WHAT? Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write (or Manifest::Write for brevity) is a plugin for Dist::Zilla, a replacement for standard plugin Manifest. Manifest::Write writes *annotated* distribution manifest: each filename is followed by a comment explaining origin of the file: if it is a part of software, meta information, or 3rd-party file. Also it can *exclude* built files from distribution, e. g. extra tests have to be built (to run) but need not be distributed. 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 dist.ini lib/Dummy.pm t/00-compile.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/Dummy.pm *could* be such file). Some of these files may be processed by various filters (like PkgVersion or PodWeaver). 2. Some files contain distribution meta information (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, Changes, and README). Sometimes you may want (or have) to trace origin of files: whether this or that file was created by author or automatically generated, if the file was processed or added as-is. With a standard manifest (built by Manifest plugin) you have to *guess* this or study the distribution build process: look into dist.ini file, used plugins and plugin bundles. In contrast to standard Manifest plugin, Manifest::Write writes *annotated* manifest: # This file was generated with Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write v0.9.6. Build.PL # 3rd party file built by ModuleBuildTiny COPYING # Dummy file added by GatherDir Changes # Dummy file added by GatherDir MANIFEST # metainfo file built by Manifest::Write META.yml # metainfo file built by MetaYAML README # Dummy file added by GatherDir dist.ini # Dummy file added by GatherDir lib/Dummy.pm # Dummy file added by GatherDir t/00-compile.t # 3rd party file built by Test::Compile (In the example above "Dummy" is name of manifested distribution.) Having such annotated manifest there is no need to *guess* origin of files. (However, see File Mungers.) 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 distribution manifest, 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 dist.ini file, 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-v0.7.1). 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. *v0.7.1*) from CPAN: $ cpanm Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Manifest::Write@v0.7.1 To install locally available distribution (e. g. previously downloaded from CPAN or built from sources): $ cpanm ./Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write-v0.7.1.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 *v0.7.1* of the distribution): $ tar xaf Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write-v0.7.1.tar.gz $ cd Dist-Zilla-Plugin-Manifest-Write-v0.7.1 $ 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, the 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 (to check primary software functionality): $ dzil test To run extended tests (to check source code style, documentation and other things which are not too important for software end users): $ dzil xtest 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::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::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 .