NAME
CPAN::Reporter - Provides Test::Reporter support for CPAN.pm
VERSION
This documentation describes version 0.44.
SYNOPSIS
From the CPAN shell:
cpan> install CPAN::Reporter
cpan> reload cpan
cpan> o conf init test_report
DESCRIPTION
CPAN::Reporter is an add-on for the CPAN.pm module that uses
Test::Reporter to send the results of module tests to the CPAN Testers
project. Support for CPAN::Reporter is available in CPAN.pm as of
version 1.88.
The goal of the CPAN Testers project () is to
test as many CPAN packages as possible on as many platforms as possible.
This provides valuable feedback to module authors and potential users to
identify bugs or platform compatibility issues and improves the overall
quality and value of CPAN.
One way individuals can contribute is to send test results for each
module that they test or install. Installing CPAN::Reporter gives the
option of automatically generating and emailing test reports whenever
tests are run via CPAN.pm.
GETTING STARTED
The first step in using CPAN::Reporter is to install it using whatever
version of CPAN.pm is already installed. CPAN.pm will be upgraded as a
dependency if necessary.
cpan> install CPAN::Reporter
If CPAN.pm was upgraded, it needs to be reloaded.
cpan> reload cpan
If upgrading from a very old version of CPAN.pm, users may be prompted
to renew their configuration settings, including the 'test_report'
option to enable CPAN::Reporter.
If not prompted automatically, users should manually initialize
CPAN::Reporter support. After enabling CPAN::Reporter, CPAN.pm will
automatically continue with interactive configuration of CPAN::Reporter
options. (Remember to commit the CPAN configuration changes.)
cpan> o conf init test_report
cpan> o conf commit
Once CPAN::Reporter is enabled and configured, test or install modules
with CPAN.pm as usual.
For example, to force CPAN to repeat tests for CPAN::Reporter to see how
it works:
cpan> force test CPAN::Reporter
UNDERSTANDING TEST GRADES
CPAN::Reporter will assign one of the following grades to the report:
* "pass" -- all tests were successful
* "fail" -- one or more tests failed, one or more test files died
during testing or no test output was seen
* "na" -- tests could not be run on this platform or one or more test
files died because of missing prerequisites
* "unknown" -- no test files could be found (either t/*.t or test.pl)
or a result could not be determined from test output
* "default" -- this is not an actual grade reported to CPAN Testers,
but it is used in action prompt configuration options to indicate a
fallback action
In returning results to CPAN.pm, "pass" and "unknown" are considered
successful attempts to "make test" or "Build test" and will not prevent
installation. "fail" and "na" are considered to be failures and CPAN.pm
will not install unless forced.
CONFIG FILE OPTIONS
Default options for CPAN::Reporter are read from a configuration file
".cpanreporter/config.ini" in the user's home directory (Unix and OS X)
or "My Documents" directory (Windows).
The configuration file is in "ini" format, with the option name and
value separated by an "=" sign
email_from = "John Doe"
cc_author = no
Interactive configuration of email address, action prompts and mail
server options may be repeated at any time from the CPAN shell.
cpan> o conf init test_report
Interactive configuration will also include any additional, non-standard
options that have been added manually to the configuration file.
Available options are described in the following sections.
Email Address (required)
CPAN::Reporter requires users to provide an email address that will be
used in the "From" header of the email to cpan-testers@perl.org.
* "email_from = " -- email address of the user sending
the test report; it should be a valid address format, e.g.:
user@domain
John Doe
"John Q. Public"
Because "cpan-testers" uses a mailing list to collect test reports, it
is helpful if the email address provided is subscribed to the list.
Otherwise, test reports will be held until manually reviewed and
approved.
Subscribing an account to the cpan-testers list is as easy as sending a
blank email to cpan-testers-subscribe@perl.org and replying to the
confirmation email.
Action Prompts
Several steps in the generation of a test report are optional.
Configuration options control whether an action should be taken
automatically or whether CPAN::Reporter should prompt the user for the
action to take. The action to take may be different for each report
grade.
Valid actions, and their associated meaning, are as follows:
* "yes" -- automatic yes
* "no" -- automatic no
* "ask/no" or just "ask" -- ask each time, but default to no
* "ask/yes" -- ask each time, but default to yes
For "ask" prompts, the default will be used if return is pressed
immediately at the prompt or if the "PERL_MM_USE_DEFAULT" environment
variable is set to a true value.
Action prompt options take one or more space-separated "grade:action"
pairs, which are processed left to right.
edit_report = fail:ask/yes pass:no
An action by itself is taken as a default to be used for any grade which
does not have a grade-specific action. A default action may also be set
by using the word "default" in place of a grade.
edit_report = ask/no
edit_report = default:ask/no
A grade by itself is taken to have the action "yes" for that grade.
edit_report = default:no fail
Multiple grades may be specified together by separating them with a
slash.
edit_report = pass:no fail/na/unknown:ask/yes
The action prompt options are:
* "cc_author = ..." -- should module authors should be
sent a copy of the test report at their "author@cpan.org" address?
(default:yes pass:no)
* "edit_report = ..." -- edit the test report before
sending? (default:ask/no pass:no)
* "send_report = ..." -- should test reports be sent at
all? (default:ask/yes pass:yes na:no)
* "send_duplicates = ..." -- should duplicates of
previous reports be sent, regardless of "send_report"? (default:no)
These options are included in the starter config file created
automatically the first time CPAN::Reporter is configured interactively.
Note that if "send_report" is set to "no", CPAN::Reporter will still go
through the motions of preparing a report, but will discard it rather
than send it. This is the default for an "na" report -- users may still
edit the report to see which prerequisites failed, but no report will be
sent.
A better way to disable CPAN::Reporter temporarily is with the CPAN
option "test_report":
cpan> o conf test_report 0
Mail Server
By default, Test::Reporter attempts to send mail directly to perl.org
mail servers. This may fail if a user's computer is behind a network
firewall that blocks outbound email. In this case, the following option
should be set to the outbound mail server (i.e., SMTP server) as
provided by the user's Internet service provider (ISP):
* "smtp_server = " -- one or more alternate outbound mail
servers if the default perl.org mail servers cannot be reached;
multiple servers may be given, separated with a space (none by
default)
In at least one reported case, an ISP's outbound mail servers also
refused to forward mail unless the "email_from" was from the ISP-given
email address.
This option is also included in the starter config file.
Additional Options
These additional options are only necessary in special cases, such as
for testing, debugging or if a default editor cannot be found.
* "email_to = " -- alternate destination for reports
instead of "cpan-testers@perl.org"; used for testing
* "editor = " -- editor to use to edit the test report; if not
set, Test::Reporter will use environment variables "VISUAL",
"EDITOR" or "EDIT" (in that order) to find an editor
* "debug = " -- turns debugging on/off
FUNCTIONS
CPAN::Reporter provides only two public function for use within CPAN.pm.
They are not imported during "use". Ordinary users will never need them.
"configure()"
CPAN::Reporter::configure();
Prompts the user to edit configuration settings stored in the
CPAN::Reporter "config.ini" file. It will create the configuration file
if it does not exist. It is automatically called by CPAN.pm when
initializing the 'test_report' option, e.g.:
cpan> o conf init test_report
"test()"
CPAN::Reporter::test( $cpan_dist, $system_command );
Given a CPAN::Distribution object and a system command to run
distribution tests (e.g. "make test"), "test()" executes the command via
"system()" while teeing the output to a file. Based on the output
captured in the file, "test()" generates and sends a Test::Reporter
report. It returns true if the test grade is "pass" or "unknown" and
returns false, otherwise.
PRIVACY WARNING
CPAN::Reporter includes information in the test report about environment
variables and special Perl variables that could be affecting test
results in order to help module authors interpret the results of the
tests. This includes information about paths, terminal, locale,
user/group ID, installed toolchain modules (e.g. ExtUtils::MakeMaker)
and so on.
These have been intentionally limited to items that should not cause
harmful personal information to be revealed -- it does *not* include
your entire environment. Nevertheless, please do not use CPAN::Reporter
if you are concerned about the disclosure of this information as part of
your test report.
Users wishing to review this information may choose to edit the report
prior to sending it.
BUGS
Please report any bugs or feature using the CPAN Request Tracker. Bugs
can be submitted through the web interface at
When submitting a bug or request, please include a test-file or a patch
to an existing test-file that illustrates the bug or desired feature.
AUTHOR
David A. Golden (DAGOLDEN)
dagolden@cpan.org
http://www.dagolden.org/
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright (c) 2006, 2007 by David A. Golden
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included
with this module.
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