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b4bc034f | 1 | If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the equal signs on the left. |
f1bf079f | 2 | This file is written in the POD format (see [.pod]perlpod.pod) which is |
b4bc034f | 3 | specially designed to be readable as is. |
fb73857a | 4 | |
b4bc034f GS |
5 | =head1 NAME |
6 | ||
de2902a6 | 7 | perlvms - Configuring, building, testing, and installing perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
8 | |
9 | =head1 SYNOPSIS | |
10 | ||
11 | To configure, build, test, and install perl on VMS: | |
12 | ||
961b17fa CB |
13 | @configure |
14 | mmk | |
15 | mmk test | |
16 | mmk install | |
b4bc034f GS |
17 | |
18 | =head1 DESCRIPTION | |
19 | ||
20 | =head2 Important safety tip | |
97abc6ad | 21 | |
ec55d5e4 CB |
22 | For best results, make sure you read the "Configuring the Perl Build", |
23 | "Building Perl", and "Installing Perl" sections of this document before | |
24 | you build or install. Also please note other changes in the current | |
25 | release by having a look at L<perldelta/VMS>. | |
97abc6ad | 26 | |
a83b6f46 | 27 | =head2 Introduction to Perl on VMS |
fb73857a | 28 | |
29 | The VMS port of Perl is as functionally complete as any other Perl port | |
30 | (and as complete as the ports on some Unix systems). The Perl binaries | |
31 | provide all the Perl system calls that are either available under VMS or | |
b4bc034f GS |
32 | reasonably emulated. There are some incompatibilities in process handling |
33 | (e.g. the fork/exec model for creating subprocesses doesn't do what you | |
fb73857a | 34 | might expect under Unix), mainly because VMS and Unix handle processes and |
35 | sub-processes very differently. | |
36 | ||
b4bc034f | 37 | There are still some unimplemented system functions, and of course we |
fb73857a | 38 | could use modules implementing useful VMS system services, so if you'd like |
b4bc034f | 39 | to lend a hand we'd love to have you. Join the Perl Porting Team Now! |
fb73857a | 40 | |
a83b6f46 | 41 | =head2 Other required software for Compiling Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f | 42 | |
961b17fa | 43 | In addition to VMS and DCL you will need three things: |
fb73857a | 44 | |
b4bc034f GS |
45 | =over 4 |
46 | ||
47 | =item 1 A C compiler. | |
48 | ||
f1bf079f CB |
49 | VSI (formerly DEC/Compaq/HP/HPE) C for VMS (Alpha or Itanium). Various |
50 | ancient versions of DEC C had some caveats, so if you're using a version | |
51 | older than 7.x, you may need to upgrade to get a successful build. | |
b4bc034f | 52 | |
961b17fa CB |
53 | There have been no recent reports of builds using Gnu C, but latent |
54 | (and most likely outdated) support for it is still present in various | |
55 | parts of the sources. | |
56 | ||
57 | There is rudimentary but not quite complete support for HP C++; to try it out, | |
58 | configure with C<-"Dusecxx" -"Duser_c_flags=/WARN=INFORMATIONAL=NOCTOBUTCONREFM">. | |
59 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
60 | =item 2 A make tool. |
61 | ||
961b17fa CB |
62 | You will need the free MMS analog MMK (available from |
63 | L<http://ftp.endlesssoftware.com.au/mmk/kits/> or | |
64 | L<https://github.com/endlesssoftware/mmk>). HP's MMS has not been known to work for | |
65 | some time as Perl's automatically-generated description files are too complex for it, | |
66 | but MMS support may return in the future. Gnu Make might work, but it's been so long | |
67 | since anyone's tested it that we're not sure. | |
68 | ||
69 | =item 3 ODS-5 and Extended Parse | |
70 | ||
71 | All development and testing of Perl on VMS takes place on ODS-5 volumes with | |
72 | extended parse enabled in the environment via the command C<SET PROCESS/PARSE=EXTENDED>. | |
f1bf079f CB |
73 | Latent support for ODS-2 volumes is still present, but there have been some reports |
74 | that it no longer works, and even if it builds, there will be many test failures, | |
75 | mostly related to the failure to preserve filename case. ODS-2 support may be | |
76 | explicity disabled in a future release. | |
b4bc034f GS |
77 | |
78 | =back | |
79 | ||
a83b6f46 | 80 | =head2 Additional software that is optional for Perl on VMS |
fb73857a | 81 | |
9f3f8d50 | 82 | You may also want to have on hand: |
b4bc034f GS |
83 | |
84 | =over 4 | |
85 | ||
961b17fa | 86 | =item 1 gunzip/gzip for VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
87 | |
88 | A de-compressor for *.gz and *.tgz files available from a number | |
961b17fa | 89 | of web/ftp sites such as: |
b4bc034f | 90 | |
961b17fa CB |
91 | L<http://www.antinode.info/dec/sw/gzip.html> |
92 | L<http://vms.process.com/scripts/fileserv/fileserv.com?GZIP> | |
b4bc034f | 93 | |
961b17fa | 94 | =item 2 VMS tar |
b4bc034f | 95 | |
961b17fa CB |
96 | For reading and writing Unix tape archives (*.tar files). Vmstar is also |
97 | available from a number of sites such as: | |
b4bc034f | 98 | |
961b17fa CB |
99 | L<http://www.antinode.info/dec/sw/vmstar.html> |
100 | L<http://vms.process.com/scripts/fileserv/fileserv.com?VMSTAR> | |
d83fac45 | 101 | |
10019e56 CB |
102 | A port of GNU tar is also available as part of the GNV package: |
103 | ||
961b17fa | 104 | L<http://h71000.www7.hp.com/opensource/gnv.html> |
10019e56 | 105 | |
961b17fa | 106 | =item 3 unzip for VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
107 | |
108 | A combination decompressor and archive reader/writer for *.zip files. | |
109 | Unzip is available from a number of web/ftp sites. | |
110 | ||
961b17fa CB |
111 | L<http://www.info-zip.org/UnZip.html> |
112 | L<http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/> | |
113 | L<http://vms.process.com/fileserv-software.html> | |
b4bc034f | 114 | |
961b17fa | 115 | =item 5 GNU patch and diffutils for VMS |
1bc81404 CB |
116 | |
117 | Patches to Perl are usually distributed as GNU unified or contextual diffs. | |
118 | Such patches are created by the GNU diff program (part of the diffutils | |
119 | distribution) and applied with GNU patch. VMS ports of these utilities are | |
120 | available here: | |
121 | ||
961b17fa CB |
122 | L<http://www.antinode.info/dec/sw/diffutils.html> |
123 | L<http://vms.pdv-systeme.de/users/martinv/gnupatch.zip> | |
1bc81404 | 124 | |
b4bc034f GS |
125 | =back |
126 | ||
961b17fa | 127 | Please note that unzip and gunzip are not the same thing (they work with |
b4bc034f | 128 | different formats). Many of the useful files from CPAN (the Comprehensive |
58979ab1 PP |
129 | Perl Archive Network) are in *.tar.gz or *.tgz format (this includes copies |
130 | of the source code for perl as well as modules and scripts that you may | |
131 | wish to add later) hence you probably want to have GUNZIP.EXE and | |
132 | VMSTAR.EXE on your VMS machine. | |
fb73857a | 133 | |
d83fac45 PP |
134 | =head1 Unpacking the Perl source code |
135 | ||
961b17fa CB |
136 | You may need to set up a foreign symbol for the unpacking utility of |
137 | choice. Once you have done so, use a command like the following to | |
138 | unpack the archive: | |
718752a5 | 139 | |
ed9ad00f | 140 | vmstar -xvf perl-5^.35^.3.tar |
d83fac45 | 141 | |
961b17fa CB |
142 | Then set default to the top-level source directory like so: |
143 | ||
ed9ad00f | 144 | set default [.perl-5^.35^.3] |
d83fac45 | 145 | |
961b17fa | 146 | and proceed with configuration as described in the next section. |
d83fac45 | 147 | |
d83fac45 | 148 | |
b4bc034f | 149 | =head1 Configuring the Perl build |
fb73857a | 150 | |
97abc6ad | 151 | To configure perl (a necessary first step), issue the command |
fb73857a | 152 | |
961b17fa | 153 | @configure.com |
fb73857a | 154 | |
b4bc034f GS |
155 | from the top of an unpacked perl source directory. You will be asked a |
156 | series of questions, and the answers to them (along with the capabilities | |
961b17fa | 157 | of your C compiler and network stack) will determine how perl is custom- |
b4bc034f | 158 | built for your machine. |
fb73857a | 159 | |
b4bc034f | 160 | If you have any symbols or logical names in your environment that may |
961b17fa | 161 | interfere with the build or regression testing of perl then F<configure.com> |
b4bc034f | 162 | will try to warn you about them. If a logical name is causing |
7bb57f25 GS |
163 | you trouble but is in an LNM table that you do not have write access to |
164 | then try defining your own to a harmless equivalence string in a table | |
165 | such that it is resolved before the other (e.g. if TMP is defined in the | |
b4bc034f GS |
166 | SYSTEM table then try DEFINE TMP "NL:" or somesuch in your process table) |
167 | otherwise simply deassign the dangerous logical names. The potentially | |
961b17fa | 168 | troublesome logicals and symbols include: |
7bb57f25 | 169 | |
b3b333bf PP |
170 | COMP "LOGICAL" |
171 | EXT "LOGICAL" | |
172 | FOO "LOGICAL" | |
173 | LIB "LOGICAL" | |
174 | LIST "LOGICAL" | |
175 | MIME "LOGICAL" | |
176 | POSIX "LOGICAL" | |
177 | SYS "LOGICAL" | |
178 | T "LOGICAL" | |
179 | THREAD "LOGICAL" | |
180 | THREADS "LOGICAL" | |
181 | TIME "LOGICAL" | |
182 | TMP "LOGICAL" | |
183 | UNICODE "LOGICAL" | |
184 | UTIL "LOGICAL" | |
185 | TEST "SYMBOL" | |
fb73857a | 186 | |
97abc6ad HM |
187 | As a handy shortcut, the command: |
188 | ||
961b17fa | 189 | @configure "-des" |
b4bc034f GS |
190 | |
191 | (note the quotation marks and case) will choose reasonable defaults | |
046cc26c CB |
192 | automatically. Some options can be given explicitly on the command line; |
193 | the following example specifies a non-default location for where Perl | |
194 | will be installed: | |
1bc81404 | 195 | |
961b17fa | 196 | @configure "-d" "-Dprefix=dka100:[utils.perl5.]" |
1bc81404 | 197 | |
dab31494 | 198 | Note that the installation location would be by default where you unpacked |
fe05d1a7 | 199 | the source with a "_ROOT." appended. For example if you unpacked the perl |
dab31494 PP |
200 | source into: |
201 | ||
961b17fa | 202 | F<DKA200:[PERL-5^.18^.0...]> |
dab31494 | 203 | |
961b17fa | 204 | Then the F<PERL_SETUP.COM> that gets written out by F<configure.com> will |
dab31494 PP |
205 | try to DEFINE your installation PERL_ROOT to be: |
206 | ||
961b17fa | 207 | F<DKA200:[PERL-5^.18^.0_ROOT.]> |
dab31494 | 208 | |
1bc81404 | 209 | More help with configure.com is available from: |
b4bc034f | 210 | |
961b17fa | 211 | @configure "-h" |
b4bc034f | 212 | |
961b17fa | 213 | If you find yourself reconfiguring and rebuilding then be sure to also follow |
f1bf079f | 214 | the advice in the "Cleaning up and starting fresh (optional)" and the checklist |
961b17fa | 215 | of items in the "CAVEATS" sections below. |
b4bc034f | 216 | |
a83b6f46 | 217 | =head2 Changing compile-time options (optional) for Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f | 218 | |
961b17fa | 219 | Most of the user-definable features of Perl are enabled or disabled in |
adc5a9a5 CB |
220 | configure.com, which processes the hints file config_h.SH. There is |
221 | code in there to Do The Right Thing, but that may end up being the | |
222 | wrong thing for you. Make sure you understand what you are doing since | |
223 | inappropriate changes to configure.com or config_h.SH can render perl | |
224 | unbuildable; odds are that there's nothing in there you'll need to | |
961b17fa CB |
225 | change. Note also that non-default options are tested less than default |
226 | options, so you may end up being more of a pioneer than you intend to be. | |
b4bc034f | 227 | |
b4bc034f GS |
228 | =head1 Building Perl |
229 | ||
230 | The configuration script will print out, at the very end, the MMS or MMK | |
231 | command you need to compile perl. Issue it (exactly as printed) to start | |
232 | the build. | |
97abc6ad | 233 | |
b4bc034f GS |
234 | Once you issue your MMS or MMK command, sit back and wait. Perl should |
235 | compile and link without a problem. If a problem does occur check the | |
236 | "CAVEATS" section of this document. If that does not help send some | |
016af039 | 237 | mail to the VMSPERL mailing list. Instructions are in the L</"Mailing Lists"> |
b4bc034f | 238 | section of this document. |
97abc6ad | 239 | |
b4bc034f | 240 | =head1 Testing Perl |
fb73857a | 241 | |
b4bc034f GS |
242 | Once Perl has built cleanly you need to test it to make sure things work. |
243 | This step is very important since there are always things that can go wrong | |
244 | somehow and yield a dysfunctional Perl for you. | |
fb73857a | 245 | |
246 | Testing is very easy, though, as there's a full test suite in the perl | |
da80cd87 | 247 | distribution. To run the tests, enter the I<exact> MMS line you used to |
fb73857a | 248 | compile Perl and add the word "test" to the end, like this: |
249 | ||
b4bc034f | 250 | If the compile command was: |
fb73857a | 251 | |
961b17fa | 252 | MMK |
fb73857a | 253 | |
b4bc034f | 254 | then the test command ought to be: |
fb73857a | 255 | |
961b17fa | 256 | MMK test |
fb73857a | 257 | |
961b17fa | 258 | MMK (or MMS) will run all the tests. This may take some time, as there are |
b4bc034f GS |
259 | a lot of tests. If any tests fail, there will be a note made on-screen. |
260 | At the end of all the tests, a summary of the tests, the number passed and | |
261 | failed, and the time taken will be displayed. | |
fb73857a | 262 | |
961b17fa | 263 | The test driver invoked via MMK TEST has a DCL wrapper ([.VMS]TEST.COM) that |
96d6186e CB |
264 | downgrades privileges to NETMBX, TMPMBX for the duration of the test run, |
265 | and then restores them to their prior state upon completion of testing. | |
266 | This is done to ensure that the tests run in a private sandbox and can do no | |
267 | harm to your system even in the unlikely event something goes badly wrong in | |
268 | one of the test scripts while running the tests from a privileged account. | |
269 | A side effect of this safety precaution is that the account used to run the | |
270 | test suite must be the owner of the directory tree in which Perl has been | |
271 | built; otherwise the manipulations of temporary files and directories | |
272 | attempted by some of the tests will fail. | |
273 | ||
718752a5 CB |
274 | If any tests fail, it means something is wrong with Perl, or at least |
275 | with the particular module or feature that reported failure. If the test suite | |
fb73857a | 276 | hangs (some tests can take upwards of two or three minutes, or more if |
9f3f8d50 | 277 | you're on an especially slow machine, depending on your machine speed, so |
da80cd87 | 278 | don't be hasty), then the test I<after> the last one displayed failed. Don't |
fb73857a | 279 | install Perl unless you're confident that you're OK. Regardless of how |
280 | confident you are, make a bug report to the VMSPerl mailing list. | |
281 | ||
b4bc034f GS |
282 | If one or more tests fail, you can get more information on the failure by |
283 | issuing this command sequence: | |
fb73857a | 284 | |
961b17fa | 285 | @[.vms]test .typ "" "-v" [.subdir]test.t |
fb73857a | 286 | |
287 | where ".typ" is the file type of the Perl images you just built (if you | |
961b17fa | 288 | didn't do anything special, use .EXE), and "[.subdir]test.t" is the test |
fb73857a | 289 | that failed. For example, with a normal Perl build, if the test indicated |
96d6186e | 290 | that t/op/time failed, then you'd do this: |
fb73857a | 291 | |
f1bf079f | 292 | @ .vms]test .EXE "" "-v" [.op]time.t |
fb73857a | 293 | |
96d6186e CB |
294 | Note that test names are reported in UNIX syntax and relative to the |
295 | top-level build directory. When supplying them individually to the test | |
f1bf079f CB |
296 | driver, you must specify them in Unix format if they are outside of the [.t] |
297 | directory; otherwise VMS syntax is ok. Note that you must also give the path | |
961b17fa | 298 | relative to the [.t] directory and you must also add the .t extension to the |
f1bf079f | 299 | filename. So, for example if the test lib/warnings.t fails, you would run: |
96d6186e | 300 | |
f1bf079f | 301 | @[.vms]test .EXE "" -"v" "../lib/warnings.t" |
96d6186e | 302 | |
fb73857a | 303 | When you send in a bug report for failed tests, please include the output |
304 | from this command, which is run from the main source directory: | |
305 | ||
961b17fa | 306 | MCR []MINIPERL "-Ilib" "-V" |
b4bc034f GS |
307 | |
308 | Note that -"V" really is a capital V in double quotes. This will dump out a | |
309 | couple of screens worth of configuration information, and can help us | |
310 | diagnose the problem. If (and only if) that did not work then try enclosing | |
311 | the output of: | |
312 | ||
961b17fa | 313 | MMK printconfig |
fb73857a | 314 | |
9f3f8d50 PP |
315 | If (and only if) that did not work then try enclosing the output of: |
316 | ||
961b17fa | 317 | @[.vms]myconfig |
fb73857a | 318 | |
b4bc034f GS |
319 | You may also be asked to provide your C compiler version ("CC/VERSION NL:" |
320 | with DEC C, "gcc --version" with GNU CC). To obtain the version of MMS or | |
321 | MMK you are running try "MMS/ident" or "MMK /ident". The GNU make version | |
322 | can be identified with "make --version". | |
323 | ||
a83b6f46 | 324 | =head2 Cleaning up and starting fresh (optional) installing Perl on VMS |
fb73857a | 325 | |
326 | If you need to recompile from scratch, you have to make sure you clean up | |
961b17fa | 327 | first. There is a procedure to do it--enter the I<exact> MMK line you used |
b4bc034f | 328 | to compile and add "realclean" at the end, like this: |
fb73857a | 329 | |
b4bc034f | 330 | if the compile command was: |
fb73857a | 331 | |
961b17fa | 332 | MMK |
fb73857a | 333 | |
b4bc034f | 334 | then the cleanup command ought to be: |
fb73857a | 335 | |
961b17fa | 336 | MMK realclean |
fb73857a | 337 | |
b4bc034f GS |
338 | If you do not do this things may behave erratically during the subsequent |
339 | rebuild attempt. They might not, too, so it is best to be sure and do it. | |
fb73857a | 340 | |
b4bc034f | 341 | =head1 Installing Perl |
fb73857a | 342 | |
343 | There are several steps you need to take to get Perl installed and | |
3a385817 | 344 | running. |
fb73857a | 345 | |
a3ef2c6f | 346 | =over 4 |
b4bc034f | 347 | |
a3ef2c6f | 348 | =item 1 |
fb73857a | 349 | |
a3ef2c6f | 350 | Check your default file protections with |
fb73857a | 351 | |
a3ef2c6f | 352 | SHOW PROTECTION /DEFAULT |
fb73857a | 353 | |
961b17fa | 354 | and adjust if necessary with C<SET PROTECTION=(code)/DEFAULT>. |
fb73857a | 355 | |
a3ef2c6f | 356 | =item 2 |
3a385817 | 357 | |
1bc81404 CB |
358 | Decide where you want Perl to be installed (unless you have already done so |
359 | by using the "prefix" configuration parameter -- see the example in the | |
360 | "Configuring the Perl build" section). | |
b4bc034f | 361 | |
961b17fa | 362 | The DCL script PERL_SETUP.COM that is written by configure.com will help you |
1bc81404 CB |
363 | with the definition of the PERL_ROOT and PERLSHR logical names and the PERL |
364 | foreign command symbol. Take a look at PERL_SETUP.COM and modify it if you | |
365 | want to. The installation process will execute PERL_SETUP.COM and copy | |
366 | files to the directory tree pointed to by the PERL_ROOT logical name defined | |
367 | there, so make sure that you have write access to the parent directory of | |
368 | what will become the root of your Perl installation. | |
fb73857a | 369 | |
a3ef2c6f | 370 | =item 3 |
b4bc034f | 371 | |
a3ef2c6f | 372 | Run the install script via: |
b4bc034f | 373 | |
a3ef2c6f | 374 | MMK install |
b4bc034f | 375 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
376 | If for some reason it complains about target INSTALL being up to date, |
377 | throw a /FORCE switch on the MMS or MMK command. | |
b4bc034f | 378 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
379 | =back |
380 | ||
356230c9 CB |
381 | Installation will copy F<PERL_SETUP.COM> to the root of your installation |
382 | tree. If you want to give everyone on the system access to Perl (and you | |
383 | have, for example, installed to F<dsa0:[utils.perl_root]>) then add a line | |
384 | that reads: | |
1bc81404 | 385 | |
356230c9 | 386 | $ @dsa0:[utils.perl_root]perl_setup |
fb73857a | 387 | |
356230c9 CB |
388 | to F<SYS$MANAGER:SYLOGIN.COM>. Or for your own use only, simply place |
389 | that line in F<SYS$LOGIN:LOGIN.COM>. | |
85988417 | 390 | |
a3ef2c6f GS |
391 | Two alternatives to the foreign symbol would be to install PERL into |
392 | DCLTABLES.EXE (Check out the section "Installing Perl into DCLTABLES | |
393 | (optional)" for more information), or put the image in a | |
961b17fa | 394 | directory that's in your DCL$PATH. |
85988417 | 395 | |
a3ef2c6f | 396 | See also the "INSTALLing images (optional)" section. |
491527d0 | 397 | |
a83b6f46 | 398 | =head2 Installing Perl into DCLTABLES (optional) on VMS |
fb73857a | 399 | |
9ef4b0a6 | 400 | Execute the following command file to define PERL as a DCL command. |
b4bc034f | 401 | You'll need CMKRNL privilege to install the new dcltables.exe. |
fb73857a | 402 | |
7bb57f25 GS |
403 | $ create perl.cld |
404 | ! | |
405 | ! modify to reflect location of your perl.exe | |
406 | ! | |
407 | define verb perl | |
408 | image perl_root:[000000]perl.exe | |
409 | cliflags (foreign) | |
410 | $! | |
411 | $ set command perl /table=sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe - | |
412 | /output=sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe | |
413 | $ install replace sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe | |
414 | $ exit | |
fb73857a | 415 | |
a83b6f46 | 416 | =head2 INSTALLing Perl images (optional) on VMS |
9f3f8d50 PP |
417 | |
418 | On systems that are using perl quite a bit, and particularly those with | |
419 | minimal RAM, you can boost the performance of perl by INSTALLing it as | |
adc5a9a5 | 420 | a known image. PERLSHR.EXE is typically larger than 3000 blocks |
9f3f8d50 PP |
421 | and that is a reasonably large amount of IO to load each time perl is |
422 | invoked. | |
423 | ||
424 | INSTALL ADD PERLSHR/SHARE | |
b4bc034f | 425 | INSTALL ADD PERL/HEADER |
9f3f8d50 | 426 | |
961b17fa CB |
427 | should be enough for F<PERLSHR.EXE> (/share implies /header and /open), |
428 | while /HEADER should do for FPERL.EXE> (perl.exe is not a shared image). | |
9f3f8d50 | 429 | |
b4bc034f GS |
430 | If your code 'use's modules, check to see if there is a shareable image for |
431 | them, too. In the base perl build, POSIX, IO, Fcntl, Opcode, SDBM_File, | |
e7948fac CB |
432 | DCLsym, and Stdio, and other extensions all have shared images that can be |
433 | installed /SHARE. | |
9f3f8d50 | 434 | |
b4bc034f | 435 | How much of a win depends on your memory situation, but if you are firing |
9f3f8d50 | 436 | off perl with any regularity (like more than once every 20 seconds or so) |
b4bc034f | 437 | it is probably beneficial to INSTALL at least portions of perl. |
9f3f8d50 PP |
438 | |
439 | While there is code in perl to remove privileges as it runs you are advised | |
961b17fa | 440 | to NOT INSTALL F<PERL.EXE> with PRIVs! |
fb73857a | 441 | |
dab31494 PP |
442 | =head2 Running h2ph to create perl header files (optional) on VMS |
443 | ||
10019e56 CB |
444 | If using HP C, ensure that you have extracted loose versions of your |
445 | compiler's header or *.H files. Be sure to check the contents of: | |
dab31494 PP |
446 | |
447 | SYS$LIBRARY:DECC$RTLDEF.TLB | |
448 | SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$LIB_C.TLB | |
449 | SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$STARLET_C.TLB | |
450 | ||
451 | etcetera. | |
452 | ||
453 | If using GNU cc then also check your GNU_CC:[000000...] tree for the locations | |
454 | of the GNU cc headers. | |
455 | ||
b4bc034f | 456 | =head1 Reporting Bugs |
fb73857a | 457 | |
458 | If you come across what you think might be a bug in Perl, please report | |
8166b4e0 DB |
459 | it. The issue tracker at L<https://github.com/Perl/perl5/issues> walks you |
460 | through the process of creating a bug report and including details of your | |
461 | installation. | |
fb73857a | 462 | |
b4bc034f | 463 | =head1 CAVEATS |
fb73857a | 464 | |
465 | Probably the single biggest gotcha in compiling Perl is giving the wrong | |
da80cd87 | 466 | switches to MMS/MMK when you build. Use I<exactly> what the configure.com |
b4bc034f GS |
467 | script prints! |
468 | ||
e00f6020 CB |
469 | Be sure that the process that you use to build Perl has a PGFLQUO of at |
470 | least 400000. Be sure to have a correct local time zone to UTC offset | |
b4bc034f GS |
471 | defined (in seconds) in the logical name SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL before |
472 | running the regression test suite. The SYS$MANAGER:UTC$CONFIGURE_TDF.COM | |
473 | procedure will help you set that logical for your system but may require | |
474 | system privileges. For example, a location 5 hours west of UTC (such as | |
475 | the US East coast while not on daylight savings time) would have: | |
476 | ||
477 | DEFINE SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL "-18000" | |
478 | ||
479 | A final thing that causes trouble is leftover pieces from a failed | |
480 | build. If things go wrong make sure you do a "(MMK|MMS|make) realclean" | |
fb73857a | 481 | before you rebuild. |
482 | ||
e7948fac CB |
483 | =head2 Floating Point Considerations |
484 | ||
485 | Prior to 5.8.0, Perl simply accepted the default floating point options of the | |
f1bf079f CB |
486 | C compiler, namely representing doubles with G_FLOAT on Alpha. Single |
487 | precision floating point values are represented in F_FLOAT format when either | |
488 | D_FLOAT or G_FLOAT is in use for doubles. Beginning with 5.8.0, Alpha builds | |
489 | now use IEEE floating point formats by default, which in VMS parlance are S_FLOAT | |
490 | for singles and T_FLOAT for doubles. Itanium builds have always used IEEE by | |
491 | default. The available non-default options are D_FLOAT or G_FLOAT on Alpha | |
492 | or Itanium. | |
493 | ||
494 | The use of IEEE introduces NaN, infinity, and denormalization capabilities not | |
495 | available with D_FLOAT and G_FLOAT. When using one of those non-IEEE formats, | |
496 | silent underflow and overflow are emulated in the conversion of strings to | |
497 | numbers, but it is preferable to get the real thing by using IEEE where possible. | |
498 | You are likely to see quite a few test failures when not using IEEE floating point. | |
e7948fac CB |
499 | |
500 | Regardless of what floating point format you consider preferable, be aware | |
501 | that the choice may have an impact on compatibility with external libraries, | |
502 | such as database interfaces, and with existing data, such as data created with | |
503 | the C<pack> function and written to disk, or data stored via the Storable | |
504 | extension. For example, a C<pack("d", $foo)")> will create a D_FLOAT, | |
505 | G_FLOAT, or T_FLOAT depending on what your Perl was configured with. When | |
506 | written to disk, the value can only be retrieved later by a Perl configured | |
507 | with the same floating point option that was in effect when it was created. | |
508 | ||
f1bf079f CB |
509 | To obtain a non-IEEE build, simply answer no to the "Use IEEE math?" question |
510 | during the configuration or specify -"Uuseieee" as a parameter to configure.com | |
511 | on the command line. | |
e7948fac | 512 | |
b4bc034f GS |
513 | =head1 Mailing Lists |
514 | ||
515 | There are several mailing lists available to the Perl porter. For VMS | |
fb73857a | 516 | specific issues (including both Perl questions and installation problems) |
b4bc034f | 517 | there is the VMSPERL mailing list. It is usually a low-volume (10-12 |
fb73857a | 518 | messages a week) mailing list. |
519 | ||
1bc81404 CB |
520 | To subscribe, send a mail message to VMSPERL-SUBSCRIBE@PERL.ORG. The VMSPERL |
521 | mailing list address is VMSPERL@PERL.ORG. Any mail sent there gets echoed | |
cba88c42 | 522 | to all subscribers of the list. There is an archive of the list |
1bc81404 | 523 | on the web at: |
b4bc034f | 524 | |
cba88c42 | 525 | L<https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.vmsperl/> |
a83b6f46 | 526 | |
1bc81404 CB |
527 | To unsubscribe from VMSPERL send a message to VMSPERL-UNSUBSCRIBE@PERL.ORG. |
528 | Be sure to do so from the subscribed account that you are canceling. | |
b4bc034f | 529 | |
a83b6f46 | 530 | =head2 Web sites for Perl on VMS |
b4bc034f GS |
531 | |
532 | Vmsperl pages on the web include: | |
533 | ||
961b17fa | 534 | L<http://www.sidhe.org/vmsperl/index.html> |
cba88c42 MM |
535 | L<https://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/VMS/> |
536 | L<https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.vmsperl/> | |
f1bf079f | 537 | L<https://sourceforge.net/projects/vmsperlkit/> |
fb73857a | 538 | |
b4bc034f GS |
539 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
540 | ||
541 | Perl information for users and programmers about the port of perl to VMS is | |
f1bf079f | 542 | available from the [.pod]perlvms.pod file that gets installed as L<perlvms>. |
b4bc034f GS |
543 | For administrators the perlvms document also includes a detailed discussion |
544 | of extending vmsperl with CPAN modules after Perl has been installed. | |
545 | ||
546 | =head1 AUTHORS | |
547 | ||
ec55d5e4 CB |
548 | Originally by Charles Bailey bailey@newman.upenn.edu. See the git repository |
549 | for history. | |
b4bc034f GS |
550 | |
551 | =head1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | |
fb73857a | 552 | |
553 | A real big thanks needs to go to Charles Bailey | |
b4bc034f | 554 | bailey@newman.upenn.edu, who is ultimately responsible for Perl 5.004 |
fb73857a | 555 | running on VMS. Without him, nothing the rest of us have done would be at |
556 | all important. | |
557 | ||
558 | There are, of course, far too many people involved in the porting and testing | |
559 | of Perl to mention everyone who deserves it, so please forgive us if we've | |
560 | missed someone. That said, special thanks are due to the following: | |
b4bc034f GS |
561 | |
562 | Tim Adye T.J.Adye@rl.ac.uk | |
fb73857a | 563 | for the VMS emulations of getpw*() |
b4bc034f | 564 | David Denholm denholm@conmat.phys.soton.ac.uk |
fb73857a | 565 | for extensive testing and provision of pipe and SocketShr code, |
b4bc034f | 566 | Mark Pizzolato mark@infocomm.com |
fb73857a | 567 | for the getredirection() code |
b4bc034f | 568 | Rich Salz rsalz@bbn.com |
fb73857a | 569 | for readdir() and related routines |
b4bc034f | 570 | Peter Prymmer pvhp@best.com |
fb73857a | 571 | for extensive testing, as well as development work on |
572 | configuration and documentation for VMS Perl, | |
b4bc034f | 573 | Dan Sugalski dan@sidhe.org |
fb73857a | 574 | for extensive contributions to recent version support, |
575 | development of VMS-specific extensions, and dissemination | |
576 | of information about VMS Perl, | |
577 | the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and the | |
578 | Laboratory of Nuclear Studies at Cornell University for | |
9f3f8d50 | 579 | the opportunity to test and develop for the AXP, |
a3ef2c6f GS |
580 | John Hasstedt John.Hasstedt@sunysb.edu |
581 | for VAX VMS V7.2 support | |
ec55d5e4 CB |
582 | John Malmberg wb8tyw@qsl.net |
583 | for ODS-5 filename handling and other modernizations | |
b4bc034f | 584 | |
fb73857a | 585 | and to the entire VMSperl group for useful advice and suggestions. In |
586 | addition the perl5-porters deserve credit for their creativity and | |
587 | willingness to work with the VMS newcomers. Finally, the greatest debt of | |
b4bc034f | 588 | gratitude is due to Larry Wall larry@wall.org, for having the ideas which |
fb73857a | 589 | have made our sleepless nights possible. |
590 | ||
591 | Thanks, | |
592 | The VMSperl group | |
b4bc034f GS |
593 | |
594 | =cut | |
595 |