Where can I find the cpanfile format definition?
perl, perl-module
Solution
I installed `Module::CPANFile` and `perldoc cpanfile` and `perldoc cpanfile-faq` were available.
The POD for `cpanfile` states:
[the] cpanfile specification (this document) is based on Ruby's
Gemfile http://gembundler.com/man/gemfile.5.html specification.
The link in the `cpanfile` manual page is broken. It should point to: http://bundler.io/v1.3/man/gemfile.5.html
`cpanfile` is designed to "backwards compatible" with `Module::Install` DSL syntax and is "convertible to CPAN::Meta::Prereqs" and inspired by `CPAN::Meta Spec v.2` etc.
As I understand it `cpanfile` is somewhat of a "meta-format" and fits into a range of TIMTOWTDI approaches (see miyagawa's blog describing `cpanfile`), compatible with `Module::Install` and mostly self-documenting. For example if you run `mymeta-cpanfile` inside a directory with `META` files it will build a `cpanfile` for you; you can write a script that describes prerequisites from `CPAN::Meta::Prereqs` and then `$file->save('cpanfile');` to write a `cpanfile`.
As for `Dist::Milla`, in the tutorial (see the `POD` included with `Dist::Milla`) miyagawa points out that "If you decide to manually construct [a] new `cpanfile`, the format is mostly compatible to `Module::Install`'s requirement DSL". The tutorial also gives a short example.
I think it would be fair to ask miyagawa to clarify the status and use cases of the `cpanfile` specification/format in the documentation for the distribution. That and a few more examples would answer questions like yours. He has mostly done the work on this already - it is just not all in one place.
Problem
We consider to use Minilla or Dist::Milla for our perl development. Declaring dependencies is done via cpanfile. I expected to find an exact definintion of what and how can be declared. But perldoc cpanfile : Shows only the principal usage. 'SEE ALSO' section does not help. perldoc Module::CPANfile: same as cpanfile. perldoc cpanfile-faq: no explanation of the exact syntax or a link to it, only Familiar DSL syntax This is a new file type, but the format and syntax isn't entirely new. The metadata it can declare is exactly a subset of "Prereqs" in CPAN Meta Spec. The syntax borrows a lot from Module::Install. Module::Install is a great way to easily declare module metadata such as name, author and dependencies. cpanfile format is simply to extract the dependencies into a separate file, which means most of the developers are familiar with the syntax. - Web : I found ( but does not answer my question ) - https://speakerdeck.com/miyagawa/cpanfile - http://weblog.bulknews.net/post/44963580392/what-is-cpanfile-and-why-do-i-want-to-use-it - http://blogs.perl.org/users/lestrrat/2013/03/the-main-problem-with-cpan-modules-on-github.html Does anybody know where to find an exact description of the cpanfile syntax/format ?