| A proper Perl distribution contains a handful of files and lists any prerequisite modules that it needs to function properly. Each package should have a version number and have valid POD syntax. If you've signed your distribution cryptographically , the signature should validate. These are all important features, so why not test them? The Test::Distribution module can do just that with one simple test script. How do I do that? Given a module distribution Text::Hogwash , create a test file t/distribution.t containing: use Test::More; eval 'require Test::Distribution'; plan( skip_all => 'Test::Distribution not installed' ) if $@; Test::Distribution->import( );
The -l option tells prove that modules for the distribution are in the lib/ directory. Run t/distribution.t using prove : $ prove -v -l t/distribution.t t/distribution....1..14 ok 1 - Checking MANIFEST integrity ok 2 - use Text::Hogwash::Tomfoolery; ok 3 - use Text::Hogwash::Silliness; ok 4 - Text::Hogwash::Tomfoolery defines a version ok 5 - Text::Hogwash::Silliness defines a version ok 6 - All non-core use( )d modules listed in PREREQ_PM ok 7 - POD test for lib/Text/Hogwash/Tomfoolery.pm ok 8 - POD test for lib/Text/Hogwash/Silliness.pm ok 9 - MANIFEST exists ok 10 - README exists ok 11 - Changes or ChangeLog exists ok 12 - Build.PL or Makefile.PL exists ok 13 - Pod Coverage ok ok 14 - Pod Coverage ok ok All tests successful. Files=1, Tests=14, 0 wallclock secs ( 0.19 cusr + 0.01 csys = 0.20 CPU)
What just happened ? Test::Distribution calculates how many tests it will run and declares the plan during its import( ) call. Some of these tests use modules covered earlier, such as Test::Pod (Testing POD Files"), Test::Pod::Coverage (Testing Documentation Coverage"), and Module::Signature (Distribution Signatures"). Others are simple checks that would be tedious to perform manually, such as ensuring that the MANIFEST and README files exist. What about... | Q: | Is it possible to test a subset of distribution properties, such as the module prerequisites or package versions? | | A: | The Test::Distribution documentation includes a list of the types of tests it performs , such as prereq and versions . Specify the types of tests you want to run by using only or not after the import statement: Test::Distribution->import( only = > [ qw( prereq versions ) ] );
The previous listing passes two additional arguments to import( ) : the string only and a reference to an array of the strings that represent the only types of tests that Test::Distribution should perform. When running the modified test file, the test output is much shorter because Test::Distribution runs only the named tests: $ prove -v t/distribution.t t/distribution....1..5 ok 1 - use Text::Hogwash::Tomfoolery; ok 2 - use Text::Hogwash::Silliness; ok 3 - Text::Hogwash::Tomfoolery defines a version ok 4 - Text::Hogwash::Silliness defines a version ok 5 - All non-core use( )d modules listed in PREREQ_PM ok All tests successful. Files=1, Tests=5, 1 wallclock secs ( 0.62 cusr + 0.04 csys = 0.66 CPU)
You can also use the not argument instead of only to prohibit Test::Distribution from running specified tests. It will run everything else. | | 