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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 | |
3a385817 | 24 | The build and install procedures have changed significantly from the 5.004 |
b4bc034f GS |
25 | releases! Make sure you read the "Configuring the Perl Build", "Building |
26 | Perl", and "Installing Perl" sections of this document before you build or | |
e7948fac CB |
27 | install. Also please note other changes in the current release by having |
28 | a look at L<perldelta/VMS>. | |
97abc6ad | 29 | |
b4bc034f GS |
30 | Also note that, as of Perl version 5.005 and later, an ANSI C compliant |
31 | compiler is required to build Perl. VAX C is *not* ANSI compliant, as it | |
32 | died a natural death some time before the standard was set. Therefore | |
1bc81404 | 33 | VAX C will not compile Perl 5.005 or later. We are sorry about that. |
3bf5f72b | 34 | |
e7948fac CB |
35 | If you are stuck without Compaq (formerly DEC) C consider trying Gnu C |
36 | instead, though there have been no recent reports of builds using Gnu C. | |
37 | There is minimal support for Compaq C++ but this support is not complete; | |
38 | if you get it working please write to the vmsperl list (for info see | |
39 | L</"Mailing Lists">). | |
3bf5f72b | 40 | |
b4bc034f | 41 | |
a83b6f46 | 42 | =head2 Introduction to Perl on VMS |
fb73857a | 43 | |
44 | The VMS port of Perl is as functionally complete as any other Perl port | |
45 | (and as complete as the ports on some Unix systems). The Perl binaries | |
46 | provide all the Perl system calls that are either available under VMS or | |
b4bc034f GS |
47 | reasonably emulated. There are some incompatibilities in process handling |
48 | (e.g. the fork/exec model for creating subprocesses doesn't do what you | |
fb73857a | 49 | might expect under Unix), mainly because VMS and Unix handle processes and |
50 | sub-processes very differently. | |
51 | ||
b4bc034f | 52 | There are still some unimplemented system functions, and of course we |
fb73857a | 53 | could use modules implementing useful VMS system services, so if you'd like |
b4bc034f | 54 | to lend a hand we'd love to have you. Join the Perl Porting Team Now! |
fb73857a | 55 | |
56 | The current sources and build procedures have been tested on a VAX using | |
b4bc034f | 57 | DEC C, and on an AXP using DEC C. If you run into problems with |
1bc81404 CB |
58 | other compilers, please let us know. (Note: DEC C was renamed to Compaq C |
59 | around version 6.2). | |
fb73857a | 60 | |
b4bc034f GS |
61 | There are issues with various versions of DEC C, so if you're not running a |
62 | relatively modern version, check the "DEC C issues" section later on in this | |
fb73857a | 63 | document. |
64 | ||
a83b6f46 | 65 | =head2 Other required software for Compiling Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
66 | |
67 | In addition to VMS and DCL you will need two things: | |
fb73857a | 68 | |
b4bc034f GS |
69 | =over 4 |
70 | ||
71 | =item 1 A C compiler. | |
72 | ||
1bc81404 | 73 | DEC (now Compaq) C or gcc for VMS (AXP or VAX). |
b4bc034f GS |
74 | |
75 | =item 2 A make tool. | |
76 | ||
77 | DEC's MMS (v2.6 or later), or MadGoat's free MMS | |
78 | analog MMK (available from ftp.madgoat.com/madgoat) both work | |
79 | just fine. Gnu Make might work, but it's been so long since | |
80 | anyone's tested it that we're not sure. MMK is free though, so | |
81 | go ahead and use that. | |
82 | ||
83 | =back | |
84 | ||
a83b6f46 | 85 | =head2 Additional software that is optional for Perl on VMS |
fb73857a | 86 | |
9f3f8d50 | 87 | You may also want to have on hand: |
b4bc034f GS |
88 | |
89 | =over 4 | |
90 | ||
91 | =item 1 GUNZIP/GZIP.EXE for VMS | |
92 | ||
93 | A de-compressor for *.gz and *.tgz files available from a number | |
58979ab1 PP |
94 | of web/ftp sites and is distributed on the OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM |
95 | from Compaq. | |
b4bc034f | 96 | |
9f3f8d50 | 97 | http://www.fsf.org/order/ftp.html |
adc5a9a5 | 98 | http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/ |
1bc81404 | 99 | http://www.crinoid.com/utils/ |
b4bc034f GS |
100 | |
101 | =item 2 VMS TAR | |
102 | ||
103 | For reading and writing unix tape archives (*.tar files). Vmstar is also | |
58979ab1 PP |
104 | available from a number of web/ftp sites and is distributed on the OpenVMS |
105 | Freeware CD-ROM from Compaq. | |
b4bc034f | 106 | |
9f3f8d50 | 107 | ftp://ftp.lp.se/vms/ |
adc5a9a5 | 108 | http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/ |
b4bc034f | 109 | |
d83fac45 PP |
110 | Recent versions of VMS tar on ODS-5 volumes may extract tape archive |
111 | files with ^. escaped periods in them. See below for further workarounds. | |
112 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
113 | =item 3 UNZIP.EXE for VMS |
114 | ||
115 | A combination decompressor and archive reader/writer for *.zip files. | |
116 | Unzip is available from a number of web/ftp sites. | |
117 | ||
adc5a9a5 CB |
118 | http://www.info-zip.org/UnZip.html |
119 | http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/ | |
58979ab1 | 120 | ftp://ftp.openvms.compaq.com/ |
b4bc034f | 121 | ftp://ftp.madgoat.com/madgoat/ |
adc5a9a5 | 122 | ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/ |
b4bc034f GS |
123 | |
124 | =item 4 MOST | |
125 | ||
126 | Most is an optional pager that is convenient to use with perldoc (unlike | |
127 | TYPE/PAGE, MOST can go forward and backwards in a document and supports | |
128 | regular expression searching). Most builds with the slang | |
129 | library on VMS. Most and slang are available from: | |
130 | ||
131 | ftp://space.mit.edu/pub/davis/ | |
adc5a9a5 | 132 | ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/narnia/ |
b4bc034f | 133 | |
1bc81404 CB |
134 | =item 5 GNU PATCH and DIFFUTILS for VMS |
135 | ||
136 | Patches to Perl are usually distributed as GNU unified or contextual diffs. | |
137 | Such patches are created by the GNU diff program (part of the diffutils | |
138 | distribution) and applied with GNU patch. VMS ports of these utilities are | |
139 | available here: | |
140 | ||
141 | http://www.crinoid.com/utils/ | |
adc5a9a5 | 142 | http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/ |
1bc81404 | 143 | |
b4bc034f GS |
144 | =back |
145 | ||
9f3f8d50 | 146 | Please note that UNZIP and GUNZIP are not the same thing (they work with |
b4bc034f | 147 | different formats). Many of the useful files from CPAN (the Comprehensive |
58979ab1 PP |
148 | Perl Archive Network) are in *.tar.gz or *.tgz format (this includes copies |
149 | of the source code for perl as well as modules and scripts that you may | |
150 | wish to add later) hence you probably want to have GUNZIP.EXE and | |
151 | VMSTAR.EXE on your VMS machine. | |
fb73857a | 152 | |
b4bc034f GS |
153 | If you want to include socket support, you'll need a TCP/IP stack and either |
154 | DEC C, or socket libraries. See the "Socket Support (optional)" topic | |
155 | for more details. | |
fb73857a | 156 | |
d83fac45 PP |
157 | =head1 Unpacking the Perl source code |
158 | ||
159 | You may need to set up a foreign symbol for the unpacking utility of choice. | |
160 | ||
161 | If you unpack a perl source kit with a name containing multiple periods on | |
162 | an ODS-5 volume using recent versions of vmstar (e.g. V3.4 or later) you may | |
163 | need to be especially careful in unpacking the tape archive file. Try to use | |
164 | the ODS-2 compatability qualifiers such as: | |
165 | ||
166 | vmstar /extract/verbose/ods2 perl-V^.VIII^.III.tar | |
167 | ||
168 | or: | |
169 | ||
170 | vmstar -xvof perl-5^.8^.3.tar | |
171 | ||
172 | If you neglected to use the /ODS2 qualifier or the -o switch then you | |
173 | could rename the source directory: | |
174 | ||
175 | set security/protection=(o:rwed) perl-5^.8^.3.dir | |
176 | rename perl-5^.8^.3.dir perl-5_8_3.dir | |
177 | ||
178 | Perl on VMS as of 5.8.3 does not completely handle extended file | |
179 | parse styles such as are encountered on ODS-5. While it can be built, | |
180 | installed, and run on ODS-5 filesystems; it may encounter | |
181 | trouble with characters that are otherwise illegal on ODS-2 | |
182 | volumes (notably the ^. escaped period sequence). | |
183 | ||
b4bc034f | 184 | =head1 Configuring the Perl build |
fb73857a | 185 | |
97abc6ad | 186 | To configure perl (a necessary first step), issue the command |
fb73857a | 187 | |
b4bc034f | 188 | @ Configure |
fb73857a | 189 | |
b4bc034f GS |
190 | from the top of an unpacked perl source directory. You will be asked a |
191 | series of questions, and the answers to them (along with the capabilities | |
192 | of your C compiler and network stack) will determine how perl is custom | |
193 | built for your machine. | |
fb73857a | 194 | |
b4bc034f GS |
195 | If you have multiple C compilers installed, you'll have your choice of |
196 | which one to use. Various older versions of DEC C had some caveats, so if | |
197 | you're using a version older than 5.2, check the "DEC C Issues" section. | |
fb73857a | 198 | |
b4bc034f GS |
199 | If you have any symbols or logical names in your environment that may |
200 | interfere with the build or regression testing of perl then configure.com | |
201 | will try to warn you about them. If a logical name is causing | |
7bb57f25 GS |
202 | you trouble but is in an LNM table that you do not have write access to |
203 | then try defining your own to a harmless equivalence string in a table | |
204 | such that it is resolved before the other (e.g. if TMP is defined in the | |
b4bc034f GS |
205 | SYSTEM table then try DEFINE TMP "NL:" or somesuch in your process table) |
206 | otherwise simply deassign the dangerous logical names. The potentially | |
207 | troublesome logicals and symbols are: | |
7bb57f25 | 208 | |
b3b333bf PP |
209 | COMP "LOGICAL" |
210 | EXT "LOGICAL" | |
211 | FOO "LOGICAL" | |
212 | LIB "LOGICAL" | |
213 | LIST "LOGICAL" | |
214 | MIME "LOGICAL" | |
215 | POSIX "LOGICAL" | |
216 | SYS "LOGICAL" | |
217 | T "LOGICAL" | |
218 | THREAD "LOGICAL" | |
219 | THREADS "LOGICAL" | |
220 | TIME "LOGICAL" | |
221 | TMP "LOGICAL" | |
222 | UNICODE "LOGICAL" | |
223 | UTIL "LOGICAL" | |
224 | TEST "SYMBOL" | |
fb73857a | 225 | |
97abc6ad HM |
226 | As a handy shortcut, the command: |
227 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
228 | @ Configure "-des" |
229 | ||
230 | (note the quotation marks and case) will choose reasonable defaults | |
231 | automatically (it takes DEC C over Gnu C, DEC C sockets over SOCKETSHR | |
1bc81404 CB |
232 | sockets, and either over no sockets). Some options can be given |
233 | explicitly on the command line; the following example specifies a | |
234 | non-default location for where Perl will be installed: | |
235 | ||
236 | @ Configure "-d" "-Dprefix=dka100:[utils.perl5.]" | |
237 | ||
dab31494 | 238 | Note that the installation location would be by default where you unpacked |
fe05d1a7 | 239 | the source with a "_ROOT." appended. For example if you unpacked the perl |
dab31494 PP |
240 | source into: |
241 | ||
242 | DKA200:[PERL-5_10_2...] | |
243 | ||
adc5a9a5 | 244 | Then the PERL_SETUP.COM that gets written out by CONFIGURE.COM will |
dab31494 PP |
245 | try to DEFINE your installation PERL_ROOT to be: |
246 | ||
fe05d1a7 | 247 | DKA200:[PERL-5_10_2_ROOT.] |
dab31494 | 248 | |
1bc81404 | 249 | More help with configure.com is available from: |
b4bc034f GS |
250 | |
251 | @ Configure "-h" | |
252 | ||
253 | See the "Changing compile-time options (optional)" section below to learn | |
254 | even more details about how to influence the outcome of the important | |
255 | configuration step. If you find yourself reconfiguring and rebuilding | |
256 | then be sure to also follow the advice in the "Cleaning up and starting | |
257 | fresh (optional)" and the checklist of items in the "CAVEATS" sections | |
258 | below. | |
259 | ||
a83b6f46 | 260 | =head2 Changing compile-time options (optional) for Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
261 | |
262 | Most of the user definable features of Perl are enabled or disabled in | |
adc5a9a5 CB |
263 | configure.com, which processes the hints file config_h.SH. There is |
264 | code in there to Do The Right Thing, but that may end up being the | |
265 | wrong thing for you. Make sure you understand what you are doing since | |
266 | inappropriate changes to configure.com or config_h.SH can render perl | |
267 | unbuildable; odds are that there's nothing in there you'll need to | |
268 | change. | |
b4bc034f GS |
269 | |
270 | The one exception is the various *DIR install locations. Changing those | |
271 | requires changes in genconfig.pl as well. Be really careful if you need to | |
272 | change these, as they can cause some fairly subtle problems. | |
273 | ||
a83b6f46 | 274 | =head2 Socket Support (optional) for Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
275 | |
276 | Perl includes a number of functions for IP sockets, which are available if | |
277 | you choose to compile Perl with socket support. Since IP networking is an | |
278 | optional addition to VMS, there are several different IP stacks available. | |
279 | How well integrated they are into the system depends on the stack, your | |
280 | version of VMS, and the version of your C compiler. | |
281 | ||
282 | The most portable solution uses the SOCKETSHR library. In combination with | |
283 | either UCX or NetLib, this supports all the major TCP stacks (Multinet, | |
284 | Pathways, TCPWare, UCX, and CMU) on all versions of VMS Perl runs on, with | |
285 | all the compilers on both VAX and Alpha. The socket interface is also | |
286 | consistent across versions of VMS and C compilers. It has a problem with | |
287 | UDP sockets when used with Multinet, though, so you should be aware of | |
288 | that. | |
289 | ||
290 | The other solution available is to use the socket routines built into DEC | |
291 | C. Which routines are available depend on the version of VMS you're | |
292 | running, and require proper UCX emulation by your TCP/IP vendor. | |
293 | Relatively current versions of Multinet, TCPWare, Pathway, and UCX all | |
294 | provide the required libraries--check your manuals or release notes to see | |
295 | if your version is new enough. | |
296 | ||
297 | =head1 Building Perl | |
298 | ||
299 | The configuration script will print out, at the very end, the MMS or MMK | |
300 | command you need to compile perl. Issue it (exactly as printed) to start | |
301 | the build. | |
97abc6ad | 302 | |
b4bc034f GS |
303 | Once you issue your MMS or MMK command, sit back and wait. Perl should |
304 | compile and link without a problem. If a problem does occur check the | |
305 | "CAVEATS" section of this document. If that does not help send some | |
306 | mail to the VMSPERL mailing list. Instructions are in the "Mailing Lists" | |
307 | section of this document. | |
97abc6ad | 308 | |
b4bc034f | 309 | =head1 Testing Perl |
fb73857a | 310 | |
b4bc034f GS |
311 | Once Perl has built cleanly you need to test it to make sure things work. |
312 | This step is very important since there are always things that can go wrong | |
313 | somehow and yield a dysfunctional Perl for you. | |
fb73857a | 314 | |
315 | Testing is very easy, though, as there's a full test suite in the perl | |
b4bc034f | 316 | distribution. To run the tests, enter the *exact* MMS line you used to |
fb73857a | 317 | compile Perl and add the word "test" to the end, like this: |
318 | ||
b4bc034f | 319 | If the compile command was: |
fb73857a | 320 | |
b4bc034f | 321 | MMS |
fb73857a | 322 | |
b4bc034f | 323 | then the test command ought to be: |
fb73857a | 324 | |
b4bc034f | 325 | MMS test |
fb73857a | 326 | |
b4bc034f GS |
327 | MMS (or MMK) will run all the tests. This may take some time, as there are |
328 | a lot of tests. If any tests fail, there will be a note made on-screen. | |
329 | At the end of all the tests, a summary of the tests, the number passed and | |
330 | failed, and the time taken will be displayed. | |
fb73857a | 331 | |
96d6186e CB |
332 | The test driver invoked via MMS TEST has a DCL wrapper ([.VMS]TEST.COM) that |
333 | downgrades privileges to NETMBX, TMPMBX for the duration of the test run, | |
334 | and then restores them to their prior state upon completion of testing. | |
335 | This is done to ensure that the tests run in a private sandbox and can do no | |
336 | harm to your system even in the unlikely event something goes badly wrong in | |
337 | one of the test scripts while running the tests from a privileged account. | |
338 | A side effect of this safety precaution is that the account used to run the | |
339 | test suite must be the owner of the directory tree in which Perl has been | |
340 | built; otherwise the manipulations of temporary files and directories | |
341 | attempted by some of the tests will fail. | |
342 | ||
b4bc034f | 343 | If any tests fail, it means something is wrong with Perl. If the test suite |
fb73857a | 344 | hangs (some tests can take upwards of two or three minutes, or more if |
9f3f8d50 | 345 | you're on an especially slow machine, depending on your machine speed, so |
fb73857a | 346 | don't be hasty), then the test *after* the last one displayed failed. Don't |
347 | install Perl unless you're confident that you're OK. Regardless of how | |
348 | confident you are, make a bug report to the VMSPerl mailing list. | |
349 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
350 | If one or more tests fail, you can get more information on the failure by |
351 | issuing this command sequence: | |
fb73857a | 352 | |
b4bc034f | 353 | @ [.VMS]TEST .typ "" "-v" [.subdir]test.T |
fb73857a | 354 | |
355 | where ".typ" is the file type of the Perl images you just built (if you | |
356 | didn't do anything special, use .EXE), and "[.subdir]test.T" is the test | |
357 | that failed. For example, with a normal Perl build, if the test indicated | |
96d6186e | 358 | that t/op/time failed, then you'd do this: |
fb73857a | 359 | |
b4bc034f | 360 | @ [.VMS]TEST .EXE "" "-v" [.OP]TIME.T |
fb73857a | 361 | |
96d6186e CB |
362 | Note that test names are reported in UNIX syntax and relative to the |
363 | top-level build directory. When supplying them individually to the test | |
364 | driver, you can use either UNIX or VMS syntax, but you must give the path | |
365 | relative to the [.T] directory and you must also add the .T extension to the | |
366 | filename. So, for example if the test lib/Math/Trig fails, you would run: | |
367 | ||
368 | @ [.VMS]TEST .EXE "" -"v" [-.lib.math]trig.t | |
369 | ||
fb73857a | 370 | When you send in a bug report for failed tests, please include the output |
371 | from this command, which is run from the main source directory: | |
372 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
373 | MCR []MINIPERL "-V" |
374 | ||
375 | Note that -"V" really is a capital V in double quotes. This will dump out a | |
376 | couple of screens worth of configuration information, and can help us | |
377 | diagnose the problem. If (and only if) that did not work then try enclosing | |
378 | the output of: | |
379 | ||
380 | MMS printconfig | |
fb73857a | 381 | |
9f3f8d50 PP |
382 | If (and only if) that did not work then try enclosing the output of: |
383 | ||
b4bc034f | 384 | @ [.vms]myconfig |
fb73857a | 385 | |
b4bc034f GS |
386 | You may also be asked to provide your C compiler version ("CC/VERSION NL:" |
387 | with DEC C, "gcc --version" with GNU CC). To obtain the version of MMS or | |
388 | MMK you are running try "MMS/ident" or "MMK /ident". The GNU make version | |
389 | can be identified with "make --version". | |
390 | ||
a83b6f46 | 391 | =head2 Cleaning up and starting fresh (optional) installing Perl on VMS |
fb73857a | 392 | |
393 | If you need to recompile from scratch, you have to make sure you clean up | |
b4bc034f GS |
394 | first. There is a procedure to do it--enter the *exact* MMS line you used |
395 | to compile and add "realclean" at the end, like this: | |
fb73857a | 396 | |
b4bc034f | 397 | if the compile command was: |
fb73857a | 398 | |
b4bc034f | 399 | MMS |
fb73857a | 400 | |
b4bc034f | 401 | then the cleanup command ought to be: |
fb73857a | 402 | |
b4bc034f | 403 | MMS realclean |
fb73857a | 404 | |
b4bc034f GS |
405 | If you do not do this things may behave erratically during the subsequent |
406 | rebuild attempt. They might not, too, so it is best to be sure and do it. | |
fb73857a | 407 | |
b4bc034f | 408 | =head1 Installing Perl |
fb73857a | 409 | |
410 | There are several steps you need to take to get Perl installed and | |
3a385817 | 411 | running. |
fb73857a | 412 | |
a3ef2c6f | 413 | =over 4 |
b4bc034f | 414 | |
a3ef2c6f | 415 | =item 1 |
fb73857a | 416 | |
a3ef2c6f | 417 | Check your default file protections with |
fb73857a | 418 | |
a3ef2c6f | 419 | SHOW PROTECTION /DEFAULT |
fb73857a | 420 | |
a3ef2c6f | 421 | and adjust if necessary with SET PROTECTION=(code)/DEFAULT. |
fb73857a | 422 | |
a3ef2c6f | 423 | =item 2 |
3a385817 | 424 | |
1bc81404 CB |
425 | Decide where you want Perl to be installed (unless you have already done so |
426 | by using the "prefix" configuration parameter -- see the example in the | |
427 | "Configuring the Perl build" section). | |
b4bc034f | 428 | |
1bc81404 CB |
429 | The DCL script PERL_SETUP.COM that is written by CONFIGURE.COM will help you |
430 | with the definition of the PERL_ROOT and PERLSHR logical names and the PERL | |
431 | foreign command symbol. Take a look at PERL_SETUP.COM and modify it if you | |
432 | want to. The installation process will execute PERL_SETUP.COM and copy | |
433 | files to the directory tree pointed to by the PERL_ROOT logical name defined | |
434 | there, so make sure that you have write access to the parent directory of | |
435 | what will become the root of your Perl installation. | |
fb73857a | 436 | |
a3ef2c6f | 437 | =item 3 |
b4bc034f | 438 | |
a3ef2c6f | 439 | Run the install script via: |
b4bc034f | 440 | |
a3ef2c6f | 441 | MMS install |
b4bc034f | 442 | |
a3ef2c6f | 443 | or |
9f3f8d50 | 444 | |
a3ef2c6f | 445 | MMK install |
b4bc034f | 446 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
447 | If for some reason it complains about target INSTALL being up to date, |
448 | throw a /FORCE switch on the MMS or MMK command. | |
b4bc034f | 449 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
450 | =back |
451 | ||
1bc81404 CB |
452 | Copy PERL_SETUP.COM to a place accessible to your perl users. |
453 | ||
a3ef2c6f | 454 | For example: |
fb73857a | 455 | |
a3ef2c6f | 456 | COPY PERL_SETUP.COM SYS$LIBRARY: |
b4bc034f | 457 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
458 | If you want to have everyone on the system have access to perl |
459 | then add a line that reads | |
fb73857a | 460 | |
a3ef2c6f | 461 | $ @sys$library:perl_setup |
491527d0 | 462 | |
a3ef2c6f | 463 | to SYS$MANAGER:SYLOGIN.COM. |
85988417 | 464 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
465 | Two alternatives to the foreign symbol would be to install PERL into |
466 | DCLTABLES.EXE (Check out the section "Installing Perl into DCLTABLES | |
467 | (optional)" for more information), or put the image in a | |
468 | directory that's in your DCL$PATH (if you're using VMS V6.2 or higher). | |
85988417 | 469 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
470 | An alternative to having PERL_SETUP.COM define the PERLSHR logical name |
471 | is to simply copy it into the system shareable library directory with: | |
472 | ||
473 | copy perl_root:[000000]perlshr.exe sys$share: | |
85988417 | 474 | |
a3ef2c6f | 475 | See also the "INSTALLing images (optional)" section. |
491527d0 | 476 | |
a83b6f46 | 477 | =head2 Installing Perl into DCLTABLES (optional) on VMS |
fb73857a | 478 | |
9ef4b0a6 | 479 | Execute the following command file to define PERL as a DCL command. |
b4bc034f | 480 | You'll need CMKRNL privilege to install the new dcltables.exe. |
fb73857a | 481 | |
7bb57f25 GS |
482 | $ create perl.cld |
483 | ! | |
484 | ! modify to reflect location of your perl.exe | |
485 | ! | |
486 | define verb perl | |
487 | image perl_root:[000000]perl.exe | |
488 | cliflags (foreign) | |
489 | $! | |
490 | $ set command perl /table=sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe - | |
491 | /output=sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe | |
492 | $ install replace sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe | |
493 | $ exit | |
fb73857a | 494 | |
a83b6f46 | 495 | =head2 INSTALLing Perl images (optional) on VMS |
9f3f8d50 PP |
496 | |
497 | On systems that are using perl quite a bit, and particularly those with | |
498 | minimal RAM, you can boost the performance of perl by INSTALLing it as | |
adc5a9a5 | 499 | a known image. PERLSHR.EXE is typically larger than 3000 blocks |
9f3f8d50 PP |
500 | and that is a reasonably large amount of IO to load each time perl is |
501 | invoked. | |
502 | ||
503 | INSTALL ADD PERLSHR/SHARE | |
b4bc034f | 504 | INSTALL ADD PERL/HEADER |
9f3f8d50 PP |
505 | |
506 | should be enough for PERLSHR.EXE (/share implies /header and /open), | |
507 | while /HEADER should do for PERL.EXE (perl.exe is not a shared image). | |
508 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
509 | If your code 'use's modules, check to see if there is a shareable image for |
510 | them, too. In the base perl build, POSIX, IO, Fcntl, Opcode, SDBM_File, | |
e7948fac CB |
511 | DCLsym, and Stdio, and other extensions all have shared images that can be |
512 | installed /SHARE. | |
9f3f8d50 | 513 | |
b4bc034f | 514 | How much of a win depends on your memory situation, but if you are firing |
9f3f8d50 | 515 | off perl with any regularity (like more than once every 20 seconds or so) |
b4bc034f | 516 | it is probably beneficial to INSTALL at least portions of perl. |
9f3f8d50 PP |
517 | |
518 | While there is code in perl to remove privileges as it runs you are advised | |
519 | to NOT INSTALL PERL.EXE with PRIVs! | |
fb73857a | 520 | |
dab31494 PP |
521 | =head2 Running h2ph to create perl header files (optional) on VMS |
522 | ||
523 | If using DEC C or Compaq C ensure that you have extracted loose versions | |
524 | of your compiler's header or *.H files. Be sure to check the contents of: | |
525 | ||
526 | SYS$LIBRARY:DECC$RTLDEF.TLB | |
527 | SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$LIB_C.TLB | |
528 | SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$STARLET_C.TLB | |
529 | ||
530 | etcetera. | |
531 | ||
532 | If using GNU cc then also check your GNU_CC:[000000...] tree for the locations | |
533 | of the GNU cc headers. | |
534 | ||
b4bc034f | 535 | =head1 Reporting Bugs |
fb73857a | 536 | |
537 | If you come across what you think might be a bug in Perl, please report | |
538 | it. There's a script in PERL_ROOT:[UTILS], perlbug, that walks you through | |
539 | the process of creating a bug report. This script includes details of your | |
540 | installation, and is very handy. Completed bug reports should go to | |
9f3f8d50 | 541 | perlbug@perl.com. |
fb73857a | 542 | |
b4bc034f | 543 | =head1 CAVEATS |
fb73857a | 544 | |
545 | Probably the single biggest gotcha in compiling Perl is giving the wrong | |
b4bc034f GS |
546 | switches to MMS/MMK when you build. Use *exactly* what the configure.com |
547 | script prints! | |
548 | ||
549 | The next big gotcha is directory depth. Perl can create directories four, | |
550 | five, or even six levels deep during the build, so you don't have to be | |
dab31494 PP |
551 | too deep to start to hit the RMS 8 level limit (for ODS 2 volumes which were |
552 | common on versions of VMS prior to V7.2 and even with V7.2 on the VAX). | |
553 | It is best to do: | |
b4bc034f GS |
554 | |
555 | DEFINE/TRANS=(CONC,TERM) PERLSRC "disk:[dir.dir.dir.perldir.]" | |
556 | SET DEFAULT PERLSRC:[000000] | |
557 | ||
558 | before building in cases where you have to unpack the distribution so deep | |
559 | (note the trailing period in the definition of PERLSRC). Perl modules | |
560 | from CPAN can be just as bad (or worse), so watch out for them, too. Perl's | |
561 | configuration script will warn if it thinks you are too deep (at least on | |
562 | a VAX or on Alpha versions of VMS prior to 7.2). But MakeMaker will not | |
563 | warn you if you start out building a module too deep in a directory. | |
564 | ||
d83fac45 PP |
565 | As noted above ODS-5 escape sequences such as ^. can break the perl |
566 | build. Solutions include renaming files and directories as needed or | |
567 | being careful to use the -o switch or /ODS2 qualifier with latter | |
568 | versions of the vmstar utility when unpacking perl or CPAN modules | |
569 | on ODS-5 volumes. | |
570 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
571 | Be sure that the process that you use to build perl has a PGFLQ greater |
572 | than 100000. Be sure to have a correct local time zone to UTC offset | |
573 | defined (in seconds) in the logical name SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL before | |
574 | running the regression test suite. The SYS$MANAGER:UTC$CONFIGURE_TDF.COM | |
575 | procedure will help you set that logical for your system but may require | |
576 | system privileges. For example, a location 5 hours west of UTC (such as | |
577 | the US East coast while not on daylight savings time) would have: | |
578 | ||
579 | DEFINE SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL "-18000" | |
580 | ||
581 | A final thing that causes trouble is leftover pieces from a failed | |
582 | build. If things go wrong make sure you do a "(MMK|MMS|make) realclean" | |
fb73857a | 583 | before you rebuild. |
584 | ||
a83b6f46 | 585 | =head2 DEC C issues with Perl on VMS |
fb73857a | 586 | |
b4bc034f | 587 | Note to DEC C users: Some early versions (pre-5.2, some pre-4. If you're DEC |
c54e8273 | 588 | C 5.x or higher, with current patches if any, you're fine) of the DECCRTL |
fb73857a | 589 | contained a few bugs which affect Perl performance: |
b4bc034f GS |
590 | |
591 | =over 4 | |
592 | ||
593 | =item - pipes | |
594 | ||
595 | Newlines are lost on I/O through pipes, causing lines to run together. | |
596 | This shows up as RMS RTB errors when reading from a pipe. You can | |
597 | work around this by having one process write data to a file, and | |
598 | then having the other read the file, instead of the pipe. This is | |
599 | fixed in version 4 of DEC C. | |
600 | ||
601 | =item - modf() | |
602 | ||
603 | The modf() routine returns a non-integral value for some values above | |
604 | INT_MAX; the Perl "int" operator will return a non-integral value in | |
605 | these cases. This is fixed in version 4 of DEC C. | |
606 | ||
607 | =item - ALPACRT ECO | |
608 | ||
609 | On the AXP, if SYSNAM privilege is enabled, the CRTL chdir() routine | |
610 | changes the process default device and directory permanently, even | |
611 | though the call specified that the change should not persist after | |
612 | Perl exited. This is fixed by DEC CSC patch ALPACRT04_061 or later. | |
613 | See also: | |
614 | ||
172b4273 | 615 | http://ftp.support.compaq.com/patches/.new/openvms.shtml |
b4bc034f GS |
616 | |
617 | =back | |
618 | ||
619 | Please note that in later versions "DEC C" may also be known as | |
620 | "Compaq C". | |
621 | ||
a83b6f46 | 622 | =head2 GNU issues with Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
623 | |
624 | It has been a while since the GNU utilities such as GCC or GNU make | |
625 | were used to build perl on VMS. Hence they may require a great deal | |
626 | of source code modification to work again. | |
627 | ||
628 | http://slacvx.slac.stanford.edu/HELP/GCC | |
629 | http://www.progis.de/ | |
b4bc034f GS |
630 | http://www.lp.se/products/gnu.html |
631 | ||
e7948fac CB |
632 | =head2 Floating Point Considerations |
633 | ||
634 | Prior to 5.8.0, Perl simply accepted the default floating point options of the | |
635 | C compiler, namely representing doubles with D_FLOAT on VAX and G_FLOAT on | |
636 | Alpha. Single precision floating point values are represented in F_FLOAT | |
637 | format when either D_FLOAT or G_FLOAT is in use for doubles. Beginning with | |
638 | 5.8.0, Alpha builds now use IEEE floating point formats by default, which in | |
639 | VMS parlance are S_FLOAT for singles and T_FLOAT for doubles. IEEE is not | |
640 | available on VAX, so F_FLOAT and D_FLOAT remain the defaults for singles and | |
641 | doubles respectively. The available non-default options are G_FLOAT on VAX | |
642 | and D_FLOAT or G_FLOAT on Alpha. | |
643 | ||
644 | The use of IEEE on Alpha introduces NaN, infinity, and denormalization | |
645 | capabilities not available with D_FLOAT and G_FLOAT. When using one of those | |
646 | non-IEEE formats, silent underflow and overflow are emulated in the conversion | |
647 | of strings to numbers, but it is preferable to get the real thing by using | |
648 | IEEE where possible. | |
649 | ||
650 | Regardless of what floating point format you consider preferable, be aware | |
651 | that the choice may have an impact on compatibility with external libraries, | |
652 | such as database interfaces, and with existing data, such as data created with | |
653 | the C<pack> function and written to disk, or data stored via the Storable | |
654 | extension. For example, a C<pack("d", $foo)")> will create a D_FLOAT, | |
655 | G_FLOAT, or T_FLOAT depending on what your Perl was configured with. When | |
656 | written to disk, the value can only be retrieved later by a Perl configured | |
657 | with the same floating point option that was in effect when it was created. | |
658 | ||
659 | To obtain a non-IEEE build on Alpha, simply answer no to the "Use IEEE math?" | |
660 | question during the configuration. To obtain an option different from the C | |
661 | compiler default on either VAX or Alpha, put in the option that you want in | |
662 | answer to the "Any additional cc flags?" question. For example, to obtain a | |
663 | G_FLOAT build on VAX, put in C</FLOAT=G_FLOAT>. | |
664 | ||
49fd6f17 PP |
665 | =head2 Multinet issues with Perl on VMS |
666 | ||
667 | Prior to the release of Perl 5.8.0 it was noted that the regression | |
668 | test for lib/Net/hostent (in file [.lib.Net]hostent.t) will fail owing | |
669 | to problems with the hostent structure returned by C calls to either | |
670 | gethostbyname() or gethostbyaddr() using DEC or Compaq C with a | |
671 | Multinet TCP/IP stack. The problem was noted in Multinet 4.3A | |
672 | using either Compaq C 6.5 or DEC C 6.0, and with Multinet 4.2A | |
673 | using DEC C 5.2, but could easily affect other versions of Multinet. | |
c2a352b2 CB |
674 | Process Software Inc. has acknowledged a bug in the Multinet version |
675 | of UCX$IPC_SHR and has provided an ECO for it. The ECO is called | |
676 | UCX_LIBRARY_EMULATION-010_A044 and is available from: | |
49fd6f17 PP |
677 | |
678 | http://www.multinet.process.com/eco.html | |
679 | ||
c2a352b2 CB |
680 | As of this writing, the ECO is only available for Multinet versions |
681 | 4.3A and later. You may determine the version of Multinet that you | |
682 | are running using the command: | |
49fd6f17 PP |
683 | |
684 | multinet show /version | |
685 | ||
686 | from the DCL command prompt. | |
687 | ||
c2a352b2 CB |
688 | If the ECO is unavailable for your version of Multinet and you are |
689 | unable to upgrade, you might try using Perl programming constructs | |
690 | such as: | |
49fd6f17 PP |
691 | |
692 | $address = substr($gethostbyname_addr,0,4); | |
693 | ||
694 | to temporarily work around the problem, or if you are brave | |
695 | and do not mind the possibility of breaking IPv6 addresses, | |
696 | you might modify the pp_sys.c file to add an ad-hoc correction | |
697 | like so: | |
698 | ||
699 | ||
700 | --- pp_sys.c;1 Thu May 30 14:42:17 2002 | |
701 | +++ pp_sys.c Thu May 30 12:54:02 2002 | |
702 | @@ -4684,6 +4684,10 @@ | |
703 | } | |
704 | #endif | |
705 | ||
706 | + if (hent) { | |
707 | + hent->h_length = 4; | |
708 | + } | |
709 | + | |
710 | if (GIMME != G_ARRAY) { | |
711 | PUSHs(sv = sv_newmortal()); | |
712 | if (hent) { | |
713 | ||
714 | then re-compile and re-test your perl. After the installation | |
715 | of the Multinet ECO you ought to back out any such changes though. | |
716 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
717 | =head1 Mailing Lists |
718 | ||
719 | There are several mailing lists available to the Perl porter. For VMS | |
fb73857a | 720 | specific issues (including both Perl questions and installation problems) |
b4bc034f | 721 | there is the VMSPERL mailing list. It is usually a low-volume (10-12 |
fb73857a | 722 | messages a week) mailing list. |
723 | ||
1bc81404 CB |
724 | To subscribe, send a mail message to VMSPERL-SUBSCRIBE@PERL.ORG. The VMSPERL |
725 | mailing list address is VMSPERL@PERL.ORG. Any mail sent there gets echoed | |
726 | to all subscribers of the list. There is a searchable archive of the list | |
727 | on the web at: | |
b4bc034f GS |
728 | |
729 | http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/ | |
a83b6f46 | 730 | |
1bc81404 CB |
731 | To unsubscribe from VMSPERL send a message to VMSPERL-UNSUBSCRIBE@PERL.ORG. |
732 | Be sure to do so from the subscribed account that you are canceling. | |
b4bc034f | 733 | |
a83b6f46 | 734 | =head2 Web sites for Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
735 | |
736 | Vmsperl pages on the web include: | |
737 | ||
738 | http://www.sidhe.org/vmsperl/index.html | |
1bc81404 | 739 | http://www.crinoid.com/ |
b4bc034f | 740 | http://duphy4.physics.drexel.edu/pub/cgi_info.htmlx |
468f45d5 | 741 | http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/VMS/ |
60d9c7be | 742 | http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/ |
b4bc034f | 743 | http://www.best.com/~pvhp/vms/ |
adc5a9a5 | 744 | http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~binder/perl.html |
60d9c7be PP |
745 | http://lists.perl.org/showlist.cgi?name=vmsperl |
746 | http://archive.develooper.com/vmsperl@perl.org/ | |
adc5a9a5 | 747 | http://www.openvms.compaq.com/openvms/products/ips/apache/csws_modperl.html |
fb73857a | 748 | |
b4bc034f GS |
749 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
750 | ||
751 | Perl information for users and programmers about the port of perl to VMS is | |
752 | available from the [.VMS]PERLVMS.POD file that gets installed as L<perlvms>. | |
753 | For administrators the perlvms document also includes a detailed discussion | |
754 | of extending vmsperl with CPAN modules after Perl has been installed. | |
755 | ||
756 | =head1 AUTHORS | |
757 | ||
adc5a9a5 | 758 | Revised 10-October-2001 by Craig Berry craigberry@mac.com. |
1bc81404 CB |
759 | Revised 25-February-2000 by Peter Prymmer pvhp@best.com. |
760 | Revised 27-October-1999 by Craig Berry craigberry@mac.com. | |
b4bc034f GS |
761 | Revised 01-March-1999 by Dan Sugalski dan@sidhe.org. |
762 | Originally by Charles Bailey bailey@newman.upenn.edu. | |
763 | ||
764 | =head1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | |
fb73857a | 765 | |
766 | A real big thanks needs to go to Charles Bailey | |
b4bc034f | 767 | bailey@newman.upenn.edu, who is ultimately responsible for Perl 5.004 |
fb73857a | 768 | running on VMS. Without him, nothing the rest of us have done would be at |
769 | all important. | |
770 | ||
771 | There are, of course, far too many people involved in the porting and testing | |
772 | of Perl to mention everyone who deserves it, so please forgive us if we've | |
773 | missed someone. That said, special thanks are due to the following: | |
b4bc034f GS |
774 | |
775 | Tim Adye T.J.Adye@rl.ac.uk | |
fb73857a | 776 | for the VMS emulations of getpw*() |
b4bc034f | 777 | David Denholm denholm@conmat.phys.soton.ac.uk |
fb73857a | 778 | for extensive testing and provision of pipe and SocketShr code, |
b4bc034f | 779 | Mark Pizzolato mark@infocomm.com |
fb73857a | 780 | for the getredirection() code |
b4bc034f | 781 | Rich Salz rsalz@bbn.com |
fb73857a | 782 | for readdir() and related routines |
b4bc034f | 783 | Peter Prymmer pvhp@best.com |
fb73857a | 784 | for extensive testing, as well as development work on |
785 | configuration and documentation for VMS Perl, | |
b4bc034f | 786 | Dan Sugalski dan@sidhe.org |
fb73857a | 787 | for extensive contributions to recent version support, |
788 | development of VMS-specific extensions, and dissemination | |
789 | of information about VMS Perl, | |
790 | the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and the | |
791 | Laboratory of Nuclear Studies at Cornell University for | |
9f3f8d50 | 792 | the opportunity to test and develop for the AXP, |
a3ef2c6f GS |
793 | John Hasstedt John.Hasstedt@sunysb.edu |
794 | for VAX VMS V7.2 support | |
b4bc034f | 795 | |
fb73857a | 796 | and to the entire VMSperl group for useful advice and suggestions. In |
797 | addition the perl5-porters deserve credit for their creativity and | |
798 | willingness to work with the VMS newcomers. Finally, the greatest debt of | |
b4bc034f | 799 | gratitude is due to Larry Wall larry@wall.org, for having the ideas which |
fb73857a | 800 | have made our sleepless nights possible. |
801 | ||
802 | Thanks, | |
803 | The VMSperl group | |
b4bc034f GS |
804 | |
805 | =cut | |
806 |