Searching CPAN for instances of dependencies on a module

jkeenan1 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Let's suppose that I am taking over maintenance of a CPAN distribution from its author or previous maintainer. Is there a practical way to search CPAN to uncover modules which use the module I'm now maintaining?

Granted, I could go to search.cpan.org and fill in my module's name in the "All" pane. But that only returns a list in the form of a web page. I'd like something more like that site's "grep" tool, i.e., something that would show me files and line numbers -- but for all of CPAN at once rather than one distro at a time. And I'd like something that returns plain-text so it's easy to manipulate further.

It seems like this should have been invented already. Ideas?

Thank you very much.

Jim Keenan

Comment on Searching CPAN for instances of dependencies on a module

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Searching CPAN for instances of dependencies on a module by Corion (Patriarch) on May 19, 2006 at 11:31 UTC
There is Gonzui, which indexes all of CPAN and which is very convenient to have when scanning for certain constructs of code or module usage. I have the following as a browser "keyword" which allows me to search from the browser bar: `http://cpansearch.bulknews.net/search?q=%s&fm=all` [download] Additionally, you can use the CPANTS database, which also lists the prerequisites I think.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Searching CPAN for instances of dependencies on a module by jkeenan1 (Deacon) on May 20, 2006 at 02:32 UTC
Gonzui hit the spot. Thanks, Corion. Jim Keenan	[reply]
Re: Searching CPAN for instances of dependencies on a module by davorg (Chancellor) on May 19, 2006 at 11:57 UTC
CPANTS has a kwalitee measure that checks whether a module is a pre-requisite of any other module. So there's probably something in the CPANTS generator that does what you want. -- <http://dave.org.uk> "The first rule of Perl club is you do not talk about Perl club." -- Chip Salzenberg	[reply]
Re^2: Searching CPAN for instances of dependencies on a module by jkeenan1 (Deacon) on Oct 13, 2006 at 02:04 UTC
At some point since May (the last posting in this thread), the CPANTS folks apparently decided to make this feature more prominent. I searched for one of my own modules and was pleasantly surprised to see that it's required by other modules I had never heard of! So now, discovering your dependencies is a snap! Of course, the downside of that is: I better make certain I don't break anything in those modules if I make revisions to mine! Jim Keenan	[reply]