Recent additions to CPAN
Invisible Servants
Perl programmers who upload a module or script to CPAN, often forget to specify the dependencies on other CPAN modules. Consequently, the installation fails for all users who do not already have the dependent modules on their systems by lucky coincidence. The CPAN Module::ScanDeps module [6] contains the scandeps.pl
script, which expects a script or module as an argument and outputs the dependencies for it.
Applied to the script presented in Listing 3, the output of:
scandeps.pl make2viz
looks like Figure 4. Who would have thought that deep in the belly of GraphViz::Makefile the IPC::Run::Win32Helper module has an important role as part of the digestive system? Linux systems are undoubtedly ill-advised to integrate this; if it were missing on the installation platform, however, Perl would abort the script in the compile phase because it can't find the seemingly required module.
Multiple-Course Meal
In many command-line utilities, the programmer expects some input by selection from a list of items by the user. For Perl scripts, CPAN offers several text terminal menu simulations. In the list of new module versions that I reviewed, my attention was grabbed by Term::Menus [7]; it offers a convenient programming interface for cases in which the user needs to select an entry from a potentially large list.
Listing 4 shows an example of a script in which the user has to select a file from his home directory. Failure to clean up for many years has led to no fewer than 73 files on my Linux box at home. They are unlikely to fit in a terminal window. As Figure 5 shows, Text::Menus displays 10 items at a time and allows the user to press D to scroll down and U to scroll up through the list.
Listing 4
menu
By entering a number, the user finally selects an entry. In the menu
script in Listing 4, this is then returned as result of the pick()
function in the $selection
variable. Term::Menus offers more features on top of that, such as multiple choices or submenus. These are all very handy when you consider that script programmers only need to invest in a few lines of code for this.
Finding Nuggets
A cursory review of the CPAN Recent list shows that it really is worthwhile panning for gold there. In addition to routine maintenance releases of popular modules, you will repeatedly find good ideas for more programming efficiency or entertaining information from the world of a lively Perl community glistening on the bottom of your pan.
"Zarathustra seeks creative collaborators; Zarathustra seeks fellow harvesters and celebrators: What has he to do with herds and herdsmen and corpses!"
Infos
- Recent CPAN module versions: http://search.cpan.org/recent
- Speech::Google::TTS: http://search.cpan.org/~nielsd/Speech-Google-TTS-074/
- Listings for this article: ftp://www.linux-magazin.com/pub/listings/magazine/160
- GraphViz::Makefile: http://search.cpan.org/~srezic/GraphViz-Makefile-1.17
- Makefile tutorial: http://mrbook.org/tutorials/make
- Module::ScanDeps: http://search.cpan.org/~rschupp/Module-ScanDeps-1.12/
- Term::Menus: http://search.cpan.org/~reedfish/Term-Menus-2.54/
« Previous 1 2
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.