NAME
Package::Locator - Find a package among CPAN-like repositories
VERSION
version 0.010
SYNOPSIS
use Package::Locator;
# Basic search...
my $locator = Package::Locator->new();
my $url = locator->locate( package => 'Test::More' );
# Search for first within multiple repositories:
my $locator = Package::Locator->new( repository_urls => $repos );
my $url = locator->locate( package => 'Test::More' );
# Search for first where version >= 0.34:
my $locator = Package::Locator->new( repository_urls => $repos );
my $url = locator->locate( package => 'Test::More' version => 0.34);
# Search for latest where version >= 0.34:
my $locator = Package::Locator->new( repository_urls => $repos );
my $url = locator->locate( package => 'Test::More' version => 0.34, latest => 1);
# Search for specific dist on multiple repositories...:
my $locator = Package::Locator->new( repository_urls => $repos );
my $url = locator->locate( distribution => 'A/AU/AUTHOR/Foo-1.0.tar.gz');
DESCRIPTION
Package::Locator attempts to answer the question: "Where can I find a
distribution that will provide this package?" The answer is divined by
searching the indexes for one or more CPAN-like repositories. If you
also provide a specific version number, Package::Locator will attempt to
find a distribution with that version of the package, or higher. You can
also ask to find the latest version of a package across all the indexes.
Package::Locator only looks at the index files for each repository, and
those indexes only contain information about the latest versions of the
packages within that repository. So Package::Locator is not BackPAN
magic -- you cannot use it to find precisely which distribution a
particular package (or file) came from. For that stuff, see "/See Also".
CONSTRUCTOR
new( %attributes )
All the attributes listed below can be passed to the constructor, and
retrieved via accessor methods with the same name. All attributes are
read-only, and cannot be changed once the object is constructed.
ATTRIBUTES
An array reference containing the base URLs of the repositories you want
to search. These are usually CPAN mirrors, but can be any website or
local directory that is organized in a CPAN-like structure. For each
request, repositories are searched in the order you specified them here.
user_agent => $user_agent_obj
The LWP::UserAgent object that will fetch index files. If you do not
provide a user agent, then a default one will be constructed for you.
cache_dir => '/some/directory/path'
The path (as a string or Path::Class::Dir object) to a directory where
the index file will be cached. If the directory does not exist, it will
be created for you. If you do not specify a cache directory, then a
temporary directory will be used. The temporary directory will be
deleted when your application terminates.
force => $boolean
Causes any cached index files to be removed, thus forcing a new one to
be downloaded when the object is constructed. This only has effect if
you specified the "cache_dir" attribute. The default is false.
METHODS
indexes()
Returns a list of Package::Locator::Index objects representing the
indexes of each of the repositories. The indexes are only populated
on-demand when the "locate" method is called. The order of the indexes
is the same as the order of the repositories defined by the
"repository_urls" attribute.
locate( package => 'Foo::Bar' )
locate( package => 'Foo::Bar', latest => 1 )
locate( package => 'Foo::Bar', version => '1.2')
locate( package => 'Foo::Bar', version => '1.2', latest => 1 )
locate ( distribution => 'A/AU/AUTHOR/Foo-Bar-1.0.tar.gz' )
Given the name of a package, searches all the repository indexes and
returns the URL to a distribution containing that requested package, or
the distribution you requested.
If you also specify a "version", then you'll always get a distribution
that contains that version of the package or higher. If you also specify
"latest" then you'll always get the distribution that contains the
latest version of the package that can be found in all the indexes.
Otherwise you'll just get the first distribution we can find that
satisfies your request.
If you give a distribution path instead, then you'll just get back the
URL to the first distribution we find at that path in any of the
repository indexes.
If neither the package nor the distribution path can be found in any of
the indexes, returns undef.
clear_cache()
Deletes the cached index files. Any subsequent calls to the "locate"
method will cause the index files to be fetched anew.
MOTIVATION
The CPAN module also provides a mechanism for locating packages or
distributions, much like Package::Locator does. However, CPAN assumes
that all repositories are CPAN mirrors, so it only searches the first
repository that it can contact.
My secret ambition is to fill the world with lots of DarkPAN
repositories -- each with its own set of distributions. For that
scenario, I need to search multiple repositories at the same time.
SEE ALSO
If you need to locate a distribution that contains a precise version of
a file rather than just a version that is "new enough", then look at
some of these:
Dist::Surveyor
BackPAN::Index
BackPAN::Version::Discover
SUPPORT
Perldoc
You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.
perldoc Package::Locator
Websites
The following websites have more information about this module, and may
be of help to you. As always, in addition to those websites please use
your favorite search engine to discover more resources.
* Search CPAN
The default CPAN search engine, useful to view POD in HTML format.
* CPAN Ratings
The CPAN Ratings is a website that allows community ratings and
reviews of Perl modules.
* CPAN Testers
The CPAN Testers is a network of smokers who run automated tests on
uploaded CPAN distributions.
* CPAN Testers Matrix
The CPAN Testers Matrix is a website that provides a visual overview
of the test results for a distribution on various Perls/platforms.
* CPAN Testers Dependencies
The CPAN Testers Dependencies is a website that shows a chart of the
test results of all dependencies for a distribution.
Bugs / Feature Requests
Source Code
AUTHOR
Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer <jeff@imaginative-software.com>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is copyright (c) 2011 by Imaginative Software Systems.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.