NAME

PPM - Perl Package Manager: locate, install, upgrade software packages.

SYNOPSIS

ppm genconfig
ppm help [command]
ppm install [--location=location] package1 [... packageN]
ppm query [--case|nocase] [--abstract|author] PATTERN
ppm remove package1 [... packageN]
ppm search [--case|nocase] [--location=location] [--abstract|author] PATTERN
ppm set [option]
ppm verify [--location=location] [--upgrade] [--force] [package1 ... packageN]
ppm version
ppm [--location=location]

DESCRIPTION

ppm is a utility intended to simplify the tasks of locating, installing, upgrading and removing software packages. It is a front-end to the functionality provided in PPM.pm. It can determine if the most recent version of a software package is installed on a system, and can install or upgrade that package from a local or remote host.

ppm runs in one of two modes: an interactive shell from which commands may be entered; and command-line mode, in which one specific action is performed per invocation of the program.

ppm uses files containing an extended form of the Open Software Description (OSD) specification for information about software packages. These description files, which are written in Extensible Markup Language (XML) code, are referred to as 'PPD' files. Information about OSD can be found at the W3C web site (at the time of this writing, http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-OSD.html). The extensions to OSD used by ppm are documented in PPM.ppd.

Using PPM

Interactive mode

If ppm is invoked with no command specified, it is started in interactive mode. If the '--location' argument is specified, it is used as the search location, otherwise the repositories specified in the PPM data file are used.

The syntax of PPM commands is the same in interactive mode as it is in command-line mode. The 'help' command lists the available commands.

ppm commands may be abbreviated to their shortest unique form.

Installing

ppm install [--location=location] package1 [... packageN]

Installs the specified software packages. Attempts to install from the URL or directory 'location' if the '--location' option is specfied.

The 'package' arguments may be either package names ('foo'), pathnames (p:/packages/foo.ppd) or URLs (http://www.ActiveState.com/packages/foo.ppd) to specific PPD files.

In the case where a package name is specified, and the '--location' option is not used, ppm will refer to the default repository locations.

See also: 'confirm' option.

Removing

ppm remove package1 [... packageN]

Reads information from the PPD file for the named software package and removes the package from the system.

See also: 'confirm' option.

Verifying

ppm verify [--location=location] [--upgrade] [--force] [package1 ... packageN]

Verifies that the currently installed packages are up to date. If no packages are specified as arguments, all installed packages will be verified.

If the '--upgrade' option is specified, any package for which an upgrade is available will be upgraded.

If the '--location' option is specified, upgrades will be looked for at the specified URL or directory.

If the '--force' option is specified, all currently installed packages will be reinstalled regardless of whether they are out of date or not.

See also: 'confirm' option.

Querying

ppm query [--case|nocase] [--abstract|author] PATTERN

Searches for 'PATTERN' (a regular expression) in the name of any installed package. If a search is successful, information about the matching package(s) is displayed. If 'PATTERN' is omitted, information about all installed packages will be displayed.

If either '--abstract' or '--author' is specified, PATTERN will be searched for in the <ABSTRACT> or <AUTHOR> tags of the installed packages.

The '--case' and '--nocase' options can be used to override the default case-sensitivity search settings.

See also: 'case' option.

Searching

ppm search [--case|nocase] [--location=location] [--abstract|author] PATTERN

Displays a list of any packages matching 'PATTERN' (a regular expression) available from the specified location. If 'PATTERN' is omitted, information about all available packages will be displayed.

If the '--location' option is specified, the specified URL or directory will be searched. If '--location' is not specified, the repository location as specified in the PPM data file will be searched.

If either '--abstract' or '--author' is specified, PATTERN will be searched for in the <ABSTRACT> or <AUTHOR> tags of the available packages.

The '--case' and '--nocase' options can be used to override the default case-sensitivity search settings.

See also: 'case' option.

Error Recovery

ppm genconfig

This command will print a valid PPM config file (ppm.xml) to STDOUT. This can be useful if the PPM config file ever gets damaged leaving PPM unusable.

If required, this command should be run from a shell prompt:

C:\Perl\site\lib> ppm genconfig > ppm.xml

Options

ppm set [option value]

Sets or displays current options. With no arguments, current option settings are displayed.

Available options:

build DIRECTORY
    - Changes the package build directory.

case [1|0]
    - Sets case-sensitive searches.  If one of '1' or '0' is
      not specified, the current setting is toggled.

clean [1|0]
    - Sets removal of temporary files from package's build 
      area, on successful installation of a package.  If one of
      '1' or '0' is not specified, the current setting is
      toggled.

confirm [1|0]
    - Sets confirmation of 'install', 'remove' and 'upgrade'.
      If one of '1' or '0' is not specified, the current
      setting is toggled.

force_install [1|0]
    - Continue installing a package even if a dependency cannot
      be installed.

more NUMBER
    - Causes output to pause after NUMBER lines have been
      displayed.  Specifying '0' turns off this capability.

set repository --remove NAME
    - Removes the repository 'NAME' from the list of repositories.

set repository NAME LOCATION
    - Adds a repository to the list of PPD repositories for this
      session.  'NAME' is the name by which this repository will
      be referred; 'LOCATION' is a URL or directory name.

root DIRECTORY
    - Changes the install root directory.  Packages will be
      installed under this new root.

save
    - Saves the current options as default options for future
      sessions.

trace
    - Tracing level--default is 1, maximum is 4, 0 indicates
      no tracing.

tracefile
    - File to contain tracing information, default is 'PPM.LOG'.

verbose [1|0]
    - Display additional package information for 'query' and
      'search' commands.

EXAMPLES

ppm

Starts ppm in interactive mode, using the repository locations specified in the PPM data file. A session might look like this:

[show all available packages]
PPM> search
Packages available from P:\PACKAGES:
bar [2.91 ] supplies bar methods for perl5.
bax [0.072] module for manipulation of bax archives.
baz [1.03 ] Interface to baz library
foo [2.23 ] Foo parser class

[list what has already been installed]
PPM> query
bax [0.071] module for manipulation of bax archives.
baz [1.02 ] Interface to baz library

[install a package]
PPM> install foo
Install package foo? (y/N): y
[...]

[toggle confirmations]
PPM> set confirm
Commands will not be confirmed.

[see if 'baz' is up-to-date]
PPM> verify baz
An upgrade to package 'baz' is available.

[upgrade 'baz']
PPM> verify --upgrade baz
[...]

[forced upgrade of 'baz']
PPM> verify --upgrade --force baz
[...]

[toggle case-sensitive searches]
PPM> set case
Case-sensitive searches will be performed.

[display all available packages beginning with 'b']
PPM> search ^b
bar [2.91 ] supplies bar methods for perl5.
bax [0.072] module for manipulation of bax archives.
baz [1.03 ] Interface to baz library

[search for installed packages containing 'baz' in the ABSTRACT tag]
PPM> query --abstract baz
Matching packages found at P:\PACKAGES:
baz [1.03 ] Interface to baz library
PPM> quit

ppm install http://www.ActiveState.com/packages/foo.ppd

Installs the software package 'foo' based on the information in the PPD obtained from the specified URL.

ppm verify --upgrade foo

Compares the currently installed version of the software package 'foo' to the one available according to the PPD obtained from the location specified for this package in the PPM data file, and upgrades to a newer version if available.

ppm verify --location=P:\PACKAGES --upgrade foo

Compares the currently installed version of the software package 'foo' to the one available according to the PPD obtained from the specified directory, and upgrades to a newer version if available.

ppm verify --upgrade --force

Forces verification and reinstalls every installed package on the system, using upgrade locations specified in the PPM data file.

ppm search --location=http://www.ActiveState.com/packages

Displays the packages with PPD files available at the specified location.

ppm search --location=P:\PACKAGES --author ActiveState

Searches the specified location for any package with an <AUTHOR> tag containing the string 'ActiveState'. On a successful search, the package name and the matching string are displayed.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

HTTP_proxy

If the environment variable 'HTTP_proxy' is set, then it will be used as the address of a proxy server for accessing the Internet.

The value should be of the form: 'http://proxy:port'.

FILES

The following files are fully described in the 'Files' section of PPM:ppm.

package.ppd

A description of a software package, in extended Open Software Description (OSD) format. More information on this file format can be found in PPM::ppd.

ppm.xml - PPM data file.

An XML format file containing information about the local system, specifics regarding the locations from which PPM obtains PPD files, and the installation details for any package installed by ppm.

This file usually resides in '[perl]/site/lib'. If the environment variable 'PPM_DAT' is set, its value will be used as the full pathname to a PPM data file. If all else fails, ppm will look for a data file in the current directory.

AUTHOR

Murray Nesbitt, <murray@ActiveState.com>

CREDITS

Thanks to my colleague and friend Jan Dubois <jand@ActiveState.com>.