Parse::CPAN::Meta(3)					User Contributed Perl Documentation				      Parse::CPAN::Meta(3)

NAME

       Parse::CPAN::Meta - Parse META.yml and META.json CPAN metadata files

SYNOPSIS

	   #############################################
	   # In your file

	   ---
	   name: My-Distribution
	   version: 1.23
	   resources:
	     homepage: "http://example.com/dist/My-Distribution"

	   #############################################
	   # In your program

	   use Parse::CPAN::Meta;

	   my $distmeta = Parse::CPAN::Meta->load_file('META.yml');

	   # Reading properties
	   my $name	= $distmeta->{name};
	   my $version	= $distmeta->{version};
	   my $homepage = $distmeta->{resources}{homepage};

DESCRIPTION

       Parse::CPAN::Meta is a parser for META.json and META.yml files, using JSON::PP and/or CPAN::Meta::YAML.

       Parse::CPAN::Meta provides three methods: "load_file", "load_json_string", and "load_yaml_string".  These will read and deserialize CPAN
       metafiles, and are described below in detail.

       Parse::CPAN::Meta provides a legacy API of only two functions, based on the YAML functions of the same name. Wherever possible, identical
       calling semantics are used.  These may only be used with YAML sources.

       All error reporting is done with exceptions (die'ing).

       Note that META files are expected to be in UTF-8 encoding, only.  When converted string data, it must first be decoded from UTF-8.

METHODS

   load_file
	 my $metadata_structure = Parse::CPAN::Meta->load_file('META.json');

	 my $metadata_structure = Parse::CPAN::Meta->load_file('META.yml');

       This method will read the named file and deserialize it to a data structure, determining whether it should be JSON or YAML based on the
       filename.  On Perl 5.8.1 or later, the file will be read using the ":utf8" IO layer.

   load_yaml_string
	 my $metadata_structure = Parse::CPAN::Meta->load_yaml_string($yaml_string);

       This method deserializes the given string of YAML and returns the first document in it.	(CPAN metadata files should always have only one
       document.)  If the source was UTF-8 encoded, the string must be decoded before calling "load_yaml_string".

   load_json_string
	 my $metadata_structure = Parse::CPAN::Meta->load_json_string($json_string);

       This method deserializes the given string of JSON and the result.  If the source was UTF-8 encoded, the string must be decoded before
       calling "load_json_string".

   yaml_backend
	 my $backend = Parse::CPAN::Meta->yaml_backend;

       Returns the module name of the YAML serializer. See "ENVIRONMENT" for details.

   json_backend
	 my $backend = Parse::CPAN::Meta->json_backend;

       Returns the module name of the JSON serializer.	This will either be JSON::PP or JSON.  Even if "PERL_JSON_BACKEND" is set, this will
       return JSON as further delegation is handled by the JSON module.  See "ENVIRONMENT" for details.

FUNCTIONS

       For maintenance clarity, no functions are exported.  These functions are available for backwards compatibility only and are best avoided in
       favor of "load_file".

   Load
	 my @yaml = Parse::CPAN::Meta::Load( $string );

       Parses a string containing a valid YAML stream into a list of Perl data structures.

   LoadFile
	 my @yaml = Parse::CPAN::Meta::LoadFile( 'META.yml' );

       Reads the YAML stream from a file instead of a string.

ENVIRONMENT

   PERL_JSON_BACKEND
       By default, JSON::PP will be used for deserializing JSON data. If the "PERL_JSON_BACKEND" environment variable exists, is true and is not
       "JSON::PP", then the JSON module (version 2.5 or greater) will be loaded and used to interpret "PERL_JSON_BACKEND".  If JSON is not
       installed or is too old, an exception will be thrown.

   PERL_YAML_BACKEND
       By default, CPAN::Meta::YAML will be used for deserializing YAML data. If the "PERL_YAML_BACKEND" environment variable is defined, then it
       is intepreted as a module to use for deserialization.  The given module must be installed, must load correctly and must implement the
       "Load()" function or an exception will be thrown.

SUPPORT

       Bugs should be reported via the CPAN bug tracker at

       <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Parse-CPAN-Meta>

AUTHOR

       Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2006 - 2010 Adam Kennedy.

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

       The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.

perl v5.16.3							    2012-04-05						      Parse::CPAN::Meta(3)