On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 7:43 AM, Paul LeoNerd <leon...@leonerd.org.uk> wrote: > On Thu, 8 Aug 2013 07:00:07 -0400 > Chris Marshall <devel.chm...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> To the original proposal, I've added the >> following thoughts: >> >> - make test in Alien::XXX should be >> FAIL if it was not possible to either >> detect/configure an existing XXX or >> to install a new copy. (This is >> different than the perl level stuff but >> it seems to do the right thing here) >> >> - Have the build process give information >> on why things didn't work: e.g., no GNU >> make, libtool, tty/ptty, ... This is much >> more useful than "OS doesn't work" of >> any flavor. > > This /is/ what NA with the "OS unsupported - MESSAGE" does.
I know, that is why I added the "why things failed" to the proposal. > Again; observe that with the two Alien modules I mentioned, they give > NA with a message about being unable to find GNU libtool. Yes, I know. This is with regards to the overall Alien module concept of operation and not a response to your modules which already give this type of output. > It's not possible to easily turn this into a FAIL, because FAIL would > have to mean that it did at least configure successfully, and then > failed at the testing stage. At this point there isn't an easy way to > notate why. Yes, this would be a change from how other perl modules work with CPAN Testers but it would be (I believe) much more useful for Alien modules since it would simplify getting information about when they work by looking at test output. As for implementing, as long as the perl Makefile.PL or perl Build.PL phase passes, it should be possible to have a stub 'make' or 'Build' operation that could be tested to generate the FAIL report. >> - If a failure occurs, provide information >> on how to "do it yourself" even if only >> a short paragraph and a link. > > "unable to find GNU libtool" - surely suggests to the user that they > should install GNU libtool then try again? I could add that paragraph > of text if you think it would be useful. I'm not sure which paragraph you propose adding but it would be at the choice of the Alien author. It is a chance to make the Alien::XXX more useful by helping out to the extent possible: - Link to library source and docs. Indirect consumers of Alien modules (through a modules's CPAN pre-requisites) may not know anything about XXX and "just search the web" is not helpful without some basic additional information. If the Alien author already has that, providing it would short circuit effort by an Alien use-er. - If you know how a user could get the XXX by hand, an explanation would help, since once installed, the Alien::XXX should then PASS. Cheers, Chris
