Wordspaces in filenames in MANIFEST

[Jim Keenan]

I am preparing a module for distribution with a standard Makefile. The
module processes text files and, for thorough testing, needs to be able to
process sample files whose names contains wordspaces, e.g.:

qx broken on win98.thr.txt

I want to include these in the MANIFEST accompanying the distribution, but I
can't figure out how to enter them such that 'perl Makefile.PL' will
recognize that the file is present and not throw a temper tantrum such as:

Checking if your kit is complete...
Warning: the following files are missing in your kit:
t/consol/in/pw32u/qx
Please inform the author.
Writing Makefile for ...

I have tried the following:

1. Double-quote the whole path:

"t/consol/in/pw32u/qx broken on win98.thr.txt"

2. Double-quote just the filename

t/consol/in/pw32u/"qx broken on win98.thr.txt"

3. Escape the wordspaces:

t/consol/in/pw32u/qx\ broken\ on\ win98.thr.txt

4. Double quote either the whole path or just the filename and escape the
wordspaces:

"t/consol/in/pw32u/qx\ broken\ on\ win98.thr.txt"

Nothing seems to work. Each time I get the spurious warning listed above.

(This tantrum notwithstanding, the subsequent tests locate sample files with
wordspaces in their names and process them correctly.)

This is being tested on Linux (Redhat 7.2) but I'll eventually have to get
it to work on Win32 as well. Any suggestions?

Jim Keenan
Brooklyn, NY


[To send mail, combine my first initial and last name and send it to me
[at]cpan[dot]org ]

[Martien Verbruggen]

On Wed, 03 Mar 2004 03:11:09 GMT,
Jim Keenan <no_spam_for_jkeen@verizon.net> wrote:

> I am preparing a module for distribution with a standard Makefile. The
> module processes text files and, for thorough testing, needs to be able to
> process sample files whose names contains wordspaces, e.g.:
>
> qx broken on win98.thr.txt
>
> I want to include these in the MANIFEST accompanying the distribution, but I
> can't figure out how to enter them such that 'perl Makefile.PL' will
> recognize that the file is present and not throw a temper tantrum such as:

I don't think that's possible. The ExtUtils::Manifest documentation
states:

MANIFEST

Anything between white space and an end of line within a "MANIFEST"
file is considered to be a comment. Filenames and comments are sepa-
rated by one or more TAB characters in the output.

While one could argue that that is broken design (and I'd agree),
that's how it is. I can't see anything in ExtUtils::MakeMaker that
allows another way to include files in the distribution than via MANIFEST.

The funny thing is that if you run 'make manifest' the file name with
spaces will actually be added to the MANIFEST file, with the spaces
intact, subsequently breaking the build.

Since you control the distribution, why don't you just create file
names without spaces? I agree that the whole MANIFEST thing is
broken, but rather than trying to fight it, why not simply accept it?

Martien
--
|
Martien Verbruggen | There are only 10 types of people in the
Trading Post Australia | world; those who understand binary and those
| who don't.

[Jim Keenan]

"Martien Verbruggen" <mgjv@tradingpost.com.au> wrote in message
news:slrnc4akmk.8k7.mgjv@verbruggen.comdyn.com.au. ..

Thanks for responding so quickly.

> I don't think that's possible. The ExtUtils::Manifest documentation
> states:
>
> MANIFEST
>
> Anything between white space and an end of line within a "MANIFEST"
> file is considered to be a comment. Filenames and comments are

sepa-

> rated by one or more TAB characters in the output.
>
> While one could argue that that is broken design (and I'd agree),
> that's how it is. I can't see anything in ExtUtils::MakeMaker that
> allows another way to include files in the distribution than via MANIFEST.
>

Hmm, I was afraid of that. But that does appear to be definitive.

> Since you control the distribution, why don't you just create file
> names without spaces? I agree that the whole MANIFEST thing is
> broken, but rather than trying to fight it, why not simply accept it?
>

I'll probably have to, but that makes the tests themselves less robust, as
the module they're testing is supposed to be able to handle wordspaces in
filenames (and the code itself has done just that for nearly 4 years).
Thanks again.

jimk

[Martien Verbruggen]

On Wed, 03 Mar 2004 21:37:41 GMT,
Jim Keenan <no_spam_for_jkeen@verizon.net> wrote:

>
> "Martien Verbruggen" <mgjv@tradingpost.com.au> wrote in message
> news:slrnc4akmk.8k7.mgjv@verbruggen.comdyn.com.au. ..
>

>> Since you control the distribution, why don't you just create file
>> names without spaces? I agree that the whole MANIFEST thing is
>> broken, but rather than trying to fight it, why not simply accept it?
>>

> I'll probably have to, but that makes the tests themselves less robust, as
> the module they're testing is supposed to be able to handle wordspaces in
> filenames (and the code itself has done just that for nearly 4 years).
> Thanks again.

Why don't you have the test program create files with spaces in them,
maybe copying data from another file? That means that you don't have
to include those files as part of the distribution...

Martien
--
|
Martien Verbruggen | Little girls, like butterflies, need no
Trading Post Australia | excuse - Lazarus Long
|

[Jim Keenan]

Martien Verbruggen <mgjv@tradingpost.com.au> wrote in message news:<slrnc4cn3q.8k7.mgjv@verbruggen.comdyn.com.au >...

>
> Why don't you have the test program create files with spaces in them,
> maybe copying data from another file? That means that you don't have
> to include those files as part of the distribution...
>

The module I'm working on provides functions for a user who wishes to
maintain a local archive of messages received in "daily digest"
fashion from a mailing list. The principal function in the module
creates plain-text files for individual discussion "threads"; these
files are named based on the subjects of the individual messages.
Hence, these file names can have wordspaces in them.

In the test suite, however, I have to supply a dummy version of a
mailing list digest as a sample. This sample digest, since it is to
be included in the Manifest, may not have wordspaces in its name. In
addition, the module supplies additional functions which "repair"
threads whose contents, for instance, were received out of
chronological order. The test suite requires samples for these files
as well; such sample files cannot have wordspaces in their names
without having MakeMaker send that spurious warning.

This will become clearer when I have the module up on CPAN within a
couple of weeks. Last night I cut out some of my sample files,
changed wordspaces in their names to underscores as needed, and
finally got it to pass all its tests on Linux. But now I have to get
it to pass its tests on Windows as well.

Jim Keenan

[Martien Verbruggen]

On 4 Mar 2004 11:07:10 -0800,
Jim Keenan <jkeen_via_google@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Martien Verbruggen <mgjv@tradingpost.com.au> wrote in message news:<slrnc4cn3q.8k7.mgjv@verbruggen.comdyn.com.au >...

>>
>> Why don't you have the test program create files with spaces in them,
>> maybe copying data from another file? That means that you don't have
>> to include those files as part of the distribution...

[snip]

> In the test suite, however, I have to supply a dummy version of a
> mailing list digest as a sample. This sample digest, since it is to
> be included in the Manifest, may not have wordspaces in its name. In
> addition, the module supplies additional functions which "repair"
> threads whose contents, for instance, were received out of
> chronological order. The test suite requires samples for these files
> as well; such sample files cannot have wordspaces in their names
> without having MakeMaker send that spurious warning.

I understood that. What I suggested is that you distribute the sample
files without spaces in the name, and that your test program simply
copies them to files that have spaces in the name, and then runs the
test with those names.

Alternatively, you could have your Makefile.PL do this when it builds
the Makefile. You could even add rules to the Makefile that build
them, but I probably wouldn't do that.

That way, you avoid having to distribute a file with spaces (and hence
breaking MANIFEST), but you can still run the test on a file with
spaces in the name.

Martien
--
|
Martien Verbruggen | If it isn't broken, it doesn't have enough
Trading Post Australia | features yet.
|

[Malcolm Dew-Jones]

Martien Verbruggen (mgjv@tradingpost.com.au) wrote:
: On 4 Mar 2004 11:07:10 -0800,
: Jim Keenan <jkeen_via_google@yahoo.com> wrote:
: > Martien Verbruggen <mgjv@tradingpost.com.au> wrote in message news:<slrnc4cn3q.8k7.mgjv@verbruggen.comdyn.com.au >...
: >>
: >> Why don't you have the test program create files with spaces in them,
: >> maybe copying data from another file? That means that you don't have
: >> to include those files as part of the distribution...

: [snip]

: > In the test suite, however, I have to supply a dummy version of a
: > mailing list digest as a sample. This sample digest, since it is to
: > be included in the Manifest, may not have wordspaces in its name. In
: > addition, the module supplies additional functions which "repair"
: > threads whose contents, for instance, were received out of
: > chronological order. The test suite requires samples for these files
: > as well; such sample files cannot have wordspaces in their names
: > without having MakeMaker send that spurious warning.

: I understood that. What I suggested is that you distribute the sample
: files without spaces in the name, and that your test program simply
: copies them to files that have spaces in the name, and then runs the
: test with those names.

: Alternatively, you could have your Makefile.PL do this when it builds
: the Makefile. You could even add rules to the Makefile that build
: them, but I probably wouldn't do that.

: That way, you avoid having to distribute a file with spaces (and hence
: breaking MANIFEST), but you can still run the test on a file with
: spaces in the name.

Yeah.

Distribute them as a tar file and then make or Makefile.PL can simply
untar them into place.

MANIFEST would contain the line

Sample-Test-Files.tar

and the untaring would also put them into any desired diretory
struture.

[Jim Keenan]

"Malcolm Dew-Jones" <yf110@vtn1.victoria.tc.ca> wrote in message
news:4047c2b8@news.victoria.tc.ca...

> Martien Verbruggen (mgjv@tradingpost.com.au) wrote:

>
> : [snip]
>
>
> : I understood that. What I suggested is that you distribute the sample
> : files without spaces in the name, and that your test program simply
> : copies them to files that have spaces in the name, and then runs the
> : test with those names.
>
> : That way, you avoid having to distribute a file with spaces (and hence
> : breaking MANIFEST), but you can still run the test on a file with
> : spaces in the name.
>
> Yeah.
>
> Distribute them as a tar file and then make or Makefile.PL can simply
> untar them into place.
>
> MANIFEST would contain the line
>
> Sample-Test-Files.tar
>

Good suggestions, Malcolm and Martien. But since in the current version
I've changed filenames where needed to avoid wordspace -- and things are
DWIMing, I'll defer implementing your approach until the next version.

Jim Keenan