NAME
CPAN::Reporter - Adds CPAN Testers reporting to CPAN.pm
VERSION
This documentation describes version 1.10.
SYNOPSIS
From the CPAN shell:
cpan> install CPAN::Reporter
cpan> reload cpan
cpan> o conf init test_report
DESCRIPTION
The CPAN Testers project captures and analyses detailed results from
building and testing CPAN distributions on multiple operating systems
and multiple versions of Perl. 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 a report for each module
that they test or install. CPAN::Reporter is an add-on for the CPAN.pm
module to send the results of building and testing modules to the CPAN
Testers project. Full support for CPAN::Reporter is available in CPAN.pm
as of version 1.92.
GETTING STARTED
Installation
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
Configuration
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.
cpan> o conf init test_report
Users will need to enter an email address in one of the following
formats:
johndoe@example.com
John Doe <johndoe@example.com>
"John Q. Public" <johnqpublic@example.com>
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.
Users will also be prompted to enter the name of an outbound email
server. It is recommended to use an email server provided by the user's
ISP or company. Alternatively, leave this blank to attempt to send email
directly to perl.org.
Users that are new to CPAN::Reporter should accept the recommended
values for other configuration options.
After completing interactive configuration, be sure to commit (save) the
CPAN configuration changes.
cpan> o conf commit
See CPAN::Reporter::Config for advanced configuration settings.
Using CPAN::Reporter
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
When distribution tests fail, users will be prompted to edit the report
to add addition information.
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 version of perl
* "unknown" -- no test files could be found (either t/*.t or test.pl)
or a result could not be determined from test output (e.g tests may
have hung and been interrupted)
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.
If prerequisites specified in "Makefile.PL" or "Build.PL" are not
available, no report will be generated and a failure will be signaled to
CPAN.pm.
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
<http://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Queue=CPAN-Reporter>
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.
SEE ALSO
Information about CPAN::Testers:
* CPAN::Testers -- overview of CPAN Testers architecture stack
* <http://cpantesters.perl.org> -- project home with all reports
* <http://cpantest.grango.org> -- documentation and wiki
Additional Documentation:
* CPAN::Reporter::Config -- advanced configuration settings
* CPAN::Reporter::FAQ -- hints and tips
AUTHOR
David A. Golden (DAGOLDEN)
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright (c) 2006, 2007, 2008 by David A. Golden
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
a copy of the License at <http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0>
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.