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1 | TOC |
2 | === | |
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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 | ||
1dc1ea18 | 21 | - on Linux distributions based on Debian, the package `perl` will |
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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 | |
1dc1ea18 | 24 | `perl-core` rather than just `perl`. |
d36ab9ce | 25 | |
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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. | |
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29 | |
30 | Notes on Perl on Windows | |
31 | ------------------------ | |
32 | ||
4b16fa79 | 33 | There are a number of build targets that can be viewed as "Windows". |
1dc1ea18 | 34 | Indeed, there are `VC-*` configs targeting VisualStudio C, as well as |
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35 | MinGW and Cygwin. The key recommendation is to use "matching" Perl, |
36 | one that matches build environment. For example, if you will build | |
37 | on Cygwin be sure to use the Cygwin package manager to install Perl. | |
df4c1d80 | 38 | For MSYS builds use the MSYS provided Perl. |
1dc1ea18 DDO |
39 | For VC-* builds we recommend Strawberry Perl, from <http://strawberryperl.com>. |
40 | An alternative is ActiveState Perl, from <http://www.activestate.com/ActivePerl> | |
df4c1d80 | 41 | for which you may need to explicitly select the Perl module Win32/Console.pm |
1dc1ea18 | 42 | available via <https://platform.activestate.com/ActiveState>. |
d36ab9ce | 43 | |
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44 | Notes on Perl on VMS |
45 | -------------------- | |
46 | ||
47 | You will need to install Perl separately. One way to do so is to | |
1dc1ea18 DDO |
48 | download the source from <http://perl.org/>, unpacking it, reading |
49 | `README-VMS.md` and follow the instructions. Another way is to download a | |
50 | `.PCSI` file from <http://www.vmsperl.com/> and install it using the | |
fe072ed7 | 51 | POLYCENTER install tool. |
f578075a | 52 | |
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53 | Notes on Perl modules we use |
54 | ---------------------------- | |
55 | ||
56 | We make increasing use of Perl modules, and do our best to limit | |
57 | ourselves to core Perl modules to keep the requirements down. There | |
58 | are just a few exceptions: | |
59 | ||
1dc1ea18 | 60 | * `Test::More` |
d36ab9ce | 61 | |
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62 | We require the minimum version to be 0.96, which |
63 | appeared in Perl 5.13.4, because that version was | |
64 | the first to have all the features we're using. | |
65 | This module is required for testing only! | |
66 | If you don't plan on running the tests, | |
67 | you don't need to bother with this one. | |
68 | ||
69 | * `Text::Template` | |
70 | ||
71 | This module is not part of the core Perl modules. | |
72 | As a matter of fact, the core Perl modules do not | |
73 | include any templating module to date. | |
74 | This module is absolutely needed, | |
75 | configuration depends on it. | |
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76 | |
77 | To avoid unnecessary initial hurdles, we have bundled a copy of the | |
78 | following modules in our source. They will work as fallbacks if | |
79 | these modules aren't already installed on the system. | |
80 | ||
81 | Text::Template | |
82 | ||
83 | Notes on installing a perl module | |
84 | --------------------------------- | |
85 | ||
86 | There are a number of ways to install a perl module. In all | |
1dc1ea18 | 87 | descriptions below, `Text::Template` will serve as an example. |
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88 | |
89 | 1. for Linux users, the easiest is to install with the use of your | |
90 | favorite package manager. Usually, all you need to do is search | |
91 | for the module name and to install the package that comes up. | |
92 | ||
93 | On Debian based Linux distributions, it would go like this: | |
94 | ||
95 | $ apt-cache search Text::Template | |
96 | ... | |
97 | libtext-template-perl - perl module to process text templates | |
98 | $ sudo apt-get install libtext-template-perl | |
99 | ||
100 | Perl modules in Debian based distributions use package names like | |
101 | the name of the module in question, with "lib" prepended and | |
102 | "-perl" appended. | |
103 | ||
104 | 2. Install using CPAN. This is very easy, but usually requires root | |
105 | access: | |
106 | ||
107 | $ cpan -i Text::Template | |
108 | ||
073b1b72 | 109 | Note that this runs all the tests that the module to be installed |
d36ab9ce | 110 | comes with. This is usually a smooth operation, but there are |
073b1b72 | 111 | platforms where a failure is indicated even though the actual tests |
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112 | were successful. Should that happen, you can force an |
113 | installation regardless (that should be safe since you've already | |
114 | seen the tests succeed!): | |
115 | ||
116 | $ cpan -f -i Text::Template | |
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117 | |
118 | Note: on VMS, you must quote any argument that contains upper case | |
119 | characters, so the lines above would be: | |
120 | ||
121 | $ cpan -i "Text::Template" | |
122 | ||
123 | and: | |
124 | ||
125 | $ cpan -f -i "Text::Template" |