Re: submitting new module to CPAN (Image::ExifTool)

boardhead62@hotmail.com (Phil) wrote in message news:<boardhead62-2109041545270001@u87.n24.
queensu.ca>...
> Hi.  I'm considering adding a new module to CPAN and want some feedback.
> I've had this module in the public domain now for almost a year, and many
> people have told me that I should submit it to CPAN.
>
> The module occupies the same niche as Image::Info, but with some extra
> features that I don't think could be easily added to Image::Info.
>
> The package can be downloaded from
>
> http://owl.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/
>
> and the module documentation can be found at
>
> http://owl.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/ExifTool.html
>
> I've registered at PAUSE, but want to check here before registering a
> namespace.  The potential drawbacks are the large overlap with Image::Info
> and the fact that my distribution also includes a File::RandomAccessFile
> module that I use for my I/O.  Presumably I'd have to register both
> Image::ExifTool and File::RandomAccessFile if I submitted this package.
>
> I'm asking for feedback because I've never done this before, and I haven't
> been programming Perl for long so I'm not too familiar with the CPAN way.
>
> I am trying to answer these 2 questions:
>
> 1) Will my package be a useful addition to CPAN?

Yes!

> 2) If "yes" above, what changes should I make before submitting it?

There are some other modules handling EXIF info, like Image::Info (you
mentioned it above), Image::EXIF and Image::MetaData::JPEG.
All of these modules have a big overlap concerning handling of EXIF
data. But all of them (I don't know much of Image::EXIF) seem to have
certain specialties.

The big drawback for me as a user of these modules (see
http://mapivi.de.vu) is that I need to include all the modules to get
all the features I want to have (at the moment I'm just using
Image::Info and Image::MetaData, which are still weak in EXIF maker
notes).
Another problem are the different APIs of the modules.

Regards,
Martin