Autoperl

Autoperl is a configuration and build system that is strongly influenced by the GNU system. It is modelled after GNU Autoconf and Automake, and uses most of the same terminology and concepts.

Unlike Auto{conf,make,scan,header}, libtool, and the other GNU build tools, Autoperl is designed for Perl applications. It understands Perl modules, and can automatically check for missing library dependencies. It produces a config.h file that can be require()d into a Perl module. It has a linker that can merge multiple Perl modules into a single executable. It has a packager that can generate native binary packages for a variety of different platforms.

Autoperl eliminates the need for handwritten Makefiles by providing for the most commonly needed tasks in building software. These tasks include:

compiling one or more source code files into a single binary
installing files into the system
uninstalling files from the system
creating a gzipped tarball of the source tree
creating a native binary package
cleaning up the source tree

Autoperl is easy to use. All you need to do is download the ./configure script and distribute it with your application. Once you have learned the basic Automake syntax, you can create a Makefile.am that is processed by ./configure to generate a Makefile. If you need more power and flexibility, it is possible to embed Perl code into your Makefiles or run hooks at various stages of the build process.

Screenshots

Click here to view Autoperl in action.

Features and Benefits

Autoperl provides a configure script that can be redestributed with your Perl application. This script takes care of generating a Makefile that can:

Check for missing or broken library dependencies
Check for required system binaries in the user's path
Define alternate installation directories
Install the package into a different destination directory ($DESTDIR)
Process custom arguments to enable specific features at build time
Generate a native binary package

Using Autoperl, you only have to create a simple file called Makefile.am that uses the same syntax and concepts as Automake.

Download

The only thing you need to download is the configure script.

If you are interested in hacking on the source code to Autoperl, you can download the complete source code

If you would like to be notified via email every time a new release is made, click here to sign up.

Documentation

Everyone should read the user's manual.

Current Status

Autoperl is self-hosting; it can compile and install itself. All of the advertised functionality in the manual seems to work. There are many unimplemented features from Autoconf/Automake, but the syntax is 99% compatible.

I have chosen a few projects to port to Autoperl:
perl-kolab
WebGUI

The following projects have been autoperlized:

recvmail - a simple and secure incoming MTA (written in C, no less!)

Development

Discussion about Autoperl development takes place on the autoperl-devel mailing list.

Bug reports can be submitted online through the bug tracking database or emailed to the mailing list.

Credits

Many thanks to the following individuals for their contributions to Autoperl:

Marcus aka }-Tux-{
Richard Bos

Copyright and License

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. See the file called COPYING for the complete text of the license.

Last updated Wed Jul 13 13:20:53 EDT 2005