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

Greetings again, Ye Monks

While waiting for responses to Module::Build and Autoconf, I've made some headway and I have a new question. Responses to Module::Build and Autoconf are still greatly appreciated.

Is there a way to tell Module::Build arbitrary file dependencies for the build?

I want to generate an .xs file with potentially different #include lines. I've figured out that I can generate the .xs file by creating a new .xs.PL file that generates the .xs file. Module::Build handles that wonderfully. My problem is, my .xs.PL file references a template, and Module::Build doesn't know a thing about my template, so if I change my template, running ./Build doesn't know to rebuild my .xs file.

Does anyone know of a way to tell Module::Build that my .xs file depends on my template file?

Here's a simplified example to make this question clearer:

Foo.xs.PL reads Foo.xs.template and creates Foo.xs. If I touch Foo.xs.PL and run ./Build, it will rebuild Foo.xs. If I touch Foo.xs.template and run ./Build, nothing happens. I want to tell Module::Build that it should rebuild Foo.xs if I touch Foo.xs.template.

Thanks!
-Pileofrogs

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Module::Build file dependencies
by Anonymous Monk on May 06, 2008 at 08:47 UTC
    I think you'd have to subclass Module::Build.