README.PERL

   1  TOC
   2  ===
   3
   4  - Notes on Perl
   5  - Notes on Perl on Windows
   6  - Notes on Perl modules we use
   7  - Notes on installing a perl module
   8
   9  Notes on Perl
  10  -------------
  11
  12  For our scripts, we rely quite a bit on Perl, and increasingly on
  13  some core Perl modules.  These Perl modules are part of the Perl
  14  source, so if you build Perl on your own, you should be set.
  15
  16  However, if you install Perl as binary packages, the outcome might
  17  differ, and you may have to check that you do get the core modules
  18  installed properly.  We do not claim to know them all, but experience
  19  has told us the following:
  20
  21  - on Linux distributions based on Debian, the package 'perl' will
  22    install the core Perl modules as well, so you will be fine.
  23  - on Linux distributions based on RPMs, you will need to install
  24    'perl-core' rather than just 'perl'.
  25
  26  You MUST have at least Perl version 5.10.0 installed.  This minimum
  27  requirement is due to our use of regexp backslash sequence \R among
  28  other features that didn't exist in core Perl before that version.
  29
  30  Notes on Perl on Windows
  31  ------------------------
  32
  33  If you will build on Cygwin (and possibly some other POSIX layers),
  34  Perl is already part of your distribution.  Simply use the Cygwin
  35  package manager to make sure Perl gets installed.
  36
  37  Otherwise, you will need to install Perl separately.  The Perl
  38  package that we know of is ActiveState Perl, available from
  39  http://www.activestate.com/ActivePerl.
  40
  41  Notes on Perl on VMS
  42  --------------------
  43
  44  You will need to install Perl separately.  One way to do so is to
  45  download the source from http://perl.org/, unpacking it, reading
  46  README.vms and follow instructions.  Another way is to download a
  47  .PCSI file from http://www.vmsperl.com/ and install it using the
  48  POLYCENTER install tool.
  49
  50  Notes on Perl modules we use
  51  ----------------------------
  52
  53  We make increasing use of Perl modules, and do our best to limit
  54  ourselves to core Perl modules to keep the requirements down.  There
  55  are just a few exceptions:
  56
  57  Test::More         We require the minimum version to be 0.96, which
  58                     appeared in Perl 5.13.4, because that version was
  59                     the first to have all the features we're using.
  60                     This module is required for testing only!  If you
  61                     don't plan on running the tests, you don't need to
  62                     bother with this one.
  63
  64  Text::Template     This module is not part of the core Perl modules.
  65                     As a matter of fact, the core Perl modules do not
  66                     include any templating module to date.
  67                     This module is absolutely needed, configuration
  68                     depends on it.
  69
  70  To avoid unnecessary initial hurdles, we have bundled a copy of the
  71  following modules in our source.  They will work as fallbacks if
  72  these modules aren't already installed on the system.
  73
  74     Text::Template
  75
  76  Notes on installing a perl module
  77  ---------------------------------
  78
  79  There are a number of ways to install a perl module.  In all
  80  descriptions below, Text::Template will server as an example.
  81
  82  1. for Linux users, the easiest is to install with the use of your
  83     favorite package manager.  Usually, all you need to do is search
  84     for the module name and to install the package that comes up.
  85
  86     On Debian based Linux distributions, it would go like this:
  87
  88         $ apt-cache search Text::Template
  89         ...
  90         libtext-template-perl - perl module to process text templates
  91         $ sudo apt-get install libtext-template-perl
  92
  93     Perl modules in Debian based distributions use package names like
  94     the name of the module in question, with "lib" prepended and
  95     "-perl" appended.
  96
  97  2. Install using CPAN.  This is very easy, but usually requires root
  98     access:
  99
 100         $ cpan -i Text::Template
 101
 102     Note that this runs all the tests that the module to be install
 103     comes with.  This is usually a smooth operation, but there are
 104     platforms where a failure is indicate even though the actual tests
 105     were successful.  Should that happen, you can force an
 106     installation regardless (that should be safe since you've already
 107     seen the tests succeed!):
 108
 109         $ cpan -f -i Text::Template
 110
 111     Note: on VMS, you must quote any argument that contains upper case
 112     characters, so the lines above would be:
 113
 114         $ cpan -i "Text::Template"
 115
 116     and:
 117
 118         $ cpan -f -i "Text::Template"