Well, first, h2xs doesn't package the modules for you. For pure perl modules, it's just used to create a directory structure. (There are other options to make that directory structure, such as ExtUtils::ModuleMaker or my Template Toolkit extension of that, ExtUtils::ModuleMaker::TT that you may find easier to use.)

Once you have the directory structure, you can put your .pm files in the appropriate place, such as a directory called "lib" (depending on what options you provide to h2xs or an equivalent program), and fill out some control files such as a Makefile.PL or Build.PL along with the MANIFEST file. After that, the .PL can be run through perl ("perl Makefile.PL") to produce a Makefile (or if you're using Build.PL, a Build script). Then you can "make tardist" (or "Build dist") to create the archive file for upload to CPAN.

If that sounds incredibly complicated, well, it is. That also doesn't include useful things you should do like filling in a README file and Changes file, writing tests for your module, etc. I strongly suggest checking out the Perlmonks Tutorials section on writing modules. Sam Tregar's book "Writing Perl Modules for CPAN" is also a great resource to get.

It may seem like a lot of work, but it gets easy once you do it a couple times. Welcome to the world of CPAN authorship!

-xdg

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In reply to Re: Building CPAN Modules by xdg
in thread Building CPAN Modules by atlantageek

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