--- name: "inc::latest" section: "3pm" platform: "linux" package: "perl-inc-latest" version: "0.500-15" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/inc::latest/3pm" --- # inc::latest(3pm) use modules bundled in inc/ if they are newer than installed ones ## NAME inc::latest - use modules bundled in inc/ if they are newer than installed ones ## VERSION version 0.500 ## SYNOPSIS ``` # in Makefile.PL or Build.PL use inc::latest 'Some::Configure::Prereq'; ``` ## DESCRIPTION **WARNING -- THIS IS AN EXPERIMENTAL MODULE**. It was originally bundled (as an experiment) with Module::Build and has been split out for more general use. The `"inc::latest"` module helps bootstrap configure-time dependencies for CPAN distributions. These dependencies get bundled into the `"inc"` directory within a distribution and are used by *Makefile.PL* or *Build.PL*. Arguments to `"inc::latest"` are module names that are checked against both the current `@INC` array and against specially-named directories in `"inc"`. If the bundled version is newer than the installed one (or the module isn't installed, then, the bundled directory is added to the start of `@INC` and the module is loaded from there. There are actually two variations of `"inc::latest"` -- one for authors and one for the `"inc"` directory. For distribution authors, the `"inc::latest"` installed in the system will record modules loaded via `"inc::latest"` and can be used to create the bundled files in `"inc"`, including writing the second variation as `"inc/latest.pm"`. This second `"inc::latest"` is the one that is loaded in a distribution being installed (e.g. from *Makefile.PL* or *Build.PL*). This bundled `"inc::latest"` is the one that determines which module to load. ### Special notes on bundling The `"inc::latest"` module creates bundled directories based on the packlist file of an installed distribution. Even though `"inc::latest"` takes module name arguments, it is better to think of it as bundling and making available entire *distributions*. When a module is loaded through `"inc::latest"`, it looks in all bundled distributions in `"inc/"` for a newer module than can be found in the existing `@INC` array. Thus, the module-name provided should usually be the "top-level" module name of a distribution, though this is not strictly required. `"inc::latest"` has a number of heuristics to discover module names, allowing users to do things like this: ``` use inc::latest 'Devel::AssertOS::Unix'; ``` even though Devel::AssertOS::Unix is contained within the Devel-CheckOS distribution. At the current time, packlists are required. Thus, bundling dual-core modules may require a 'forced install' over versions in the latest version of perl in order to create the necessary packlist for bundling. ### Managing dependency chains Before bundling a distribution you must ensure that all prerequisites are also bundled and load in the correct order. For example, if you need `"Wibble"`, but `"Wibble"` depends on `"Wobble"`, and you have bundled `"Module::Build"`, your *Build.PL* might look like this: ``` use inc::latest 'Wobble'; use inc::latest 'Wibble'; use inc::latest 'Module::Build'; Module::Build->new( module_name => 'Foo::Bar', license => 'perl', )->create_build_script; ``` Authors are strongly suggested to limit the bundling of additional dependencies if at all possible and to carefully test their distribution tarballs before uploading to CPAN. ## USAGE ### As bundled in inc/ Using "Author-mode", a special stub module will be created in your distribute directory as *inc/latest.pm*. In your *Makefile.PL* or *Build.PL*, you can then load `"inc::latest"` to load bundled modules. When calling `"use"`, the bundled `"inc::latest"` takes a single module name and optional arguments to pass to that module's own import method. ``` use inc::latest 'Foo::Bar' qw/foo bar baz/; ``` The implementation is private. Only the `"import"` method is public. ### Author-mode When you have inc::latest installed from CPAN, then you are in author-mode if any of the Author-mode methods are available. For example: ``` if ( inc::latest->can('write') ) { inc::latest->write('inc'); } ``` Using author-mode, you can create the stub *inc/latest.pm* and bundle modules into *inc*. - **loaded\_modules()** ``` my @list = inc::latest->loaded_modules; ``` This takes no arguments and always returns a list of module names requested for loading via "use inc::latest 'MODULE'", regardless of whether the load was successful or not. - **write()** ``` inc::latest->write( 'inc' ); ``` This writes the bundled version of inc::latest to the directory name given as an argument. It almost all cases, it should be '`"inc"`'. - **bundle\_module()** ``` for my $mod ( inc::latest->loaded_modules ) { inc::latest->bundle_module($mod, $dir); } ``` If `$mod` corresponds to a packlist, then this function creates a specially-named directory in `$dir` and copies all .pm files from the modlist to the new directory (which almost always should just be 'inc'). For example, if Foo::Bar is the name of the module, and `$dir` is 'inc', then the directory would be 'inc/inc\_Foo-Bar' and contain files like this: ``` inc/inc_Foo-Bar/Foo/Bar.pm ``` Currently, `$mod` **must** have a packlist. If this is not the case (e.g. for a dual-core module), then the bundling will fail. You may be able to create a packlist by forced installing the module on top of the version that came with core Perl. ## SUPPORT ### Bugs / Feature Requests Please report any bugs or feature requests through the issue tracker at \. You will be notified automatically of any progress on your issue. ### Source Code This is open source software. The code repository is available for public review and contribution under the terms of the license. \ ``` git clone https://github.com/dagolden/inc-latest.git ``` ## AUTHORS - • David Golden \ - • Eric Wilhelm \ ## COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE This software is Copyright (c) 2009 by David Golden. This is free software, licensed under: ``` The Apache License, Version 2.0, January 2004 ```