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1 | If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the funny characters you see. |
2 | It is written in the POD format (see pod/perlpod.pod) which is specially | |
3 | designed to be readable as is. | |
4 | ||
5 | =head1 NAME | |
6 | ||
7 | README.macosx - Perl under Mac OS X | |
8 | ||
9 | =head1 SYNOPSIS | |
10 | ||
11 | This document briefly describes perl under Mac OS X. | |
12 | ||
13 | ||
14 | =head1 DESCRIPTION | |
15 | ||
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16 | The latest Perl release (5.8.8 as of this writing) builds without changes |
17 | under Mac OS X. Under 10.3 "Panther" and newer OS versions, all self-tests | |
18 | pass, and all standard features are supported. | |
9ff7b177 | 19 | |
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20 | Earlier Mac OS X releases (10.2 "Jaguar" and older) did not include a |
21 | completely thread-safe libc, so threading is not fully supported. Also, | |
22 | earlier releases included a buggy libdb, so some of the DB_File tests | |
23 | are known to fail on those releases. | |
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24 | |
25 | ||
f7451e23 | 26 | =head2 Installation Prefix |
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27 | |
28 | The default installation location for this release uses the traditional | |
29 | UNIX directory layout under /usr/local. This is the recommended location | |
30 | for most users, and will leave the Apple-supplied Perl and its modules | |
31 | undisturbed. | |
32 | ||
33 | Using an installation prefix of '/usr' will result in a directory layout | |
34 | that mirrors that of Apple's default Perl, with core modules stored in | |
35 | '/System/Library/Perl/${version}', CPAN modules stored in | |
36 | '/Library/Perl/${version}', and the addition of | |
37 | '/Network/Library/Perl/${version}' to @INC for modules that are stored | |
38 | on a file server and used by many Macs. | |
39 | ||
40 | ||
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41 | =head2 SDK support |
42 | ||
43 | First, export the path to the SDK into the build environment: | |
44 | ||
45 | export SDK=/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.3.9.sdk | |
46 | ||
47 | Use an SDK by exporting some additions to Perl's 'ccflags' and '..flags' | |
48 | config variables: | |
49 | ||
50 | ./Configure -Accflags="-nostdinc -B$SDK/usr/include/gcc \ | |
51 | -B$SDK/usr/lib/gcc -isystem$SDK/usr/include \ | |
52 | -F$SDK/System/Library/Frameworks" \ | |
53 | -Aldflags="-Wl,-syslibroot,$SDK" \ | |
54 | -de | |
55 | ||
56 | =head2 Universal Binary support | |
57 | ||
58 | To compile perl as a universal binary (built for both ppc and intel), export | |
59 | the SDK variable as above, selecting the 10.4u SDK: | |
60 | ||
61 | export SDK=/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.4u.sdk | |
62 | ||
63 | In addition to the compiler flags used to select the SDK, also add the flags | |
64 | for creating a universal binary: | |
65 | ||
66 | ./Configure -Accflags="-arch i686 -arch ppc -nostdinc -B$SDK/usr/include/gcc \ | |
67 | -B$SDK/usr/lib/gcc -isystem$SDK/usr/include \ | |
68 | -F$SDK/System/Library/Frameworks" \ | |
69 | -Aldflags="-arch i686 -arch ppc -Wl,-syslibroot,$SDK" \ | |
70 | -de | |
71 | ||
72 | Keep in mind that these compiler and linker settings will also be used when | |
73 | building CPAN modules. For XS modules to be compiled as a universal binary, any | |
74 | libraries it links to must also be universal binaries. The system libraries that | |
75 | Apple includes with the 10.4u SDK are all universal, but user-installed libraries | |
76 | may need to be re-installed as universal binaries. | |
77 | ||
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78 | =head2 64-bit PPC support |
79 | ||
80 | Follow the instructions in F<INSTALL> to build perl with support for 64-bit | |
81 | integers (C<use64bitint>) or both 64-bit integers and 64-bit addressing | |
82 | (C<use64bitall>). In the latter case, the resulting binary will run only | |
83 | on G5-based hosts. | |
84 | ||
85 | Support for 64-bit addressing is experimental: some aspects of Perl may be | |
86 | omitted or buggy. Note the messages output by F<Configure> for further | |
87 | information. Please use C<perlbug> to submit a problem report in the | |
88 | event that you encounter difficulties. | |
89 | ||
90 | When building 64-bit modules, it is your responsiblity to ensure that linked | |
91 | external libraries and frameworks provide 64-bit support: if they do not, | |
92 | module building may appear to succeed, but attempts to use the module will | |
93 | result in run-time dynamic linking errors, and subsequent test failures. | |
94 | You can use C<file> to discover the architectures supported by a library: | |
95 | ||
96 | $ file libgdbm.3.0.0.dylib | |
97 | libgdbm.3.0.0.dylib: Mach-O fat file with 2 architectures | |
98 | libgdbm.3.0.0.dylib (for architecture ppc): Mach-O dynamically linked shared library ppc | |
99 | libgdbm.3.0.0.dylib (for architecture ppc64): Mach-O 64-bit dynamically linked shared library ppc64 | |
100 | ||
101 | Note that this issue precludes the building of many Macintosh-specific CPAN | |
102 | modules (C<Mac::*>), as the required Apple frameworks do not provide PPC64 | |
103 | support. Similarly, downloads from Fink or Darwinports are unlikely to provide | |
104 | 64-bit support; the libraries must be rebuilt from source with the appropriate | |
105 | compiler and linker flags. For further information, see Apple's | |
106 | I<64-Bit Transition Guide> at | |
107 | L<http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/64bitPorting/index.html>. | |
108 | ||
f7451e23 | 109 | =head2 libperl and Prebinding |
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110 | |
111 | Mac OS X ships with a dynamically-loaded libperl, but the default for | |
112 | this release is to compile a static libperl. The reason for this is | |
113 | pre-binding. Dynamic libraries can be pre-bound to a specific address in | |
114 | memory in order to decrease load time. To do this, one needs to be aware | |
115 | of the location and size of all previously-loaded libraries. Apple | |
116 | collects this information as part of their overall OS build process, and | |
117 | thus has easy access to it when building Perl, but ordinary users would | |
118 | need to go to a great deal of effort to obtain the information needed | |
119 | for pre-binding. | |
120 | ||
f7451e23 | 121 | You can override the default and build a shared libperl if you wish |
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122 | (S<Configure ... -Duseshrlib>), but the load time on pre-10.4 OS |
123 | releases will be greater than either the static library, or Apple's | |
f7451e23 | 124 | pre-bound dynamic library. |
9ff7b177 | 125 | |
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126 | With 10.4 "Tiger" and newer, Apple has all but eliminated the performance |
127 | penalty for non-prebound libraries. | |
9ff7b177 | 128 | |
9ff7b177 | 129 | |
e30a8c0c | 130 | =head2 Updating Apple's Perl |
ffb8d87a | 131 | |
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132 | In a word - don't, at least without a *very* good reason. Your scripts |
133 | can just as easily begin with "#!/usr/local/bin/perl" as with | |
134 | "#!/usr/bin/perl". Scripts supplied by Apple and other third parties as | |
135 | part of installation packages and such have generally only been tested | |
136 | with the /usr/bin/perl that's installed by Apple. | |
ffb8d87a | 137 | |
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138 | If you find that you do need to update the system Perl, one issue worth |
139 | keeping in mind is the question of static vs. dynamic libraries. If you | |
140 | upgrade using the default static libperl, you will find that the dynamic | |
141 | libperl supplied by Apple will not be deleted. If both libraries are | |
142 | present when an application that links against libperl is built, ld will | |
143 | link against the dynamic library by default. So, if you need to replace | |
144 | Apple's dynamic libperl with a static libperl, you need to be sure to | |
145 | delete the older dynamic library after you've installed the update. | |
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9ff7b177 | 147 | |
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148 | =head2 Known problems |
149 | ||
150 | If you have installed extra libraries such as GDBM through Fink | |
151 | (in other words, you have libraries under F</sw/lib>), or libdlcompat | |
152 | to F</usr/local/lib>, you may need to be extra careful when running | |
153 | Configure to not to confuse Configure and Perl about which libraries | |
154 | to use. Being confused will show up for example as "dyld" errors about | |
155 | symbol problems, for example during "make test". The safest bet is to run | |
156 | Configure as | |
157 | ||
158 | Configure ... -Uloclibpth -Dlibpth=/usr/lib | |
159 | ||
160 | to make Configure look only into the system libraries. If you have some | |
161 | extra library directories that you really want to use (such as newer | |
162 | Berkeley DB libraries in pre-Panther systems), add those to the libpth: | |
163 | ||
164 | Configure ... -Uloclibpth -Dlibpth='/usr/lib /opt/lib' | |
165 | ||
166 | The default of building Perl statically may cause problems with complex | |
167 | applications like Tk: in that case consider building shared Perl | |
168 | ||
169 | Configure ... -Duseshrplib | |
170 | ||
171 | but remember that there's a startup cost to pay in that case (see above | |
172 | "libperl and Prebinding"). | |
173 | ||
80626d0c | 174 | Starting with Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4), Apple shipped broken locale files for |
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175 | the eu_ES locale (Basque-Spain). In previous releases of Perl, this resulted in |
176 | failures in the C<lib/locale> test. These failures have been supressed | |
177 | in the current release of Perl by making the test ignore the broken locale. | |
178 | If you need to use the eu_ES locale, you should contact Apple support. | |
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179 | |
180 | =head2 MacPerl | |
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181 | |
182 | Quite a bit has been written about MacPerl, the Perl distribution for | |
183 | "Classic MacOS" - that is, versions 9 and earlier of MacOS. Because it | |
184 | runs in environment that's very different from that of UNIX, many things | |
185 | are done differently in MacPerl. Modules are installed using a different | |
186 | procedure, Perl itself is built differently, path names are different, | |
187 | etc. | |
188 | ||
189 | From the perspective of a Perl programmer, Mac OS X is more like a | |
190 | traditional UNIX than Classic MacOS. If you find documentation that | |
191 | refers to a special procedure that's needed for MacOS that's drastically | |
192 | different from the instructions provided for UNIX, the MacOS | |
193 | instructions are quite often intended for MacPerl on Classic MacOS. In | |
194 | that case, the correct procedure on Mac OS X is usually to follow the | |
195 | UNIX instructions, rather than the MacPerl instructions. | |
196 | ||
197 | ||
f7451e23 | 198 | =head2 Carbon |
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199 | |
200 | MacPerl ships with a number of modules that are used to access the | |
201 | classic MacOS toolbox. Many of these modules have been updated to use | |
202 | Mac OS X's newer "Carbon" toolbox, and are available from CPAN in the | |
203 | "Mac::Carbon" module. | |
204 | ||
205 | ||
f7451e23 | 206 | =head2 Cocoa |
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207 | |
208 | There are two ways to use Cocoa from Perl. Apple's PerlObjCBridge | |
209 | module, included with Mac OS X, can be used by standalone scripts to | |
210 | access Foundation (i.e. non-GUI) classes and objects. | |
211 | ||
212 | An alternative is CamelBones, a framework that allows access to both | |
213 | Foundation and AppKit classes and objects, so that full GUI applications | |
214 | can be built in Perl. CamelBones can be found on SourceForge, at | |
215 | L<http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/camelbones/>. | |
216 | ||
217 | ||
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218 | =head1 Starting From Scratch |
219 | ||
220 | Unfortunately it is not that difficult somehow manage to break one's | |
221 | Mac OS X Perl rather severely. If all else fails and you want to | |
222 | really, B<REALLY>, start from scratch and remove even your Apple Perl | |
223 | installation (which has become corrupted somehow), the following | |
224 | instructions should do it. B<Please think twice before following | |
225 | these instructions: they are much like conducting brain surgery to | |
226 | yourself. Without anesthesia.> We will B<not> come to fix your system | |
227 | if you do this. | |
228 | ||
229 | First, get rid of the libperl.dylib: | |
230 | ||
231 | # cd /System/Library/Perl/darwin/CORE | |
232 | # rm libperl.dylib | |
233 | ||
234 | Then delete every .bundle file found anywhere in the folders: | |
235 | ||
236 | /System/Library/Perl | |
237 | /Library/Perl | |
238 | ||
239 | You can find them for example by | |
240 | ||
241 | # find /System/Library/Perl /Library/Perl -name '*.bundle' -print | |
242 | ||
e30a8c0c | 243 | After this you can either copy Perl from your operating system media |
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244 | (you will need at least the /System/Library/Perl and /usr/bin/perl), |
245 | or rebuild Perl from the source code with C<Configure -Dprefix=/usr | |
246 | -Dusershrplib> NOTE: the C<-Dprefix=/usr> to replace the system Perl | |
247 | works much better with Perl 5.8.1 and later, in Perl 5.8.0 the | |
248 | settings were not quite right. | |
249 | ||
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250 | "Pacifist" from CharlesSoft (L<http://www.charlessoft.com/>) is a nice |
251 | way to extract the Perl binaries from the OS media, without having to | |
252 | reinstall the entire OS. | |
253 | ||
6c8f3f7c | 254 | |
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255 | =head1 AUTHOR |
256 | ||
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257 | This README was written by Sherm Pendley E<lt>sherm@dot-app.orgE<gt>, |
258 | and subsequently updated by Dominic Dunlop E<lt>domo@computer.orgE<gt>. | |
6c8f3f7c JH |
259 | The "Starting From Scratch" recipe was contributed by John Montbriand |
260 | E<lt>montbriand@apple.comE<gt>. | |
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261 | |
262 | =head1 DATE | |
263 | ||
ee94f810 | 264 | Last modified 2006-02-24. |