* Updated the Perl section of the manual.

svn path=/nixpkgs/trunk/; revision=15173
This commit is contained in:
Eelco Dolstra 2009-04-20 12:23:01 +00:00
parent b7c0e6b66b
commit dd2e74e02b

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@ -20,9 +20,15 @@ a generic package builder function for any Perl package that has a
standard <varname>Makefile.PL</varname>. Its implemented in <link
xlink:href="https://svn.nixos.org/repos/nix/nixpkgs/trunk/pkgs/development/perl-modules/generic"><filename>pkgs/development/perl-modules/generic</filename></link>.</para>
<para>Most Perl packages from CPAN are so straight-forward to build
that they are defined in <filename>pkgs/all-packages.nix</filename>
itself. Here is an example:
<para>Perl packages from CPAN are defined in <link
xlink:href="https://svn.nixos.org/repos/nix/nixpkgs/trunk/pkgs/top-level/perl-packages.nix"><filename>pkgs/perl-packages.nix</filename></link>,
rather than <filename>pkgs/all-packages.nix</filename>. Most Perl
packages are so straight-forward to build that they are defined here
directly, rather than having a separate function for each package
called from <filename>perl-packages.nix</filename>. However, more
complicated packages should be put in a separate file, typically in
<filename>pkgs/development/perl-modules</filename>. Here is an
example of the former:
<programlisting>
perlClassC3 = buildPerlPackage rec {
@ -37,10 +43,23 @@ perlClassC3 = buildPerlPackage rec {
Note the use of <literal>mirror://cpan/</literal>, and the
<literal>${name}</literal> in the URL definition to ensure that the
name attribute is consistent with the source that were actually
downloading. As usual, you can test this package as follows:
downloading. Perl packages are made available in
<filename>all-packages.nix</filename> through the variable
<varname>perlPackages</varname>. For instance, if you have a package
that needs <varname>perlClassC3</varname>, you would typically write
<programlisting>
foo = import ../path/to/foo.nix {
inherit stdenv fetchurl ...;
inherit (perlPackages) perlClassC3;
};
</programlisting>
in <filename>all-packages.nix</filename>. You can test building a
Perl package as follows:
<screen>
$ nix-build -A perlClassC3
$ nix-build -A perlPackages.perlClassC3
</screen>
<varname>buildPerlPackage</varname> adds <literal>perl-</literal> to
@ -53,7 +72,7 @@ $ nix-env -i perl-Class-C3
</screen>
(Of course you can also install using the attribute name:
<literal>nix-env -i -A perlClassC3</literal>.)</para>
<literal>nix-env -i -A perlPackages.perlClassC3</literal>.)</para>
<para>So what does <varname>buildPerlPackage</varname> do? It does
the following: