requires

 requires $module;
 requires $module => $version;

configure time requirement:

 configure {
   requires $module;
   requires $module => $version;
 };

system requirement:

 sys {
   requires $module;
   requires $module => $version;
 };

share requirement:

 share {
   requires $module;
   requires $module => $version;
 };

specifies a requirement. Alien::Build takes advantage of dynamic requirements, so only modules that are needed for the specific type of install need to be loaded. Here are the different types of requirements:

configure

Configure requirements should already be installed before the alienfile is loaded.

any

"Any" requirements are those that are needed either for the probe stage, or in either the system or share installs.

share

Share requirements are those modules needed when downloading and building from source.

system

System requirements are those modules needed when the system provides the library or tool.

plugin

 plugin $name => (%args);
 plugin $name => $arg;

Load the given plugin. If you prefix the plugin name with an "=" sign, then it will be assumed to be a fully qualified path name. Otherwise the plugin will be assumed to live in the "Alien::Build::Plugin" namespace. If there is an appropriate negotiate plugin, that one will be loaded. Examples:

 # Loads Alien::Build::Plugin::Fetch::Negotiate
 # which will pick the best Alien::Build::Plugin::Fetch
 # plugin based on the URL, and system configuration
 plugin 'Fetch' => 'http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gcc';
 
 # loads the plugin with the badly named class!
 plugin '=Badly::Named::Plugin::Not::In::Alien::Build::Namespace';
 
 # explicitly loads Alien::Build::Plugin::Prefer::SortVersions
 plugin 'Prefer::SortVersions' => (
   filter => qr/^gcc-.*\.tar\.gz$/,
   version => qr/([0-9\.]+)/,
 );

probe

 probe \&code;
 probe \@commandlist;

Instructions for the probe stage. May be either a code reference, or a command list.

configure

 configure {
   ...
 };

Configure block. The only directive allowed in a configure block is requires.

sys

 sys {
   ...
 };

System block. Allowed directives are: requires and gather.

share

 share {
   ...
 };

System block. Allowed directives are: download, fetch, decode, prefer, extract, build, gather.

start_url

 share {
   start_url $url;
 };

Set the start URL for download. This should be the URL to an index page, or the actual tarball of the source.

download

 share {
   download \&code;
   download \@commandlist;
 };

Instructions for the download stage. May be either a code reference, or a command list.

fetch

 share {
   fetch \&code;
   fetch \@commandlist;
 };

Instructions for the fetch stage. May be either a code reference, or a command list.

decode

 share {
   decode \&code;
   decode \@commandlist;
 };

Instructions for the decode stage. May be either a code reference, or a command list.

prefer

 share {
   prefer \&code;
   prefer \@commandlist;
 };

Instructions for the prefer stage. May be either a code reference, or a command list.

extract

 share {
   extract \&code;
   extract \@commandlist;
 };

Instructions for the extract stage. May be either a code reference, or a command list.

patch

 share {
   patch \&code;
   patch \@commandlist;
 };

Instructions for the patch stage. May be either a code reference, or a command list.

patch_ffi

 share {
   patch_ffi \&code;
   patch_ffi \@commandlist;
 };

[DEPRECATED]

Instructions for the patch_ffi stage. May be either a code reference, or a command list.

build

 share {
   build \&code;
   build \@commandlist;
 };

Instructions for the build stage. May be either a code reference, or a command list.

build_ffi

 share {
   build \&code;
   build \@commandlist;
 };

[DEPRECATED]

Instructions for the build FFI stage. Builds shared libraries instead of static. This is optional, and is only necessary if a fresh and separate build needs to be done for FFI.

gather

 gather \&code;
 gather \@commandlist;
 
 share {
   gather \&code;
   gather \@commandlist;
 };
 
 sys {
   gather \&code;
   gather \@commandlist;
 };

Instructions for the gather stage. May be either a code reference, or a command list. In the root block of the alienfile it will trigger in both share and system build. In the share or sys block it will only trigger in the corresponding build.

gather_ffi

 share {
   gather_ffi \&code;
   gather_ffi \@commandlist;
 }

[DEPRECATED]

Gather specific to "build_ffi". Not usually necessary.

ffi

 share {
   ffi {
     patch \&code;
     patch \@commandlist;
     build \&code;
     build \@commandlist;
     gather \&code;
     gather \@commandlist;
   }
 }

Specify patch, build or gather stages related to FFI.

meta_prop

 my $hash = meta_prop;

Get the meta_prop hash reference.

meta

 my $meta = meta;

Returns the meta object for your alienfile.

log

 log($message);

Prints the given log to stdout.

test

 share {
   test \&code;
   test \@commandlist;
 };
 sys {
   test \&code;
   test \@commandlist;
 };

Run the tests

before

 before $stage => \&code;

Execute the given code before the given stage. Stage should be one of "probe", "download", "fetch", "decode", "prefer", "extract", "patch", "build", "test", and "gather".

The before directive is only legal in the same blocks as the stage would normally be legal in. For example, you can't do this:

 use alienfile;
 
 sys {
   before 'build' => sub {
     ...
   };
 };

Because a "build" wouldn't be legal inside a "sys" block.

after

 after $stage => \&code;

Execute the given code after the given stage. Stage should be one of "probe", "download", "fetch", "decode", "prefer", "extract", "patch", "build", "test", and "gather".

The after directive is only legal in the same blocks as the stage would normally be legal in. For example, you can't do this:

 use alienfile;
 
 sys {
   after 'build' => sub {
     ...
   };
 };

Because a "build" wouldn't be legal inside a "sys" block.