Module-Build 0.20

on Perl CPAN

Separated the 'build' action into two separate actions, 'code' and
'docs'. This is similar to MakeMaker's separation of the 'all'
target into 'pure_all' and 'manifypods'. This fixes a permissions
hassle in which doing 'sudo Build install' would often create local
doc files that needed superuser permissions to delete.

Enhanced the 'help' action - 'Build help foo' will now show the POD
documentation for the 'foo' action.

Added a notes() feature, which helps share data transparently
between the Build.PL and t/*.t scripts.

The installation process will now create man(1) and man(3) pages
from POD in modules & scripts, and install them. We don't build
man pages when there's nowhere to install them, such as on some
Win32 or most Mac systems. [large patch by Steve Purkis, 5.005 fix
by Mathieu Arnold]

The 'distdir' action now copies files to the distribution
directory, rather than making them hard links to the original
files. This allows authors to do last-minute alterations of the
files without affecting the originals. [Dave Rolsky]

If the author uses XS files in nonstandard locations, the copied
versions of those files will now be cleaned up properly.

In invoking the 'test' action or invoking 'xsubpp', we now use the
same perl executable as we use everywhere else, rather than blindly
using $^X or $Config{perlpath} (neither of which are very
reliable).

Fixed a problem with the 'install_path' parameter given to
'Build.PL' being lost in subsequent actions. [Reported by Mathieu
Arnold]

Fixed yet another bug with installation directories, in which the
'install_base' parameter wasn't being respected on the command
line. [Spotted by Jonathan Swartz]

Changed the way the depends_on() method works inside action
subroutines - now each action will only run once per dispatch()
invocation (similar to how perl's require() function works). This
helps avoid some difficult problems with dependency loops.

Changed the documentation for the 'autosplit' parameter to give
reasons why it may not be a good idea to use, but no longer
threaten to remove it. [Suggested by Martyn J. Pearce]

Improved the formatting of the 'traditional' Makefile.PL generated
by Module::Build::Compat->create_makefile_pl. [Michael Schwern]

The 'traditional' Makefile.PL will now use the 'module_name'
parameter (as NAME) if it's available, otherwise it will continue
to use the 'dist_name' (as DISTNAME). [Michael Schwern]

Created read/write accessor methods for all our 'properties'.
[Michael Schwern]

The 'test_files' parameter can now be specified using glob() syntax
(i.e. 't/*.t'), and the corresponding test_files() method is now a
read/write accessor.

The location of the 'blib' directory is now a property of the Build
object - nobody is likely to notice this change, with any luck, but
it makes the design and code cleaner.

The 'disttest' and 'distsign' methods now chdir() back to the
directory where they started, rather than to the base_dir of the
build.

Improved comparisons of version strings containing underscore
characters (indicating "beta" status). [Steve Purkis]

Added documentation for the 'dist_author', 'dist_abstract', and
'codebase' parameters to new(), and for the 'ppd' action. [Dave
Rolsky]

Added documentation for the up_to_date() and contains_pod()
methods. [Dave Rolsky]

'traditional' pass-through Makefile.PLs will now contain an
INSTALLDIRS parameter matching the Build.PL's 'installdirs'
setting.

version_from_file() now ignores $VERSION variables that are defined
in POD or comments. It can still be tricked by $VERSIONs in string
literals, though. [Steve Purkis]

The code to find packages in module files now uses Steve's scanning
method (above) to skip package-declaration-lookalikes in POD or
comments.

The 'disttest' action will now propagate its @INC settings to its
subprocesses.