NAME

       Parse::CPAN::Packages - Parse 02packages.details.txt.gz

SYNOPSIS

         use Parse::CPAN::Packages;

         # must have downloaded
         my $p = Parse::CPAN::Packages->new("02packages.details.txt.gz");
         # either a filename as above or pass in the contents of the file
         # (uncompressed)
         my $p = Parse::CPAN::Packages->new($packages_details_contents);

         my $m = $p->package("Acme::Colour");
         # $m is a Parse::CPAN::Packages::Package object
         print $m->package, "\n";   # Acme::Colour
         print $m->version, "\n";   # 1.00

         my $d = $m->distribution();
         # $d is a Parse::CPAN::Packages::Distribution object
         print $d->prefix, "\n";    # L/LB/LBROCARD/Acme-Colour-1.00.tar.gz
         print $d->dist, "\n";      # Acme-Colour
         print $d->version, "\n";   # 1.00
         print $d->maturity, "\n";  # released
         print $d->filename, "\n";  # Acme-Colour-1.00.tar.gz
         print $d->cpanid, "\n";    # LBROCARD
         print $d->distvname, "\n"; # Acme-Colour-1.00

         # all the package objects
         my @packages = $p->packages;

         # all the distribution objects
         my @distributions = $p->distributions;

         # the latest distribution
         $d = $p->latest_distribution("Acme-Colour");
         is($d->prefix, "L/LB/LBROCARD/Acme-Colour-1.00.tar.gz");
         is($d->version, "1.00");

         # all the latest distributions
         my @distributions = $p->latest_distributions;

DESCRIPTION

       The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN) is a very useful collection of Perl code. It has several
       indices of the files that it hosts, including a file named "02packages.details.txt.gz" in the "modules"
       directory. This file contains lots of useful information and this module provides a simple interface to
       the data contained within.

       In a future release Parse::CPAN::Packages::Package and Parse::CPAN::Packages::Distribution might have
       more information.

   Methods
       new Creates a new instance from a details file.

           The  constructor  can be passed either the path to the "02packages.details.txt.gz" file, a path to an
           ungzipped version of this file, or a scalar containing the entire uncompressed contents of the file.

           Note that this module does not concern  itself  with  downloading  this  file.  You  should  do  this
           yourself.  For example:

              use LWP::Simple qw(get);
              my $data = get("http://www.cpan.org/modules/02packages.details.txt.gz");
              my $p = Parse::CPAN::Packages->new($data);

           If you have a configured CPAN, then there's usually already a cached file available:

              use CPAN;
              $CPAN::Be_Silent = 1;
              CPAN::HandleConfig->load;
              my $file = $CPAN::Config->{keep_source_where} . "/modules/02packages.details.txt.gz";
              my $p = Parse::CPAN::Packages->new($file);

       package($packagename)
           Returns a "Parse::CPAN::Packages::Package" that represents the named package.

             my $p = Parse::CPAN::Packages->new($gzfilename);
             my $package = $p->package("Acme::Colour");

       packages()
           Returns  a  list  of  Parse::CPAN::Packages::Package  objects representing all the packages that were
           extracted from the file.

       package_count()
           Returns the number of packages stored.

       distribution($filename)
           Returns a Parse::CPAN::Packages::Distribution object that represents the filename passed:

             my $p = Parse::CPAN::Packages->new($gzfilename);
             my $dist = $p->distribution('L/LB/LBROCARD/Acme-Colour-1.00.tar.gz');

       distributions()
           Returns  a  list  of  Parse::CPAN::Packages::Distribution  objects   representing   all   the   known
           distributions.

       distribution_count()
           Returns the number of distributions stored.

       latest_distribution($distname)
           Returns  the "Parse::CPAN::Packages::Distribution" object that represents the latest distribution for
           the named disribution passed, that is to say it returns the distribution that has the highest version
           number (as determined by version.pm or number comparison if that fails):

             my $p = Parse::CPAN::Packages->new($gzfilename);
             my $dist = $p->distribution('Acme-Color');

       latest_distrbutions()
           Returns  a  list  of  Parse::CPAN::Packages::Distribution  objects  representing   all   the   latest
           distributions.

       latest_distribution_count()
           Returns the number of distributions stored.

   Preamble Methods
       These methods return the information from the preamble at the start of the file. They return undef if for
       any reason no matching preamble line was found.

       file()
       url()
       description()
       columns()
       intended_for()
       written_by()
       line_count()
       last_updated()

   Addtional Methods
       These are additional methods that you may find useful.

       parse($filename)
           Parses  the  filename.   Works  in  a  similar fashion to the the constructor (i.e. you can pass it a
           filename for a compressed/1uncompressed file, a uncompressed scalar containing  the  file.   You  can
           also pass nothing to indicate to load the compressed file from the current working directory.)

           Note  that  each time this function is run the packages and distribtions found will be "added" to the
           current list of packages.

       add_quick($package_name, $package_version, $prefix)
           Quick way of adding a new package and distribution.

       add_package($package_obj)
           Adds a package.  Note that you'll probably want  to  add  the  corrisponding  distribution  for  that
           package too (it's not done automatically.)

       add_distribution($distribution_obj)
           Adds  a  distribution.   Note  that  you'll  probably want to add the corresponding packages for that
           distribution too (it's not done automatically.)

       distribution_from_prefix($prefix)
           Returns a distribution given a prefix.

       latest_distributions
           Returns all the latest distributions:

             my @distributions = $p->latest_distributions;

AUTHOR

       Leon Brocard <acme@astray.com>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2004-9, Leon Brocard

LICENSE

       This module is free software; you can redistribute it or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

BUGS

       This module leaks memory as packages hold distributions and distributions hold packages.  No attempt  has
       been  made  to  fix this as it's not anticpated that this will be used in long running programs that will
       dispose of the objects once created.

       The  old  interface  for  "new"  where   if   you   passed   no   arguments   it   would   look   for   a
       "02packages.details.txt.gz" in your current directory is no longer supported.

TODO

       delete_* methods.  merge_into method.  Documentation for other modules.

SEE ALSO

       CPAN::DistInfoname, Parse::CPAN::Packages::Writer.

perl v5.34.0                                       2022-06-16                         Parse::CPAN::Packages(3pm)