Alien::Build::Manual::AlienUser(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation
NAME
Alien::Build::Manual::AlienUser - Alien user documentation
VERSION
version 2.80
SYNOPSIS
perldoc Alien::Build::Manual::AlienUser
DESCRIPTION
This document is intended for a user of an Alien::Base based Alien
module's user. Although specifically geared for Alien::Base
subclasses, it may have some useful hints for Alien in general.
Full working examples of how to use an Alien module are also bundled
with Alien::Build in the distribution's "example/user" directory.
Those examples use Alien::xz, which uses alienfile + Alien::Build +
Alien::Base.
The following documentation will assume you are trying to use an Alien
called "Alien::Foo" which provides the library "libfoo" and the command
line tool "foo". Many Aliens will only provide one or the other.
The best interface to use for using Alien::Base based aliens is
Alien::Base::Wrapper. This allows you to combine multiple aliens
together and handles a number of corner obscure corner cases that using
Aliens directly does not. Also as of 0.64, Alien::Base::Wrapper comes
bundled with Alien::Build and Alien::Base anyway, so it is not an extra
dependency.
What follows are the main use cases.
ExtUtils::MakeMaker
use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;
use Alien::Base::Wrapper ();
WriteMakefile(
Alien::Base::Wrapper->new('Alien::Foo')->mm_args2(
NAME => 'FOO::XS',
...
),
);
Alien::Base::Wrapper will take a hash of "WriteMakefile" arguments and
insert the appropriate compiler and linker flags for you. This is
recommended over doing this yourself as the exact incantation to get
EUMM to work is tricky to get right.
The "mm_args2" method will also set your "CONFIGURE_REQUIRES" for
Alien::Base::Wrapper, ExtUtils::MakeMaker and any aliens that you
specify.
Module::Build
use Module::Build;
use Alien::Base::Wrapper qw( Alien::Foo !export );
use Alien::Foo;
my $build = Module::Build->new(
...
configure_requires => {
'Alien::Base::Wrapper' => '0',
'Alien::Foo' => '0',
...
},
Alien::Base::Wrapper->mb_args,
...
);
$build->create_build_script;
For Module::Build you can also use Alien::Base::Wrapper, but you will
have to specify the "configure_requires" yourself.
Inline::C / Inline::CPP
use Inline 0.56 with => 'Alien::Foo';
Inline::C and Inline::CPP can be configured to use an Alien::Base based
Alien with the "with" keyword.
ExtUtils::Depends
use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;
use ExtUtils::Depends;
my $pkg = ExtUtils::Depends->new("Alien::Foo");
WriteMakefile(
...
$pkg->get_makefile_vars,
...
);
ExtUtils::Depends works similar to Alien::Base::Wrapper, but uses the
Inline interface under the covers.
Dist::Zilla
[@Filter]
-bundle = @Basic
-remove = MakeMaker
[Prereqs / ConfigureRequires]
Alien::Foo = 0
[MakeMaker::Awesome]
header = use Alien::Base::Wrapper qw( Alien::Foo !export );
WriteMakefile_arg = Alien::Base::Wrapper->mm_args
FFI::Platypus
Requires "Alien::Foo" always:
use FFI::Platypus;
use Alien::Foo;
my $ffi = FFI::Platypus->new(
lib => [ Alien::Foo->dynamic_libs ],
);
Use "Alien::Foo" in fallback mode:
use FFI::Platypus;
use FFI::CheckLib 0.28 qw( find_lib_or_die );
use Alien::Foo;
my $ffi = FFI::Platypus->new(
lib => [ find_lib_or_die lib => 'foo', alien => ['Alien::Foo'] ],
);
If you are going to always require an Alien you can just call
"dynamic_libs" and pass it into FFI::Platypus' lib method. You should
consider using FFI::CheckLib to use the Alien in fallback mode instead.
This way you only need to install the Alien if the system doesn't
provide it.
For fallback mode to work correctly you need to be using FFI::CheckLib
0.28 or better.
Inline::C
use Inline with => 'Alien::Foo';
use Inline C => <<~'END';
#include <foo.h>
const char *my_foo_wrapper()
{
foo();
}
END
sub exported_foo()
{
my_foo_wrapper();
}
tool
use Alien::Foo;
use Env qw( @PATH );
unshift @PATH, Alien::Foo->bin_dir;
system 'foo', '--bar', '--baz';
Some Aliens provide tools instead of or in addition to a library. You
need to add them to the "PATH" environment variable though. (Unless
the tool is already provided by the system, in which case it is already
in the path and the "bin_dir" method will return an empty list).
ENVIRONMENT
ALIEN_INSTALL_TYPE
Although the recommended way for a consumer to use an Alien::Base
based Alien is to declare it as a static configure and build-time
dependency, some consumers may prefer to fallback on using an Alien
only when the consumer itself cannot detect the necessary package.
In some cases the consumer may want the user to opt-in to using an
Alien before requiring it.
To keep the interface consistent among Aliens, the consumer of the
fallback opt-in Alien may fallback on the Alien if the environment
variable "ALIEN_INSTALL_TYPE" is set to any value. The rationale is
that by setting this environment variable the user is aware that
Alien modules may be installed and have indicated consent. The
actual implementation of this, by its nature would have to be in
the consuming CPAN module.
This behavior should be documented in the consumer's POD.
See "ENVIRONMENT" in Alien::Build for more details on the usage of
this environment variable.
SEE ALSO
Alien::Build::Manual(3)
Other Alien::Build manuals.
AUTHOR
Author: Graham Ollis <plicease@cpan.org>
Contributors:
Diab Jerius (DJERIUS)
Roy Storey (KIWIROY)
Ilya Pavlov
David Mertens (run4flat)
Mark Nunberg (mordy, mnunberg)
Christian Walde (Mithaldu)
Brian Wightman (MidLifeXis)
Zaki Mughal (zmughal)
mohawk (mohawk2, ETJ)
Vikas N Kumar (vikasnkumar)
Flavio Poletti (polettix)
Salvador Fandino (salva)
Gianni Ceccarelli (dakkar)
Pavel Shaydo (zwon, trinitum)
Kang-min Liu (<?><?><?>, gugod)
Nicholas Shipp (nshp)
Juan Julian Merelo Guervos (JJ)
Joel Berger (JBERGER)
Petr Pisar (ppisar)
Lance Wicks (LANCEW)
Ahmad Fatoum (a3f, ATHREEF)
Jose Joaquin Atria (JJATRIA)
Duke Leto (LETO)
Shoichi Kaji (SKAJI)
Shawn Laffan (SLAFFAN)
Paul Evans (leonerd, PEVANS)
Hakon Haegland (hakonhagland, HAKONH)
nick nauwelaerts (INPHOBIA)
Florian Weimer
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is copyright (c) 2011-2022 by Graham Ollis.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.
perl v5.34.1 2023-05-11
Alien::Build::Manual::AlienUser(3)
alien-build 2.800.0 - Generated Mon Apr 8 18:35:49 CDT 2024