developing-packages.rst

Quickstart
==========

Lets assume we have created a project directory and already have a
Haskell module or two.

Every project needs a name, we'll call this example "proglet".

.. highlight:: console

::

    $ cd proglet/
    $ ls
    Proglet.hs

It is assumed that (apart from external dependencies) all the files that
make up a package live under a common project root directory. This
simple example has all the project files in one directory, but most
packages will use one or more subdirectories.

To turn this into a Cabal package we need two extra files in the
project's root directory:

-  ``proglet.cabal``: containing package metadata and build information.

-  ``Setup.hs``: usually containing a few standardized lines of code,
   but can be customized if necessary.

We can create both files manually or we can use ``cabal init`` to create
them for us.

Using "cabal init"
------------------

The ``cabal init`` command is interactive. It asks us a number of
questions starting with the package name and version.

::

    $ cabal init
    Package name [default "proglet"]?
    Package version [default "0.1"]?
    ...

It also asks questions about various other bits of package metadata. For
a package that you never intend to distribute to others, these fields
can be left blank.

One of the important questions is whether the package contains a library
or an executable. Libraries are collections of Haskell modules that can
be re-used by other Haskell libraries and programs, while executables
are standalone programs.

::

    What does the package build:
       1) Library
       2) Executable
    Your choice?

For the moment these are the only choices. For more complex packages
(e.g. a library and multiple executables or test suites) the ``.cabal``
file can be edited afterwards.

Finally, ``cabal init`` creates the initial ``proglet.cabal`` and
``Setup.hs`` files, and depending on your choice of license, a
``LICENSE`` file as well.

::

    Generating LICENSE...
    Generating Setup.hs...
    Generating proglet.cabal...

    You may want to edit the .cabal file and add a Description field.

As this stage the ``proglet.cabal`` is not quite complete and before you
are able to build the package you will need to edit the file and add
some build information about the library or executable.

Editing the .cabal file
-----------------------

.. highlight:: cabal

Load up the ``.cabal`` file in a text editor. The first part of the
``.cabal`` file has the package metadata and towards the end of the file
you will find the :pkg-section:`executable` or :pkg-section:`library` section.

You will see that the fields that have yet to be filled in are commented
out. Cabal files use "``--``" Haskell-style comment syntax. (Note that
comments are only allowed on lines on their own. Trailing comments on
other lines are not allowed because they could be confused with program
options.)

If you selected earlier to create a library package then your ``.cabal``
file will have a section that looks like this:

::

    library
      exposed-modules:     Proglet
      -- other-modules:
      -- build-depends:

Alternatively, if you selected an executable then there will be a
section like:

::

    executable proglet
      -- main-is:
      -- other-modules:
      -- build-depends:

The build information fields listed (but commented out) are just the few
most important and common fields. There are many others that are covered
later in this chapter.

Most of the build information fields are the same between libraries and
executables. The difference is that libraries have a number of "exposed"
modules that make up the public interface of the library, while
executables have a file containing a ``Main`` module.

The name of a library always matches the name of the package, so it is
not specified in the library section. Executables often follow the name
of the package too, but this is not required and the name is given
explicitly.

Modules included in the package
-------------------------------

For a library, ``cabal init`` looks in the project directory for files
that look like Haskell modules and adds all the modules to the
:pkg-field:`library:exposed-modules` field. For modules that do not form part
of your package's public interface, you can move those modules to the
:pkg-field:`other-modules` field. Either way, all modules in the library need
to be listed.

For an executable, ``cabal init`` does not try to guess which file
contains your program's ``Main`` module. You will need to fill in the
:pkg-field:`executable:main-is` field with the file name of your program's
``Main`` module (including ``.hs`` or ``.lhs`` extension). Other modules
included in the executable should be listed in the :pkg-field:`other-modules`
field.

Modules imported from other packages
------------------------------------

While your library or executable may include a number of modules, it
almost certainly also imports a number of external modules from the
standard libraries or other pre-packaged libraries. (These other
libraries are of course just Cabal packages that contain a library.)

You have to list all of the library packages that your library or
executable imports modules from. Or to put it another way: you have to
list all the other packages that your package depends on.

For example, suppose the example ``Proglet`` module imports the module
``Data.Map``. The ``Data.Map`` module comes from the ``containers``
package, so we must list it:

::

    library
      exposed-modules:     Proglet
      other-modules:
      build-depends:       containers, base == 4.*

In addition, almost every package also depends on the ``base`` library
package because it exports the standard ``Prelude`` module plus other
basic modules like ``Data.List``.

You will notice that we have listed ``base == 4.*``. This gives a
constraint on the version of the base package that our package will work
with. The most common kinds of constraints are:

-  ``pkgname >= n``
-  ``pkgname >= n && < m``
-  ``pkgname == n.*``

The last is just shorthand, for example ``base == 4.*`` means exactly
the same thing as ``base >= 4 && < 5``.

Building the package
--------------------

For simple packages that's it! We can now try configuring and building
the package:

.. code-block:: console

    $ cabal configure
    $ cabal build

Assuming those two steps worked then you can also install the package:

.. code-block:: console

    $ cabal install

For libraries this makes them available for use in GHCi or to be used by
other packages. For executables it installs the program so that you can
run it (though you may first need to adjust your system's ``$PATH``).

Next steps
----------

What we have covered so far should be enough for very simple packages
that you use on your own system.

The next few sections cover more details needed for more complex
packages and details needed for distributing packages to other people.

The previous chapter covers building and installing packages -- your own
packages or ones developed by other people.

Package concepts
================

Before diving into the details of writing packages it helps to
understand a bit about packages in the Haskell world and the particular
approach that Cabal takes.

The point of packages
---------------------

Packages are a mechanism for organising and distributing code. Packages
are particularly suited for "programming in the large", that is building
big systems by using and re-using code written by different people at
different times.

People organise code into packages based on functionality and
dependencies. Social factors are also important: most packages have a
single author, or a relatively small team of authors.

Packages are also used for distribution: the idea is that a package can
be created in one place and be moved to a different computer and be
usable in that different environment. There are a surprising number of
details that have to be got right for this to work, and a good package
system helps to simply this process and make it reliable.

Packages come in two main flavours: libraries of reusable code, and
complete programs. Libraries present a code interface, an API, while
programs can be run directly. In the Haskell world, library packages
expose a set of Haskell modules as their public interface. Cabal
packages can contain a library or executables or both.

Some programming languages have packages as a builtin language concept.
For example in Java, a package provides a local namespace for types and
other definitions. In the Haskell world, packages are not a part of the
language itself. Haskell programs consist of a number of modules, and
packages just provide a way to partition the modules into sets of
related functionality. Thus the choice of module names in Haskell is
still important, even when using packages.

Package names and versions
--------------------------

All packages have a name, e.g. "HUnit". Package names are assumed to be
unique. Cabal package names may contain letters, numbers and hyphens,
but not spaces and may also not contain a hyphened section consisting of
only numbers. The namespace for Cabal packages is flat, not
hierarchical.

Packages also have a version, e.g "1.1". This matches the typical way in
which packages are developed. Strictly speaking, each version of a
package is independent, but usually they are very similar. Cabal package
versions follow the conventional numeric style, consisting of a sequence
of digits such as "1.0.1" or "2.0". There are a range of common
conventions for "versioning" packages, that is giving some meaning to
the version number in terms of changes in the package. Section [TODO]
has some tips on package versioning.

The combination of package name and version is called the *package ID*
and is written with a hyphen to separate the name and version, e.g.
"HUnit-1.1".

For Cabal packages, the combination of the package name and version
*uniquely* identifies each package. Or to put it another way: two
packages with the same name and version are considered to *be* the same.

Strictly speaking, the package ID only identifies each Cabal *source*
package; the same Cabal source package can be configured and built in
different ways. There is a separate installed package ID that uniquely
identifies each installed package instance. Most of the time however,
users need not be aware of this detail.

Kinds of package: Cabal vs GHC vs system
----------------------------------------

It can be slightly confusing at first because there are various
different notions of package floating around. Fortunately the details
are not very complicated.

Cabal packages
    Cabal packages are really source packages. That is they contain
    Haskell (and sometimes C) source code.

    Cabal packages can be compiled to produce GHC packages. They can
    also be translated into operating system packages.

GHC packages
    This is GHC's view on packages. GHC only cares about library
    packages, not executables. Library packages have to be registered
    with GHC for them to be available in GHCi or to be used when
    compiling other programs or packages.

    The low-level tool ``ghc-pkg`` is used to register GHC packages and
    to get information on what packages are currently registered.

    You never need to make GHC packages manually. When you build and
    install a Cabal package containing a library then it gets registered
    with GHC automatically.

    Haskell implementations other than GHC have essentially the same
    concept of registered packages. For the most part, Cabal hides the
    slight differences.

Operating system packages
    On operating systems like Linux and Mac OS X, the system has a
    specific notion of a package and there are tools for installing and
    managing packages.

    The Cabal package format is designed to allow Cabal packages to be
    translated, mostly-automatically, into operating system packages.
    They are usually translated 1:1, that is a single Cabal package
    becomes a single system package.

    It is also possible to make Windows installers from Cabal packages,
    though this is typically done for a program together with all of its
    library dependencies, rather than packaging each library separately.

Unit of distribution
--------------------

The Cabal package is the unit of distribution. What this means is that
each Cabal package can be distributed on its own in source or binary
form. Of course there may dependencies between packages, but there is
usually a degree of flexibility in which versions of packages can work
together so distributing them independently makes sense.

It is perhaps easiest to see what being "the unit of distribution"
means by contrast to an alternative approach. Many projects are made up
of several interdependent packages and during development these might
all be kept under one common directory tree and be built and tested
together. When it comes to distribution however, rather than
distributing them all together in a single tarball, it is required that
they each be distributed independently in their own tarballs.

Cabal's approach is to say that if you can specify a dependency on a
package then that package should be able to be distributed
independently. Or to put it the other way round, if you want to
distribute it as a single unit, then it should be a single package.

Explicit dependencies and automatic package management
------------------------------------------------------

Cabal takes the approach that all packages dependencies are specified
explicitly and specified in a declarative way. The point is to enable
automatic package management. This means tools like ``cabal`` can
resolve dependencies and install a package plus all of its dependencies
automatically. Alternatively, it is possible to mechanically (or mostly
mechanically) translate Cabal packages into system packages and let the
system package manager install dependencies automatically.

It is important to track dependencies accurately so that packages can
reliably be moved from one system to another system and still be able to
build it there. Cabal is therefore relatively strict about specifying
dependencies. For example Cabal's default build system will not even let
code build if it tries to import a module from a package that isn't
listed in the ``.cabal`` file, even if that package is actually
installed. This helps to ensure that there are no "untracked
dependencies" that could cause the code to fail to build on some other
system.

The explicit dependency approach is in contrast to the traditional
"./configure" approach where instead of specifying dependencies
declaratively, the ``./configure`` script checks if the dependencies are
present on the system. Some manual work is required to transform a
``./configure`` based package into a Linux distribution package (or
similar). This conversion work is usually done by people other than the
package author(s). The practical effect of this is that only the most
popular packages will benefit from automatic package management.
Instead, Cabal forces the original author to specify the dependencies
but the advantage is that every package can benefit from automatic
package management.

The "./configure" approach tends to encourage packages that adapt
themselves to the environment in which they are built, for example by
disabling optional features so that they can continue to work when a
particular dependency is not available. This approach makes sense in a
world where installing additional dependencies is a tiresome manual
process and so minimising dependencies is important. The automatic
package management view is that packages should just declare what they
need and the package manager will take responsibility for ensuring that
all the dependencies are installed.

Sometimes of course optional features and optional dependencies do make
sense. Cabal packages can have optional features and varying
dependencies. These conditional dependencies are still specified in a
declarative way however and remain compatible with automatic package
management. The need to remain compatible with automatic package
management means that Cabal's conditional dependencies system is a bit
less flexible than with the "./configure" approach.

Portability
-----------

One of the purposes of Cabal is to make it easier to build packages on
different platforms (operating systems and CPU architectures), with
different compiler versions and indeed even with different Haskell
implementations. (Yes, there are Haskell implementations other than
GHC!)

Cabal provides abstractions of features present in different Haskell
implementations and wherever possible it is best to take advantage of
these to increase portability. Where necessary however it is possible to
use specific features of specific implementations.

For example a package author can list in the package's ``.cabal`` what
language extensions the code uses. This allows Cabal to figure out if
the language extension is supported by the Haskell implementation that
the user picks. Additionally, certain language extensions such as
Template Haskell require special handling from the build system and by
listing the extension it provides the build system with enough
information to do the right thing.

Another similar example is linking with foreign libraries. Rather than
specifying GHC flags directly, the package author can list the libraries
that are needed and the build system will take care of using the right
flags for the compiler. Additionally this makes it easier for tools to
discover what system C libraries a package needs, which is useful for
tracking dependencies on system libraries (e.g. when translating into
Linux distribution packages).

In fact both of these examples fall into the category of explicitly
specifying dependencies. Not all dependencies are other Cabal packages.
Foreign libraries are clearly another kind of dependency. It's also
possible to think of language extensions as dependencies: the package
depends on a Haskell implementation that supports all those extensions.

Where compiler-specific options are needed however, there is an "escape
hatch" available. The developer can specify implementation-specific
options and more generally there is a configuration mechanism to
customise many aspects of how a package is built depending on the
Haskell implementation, the operating system, computer architecture and
user-specified configuration flags.

Developing packages
===================

The Cabal package is the unit of distribution. When installed, its
purpose is to make available:

-  One or more Haskell programs.

-  At most one library, exposing a number of Haskell modules.

However having both a library and executables in a package does not work
very well; if the executables depend on the library, they must
explicitly list all the modules they directly or indirectly import from
that library. Fortunately, starting with Cabal 1.8.0.4, executables can
also declare the package that they are in as a dependency, and Cabal
will treat them as if they were in another package that depended on the
library.

Internally, the package may consist of much more than a bunch of Haskell
modules: it may also have C source code and header files, source code
meant for preprocessing, documentation, test cases, auxiliary tools etc.

A package is identified by a globally-unique *package name*, which
consists of one or more alphanumeric words separated by hyphens. To
avoid ambiguity, each of these words should contain at least one letter.
Chaos will result if two distinct packages with the same name are
installed on the same system. A particular version of the package is
distinguished by a *version number*, consisting of a sequence of one or
more integers separated by dots. These can be combined to form a single
text string called the *package ID*, using a hyphen to separate the name
from the version, e.g. "``HUnit-1.1``".

.. Note::

   Packages are not part of the Haskell language; they simply
   populate the hierarchical space of module names. In GHC 6.6 and later a
   program may contain multiple modules with the same name if they come
   from separate packages; in all other current Haskell systems packages
   may not overlap in the modules they provide, including hidden modules.

Creating a package
------------------

Suppose you have a directory hierarchy containing the source files that
make up your package. You will need to add two more files to the root
directory of the package:

:file:`{package}.cabal`
    a Unicode UTF-8 text file containing a package description. For
    details of the syntax of this file, see the section on
    `package descriptions`_.

:file:`Setup.hs`
    a single-module Haskell program to perform various setup tasks (with
    the interface described in the section on :ref:`installing-packages`).
    This module should import only modules that will be present in all Haskell
    implementations, including modules of the Cabal library. The content of
    this file is determined by the :pkg-field:`build-type` setting in the
    ``.cabal`` file. In most cases it will be trivial, calling on the Cabal
    library to do most of the work.

Once you have these, you can create a source bundle of this directory
for distribution. Building of the package is discussed in the section on
:ref:`installing-packages`.

One of the purposes of Cabal is to make it easier to build a package
with different Haskell implementations. So it provides abstractions of
features present in different Haskell implementations and wherever
possible it is best to take advantage of these to increase portability.
Where necessary however it is possible to use specific features of
specific implementations. For example one of the pieces of information a
package author can put in the package's ``.cabal`` file is what language
extensions the code uses. This is far preferable to specifying flags for
a specific compiler as it allows Cabal to pick the right flags for the
Haskell implementation that the user picks. It also allows Cabal to
figure out if the language extension is even supported by the Haskell
implementation that the user picks. Where compiler-specific options are
needed however, there is an "escape hatch" available. The developer can
specify implementation-specific options and more generally there is a
configuration mechanism to customise many aspects of how a package is
built depending on the Haskell implementation, the Operating system,
computer architecture and user-specified configuration flags.

::

    name:     Foo
    version:  1.0

    library
      build-depends:   base
      exposed-modules: Foo
      extensions:      ForeignFunctionInterface
      ghc-options:     -Wall
      if os(windows)
        build-depends: Win32

Example: A package containing a simple library
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The HUnit package contains a file ``HUnit.cabal`` containing:

::

    name:           HUnit
    version:        1.1.1
    synopsis:       A unit testing framework for Haskell
    homepage:       http://hunit.sourceforge.net/
    category:       Testing
    author:         Dean Herington
    license:        BSD3
    license-file:   LICENSE
    cabal-version:  >= 1.10
    build-type:     Simple

    library
      build-depends:      base >= 2 && < 4
      exposed-modules:    Test.HUnit.Base, Test.HUnit.Lang,
                          Test.HUnit.Terminal, Test.HUnit.Text, Test.HUnit
      default-extensions: CPP

and the following ``Setup.hs``:

.. code-block:: haskell

    import Distribution.Simple
    main = defaultMain

Example: A package containing executable programs
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

::

    name:           TestPackage
    version:        0.0
    synopsis:       Small package with two programs
    author:         Angela Author
    license:        BSD3
    build-type:     Simple
    cabal-version:  >= 1.2

    executable program1
      build-depends:  HUnit
      main-is:        Main.hs
      hs-source-dirs: prog1

    executable program2
      main-is:        Main.hs
      build-depends:  HUnit
      hs-source-dirs: prog2
      other-modules:  Utils

with ``Setup.hs`` the same as above.

Example: A package containing a library and executable programs
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

::

    name:            TestPackage
    version:         0.0
    synopsis:        Package with library and two programs
    license:         BSD3
    author:          Angela Author
    build-type:      Simple
    cabal-version:   >= 1.2

    library
      build-depends:   HUnit
      exposed-modules: A, B, C

    executable program1
      main-is:         Main.hs
      hs-source-dirs:  prog1
      other-modules:   A, B

    executable program2
      main-is:         Main.hs
      hs-source-dirs:  prog2
      other-modules:   A, C, Utils

with ``Setup.hs`` the same as above. Note that any library modules
required (directly or indirectly) by an executable must be listed again.

The trivial setup script used in these examples uses the *simple build
infrastructure* provided by the Cabal library (see
`Distribution.Simple <../release/cabal-latest/doc/API/Cabal/Distribution-Simple.html>`__).
The simplicity lies in its interface rather that its implementation. It
automatically handles preprocessing with standard preprocessors, and
builds packages for all the Haskell implementations.

The simple build infrastructure can also handle packages where building
is governed by system-dependent parameters, if you specify a little more
(see the section on `system-dependent parameters`_).
A few packages require `more elaborate solutions <more complex packages>`_.

Package descriptions
--------------------

The package description file must have a name ending in "``.cabal``". It
must be a Unicode text file encoded using valid UTF-8. There must be
exactly one such file in the directory. The first part of the name is
usually the package name, and some of the tools that operate on Cabal
packages require this.

In the package description file, lines whose first non-whitespace
characters are "``--``" are treated as comments and ignored.

This file should contain of a number global property descriptions and
several sections.

-  The `package properties`_ describe the package
   as a whole, such as name, license, author, etc.

-  Optionally, a number of *configuration flags* can be declared. These
   can be used to enable or disable certain features of a package. (see
   the section on `configurations`_).

-  The (optional) library section specifies the `library`_ properties and
   relevant `build information`_.

-  Following is an arbitrary number of executable sections which describe
   an executable program and relevant `build information`_.

Each section consists of a number of property descriptions in the form
of field/value pairs, with a syntax roughly like mail message headers.

-  Case is not significant in field names, but is significant in field
   values.

-  To continue a field value, indent the next line relative to the field
   name.

-  Field names may be indented, but all field values in the same section
   must use the same indentation.

-  Tabs are *not* allowed as indentation characters due to a missing
   standard interpretation of tab width.

-  To get a blank line in a field value, use an indented "``.``"

The syntax of the value depends on the field. Field types include:

*token*, *filename*, *directory*
    Either a sequence of one or more non-space non-comma characters, or
    a quoted string in Haskell 98 lexical syntax. The latter can be used
    for escaping whitespace, for example:
    ``ghc-options: -Wall "-with-rtsopts=-T -I1"``. Unless otherwise
    stated, relative filenames and directories are interpreted from the
    package root directory.
*freeform*, *URL*, *address*
    An arbitrary, uninterpreted string.
*identifier*
    A letter followed by zero or more alphanumerics or underscores.
*compiler*
    A compiler flavor (one of: ``GHC``, ``JHC``, ``UHC`` or ``LHC``)
    followed by a version range. For example, ``GHC ==6.10.3``, or
    ``LHC >=0.6 && <0.8``.

Modules and preprocessors
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Haskell module names listed in the :pkg-field:`library:exposed-modules` and
:pkg-field:`library:other-modules` fields may correspond to Haskell source
files, i.e. with names ending in "``.hs``" or "``.lhs``", or to inputs for
various Haskell preprocessors. The simple build infrastructure understands the
extensions:

-  ``.gc`` (:hackage-pkg:`greencard`)
-  ``.chs`` (:hackage-pkg:`c2hs`)
-  ``.hsc`` (:hackage-pkg:`hsc2hs`)
-  ``.y`` and ``.ly`` (happy_)
-  ``.x`` (alex_)
-  ``.cpphs`` (cpphs_)

When building, Cabal will automatically run the appropriate preprocessor
and compile the Haskell module it produces. For the ``c2hs`` and
``hsc2hs`` preprocessors, Cabal will also automatically add, compile and
link any C sources generated by the preprocessor (produced by
``hsc2hs``'s ``#def`` feature or ``c2hs``'s auto-generated wrapper
functions).

Some fields take lists of values, which are optionally separated by
commas, except for the :pkg-field:`build-depends` field, where the commas are
mandatory.

Some fields are marked as required. All others are optional, and unless
otherwise specified have empty default values.

Package properties
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

These fields may occur in the first top-level properties section and
describe the package as a whole:

.. pkg-field:: name: package-name (required)

    The unique name of the package, without the version number.

.. pkg-field:: version: numbers (required)

    The package version number, usually consisting of a sequence of
    natural numbers separated by dots.

.. pkg-field:: cabal-version: >= x.y

    The version of the Cabal specification that this package description
    uses. The Cabal specification does slowly evolve, introducing new
    features and occasionally changing the meaning of existing features.
    By specifying which version of the spec you are using it enables
    programs which process the package description to know what syntax
    to expect and what each part means.

    For historical reasons this is always expressed using *>=* version
    range syntax. No other kinds of version range make sense, in
    particular upper bounds do not make sense. In future this field will
    specify just a version number, rather than a version range.

    The version number you specify will affect both compatibility and
    behaviour. Most tools (including the Cabal library and cabal
    program) understand a range of versions of the Cabal specification.
    Older tools will of course only work with older versions of the
    Cabal specification. Most of the time, tools that are too old will
    recognise this fact and produce a suitable error message.

    As for behaviour, new versions of the Cabal spec can change the
    meaning of existing syntax. This means if you want to take advantage
    of the new meaning or behaviour then you must specify the newer
    Cabal version. Tools are expected to use the meaning and behaviour
    appropriate to the version given in the package description.

    In particular, the syntax of package descriptions changed
    significantly with Cabal version 1.2 and the :pkg-field:`cabal-version`
    field is now required. Files written in the old syntax are still
    recognized, so if you require compatibility with very old Cabal
    versions then you may write your package description file using the
    old syntax. Please consult the user's guide of an older Cabal
    version for a description of that syntax.

.. pkg-field:: build-type: identifier

    :default: ``Custom``

    The type of build used by this package. Build types are the
    constructors of the
    `BuildType <../release/cabal-latest/doc/API/Cabal/Distribution-PackageDescription.html#t:BuildType>`__
    type, defaulting to ``Custom``.

    If the build type is anything other than ``Custom``, then the
    ``Setup.hs`` file *must* be exactly the standardized content
    discussed below. This is because in these cases, ``cabal`` will
    ignore the ``Setup.hs`` file completely, whereas other methods of
    package management, such as ``runhaskell Setup.hs [CMD]``, still
    rely on the ``Setup.hs`` file.

    For build type ``Simple``, the contents of ``Setup.hs`` must be:

    .. code-block:: haskell

        import Distribution.Simple
        main = defaultMain

    For build type ``Configure`` (see the section on `system-dependent
    parameters`_ below), the contents of
    ``Setup.hs`` must be:

    .. code-block:: haskell

        import Distribution.Simple
        main = defaultMainWithHooks autoconfUserHooks

    For build type ``Make`` (see the section on `more complex packages`_ below),
    the contents of ``Setup.hs`` must be:

    .. code-block:: haskell

        import Distribution.Make
        main = defaultMain

    For build type ``Custom``, the file ``Setup.hs`` can be customized,
    and will be used both by ``cabal`` and other tools.

    For most packages, the build type ``Simple`` is sufficient.

.. pkg-field:: license: identifier

    :default: ``AllRightsReserved``

    The type of license under which this package is distributed. License
    names are the constants of the
    `License <../release/cabal-latest/doc/API/Cabal/Distribution-License.html#t:License>`__
    type.

.. pkg-field:: license-file: filename
.. pkg-field:: license-files: filename list

    The name of a file(s) containing the precise copyright license for
    this package. The license file(s) will be installed with the
    package.

    If you have multiple license files then use the :pkg-field:`license-files`
    field instead of (or in addition to) the :pkg-field:`license-file` field.

.. pkg-field:: copyright: freeform

    The content of a copyright notice, typically the name of the holder
    of the copyright on the package and the year(s) from which copyright
    is claimed. For example::

      copyright: (c) 2006-2007 Joe Bloggs

.. pkg-field:: author: freeform

    The original author of the package.

    Remember that ``.cabal`` files are Unicode, using the UTF-8
    encoding.

.. pkg-field:: maintainer: address

    The current maintainer or maintainers of the package. This is an
    e-mail address to which users should send bug reports, feature
    requests and patches.

.. pkg-field:: stability: freeform

    The stability level of the package, e.g. ``alpha``,
    ``experimental``, ``provisional``, ``stable``.

.. pkg-field:: homepage: URL

    The package homepage.

.. pkg-field:: bug-reports: URL

    The URL where users should direct bug reports. This would normally
    be either:

    -  A ``mailto:`` URL, e.g. for a person or a mailing list.

    -  An ``http:`` (or ``https:``) URL for an online bug tracking
       system.

    For example Cabal itself uses a web-based bug tracking system

    ::

        bug-reports: http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/hackage/

.. pkg-field:: package-url: URL

    The location of a source bundle for the package. The distribution
    should be a Cabal package.

.. pkg-field:: synopsis: freeform

    A very short description of the package, for use in a table of
    packages. This is your headline, so keep it short (one line) but as
    informative as possible. Save space by not including the package
    name or saying it's written in Haskell.

.. pkg-field:: description: freeform

    Description of the package. This may be several paragraphs, and
    should be aimed at a Haskell programmer who has never heard of your
    package before.

    For library packages, this field is used as prologue text by
    :ref:`setup-haddock` and thus may contain the same markup as Haddock_
    documentation comments.

.. pkg-field:: category: freeform

    A classification category for future use by the package catalogue
    Hackage_. These categories have not
    yet been specified, but the upper levels of the module hierarchy
    make a good start.

.. pkg-field:: tested-with: compiler list

    A list of compilers and versions against which the package has been
    tested (or at least built).

.. pkg-field:: data-files: filename list

    A list of files to be installed for run-time use by the package.
    This is useful for packages that use a large amount of static data,
    such as tables of values or code templates. Cabal provides a way to
    `find these files at run-time <accessing data files from package code>`_.

    A limited form of ``*`` wildcards in file names, for example
    ``data-files: images/*.png`` matches all the ``.png`` files in the
    ``images`` directory.

    The limitation is that ``*`` wildcards are only allowed in place of
    the file name, not in the directory name or file extension. In
    particular, wildcards do not include directories contents
    recursively. Furthermore, if a wildcard is used it must be used with
    an extension, so ``data-files: data/*`` is not allowed. When
    matching a wildcard plus extension, a file's full extension must
    match exactly, so ``*.gz`` matches ``foo.gz`` but not
    ``foo.tar.gz``. A wildcard that does not match any files is an
    error.

    The reason for providing only a very limited form of wildcard is to
    concisely express the common case of a large number of related files
    of the same file type without making it too easy to accidentally
    include unwanted files.

.. pkg-field:: data-dir: directory

    The directory where Cabal looks for data files to install, relative
    to the source directory. By default, Cabal will look in the source
    directory itself.

.. pkg-field:: extra-source-files: filename list

    A list of additional files to be included in source distributions
    built with :ref:`setup-sdist`. As with :pkg-field:`data-files` it can use
    a limited form of ``*`` wildcards in file names.

.. pkg-field:: extra-doc-files: filename list

    A list of additional files to be included in source distributions,
    and also copied to the html directory when Haddock documentation is
    generated. As with :pkg-field:`data-files` it can use a limited form of
    ``*`` wildcards in file names.

.. pkg-field:: extra-tmp-files: filename list

    A list of additional files or directories to be removed by
    :ref:`setup-clean`. These  would typically be additional files created by
    additional hooks, such as the scheme described in the section on
    `system-dependent parameters`_

Library
^^^^^^^

.. pkg-section:: library
    :synopsis: Library build information.

    Build information for libraries. There can be only one library in a
    package, and it's name is the same as package name set by global
    :pkg-field:`name` field.

The library section should contain the following fields:

.. pkg-field:: exposed-modules: identifier list

    :required: if this package contains a library