *hack*) the Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write itself, you will likely need the *source*, not distribution. Since Perl is an interpreting language, modules in the distribution *look* like sources. Actually, they are Perl source files. But they are not *actual* sources, because they are *built* (preprocessed or generated) by Dist-Zilla. How to distinguish source and distribution: * Source may contain Mercurial files and directories .hgignore, .hgtags, .hg/, while distribution should not. * Source should contain files dist.ini, weaver.ini, while distribution may not. * Source should *not* contain xt/ directory, while distribution should. * Name of source directory does *not* include version (e. g. Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write), while name of distribution does (e. g. Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write-0.007). SOURCE Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write source is in Mercurial repository hosted on fedorapeople.org. To clone the entire repository: $ hg clone https://vandebugger.fedorapeople.org/hg/perl-Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write Source Files Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write source files usually include a comment near the top of the file: This file is part of perl-Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write. Not all source files are included into distribution. Some source files are used at distribution build time only, and not required for installation. DISTRIBUTION Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write distributions are published on CPAN . Generated Files Distribution may contain files preprocessed or generated by Dist-Zilla and its plugins. Some generated files are made from Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write source, but some are generated from third-party templates. Files generated from third-party templates usually include a comment near the top of the file: This file was generated with NAME (where *NAME* is a name of the plugin generated the file). Such files are *not* part of Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write source, and Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write copyright and license are not applicable to such files. INSTALLING With cpanm cpanm tool is (probably) the easiest way to install distribution. It automates downloading, building, testing, installing, and uninstalling. To install the latest version from CPAN: $ cpanm Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write To install a specific version (e. g. *0.007*) from CPAN: $ cpanm Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write@0.007 To install locally available distribution (e. g. previously downloaded from CPAN or built from sources): $ cpanm ./Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write-0.007.tar.gz To uninstall the distribution: $ cpanm -U Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write Manually To install distribution tarball manually (let us assume you have version *0.007* of the distribution): $ tar xaf Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write-0.007.tar.gz $ cd Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write-0.007 $ perl Build.PL $ ./Build build $ ./Build test $ ./Build install See Also How to install CPAN modules HACKING For hacking, you will need Mercurial, Perl interpreter and Dist-Zilla (with some plugins), and likely cpanm to install missed parts. Clone the repository first: $ hg clone https://vandebugger.fedorapeople.org/hg/perl-Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write $ cd perl-Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write To build a distribution from the source, run: $ dzil build If required Dist-Zilla plugins are missed, dzil tool will warn you and show the command to install all the required plugins, e. g.: Required plugin Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Test::EOL isn't installed. Run 'dzil authordeps' to see a list of all required plugins. You can pipe the list to your CPAN client to install or update them: dzil authordeps --missing | cpanm To run the tests: $ dzil test To run all the tests, including release tests: $ dzil test --release To install the distribution: $ dzil install or $ cpanm ./Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write-VERSION.tar.gz where *VERSION* is a version of built distribution. To clean the directory: $ dzil clean DOCUMENTATION Online The easiest way is browsing the documentation online at meta::cpan . Locally Installed If you have the distribution installed, use perldoc tool to browse locally installed documentation: $ perldoc Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write::ReadMe $ perldoc Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write::Manual $ perldoc Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write Built from Source Build Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write first (see "HACKING"), then: $ cd Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write-VERSION $ perldoc Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write::ReadMe $ perldoc Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write::Manual $ perldoc Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write where *VERSION* is a version of built distribution. FEEDBACK CPAN Request Tracker The quickest way to report a bug in Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write is by sending email to bug-Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write [at] rt.cpan.org. CPAN request tracker can be used via web interface also: Browse bugs Browsing bugs does not require authentication. Report bugs You need to be a CPAN author, have a BitCard account, or OpenID in order to report bugs via the web interface. (On 2015-04-27 I have logged in successfully with my LiveJournal OpenID, but my Google OpenID did not work for CPAN. I did not check other OpenID providers.) Send Email to Author As a last resort, send email to author: Van de Bugger . Please start message subject with "perl-Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write:". GLOSSARY CPAN Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a large collection of Perl software and documentation. See cpan.org , What is CPAN? . Distribution Tarball, containing Perl modules and accompanying files (documentation, metainfo, tests). Usually distributions are uploaded to CPAN, and can be installed with dedicated tools (cpan, cpanm, and others). Module Perl library file, usually with .pm suffix. Usually contains one package. See perlmod . Package Perl language construct. See package and perlmod .