perl package dependencies

[TwoProc]

I've got a perl package I want to install.
It has dependencies.

Download package b.tar.gz which requires a.tar.gz.

Make a directory called /xxx/xxx/xxx/Perl.
Put both tar.gz file in there.
Gunzip both.

Then, tar xvf both resultant .tar files.

I now have two directories - a & b.

I can now go into a, and run
"perl Makefile.PL" - it has no dependencies, not it makes me a "Makefile".

Now, I want to create a Makefile for b. I go into that directory, and run
"perl Makefile.PL". This completes with a warning that package "a" is not installed.

How can I tell the Makefile.PL that it can find the other library in a sibling (or other) directory so that the creation of the Makefile runs completely w/o warning?

Is there a better way to do this? Can I make a "package" of sorts of the code and its dependency?

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi John:

Here are some general guidelines for module installation:

http://www.cpan.org/modules/INSTALL.html

Note the reference to the 'use lib' pragma.

A nice installation method is to use the CPAN module:

# perl -MCPAN -e shell

I trust this helps.

Regards!

...JRF...

[TwoProc]

Thanks for the reply James...

Using CPAN from my desktop system is easy enough, but servers don't have internet access, and I'm pretty reluctant to open a hole through the firewalls - I'd rather just figure out how to make a package or structure that I can test on test servers and move to production after a sufficient testing round...

Thanks for the info!

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi (again) John:

# perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/my/perl_directory

...allows you to install into *your* directory instead of the usual Perl repository on your server.

Perhaps that helps you.

Regards!

...JRF...

[TwoProc]

It's Similar James, but I was looking to make a big combined package of where to install "from" instead of where to install "to".

Thanks again for all help, and always, much appreciated.

John