Unable to disambiguate a module name from a local file of the same name

[rivy]

When trying to install a module (eg, "version"), if the current directory contains a matching file name, it isn't possible to direct cpanm to download and install the module from CPAN. cpanm will always attempt to install the from the local file.

# eg

touch version
cpanm version ; # fails

touch "ExtUtils::ParseXS"
cpanm ExtUtils::ParseXS ; # fails

This is especially problematic for single named modules (eg, "Graph", "parent", or "version"), which are far more likely to have a matching file. But filenames with internal "::" are obviously a possible problem, as well.

This issue crops up when using CI scripts for testing. Test failures may occur which are not due to actual module bugs, but instead due to a new file check-in which clashes with a cpanm module installation.

The only currently safe workaround that I've found is to use cpanm from an empty directory.

[miyagawa]

This is a known issue. I recommend to use cpanfile to install modules without being addected by the local file systems.

[rivy]

Thanks for the quick response.

Using "cpanfile" might work for my personal modules, but I'm trying to add a more broadly useful AppVeyor configuration that can be used for modules owned by others. Requiring "cpanfile" for everyone doesn't seem to be a workable solution.

I was hoping you'd consider some other disambiguation method, such as an option flag or a protocol prefix (eg, cpan://version or net://version).

[miyagawa]

IMO using cpanfipe would be more acceptable that using command line arguments since more tools and CI ecosystems support it, such as Travis CI's Perl setup does out of the box.

[rivy]

I've hacked around this issue for my use on AppVeyor, but it's just that... a hack.

And, IMHO, this ambiguity at the CLI of cpanm is still a bug with the tool itself, which could be fairly easily fixed. But, if it's a "won't fix" for you, it'd likely be helpful to at least note the issue in the tool's documentation.

Thanks again for your attention.