1=head1 NAME
2
3Module::CoreList - what modules shipped with versions of perl
4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6
7 use Module::CoreList;
8
9 print $Module::CoreList::version{5.00503}{CPAN}; # prints 1.48
10
11 print Module::CoreList->first_release('File::Spec');
12 # prints 5.00405
13
14 print Module::CoreList->first_release_by_date('File::Spec');
15 # prints 5.005
16
17 print Module::CoreList->first_release('File::Spec', 0.82);
18 # prints 5.006001
19
20 if (Module::CoreList::is_core('File::Spec')) {
21   print "File::Spec is a core module\n";
22 }
23
24 print join ', ', Module::CoreList->find_modules(qr/Data/);
25    # prints 'Data::Dumper'
26 print join ', ',
27          Module::CoreList->find_modules(qr/test::h.*::.*s/i, 5.008008);
28    # prints 'Test::Harness::Assert, Test::Harness::Straps'
29
30 print join ", ", @{ $Module::CoreList::families{5.005} };
31    # prints "5.005, 5.00503, 5.00504"
32
33=head1 DESCRIPTION
34
35Module::CoreList provides information on which core and dual-life modules shipped
36with each version of L<perl>.
37
38It provides a number of mechanisms for querying this information.
39
40There is a utility called L<corelist> provided with this module
41which is a convenient way of querying from the command-line.
42
43There is a functional programming API available for programmers to query
44information.
45
46Programmers may also query the contained hash structures to find relevant
47information.
48
49=head1 FUNCTIONS API
50
51These are the functions that are available, they may either be called as functions or class methods:
52
53  Module::CoreList::first_release('File::Spec'); # as a function
54
55  Module::CoreList->first_release('File::Spec'); # class method
56
57=over
58
59=item C<first_release( MODULE )>
60
61Behaviour since version 2.11
62
63Requires a MODULE name as an argument, returns the perl version when that module first
64appeared in core as ordered by perl version number or undef ( in scalar context )
65or an empty list ( in list context ) if that module is not in core.
66
67=item C<first_release_by_date( MODULE )>
68
69Requires a MODULE name as an argument, returns the perl version when that module first
70appeared in core as ordered by release date or undef ( in scalar context )
71or an empty list ( in list context ) if that module is not in core.
72
73=item C<find_modules( REGEX, [ LIST OF PERLS ] )>
74
75Takes a regex as an argument, returns a list of modules that match the regex given.
76If only a regex is provided applies to all modules in all perl versions. Optionally
77you may provide a list of perl versions to limit the regex search.
78
79=item C<find_version( PERL_VERSION )>
80
81Takes a perl version as an argument. Upon successful completion, returns a
82reference to a hash.  Each element of that hash has a key which is the name of
83a module (I<e.g.,> 'File::Path') shipped with that version of perl and a value
84which is the version number (I<e.g.,> '2.09') of that module which shipped
85with that version of perl .  Returns C<undef> otherwise.
86
87=item C<is_core( MODULE, [ MODULE_VERSION, [ PERL_VERSION ] ] )>
88
89Available in version 2.99 and above.
90
91Returns true if MODULE was bundled with the specified version of Perl.
92You can optionally specify a minimum version of the module,
93and can also specify a version of Perl.
94If a version of Perl isn't specified,
95C<is_core()> will use the numeric version of Perl that is running (ie C<$]>).
96
97If you want to specify the version of Perl, but don't care about
98the version of the module, pass C<undef> for the module version:
99
100=item C<is_deprecated( MODULE, PERL_VERSION )>
101
102Available in version 2.22 and above.
103
104Returns true if MODULE is marked as deprecated in PERL_VERSION.  If PERL_VERSION is
105omitted, it defaults to the current version of Perl.
106
107=item C<deprecated_in( MODULE )>
108
109Available in version 2.77 and above.
110
111Returns the first perl version where the MODULE was marked as deprecated. Returns C<undef>
112if the MODULE has not been marked as deprecated.
113
114=item C<removed_from( MODULE )>
115
116Available in version 2.32 and above
117
118Takes a module name as an argument, returns the first perl version where that module
119was removed from core. Returns undef if the given module was never in core or remains
120in core.
121
122=item C<removed_from_by_date( MODULE )>
123
124Available in version 2.32 and above
125
126Takes a module name as an argument, returns the first perl version by release date where that module
127was removed from core. Returns undef if the given module was never in core or remains
128in core.
129
130=item C<changes_between( PERL_VERSION, PERL_VERSION )>
131
132Available in version 2.66 and above.
133
134Given two perl versions, this returns a list of pairs describing the changes in
135core module content between them.  The list is suitable for storing in a hash.
136The keys are library names and the values are hashrefs.  Each hashref has an
137entry for one or both of C<left> and C<right>, giving the versions of the
138library in each of the left and right perl distributions.
139
140For example, it might return these data (among others) for the difference
141between 5.008000 and 5.008001:
142
143  'Pod::ParseLink'  => { left => '1.05', right => '1.06' },
144  'Pod::ParseUtils' => { left => '0.22', right => '0.3'  },
145  'Pod::Perldoc'    => {                 right => '3.10' },
146  'Pod::Perldoc::BaseTo' => {            right => undef  },
147
148This shows us two libraries being updated and two being added, one of which has
149an undefined version in the right-hand side version.
150
151=back
152
153=head1 DATA STRUCTURES
154
155These are the hash data structures that are available:
156
157=over
158
159=item C<%Module::CoreList::version>
160
161A hash of hashes that is keyed on perl version as indicated
162in $].  The second level hash is module => version pairs.
163
164Note, it is possible for the version of a module to be unspecified,
165whereby the value is C<undef>, so use C<exists $version{$foo}{$bar}> if
166that's what you're testing for.
167
168Starting with 2.10, the special module name C<Unicode> refers to the version of
169the Unicode Character Database bundled with Perl.
170
171=item C<%Module::CoreList::delta>
172
173Available in version 3.00 and above.
174
175It is a hash of hashes that is keyed on perl version. Each keyed hash will have the
176following keys:
177
178  delta_from - a previous perl version that the changes are based on
179  changed    - a hash of module/versions that have changed
180  removed    - a hash of modules that have been removed
181
182=item C<%Module::CoreList::released>
183
184Keyed on perl version this contains ISO
185formatted versions of the release dates, as gleaned from L<perlhist>.
186
187=item C<%Module::CoreList::families>
188
189New, in 1.96, a hash that
190clusters known perl releases by their major versions.
191
192=item C<%Module::CoreList::deprecated>
193
194A hash of hashes keyed on perl version and on module name.
195If a module is defined it indicates that that module is
196deprecated in that perl version and is scheduled for removal
197from core at some future point.
198
199=item C<%Module::CoreList::upstream>
200
201A hash that contains information on where patches should be directed
202for each core module.
203
204UPSTREAM indicates where patches should go. C<undef> implies
205that this hasn't been discussed for the module at hand.
206C<blead> indicates that the copy of the module in the blead
207sources is to be considered canonical, C<cpan> means that the
208module on CPAN is to be patched first. C<first-come> means
209that blead can be patched freely if it is in sync with the
210latest release on CPAN.
211
212=item C<%Module::CoreList::bug_tracker>
213
214A hash that contains information on the appropriate bug tracker
215for each core module.
216
217BUGS is an email or url to post bug reports.  For modules with
218UPSTREAM => 'blead', use L<mailto:perl5-porters@perl.org>.  rt.cpan.org
219appears to automatically provide a URL for CPAN modules; any value
220given here overrides the default:
221L<http://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=$ModuleName>
222
223=back
224
225=head1 CAVEATS
226
227Module::CoreList currently covers the 5.000, 5.001, 5.002, 5.003_07,
2285.004, 5.004_05, 5.005, 5.005_03, 5.005_04 and 5.7.3 releases of perl.
229
230All stable releases of perl since 5.6.0 are covered.
231
232All development releases of perl since 5.9.0 are covered.
233
234
235=head1 HISTORY
236
237Moved to Changes file.
238
239=head1 AUTHOR
240
241Richard Clamp E<lt>richardc@unixbeard.netE<gt>
242
243Currently maintained by the perl 5 porters E<lt>perl5-porters@perl.orgE<gt>.
244
245=head1 LICENSE
246
247Copyright (C) 2002-2009 Richard Clamp.  All Rights Reserved.
248
249This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
250under the same terms as Perl itself.
251
252=head1 SEE ALSO
253
254L<corelist>, L<Module::Info>, L<perl>, L<http://perlpunks.de/corelist>
255
256=cut
257