Post-Upload Processing

Chapter 5 - Submitting Your Module to CPAN
by?Sam Tregar?
Apress ? 2002
Companion Web Site

After you upload a file to PAUSE, you'll be presented with links that you can use to monitor the progress of your module (see Figure 5-3). An FTP link provides access to the temporary directory where CPAN moves your module while processing. A link is also provided to the final destination for your module-from here it will be mirrored by the root CPAN server and from there out to the network of CPAN servers. Finally, links are provided to a program that tails the logs generated by the PAUSE scripts in action. Using these links, you can watch PAUSE do its work.

Figure 5-3: The PAUSE file upload completed screen

Note 

Different CPAN mirrors update their contents at different intervals. Some mirrors may get a copy of your new module within a few hours of your upload, whereas others might take several days.

When PAUSE processes your upload, it performs several checks. First, the module distribution is checked for module files containing package declarations. The first time a particular package name is uploaded, it is assigned to the author who uploaded it. If a package declaration is found matching an already uploaded package, then the upload will be rejected. Next, if your module contains a README file, it is extracted and renamed by appending .readme to your distribution filename minus the .tar.gz or .zip extension. For example, the README for HTML::Template version 2.4 is available as HTML-Template-2.4.readme. Finally, the module distribution is moved to a directory where the CPAN mirroring scripts will find it. When this process is complete, you'll receive an e-mail from PAUSE.