Re: CPAN: modules, distributions, and bundles

Via ftp, I just had a look in /modules/by-module/Bundle. Why do a large number of the modules in there start with the name "Bundle-" but many do not?

A distribution may contain a number of modules that are unrelated to the distribution name. For example, one of the distributions listed in /modules/by-module/Bundle is Apache-ASP; the reason that appears there is that this distribution contains the Bundle::Apache::ASP module.

Incidentally, when I go to search.cpan.org and click that link on the left that says "Bundles (and SDKs)", why don't I get that massive list I see in /modules/by-module/Bundle? Isn't CPAN search trying to show me that list here?

In general, the entries in the categories on the search.cpan.org main page come, in part, from a category selection made by the author at PAUSE when the author registers and subsequently uploads a module. If such a category isn't chosen, it won't appear in the chapterid field of /modules/03modlist.data index file on CPAN, nor when one browses CPAN by category.

Having said that, search.cpan.org adds, in some fashion, distributions to the existing categories that CPAN already has. However, the algorithm used is different than one gets by browsing by module.

If "distributions" are indeed separate and distinct from bundles, where can I go to browse them?

If you go to a distribution on search.cpan.org (for example, see Apache-ASP), follow the Browse link to examine files in the distribution.

Comment on Re: CPAN: modules, distributions, and bundles

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Re^2: CPAN: modules, distributions, and bundles by j3 (Friar) on Nov 04, 2006 at 02:51 UTC
Via ftp, I just had a look in /modules/by-module/Bundle. Why do a large number of the modules in there start with the name "Bundle-" but many do not? A distribution may contain a number of modules that are unrelated to the distribution name. {snip} Right. But I was just curious about the file naming convention here. Maybe there used to be a convention to name all bundles starting with that text "Bundle-" but then folks just stopped doing it... If "distributions" are indeed separate and distinct from bundles, where can I go to browse them? If you go to a distribution on search.cpan.org (for example, see Apache-ASP), follow the Browse link to examine files in the distribution. Sorry. I may have been unclear. I meant: how can I browse CPAN itself to see a listing of all the distributions there, rather than just looking at the listing of modules. My guess is that most packages on CPAN are single-module packages, and that there far fewer multi-module "distributions". I'll have to look around there, download some more, and look at their insides to get a better idea about this. Thanks!	[reply]
Re^3: CPAN: modules, distributions, and bundles by randyk (Parson) on Nov 04, 2006 at 05:45 UTC
I meant: how can I browse CPAN itself to see a listing of all the distributions there, rather than just looking at the listing of modules. The index file modules/02packages.details.txt on CPAN contains a mapping of all modules to distribution names. My guess is that most packages on CPAN are single-module packages, and that there far fewer multi-module "distributions". That's an interesting question. Of the 12,166 distributions listed today in 02packages.details.txt, 8592 have only one module associated with them. However, some of these single-module distributions are older versions of distributions whose current version contains multiple modules (eg, look at Slauth-0.01.tar.gz and Slauth-0.02.tar.gz). This sometimes means that a module in an older distribution has been replaced, or perhaps been made obsolete, by another module in a newer distribution, but it still shows up in 02packages.details.txt because it's still registered with PAUSE.	[reply]


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