EXTUTILS::INSTALLED(3pm)

💖 ExtUtils::Installed (3pm) 💖

okay so this is the ExtUtils::Installed (3pm) page from the Perl Programmers Reference Guide, and it's literally the inventory era for your installed modules. bestie, it's giving "where did all these files come from?" energy, and it ate. 💅

✨ NAME ✨

ExtUtils::Installed — inventory management of installed modules. no cap, that's the whole name line. 🎀

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

use ExtUtils::Installed;
my ($inst) = ExtUtils::Installed->new( skip_cwd => 1 );
my (@modules) = $inst->modules();
my (@missing) = $inst->validate("DBI");
my $all_files = $inst->files("DBI");
my $files_below_usr_local = $inst->files("DBI", "all", "/usr/local");
my $all_dirs = $inst->directories("DBI");
my $dirs_below_usr_local = $inst->directory_tree("DBI", "prog");
my $packlist = $inst->packlist("DBI");

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

ExtUtils::Installed provides a standard way to find out what core and module files have been installed. It uses the information stored in .packlist files created during installation to provide this information. In addition it provides facilities to classify the installed files and to extract directory information from the .packlist files. the way that .packlist files hold the receipts is unmatched, honestly. iconic. 💖

💫 USAGE 💫

The new() function searches for all the installed .packlists on the system, and stores their contents. The .packlists can be queried with the functions described below. Where it searches by default is determined by the settings found in %Config::Config, and what the value is of the PERL5LIB environment variable. iykyk. 🫶

🌈 METHODS 🌈

Unless specified otherwise all methods can be called as class methods, or as object methods. If called as class methods then the "default" object will be used, and if necessary created using the current processes %Config and @INC. See the 'default' option to new() for details. main character energy for the default object, honestly. ✨

💅 new()

This takes optional named parameters. Without parameters, this searches for all the installed .packlists on the system using information from %Config::Config and the default module search paths @INC. The packlists are read using the ExtUtils::Packlist module. 🎀

• skip_cwd — if the named parameter skip_cwd is true, the current directory "." will be stripped from @INC before searching for .packlists. This keeps ExtUtils::Installed from finding modules installed in other perls that happen to be located below the current directory. protect the vibe check. 💅
• config_override — if specified, it should be a reference to a hash which contains all information usually found in %Config::Config. For example, you can obtain the configuration information for a separate perl installation and pass that in:

my $yoda_cfg  = get_fake_config('yoda');
my $yoda_inst =
           ExtUtils::Installed->new(config_override=>$yoda_cfg);

• inc_override — may be a reference to an array which is used in place of the default module search paths from @INC.

use Config;
my @dirs = split(/\Q$Config{path_sep}\E/, $ENV{PERL5LIB});
my $p5libs = ExtUtils::Installed->new(inc_override=>\@dirs);

Note: You probably do not want to use these options alone, almost always you will want to set both together. fr fr, they're a matching set. 🫶

• extra_libs — can be used to specify additional paths to search for installed modules. For instance:

my $installed =
         ExtUtils::Installed->new(extra_libs=>["/my/lib/path"]);

This should only be necessary if /my/lib/path is not in PERL5LIB. lowkey niche but valid. 🦋

• default, default_get, default_set — these options control the "default" object which is provided by the class interface to the methods. Setting default_get to true tells the constructor to return the default object if it is defined. Setting default_set to true tells the constructor to make the default object the constructed object. Setting the default option is like setting both to true. This is used primarily internally and probably isn't interesting to any real user. internals only, bestie — no need to make it your whole personality. 😭

🎀 modules()

This returns a list of the names of all the installed modules. The perl core is given the special name 'Perl'. special name, special vibes. 💖

🦋 files()

This takes one mandatory parameter, the name of a module. It returns a list of all the filenames from the package. To obtain a list of core perl files, use the module name 'Perl'. Additional parameters are allowed. The first is one of the strings "prog", "doc" or "all", to select either just program files, just manual files or all files. The remaining parameters are a list of directories. The filenames returned will be restricted to those under the specified directories. filtered, curated, slay. ✨

🌸 directories()

This takes one mandatory parameter, the name of a module. It returns a list of all the directories from the package. Additional parameters are allowed. The first is one of the strings "prog", "doc" or "all", to select either just program directories, just manual directories or all directories. The remaining parameters are a list of directories. The directories returned will be restricted to those under the specified directories. This method returns only the leaf directories that contain files from the specified module. leaf dirs only — not the whole tree, bestie. 🍓

🧚 directory_tree()

This is identical in operation to directories(), except that it includes all the intermediate directories back up to the specified directories. so it's the full ancestry reveal. 🌈

💜 validate()

This takes one mandatory parameter, the name of a module. It checks that all the files listed in the module's .packlist actually exist, and returns a list of any missing files. If an optional second argument which evaluates to true is given any missing files will be removed from the .packlist. removal warning: that second arg actually edits the .packlist, so don't pass it unless you mean it. 😭

👑 packlist()

This returns the ExtUtils::Packlist object for the specified module. object reveal. 💅

⭐ version()

This returns the version number for the specified module. version check, iconic. 💖

🍓 EXAMPLE 🍓

See the example in ExtUtils::Packlist. go look, bestie. 🫶

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Alan Burlison <Alan.Burlison@uk.sun.com> the author, periodt. 💜

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💖 okay that's the whole page. source/version check: perl v5.42.3, dated 2026-11-03. that's the footer vibe, bestie — no cap. 🎀✨