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1 | If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the equal signs on the left. |
2 | This file is written in the POD format (see [.POD]PERLPOD.POD;1) which is | |
3 | specially designed to be readable as is. | |
fb73857a | 4 | |
b4bc034f GS |
5 | =head1 NAME |
6 | ||
7 | README.vms - Configuring, building, testing, and installing perl on VMS | |
8 | ||
9 | =head1 SYNOPSIS | |
10 | ||
11 | To configure, build, test, and install perl on VMS: | |
12 | ||
13 | @ Configure | |
14 | mms | |
15 | mms test | |
16 | mms install | |
17 | ||
18 | mmk may be used in place of mms in the last three steps. | |
19 | ||
20 | =head1 DESCRIPTION | |
21 | ||
22 | =head2 Important safety tip | |
97abc6ad | 23 | |
ec55d5e4 CB |
24 | For best results, make sure you read the "Configuring the Perl Build", |
25 | "Building Perl", and "Installing Perl" sections of this document before | |
26 | you build or install. Also please note other changes in the current | |
27 | release by having a look at L<perldelta/VMS>. | |
97abc6ad | 28 | |
b4bc034f | 29 | Also note that, as of Perl version 5.005 and later, an ANSI C compliant |
da80cd87 | 30 | compiler is required to build Perl. VAX C is I<not> ANSI compliant, as it |
b4bc034f | 31 | died a natural death some time before the standard was set. Therefore |
1bc81404 | 32 | VAX C will not compile Perl 5.005 or later. We are sorry about that. |
3bf5f72b | 33 | |
10019e56 CB |
34 | There have been no recent reports of builds using Gnu C, but latent |
35 | (and most likely outdated) support for it is still present in various | |
36 | parts of the sources. Currently the HP (formerly Compaq, and even | |
37 | more formerly DEC) C compiler is the only viable alternative for | |
38 | building Perl. | |
39 | ||
40 | There is minimal support for HP C++ but this support is not complete; | |
e7948fac CB |
41 | if you get it working please write to the vmsperl list (for info see |
42 | L</"Mailing Lists">). | |
3bf5f72b | 43 | |
b4bc034f | 44 | |
a83b6f46 | 45 | =head2 Introduction to Perl on VMS |
fb73857a | 46 | |
47 | The VMS port of Perl is as functionally complete as any other Perl port | |
48 | (and as complete as the ports on some Unix systems). The Perl binaries | |
49 | provide all the Perl system calls that are either available under VMS or | |
b4bc034f GS |
50 | reasonably emulated. There are some incompatibilities in process handling |
51 | (e.g. the fork/exec model for creating subprocesses doesn't do what you | |
fb73857a | 52 | might expect under Unix), mainly because VMS and Unix handle processes and |
53 | sub-processes very differently. | |
54 | ||
b4bc034f | 55 | There are still some unimplemented system functions, and of course we |
fb73857a | 56 | could use modules implementing useful VMS system services, so if you'd like |
b4bc034f | 57 | to lend a hand we'd love to have you. Join the Perl Porting Team Now! |
fb73857a | 58 | |
a83b6f46 | 59 | =head2 Other required software for Compiling Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
60 | |
61 | In addition to VMS and DCL you will need two things: | |
fb73857a | 62 | |
b4bc034f GS |
63 | =over 4 |
64 | ||
65 | =item 1 A C compiler. | |
66 | ||
10019e56 | 67 | HP (formerly Compaq, more formerly DEC) C for VMS (VAX, Alpha, or Itanium). |
da80cd87 CB |
68 | Various ancient versions of DEC C had some caveats, so if you're using a |
69 | version older than 7.x on Alpha or Itanium or 6.x on VAX, you may need to | |
70 | upgrade to get a successful build. | |
b4bc034f GS |
71 | |
72 | =item 2 A make tool. | |
73 | ||
ec55d5e4 CB |
74 | HP's MMS may work, but MadGoat's free MMS analog MMK (available from |
75 | http://www.kednos.com/kednos/Resources/MMK) has consistently worked | |
76 | better. Gnu Make might work, but it's been so long since anyone's tested | |
77 | it that we're not sure. MMK is free though, so go ahead and use that. | |
b4bc034f GS |
78 | |
79 | =back | |
80 | ||
a83b6f46 | 81 | =head2 Additional software that is optional for Perl on VMS |
fb73857a | 82 | |
9f3f8d50 | 83 | You may also want to have on hand: |
b4bc034f GS |
84 | |
85 | =over 4 | |
86 | ||
da80cd87 | 87 | =item 1 GUNZIP/GZIP for VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
88 | |
89 | A de-compressor for *.gz and *.tgz files available from a number | |
58979ab1 | 90 | of web/ftp sites and is distributed on the OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM |
10019e56 | 91 | from HP. |
b4bc034f | 92 | |
10019e56 | 93 | http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/ |
b4bc034f GS |
94 | |
95 | =item 2 VMS TAR | |
96 | ||
97 | For reading and writing unix tape archives (*.tar files). Vmstar is also | |
58979ab1 | 98 | available from a number of web/ftp sites and is distributed on the OpenVMS |
10019e56 | 99 | Freeware CD-ROM from HP. |
b4bc034f | 100 | |
10019e56 | 101 | http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/ |
b4bc034f | 102 | |
d83fac45 PP |
103 | Recent versions of VMS tar on ODS-5 volumes may extract tape archive |
104 | files with ^. escaped periods in them. See below for further workarounds. | |
105 | ||
10019e56 CB |
106 | A port of GNU tar is also available as part of the GNV package: |
107 | ||
ec55d5e4 | 108 | http://h71000.www7.hp.com/opensource/gnv.html |
10019e56 | 109 | |
da80cd87 | 110 | =item 3 UNZIP for VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
111 | |
112 | A combination decompressor and archive reader/writer for *.zip files. | |
113 | Unzip is available from a number of web/ftp sites. | |
114 | ||
adc5a9a5 | 115 | http://www.info-zip.org/UnZip.html |
10019e56 | 116 | http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/ |
eb863851 | 117 | ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/fileserv/ |
b4bc034f | 118 | |
1bc81404 CB |
119 | =item 5 GNU PATCH and DIFFUTILS for VMS |
120 | ||
121 | Patches to Perl are usually distributed as GNU unified or contextual diffs. | |
122 | Such patches are created by the GNU diff program (part of the diffutils | |
123 | distribution) and applied with GNU patch. VMS ports of these utilities are | |
124 | available here: | |
125 | ||
ec55d5e4 | 126 | http://www.antinode.info/dec/sw/diffutils.html |
10019e56 | 127 | http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/ |
1bc81404 | 128 | |
b4bc034f GS |
129 | =back |
130 | ||
9f3f8d50 | 131 | Please note that UNZIP and GUNZIP are not the same thing (they work with |
b4bc034f | 132 | different formats). Many of the useful files from CPAN (the Comprehensive |
58979ab1 PP |
133 | Perl Archive Network) are in *.tar.gz or *.tgz format (this includes copies |
134 | of the source code for perl as well as modules and scripts that you may | |
135 | wish to add later) hence you probably want to have GUNZIP.EXE and | |
136 | VMSTAR.EXE on your VMS machine. | |
fb73857a | 137 | |
b4bc034f GS |
138 | If you want to include socket support, you'll need a TCP/IP stack and either |
139 | DEC C, or socket libraries. See the "Socket Support (optional)" topic | |
140 | for more details. | |
fb73857a | 141 | |
d83fac45 PP |
142 | =head1 Unpacking the Perl source code |
143 | ||
144 | You may need to set up a foreign symbol for the unpacking utility of choice. | |
145 | ||
718752a5 CB |
146 | As of version 5.10.0, Perl will still build and run on ODS-2 volumes, |
147 | including on VAX, but there are a number of modules whose temporary | |
148 | files and tests are much happier residing on ODS-5 volumes. For | |
149 | example, CPANPLUS will fail most of its tests on an ODS-2 volume because | |
150 | it includes files with multiple dots that will have been converted to | |
151 | underscores and the tests will have difficulty finding them. So your | |
152 | best bet is to unpack the Perl source kit on an ODS-5 volume using | |
153 | recent versions of vmstar (e.g. V3.4 or later). Contrary to advice | |
154 | provided with previous versions of Perl, do I<not> use the ODS-2 | |
155 | compatability qualifier. Instead, use a command like the following: | |
156 | ||
7dffbb6a | 157 | vmstar -xvf perl-5^.13^.6.tar |
d83fac45 | 158 | |
718752a5 | 159 | Then rename the top-level source directory like so: |
d83fac45 | 160 | |
7dffbb6a TM |
161 | set security/protection=(o:rwed) perl-5^.13^.6.dir |
162 | rename perl-5^.13^.6.dir perl-5_13_6.dir | |
d83fac45 | 163 | |
718752a5 CB |
164 | The reason for this last step is that while filenames with multiple dots |
165 | are generally supported by Perl on VMS, I<directory> names with multiple | |
166 | dots are a special case with special problems because the dot is the | |
167 | traditional directory delimiter on VMS. Rudimentary support for | |
168 | multi-dot directory names is available, but some of the oldest and most | |
169 | essential parts of Perl (such as searching for and loading library | |
170 | modules) do not yet fully support the ODS-5 caret-escape syntax. | |
d83fac45 | 171 | |
b4bc034f | 172 | =head1 Configuring the Perl build |
fb73857a | 173 | |
97abc6ad | 174 | To configure perl (a necessary first step), issue the command |
fb73857a | 175 | |
b4bc034f | 176 | @ Configure |
fb73857a | 177 | |
b4bc034f GS |
178 | from the top of an unpacked perl source directory. You will be asked a |
179 | series of questions, and the answers to them (along with the capabilities | |
180 | of your C compiler and network stack) will determine how perl is custom | |
181 | built for your machine. | |
fb73857a | 182 | |
b4bc034f GS |
183 | If you have any symbols or logical names in your environment that may |
184 | interfere with the build or regression testing of perl then configure.com | |
185 | will try to warn you about them. If a logical name is causing | |
7bb57f25 GS |
186 | you trouble but is in an LNM table that you do not have write access to |
187 | then try defining your own to a harmless equivalence string in a table | |
188 | such that it is resolved before the other (e.g. if TMP is defined in the | |
b4bc034f GS |
189 | SYSTEM table then try DEFINE TMP "NL:" or somesuch in your process table) |
190 | otherwise simply deassign the dangerous logical names. The potentially | |
191 | troublesome logicals and symbols are: | |
7bb57f25 | 192 | |
b3b333bf PP |
193 | COMP "LOGICAL" |
194 | EXT "LOGICAL" | |
195 | FOO "LOGICAL" | |
196 | LIB "LOGICAL" | |
197 | LIST "LOGICAL" | |
198 | MIME "LOGICAL" | |
199 | POSIX "LOGICAL" | |
200 | SYS "LOGICAL" | |
201 | T "LOGICAL" | |
202 | THREAD "LOGICAL" | |
203 | THREADS "LOGICAL" | |
204 | TIME "LOGICAL" | |
205 | TMP "LOGICAL" | |
206 | UNICODE "LOGICAL" | |
207 | UTIL "LOGICAL" | |
208 | TEST "SYMBOL" | |
fb73857a | 209 | |
97abc6ad HM |
210 | As a handy shortcut, the command: |
211 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
212 | @ Configure "-des" |
213 | ||
214 | (note the quotation marks and case) will choose reasonable defaults | |
215 | automatically (it takes DEC C over Gnu C, DEC C sockets over SOCKETSHR | |
1bc81404 CB |
216 | sockets, and either over no sockets). Some options can be given |
217 | explicitly on the command line; the following example specifies a | |
218 | non-default location for where Perl will be installed: | |
219 | ||
220 | @ Configure "-d" "-Dprefix=dka100:[utils.perl5.]" | |
221 | ||
dab31494 | 222 | Note that the installation location would be by default where you unpacked |
fe05d1a7 | 223 | the source with a "_ROOT." appended. For example if you unpacked the perl |
dab31494 PP |
224 | source into: |
225 | ||
226 | DKA200:[PERL-5_10_2...] | |
227 | ||
adc5a9a5 | 228 | Then the PERL_SETUP.COM that gets written out by CONFIGURE.COM will |
dab31494 PP |
229 | try to DEFINE your installation PERL_ROOT to be: |
230 | ||
fe05d1a7 | 231 | DKA200:[PERL-5_10_2_ROOT.] |
dab31494 | 232 | |
1bc81404 | 233 | More help with configure.com is available from: |
b4bc034f GS |
234 | |
235 | @ Configure "-h" | |
236 | ||
237 | See the "Changing compile-time options (optional)" section below to learn | |
238 | even more details about how to influence the outcome of the important | |
239 | configuration step. If you find yourself reconfiguring and rebuilding | |
240 | then be sure to also follow the advice in the "Cleaning up and starting | |
241 | fresh (optional)" and the checklist of items in the "CAVEATS" sections | |
242 | below. | |
243 | ||
a83b6f46 | 244 | =head2 Changing compile-time options (optional) for Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
245 | |
246 | Most of the user definable features of Perl are enabled or disabled in | |
adc5a9a5 CB |
247 | configure.com, which processes the hints file config_h.SH. There is |
248 | code in there to Do The Right Thing, but that may end up being the | |
249 | wrong thing for you. Make sure you understand what you are doing since | |
250 | inappropriate changes to configure.com or config_h.SH can render perl | |
251 | unbuildable; odds are that there's nothing in there you'll need to | |
252 | change. | |
b4bc034f | 253 | |
a83b6f46 | 254 | =head2 Socket Support (optional) for Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
255 | |
256 | Perl includes a number of functions for IP sockets, which are available if | |
257 | you choose to compile Perl with socket support. Since IP networking is an | |
258 | optional addition to VMS, there are several different IP stacks available. | |
259 | How well integrated they are into the system depends on the stack, your | |
260 | version of VMS, and the version of your C compiler. | |
261 | ||
17d4810c | 262 | The default solution available is to use the socket routines built into DEC |
b4bc034f GS |
263 | C. Which routines are available depend on the version of VMS you're |
264 | running, and require proper UCX emulation by your TCP/IP vendor. | |
265 | Relatively current versions of Multinet, TCPWare, Pathway, and UCX all | |
266 | provide the required libraries--check your manuals or release notes to see | |
267 | if your version is new enough. | |
268 | ||
17d4810c JM |
269 | The other solution uses the SOCKETSHR library. Before VAX/VMS 5.5-2 it was |
270 | the most portable solution. The SOCKETSHR library has not been maintained | |
271 | since VAX/VMS 5.5-2, and it is not known if will even compile with the ANSI | |
272 | C that Perl currently requires. It remains an option for historical reasons, | |
273 | just in case someone might find it useful. | |
274 | ||
275 | In combination with either UCX or NetLib, this supported all the major TCP | |
276 | stacks (Multinet, Pathways, TCPWare, UCX, and CMU) on all versions of VMS | |
277 | Perl ran on up to VAX/VMS 6.2 and Alpha VMS 1.5 with all the compilers on | |
278 | both VAX and Alpha. The portion of the socket interface was also consistent | |
279 | across versions of VMS and C compilers. | |
280 | ||
281 | It has a problem with UDP sockets when used with Multinet, though, so you | |
282 | should be aware of that. | |
283 | ||
284 | As of VAX/VMS 5.5-2 and later, CMU is the only TCP/IP program that requires | |
285 | socketshr, and the sources have been lost to the most recent CMU bug fixes, | |
286 | so CMU is limited to OpenVMS/VAX 6.2 or earlier, which is the last release | |
287 | that binaries for the last released patches are known to exist. | |
288 | ||
289 | There is currently no official web site for downloading either CMU or | |
290 | SOCKETSHR; however, copies may be found in the DECUS archives. | |
291 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
292 | =head1 Building Perl |
293 | ||
294 | The configuration script will print out, at the very end, the MMS or MMK | |
295 | command you need to compile perl. Issue it (exactly as printed) to start | |
296 | the build. | |
97abc6ad | 297 | |
b4bc034f GS |
298 | Once you issue your MMS or MMK command, sit back and wait. Perl should |
299 | compile and link without a problem. If a problem does occur check the | |
300 | "CAVEATS" section of this document. If that does not help send some | |
301 | mail to the VMSPERL mailing list. Instructions are in the "Mailing Lists" | |
302 | section of this document. | |
97abc6ad | 303 | |
b4bc034f | 304 | =head1 Testing Perl |
fb73857a | 305 | |
b4bc034f GS |
306 | Once Perl has built cleanly you need to test it to make sure things work. |
307 | This step is very important since there are always things that can go wrong | |
308 | somehow and yield a dysfunctional Perl for you. | |
fb73857a | 309 | |
310 | Testing is very easy, though, as there's a full test suite in the perl | |
da80cd87 | 311 | distribution. To run the tests, enter the I<exact> MMS line you used to |
fb73857a | 312 | compile Perl and add the word "test" to the end, like this: |
313 | ||
b4bc034f | 314 | If the compile command was: |
fb73857a | 315 | |
b4bc034f | 316 | MMS |
fb73857a | 317 | |
b4bc034f | 318 | then the test command ought to be: |
fb73857a | 319 | |
b4bc034f | 320 | MMS test |
fb73857a | 321 | |
b4bc034f GS |
322 | MMS (or MMK) will run all the tests. This may take some time, as there are |
323 | a lot of tests. If any tests fail, there will be a note made on-screen. | |
324 | At the end of all the tests, a summary of the tests, the number passed and | |
325 | failed, and the time taken will be displayed. | |
fb73857a | 326 | |
96d6186e CB |
327 | The test driver invoked via MMS TEST has a DCL wrapper ([.VMS]TEST.COM) that |
328 | downgrades privileges to NETMBX, TMPMBX for the duration of the test run, | |
329 | and then restores them to their prior state upon completion of testing. | |
330 | This is done to ensure that the tests run in a private sandbox and can do no | |
331 | harm to your system even in the unlikely event something goes badly wrong in | |
332 | one of the test scripts while running the tests from a privileged account. | |
333 | A side effect of this safety precaution is that the account used to run the | |
334 | test suite must be the owner of the directory tree in which Perl has been | |
335 | built; otherwise the manipulations of temporary files and directories | |
336 | attempted by some of the tests will fail. | |
337 | ||
718752a5 CB |
338 | If any tests fail, it means something is wrong with Perl, or at least |
339 | with the particular module or feature that reported failure. If the test suite | |
fb73857a | 340 | hangs (some tests can take upwards of two or three minutes, or more if |
9f3f8d50 | 341 | you're on an especially slow machine, depending on your machine speed, so |
da80cd87 | 342 | don't be hasty), then the test I<after> the last one displayed failed. Don't |
fb73857a | 343 | install Perl unless you're confident that you're OK. Regardless of how |
344 | confident you are, make a bug report to the VMSPerl mailing list. | |
345 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
346 | If one or more tests fail, you can get more information on the failure by |
347 | issuing this command sequence: | |
fb73857a | 348 | |
b4bc034f | 349 | @ [.VMS]TEST .typ "" "-v" [.subdir]test.T |
fb73857a | 350 | |
351 | where ".typ" is the file type of the Perl images you just built (if you | |
352 | didn't do anything special, use .EXE), and "[.subdir]test.T" is the test | |
353 | that failed. For example, with a normal Perl build, if the test indicated | |
96d6186e | 354 | that t/op/time failed, then you'd do this: |
fb73857a | 355 | |
b4bc034f | 356 | @ [.VMS]TEST .EXE "" "-v" [.OP]TIME.T |
fb73857a | 357 | |
96d6186e CB |
358 | Note that test names are reported in UNIX syntax and relative to the |
359 | top-level build directory. When supplying them individually to the test | |
360 | driver, you can use either UNIX or VMS syntax, but you must give the path | |
361 | relative to the [.T] directory and you must also add the .T extension to the | |
362 | filename. So, for example if the test lib/Math/Trig fails, you would run: | |
363 | ||
364 | @ [.VMS]TEST .EXE "" -"v" [-.lib.math]trig.t | |
365 | ||
fb73857a | 366 | When you send in a bug report for failed tests, please include the output |
367 | from this command, which is run from the main source directory: | |
368 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
369 | MCR []MINIPERL "-V" |
370 | ||
371 | Note that -"V" really is a capital V in double quotes. This will dump out a | |
372 | couple of screens worth of configuration information, and can help us | |
373 | diagnose the problem. If (and only if) that did not work then try enclosing | |
374 | the output of: | |
375 | ||
376 | MMS printconfig | |
fb73857a | 377 | |
9f3f8d50 PP |
378 | If (and only if) that did not work then try enclosing the output of: |
379 | ||
b4bc034f | 380 | @ [.vms]myconfig |
fb73857a | 381 | |
b4bc034f GS |
382 | You may also be asked to provide your C compiler version ("CC/VERSION NL:" |
383 | with DEC C, "gcc --version" with GNU CC). To obtain the version of MMS or | |
384 | MMK you are running try "MMS/ident" or "MMK /ident". The GNU make version | |
385 | can be identified with "make --version". | |
386 | ||
a83b6f46 | 387 | =head2 Cleaning up and starting fresh (optional) installing Perl on VMS |
fb73857a | 388 | |
389 | If you need to recompile from scratch, you have to make sure you clean up | |
da80cd87 | 390 | first. There is a procedure to do it--enter the I<exact> MMS line you used |
b4bc034f | 391 | to compile and add "realclean" at the end, like this: |
fb73857a | 392 | |
b4bc034f | 393 | if the compile command was: |
fb73857a | 394 | |
b4bc034f | 395 | MMS |
fb73857a | 396 | |
b4bc034f | 397 | then the cleanup command ought to be: |
fb73857a | 398 | |
b4bc034f | 399 | MMS realclean |
fb73857a | 400 | |
b4bc034f GS |
401 | If you do not do this things may behave erratically during the subsequent |
402 | rebuild attempt. They might not, too, so it is best to be sure and do it. | |
fb73857a | 403 | |
b4bc034f | 404 | =head1 Installing Perl |
fb73857a | 405 | |
406 | There are several steps you need to take to get Perl installed and | |
3a385817 | 407 | running. |
fb73857a | 408 | |
a3ef2c6f | 409 | =over 4 |
b4bc034f | 410 | |
a3ef2c6f | 411 | =item 1 |
fb73857a | 412 | |
a3ef2c6f | 413 | Check your default file protections with |
fb73857a | 414 | |
a3ef2c6f | 415 | SHOW PROTECTION /DEFAULT |
fb73857a | 416 | |
a3ef2c6f | 417 | and adjust if necessary with SET PROTECTION=(code)/DEFAULT. |
fb73857a | 418 | |
a3ef2c6f | 419 | =item 2 |
3a385817 | 420 | |
1bc81404 CB |
421 | Decide where you want Perl to be installed (unless you have already done so |
422 | by using the "prefix" configuration parameter -- see the example in the | |
423 | "Configuring the Perl build" section). | |
b4bc034f | 424 | |
1bc81404 CB |
425 | The DCL script PERL_SETUP.COM that is written by CONFIGURE.COM will help you |
426 | with the definition of the PERL_ROOT and PERLSHR logical names and the PERL | |
427 | foreign command symbol. Take a look at PERL_SETUP.COM and modify it if you | |
428 | want to. The installation process will execute PERL_SETUP.COM and copy | |
429 | files to the directory tree pointed to by the PERL_ROOT logical name defined | |
430 | there, so make sure that you have write access to the parent directory of | |
431 | what will become the root of your Perl installation. | |
fb73857a | 432 | |
a3ef2c6f | 433 | =item 3 |
b4bc034f | 434 | |
a3ef2c6f | 435 | Run the install script via: |
b4bc034f | 436 | |
a3ef2c6f | 437 | MMS install |
b4bc034f | 438 | |
a3ef2c6f | 439 | or |
9f3f8d50 | 440 | |
a3ef2c6f | 441 | MMK install |
b4bc034f | 442 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
443 | If for some reason it complains about target INSTALL being up to date, |
444 | throw a /FORCE switch on the MMS or MMK command. | |
b4bc034f | 445 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
446 | =back |
447 | ||
1bc81404 CB |
448 | Copy PERL_SETUP.COM to a place accessible to your perl users. |
449 | ||
a3ef2c6f | 450 | For example: |
fb73857a | 451 | |
a3ef2c6f | 452 | COPY PERL_SETUP.COM SYS$LIBRARY: |
b4bc034f | 453 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
454 | If you want to have everyone on the system have access to perl |
455 | then add a line that reads | |
fb73857a | 456 | |
a3ef2c6f | 457 | $ @sys$library:perl_setup |
491527d0 | 458 | |
a3ef2c6f | 459 | to SYS$MANAGER:SYLOGIN.COM. |
85988417 | 460 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
461 | Two alternatives to the foreign symbol would be to install PERL into |
462 | DCLTABLES.EXE (Check out the section "Installing Perl into DCLTABLES | |
463 | (optional)" for more information), or put the image in a | |
464 | directory that's in your DCL$PATH (if you're using VMS V6.2 or higher). | |
85988417 | 465 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
466 | An alternative to having PERL_SETUP.COM define the PERLSHR logical name |
467 | is to simply copy it into the system shareable library directory with: | |
468 | ||
469 | copy perl_root:[000000]perlshr.exe sys$share: | |
85988417 | 470 | |
a3ef2c6f | 471 | See also the "INSTALLing images (optional)" section. |
491527d0 | 472 | |
a83b6f46 | 473 | =head2 Installing Perl into DCLTABLES (optional) on VMS |
fb73857a | 474 | |
9ef4b0a6 | 475 | Execute the following command file to define PERL as a DCL command. |
b4bc034f | 476 | You'll need CMKRNL privilege to install the new dcltables.exe. |
fb73857a | 477 | |
7bb57f25 GS |
478 | $ create perl.cld |
479 | ! | |
480 | ! modify to reflect location of your perl.exe | |
481 | ! | |
482 | define verb perl | |
483 | image perl_root:[000000]perl.exe | |
484 | cliflags (foreign) | |
485 | $! | |
486 | $ set command perl /table=sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe - | |
487 | /output=sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe | |
488 | $ install replace sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe | |
489 | $ exit | |
fb73857a | 490 | |
a83b6f46 | 491 | =head2 INSTALLing Perl images (optional) on VMS |
9f3f8d50 PP |
492 | |
493 | On systems that are using perl quite a bit, and particularly those with | |
494 | minimal RAM, you can boost the performance of perl by INSTALLing it as | |
adc5a9a5 | 495 | a known image. PERLSHR.EXE is typically larger than 3000 blocks |
9f3f8d50 PP |
496 | and that is a reasonably large amount of IO to load each time perl is |
497 | invoked. | |
498 | ||
499 | INSTALL ADD PERLSHR/SHARE | |
b4bc034f | 500 | INSTALL ADD PERL/HEADER |
9f3f8d50 PP |
501 | |
502 | should be enough for PERLSHR.EXE (/share implies /header and /open), | |
503 | while /HEADER should do for PERL.EXE (perl.exe is not a shared image). | |
504 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
505 | If your code 'use's modules, check to see if there is a shareable image for |
506 | them, too. In the base perl build, POSIX, IO, Fcntl, Opcode, SDBM_File, | |
e7948fac CB |
507 | DCLsym, and Stdio, and other extensions all have shared images that can be |
508 | installed /SHARE. | |
9f3f8d50 | 509 | |
b4bc034f | 510 | How much of a win depends on your memory situation, but if you are firing |
9f3f8d50 | 511 | off perl with any regularity (like more than once every 20 seconds or so) |
b4bc034f | 512 | it is probably beneficial to INSTALL at least portions of perl. |
9f3f8d50 PP |
513 | |
514 | While there is code in perl to remove privileges as it runs you are advised | |
515 | to NOT INSTALL PERL.EXE with PRIVs! | |
fb73857a | 516 | |
dab31494 PP |
517 | =head2 Running h2ph to create perl header files (optional) on VMS |
518 | ||
10019e56 CB |
519 | If using HP C, ensure that you have extracted loose versions of your |
520 | compiler's header or *.H files. Be sure to check the contents of: | |
dab31494 PP |
521 | |
522 | SYS$LIBRARY:DECC$RTLDEF.TLB | |
523 | SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$LIB_C.TLB | |
524 | SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$STARLET_C.TLB | |
525 | ||
526 | etcetera. | |
527 | ||
528 | If using GNU cc then also check your GNU_CC:[000000...] tree for the locations | |
529 | of the GNU cc headers. | |
530 | ||
b4bc034f | 531 | =head1 Reporting Bugs |
fb73857a | 532 | |
533 | If you come across what you think might be a bug in Perl, please report | |
534 | it. There's a script in PERL_ROOT:[UTILS], perlbug, that walks you through | |
535 | the process of creating a bug report. This script includes details of your | |
536 | installation, and is very handy. Completed bug reports should go to | |
9f3f8d50 | 537 | perlbug@perl.com. |
fb73857a | 538 | |
b4bc034f | 539 | =head1 CAVEATS |
fb73857a | 540 | |
541 | Probably the single biggest gotcha in compiling Perl is giving the wrong | |
da80cd87 | 542 | switches to MMS/MMK when you build. Use I<exactly> what the configure.com |
b4bc034f GS |
543 | script prints! |
544 | ||
545 | The next big gotcha is directory depth. Perl can create directories four, | |
546 | five, or even six levels deep during the build, so you don't have to be | |
dab31494 | 547 | too deep to start to hit the RMS 8 level limit (for ODS 2 volumes which were |
ec55d5e4 | 548 | common on versions of VMS prior to V7.2 and even with V7.3 on the VAX). |
dab31494 | 549 | It is best to do: |
b4bc034f GS |
550 | |
551 | DEFINE/TRANS=(CONC,TERM) PERLSRC "disk:[dir.dir.dir.perldir.]" | |
552 | SET DEFAULT PERLSRC:[000000] | |
553 | ||
554 | before building in cases where you have to unpack the distribution so deep | |
555 | (note the trailing period in the definition of PERLSRC). Perl modules | |
556 | from CPAN can be just as bad (or worse), so watch out for them, too. Perl's | |
557 | configuration script will warn if it thinks you are too deep (at least on | |
558 | a VAX or on Alpha versions of VMS prior to 7.2). But MakeMaker will not | |
559 | warn you if you start out building a module too deep in a directory. | |
560 | ||
d83fac45 | 561 | As noted above ODS-5 escape sequences such as ^. can break the perl |
da80cd87 CB |
562 | build. Solutions include renaming files and directories as needed |
563 | when unpacking perl or CPAN modules on ODS-5 volumes. | |
d83fac45 | 564 | |
b4bc034f GS |
565 | Be sure that the process that you use to build perl has a PGFLQ greater |
566 | than 100000. Be sure to have a correct local time zone to UTC offset | |
567 | defined (in seconds) in the logical name SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL before | |
568 | running the regression test suite. The SYS$MANAGER:UTC$CONFIGURE_TDF.COM | |
569 | procedure will help you set that logical for your system but may require | |
570 | system privileges. For example, a location 5 hours west of UTC (such as | |
571 | the US East coast while not on daylight savings time) would have: | |
572 | ||
573 | DEFINE SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL "-18000" | |
574 | ||
575 | A final thing that causes trouble is leftover pieces from a failed | |
576 | build. If things go wrong make sure you do a "(MMK|MMS|make) realclean" | |
fb73857a | 577 | before you rebuild. |
578 | ||
a83b6f46 | 579 | =head2 GNU issues with Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
580 | |
581 | It has been a while since the GNU utilities such as GCC or GNU make | |
582 | were used to build perl on VMS. Hence they may require a great deal | |
583 | of source code modification to work again. | |
584 | ||
b4bc034f | 585 | http://www.progis.de/ |
b4bc034f | 586 | |
e7948fac CB |
587 | =head2 Floating Point Considerations |
588 | ||
589 | Prior to 5.8.0, Perl simply accepted the default floating point options of the | |
590 | C compiler, namely representing doubles with D_FLOAT on VAX and G_FLOAT on | |
591 | Alpha. Single precision floating point values are represented in F_FLOAT | |
592 | format when either D_FLOAT or G_FLOAT is in use for doubles. Beginning with | |
593 | 5.8.0, Alpha builds now use IEEE floating point formats by default, which in | |
594 | VMS parlance are S_FLOAT for singles and T_FLOAT for doubles. IEEE is not | |
595 | available on VAX, so F_FLOAT and D_FLOAT remain the defaults for singles and | |
da80cd87 CB |
596 | doubles respectively. Itanium builds have always used IEEE by default. The |
597 | available non-default options are G_FLOAT on VAX and D_FLOAT or G_FLOAT on | |
598 | Alpha or Itanium. | |
e7948fac | 599 | |
da80cd87 | 600 | The use of IEEE on Alpha or Itanium introduces NaN, infinity, and denormalization |
e7948fac CB |
601 | capabilities not available with D_FLOAT and G_FLOAT. When using one of those |
602 | non-IEEE formats, silent underflow and overflow are emulated in the conversion | |
603 | of strings to numbers, but it is preferable to get the real thing by using | |
604 | IEEE where possible. | |
605 | ||
606 | Regardless of what floating point format you consider preferable, be aware | |
607 | that the choice may have an impact on compatibility with external libraries, | |
608 | such as database interfaces, and with existing data, such as data created with | |
609 | the C<pack> function and written to disk, or data stored via the Storable | |
610 | extension. For example, a C<pack("d", $foo)")> will create a D_FLOAT, | |
611 | G_FLOAT, or T_FLOAT depending on what your Perl was configured with. When | |
612 | written to disk, the value can only be retrieved later by a Perl configured | |
613 | with the same floating point option that was in effect when it was created. | |
614 | ||
615 | To obtain a non-IEEE build on Alpha, simply answer no to the "Use IEEE math?" | |
616 | question during the configuration. To obtain an option different from the C | |
617 | compiler default on either VAX or Alpha, put in the option that you want in | |
618 | answer to the "Any additional cc flags?" question. For example, to obtain a | |
619 | G_FLOAT build on VAX, put in C</FLOAT=G_FLOAT>. | |
620 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
621 | =head1 Mailing Lists |
622 | ||
623 | There are several mailing lists available to the Perl porter. For VMS | |
fb73857a | 624 | specific issues (including both Perl questions and installation problems) |
b4bc034f | 625 | there is the VMSPERL mailing list. It is usually a low-volume (10-12 |
fb73857a | 626 | messages a week) mailing list. |
627 | ||
1bc81404 CB |
628 | To subscribe, send a mail message to VMSPERL-SUBSCRIBE@PERL.ORG. The VMSPERL |
629 | mailing list address is VMSPERL@PERL.ORG. Any mail sent there gets echoed | |
630 | to all subscribers of the list. There is a searchable archive of the list | |
631 | on the web at: | |
b4bc034f GS |
632 | |
633 | http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/ | |
a83b6f46 | 634 | |
1bc81404 CB |
635 | To unsubscribe from VMSPERL send a message to VMSPERL-UNSUBSCRIBE@PERL.ORG. |
636 | Be sure to do so from the subscribed account that you are canceling. | |
b4bc034f | 637 | |
a83b6f46 | 638 | =head2 Web sites for Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
639 | |
640 | Vmsperl pages on the web include: | |
641 | ||
642 | http://www.sidhe.org/vmsperl/index.html | |
468f45d5 | 643 | http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/VMS/ |
60d9c7be | 644 | http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/ |
adc5a9a5 | 645 | http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~binder/perl.html |
60d9c7be | 646 | http://archive.develooper.com/vmsperl@perl.org/ |
10019e56 | 647 | http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/products/ips/apache/csws_modperl.html |
fb73857a | 648 | |
b4bc034f GS |
649 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
650 | ||
651 | Perl information for users and programmers about the port of perl to VMS is | |
3bc8f799 | 652 | available from the [.POD]PERLVMS.POD file that gets installed as L<perlvms>. |
b4bc034f GS |
653 | For administrators the perlvms document also includes a detailed discussion |
654 | of extending vmsperl with CPAN modules after Perl has been installed. | |
655 | ||
656 | =head1 AUTHORS | |
657 | ||
ec55d5e4 CB |
658 | Originally by Charles Bailey bailey@newman.upenn.edu. See the git repository |
659 | for history. | |
b4bc034f GS |
660 | |
661 | =head1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | |
fb73857a | 662 | |
663 | A real big thanks needs to go to Charles Bailey | |
b4bc034f | 664 | bailey@newman.upenn.edu, who is ultimately responsible for Perl 5.004 |
fb73857a | 665 | running on VMS. Without him, nothing the rest of us have done would be at |
666 | all important. | |
667 | ||
668 | There are, of course, far too many people involved in the porting and testing | |
669 | of Perl to mention everyone who deserves it, so please forgive us if we've | |
670 | missed someone. That said, special thanks are due to the following: | |
b4bc034f GS |
671 | |
672 | Tim Adye T.J.Adye@rl.ac.uk | |
fb73857a | 673 | for the VMS emulations of getpw*() |
b4bc034f | 674 | David Denholm denholm@conmat.phys.soton.ac.uk |
fb73857a | 675 | for extensive testing and provision of pipe and SocketShr code, |
b4bc034f | 676 | Mark Pizzolato mark@infocomm.com |
fb73857a | 677 | for the getredirection() code |
b4bc034f | 678 | Rich Salz rsalz@bbn.com |
fb73857a | 679 | for readdir() and related routines |
b4bc034f | 680 | Peter Prymmer pvhp@best.com |
fb73857a | 681 | for extensive testing, as well as development work on |
682 | configuration and documentation for VMS Perl, | |
b4bc034f | 683 | Dan Sugalski dan@sidhe.org |
fb73857a | 684 | for extensive contributions to recent version support, |
685 | development of VMS-specific extensions, and dissemination | |
686 | of information about VMS Perl, | |
687 | the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and the | |
688 | Laboratory of Nuclear Studies at Cornell University for | |
9f3f8d50 | 689 | the opportunity to test and develop for the AXP, |
a3ef2c6f GS |
690 | John Hasstedt John.Hasstedt@sunysb.edu |
691 | for VAX VMS V7.2 support | |
ec55d5e4 CB |
692 | John Malmberg wb8tyw@qsl.net |
693 | for ODS-5 filename handling and other modernizations | |
b4bc034f | 694 | |
fb73857a | 695 | and to the entire VMSperl group for useful advice and suggestions. In |
696 | addition the perl5-porters deserve credit for their creativity and | |
697 | willingness to work with the VMS newcomers. Finally, the greatest debt of | |
b4bc034f | 698 | gratitude is due to Larry Wall larry@wall.org, for having the ideas which |
fb73857a | 699 | have made our sleepless nights possible. |
700 | ||
701 | Thanks, | |
702 | The VMSperl group | |
b4bc034f GS |
703 | |
704 | =cut | |
705 |