]>
Commit | Line | Data |
---|---|---|
d36ab9ce RL |
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 | ||
de812820 RL |
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. | |
d36ab9ce RL |
29 | |
30 | Notes on Perl on Windows | |
31 | ------------------------ | |
32 | ||
4b16fa79 AP |
33 | There are a number of build targets that can be viewed as "Windows". |
34 | Indeed, there are VC-* configs targeting VisualStudio C, as well as | |
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. | |
38 | For VC-* builds we recommend ActiveState Perl, available from | |
d36ab9ce RL |
39 | http://www.activestate.com/ActivePerl. |
40 | ||
f578075a RL |
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 | |
fe072ed7 RL |
47 | .PCSI file from http://www.vmsperl.com/ and install it using the |
48 | POLYCENTER install tool. | |
f578075a | 49 | |
d36ab9ce RL |
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 | |
f578075a RL |
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" |