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I have installed CPAN modules some time ago. After I open a folder of module Catalyst-Plugin-Browser, there is a file .exists. What for is it there?

osiv
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  • Your question is unclear. Can you be more specific and edit the question with more details? – xxfelixxx Sep 01 '16 at 08:15
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    I understand your question, but there is no `Browser` module on CPAN. Can you give a better example please? – Borodin Sep 01 '16 at 08:54
  • Related: [How can I make ExtUtils::Manifest include empty directories?](http://stackoverflow.com/q/25112397/176646) – ThisSuitIsBlackNot Sep 01 '16 at 14:41
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    I've created .exists files in distributions before so I understand your question, but I'm confused about one thing: I've downloaded several versions of Catalyst::Plugin::Browser and none of them has any .exists files. For the benefit of future visitors, it would be nice to give the module version and the actual path to the file so people can see what you're seeing, or to just leave that information out altogether. – ThisSuitIsBlackNot Sep 01 '16 at 14:57

1 Answers1

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The documentation for the dir_target target in ExtUtils::MM_Any says this:

Because depending on a directory to just ensure it exists doesn't work too well (the modified time changes too often) dir_target() creates a .exists file in the created directory. It is this you should depend on.

So it's part of the mechanisms used by the CPAN module installation toolchain.

Dave Cross
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