Also note that, as of Perl version 5.005 and later, an ANSI C compliant
compiler is required to build Perl. VAX C is *not* ANSI compliant, as it
died a natural death some time before the standard was set. Therefore
-VAX C will not compile perl 5.005. We are sorry about that.
+VAX C will not compile Perl 5.005 or later. We are sorry about that.
If you are stuck without DEC C (the VAX C license should be good for DEC C,
but the media charges might prohibit an upgrade), consider getting Gnu C
instead.
-=head2 Introduction
+=head2 Introduction to Perl on VMS
The VMS port of Perl is as functionally complete as any other Perl port
(and as complete as the ports on some Unix systems). The Perl binaries
The current sources and build procedures have been tested on a VAX using
DEC C, and on an AXP using DEC C. If you run into problems with
-other compilers, please let us know.
+other compilers, please let us know. (Note: DEC C was renamed to Compaq C
+around version 6.2).
There are issues with various versions of DEC C, so if you're not running a
relatively modern version, check the "DEC C issues" section later on in this
document.
-=head2 Other required software
+=head2 Other required software for Compiling Perl on VMS
In addition to VMS and DCL you will need two things:
=item 1 A C compiler.
-DEC C or gcc for VMS (AXP or VAX).
+DEC (now Compaq) C or gcc for VMS (AXP or VAX).
=item 2 A make tool.
=back
-=head2 Additional software that is optional
+=head2 Additional software that is optional for Perl on VMS
You may also want to have on hand:
=item 1 GUNZIP/GZIP.EXE for VMS
A de-compressor for *.gz and *.tgz files available from a number
-of web/ftp sites.
+of web/ftp sites and is distributed on the OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM
+from Compaq.
http://www.fsf.org/order/ftp.html
- ftp://ftp.uu.net/archive/systems/gnu/diffutils*.tar.gz
- ftp://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/GNU/diffutils*.tar.gz
- ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/diffutils*.tar.gz
- http://www.openvms.digital.com/cd/GZIP/
- ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/VMS/
+ http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/
+ http://www.crinoid.com/utils/
=item 2 VMS TAR
For reading and writing unix tape archives (*.tar files). Vmstar is also
-available from a number of web/ftp sites.
+available from a number of web/ftp sites and is distributed on the OpenVMS
+Freeware CD-ROM from Compaq.
ftp://ftp.lp.se/vms/
- http://www.openvms.digital.com/cd/VMSTAR/
- ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/VMS/
+ http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/
=item 3 UNZIP.EXE for VMS
A combination decompressor and archive reader/writer for *.zip files.
Unzip is available from a number of web/ftp sites.
- http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/UnZip.html
- http://www.openvms.digital.com/cd/INFO-ZIP/
- ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/VMS/
- ftp://ftp.openvms.digital.com/
+ http://www.info-zip.org/UnZip.html
+ http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/
+ ftp://ftp.openvms.compaq.com/
ftp://ftp.madgoat.com/madgoat/
- ftp://ftp.wku.edu/vms/
+ ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/
=item 4 MOST
library on VMS. Most and slang are available from:
ftp://space.mit.edu/pub/davis/
- ftp://ftp.wku.edu/vms/narnia/most.zip
+ ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/narnia/
+
+=item 5 GNU PATCH and DIFFUTILS for VMS
+
+Patches to Perl are usually distributed as GNU unified or contextual diffs.
+Such patches are created by the GNU diff program (part of the diffutils
+distribution) and applied with GNU patch. VMS ports of these utilities are
+available here:
+
+ http://www.crinoid.com/utils/
+ http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/
=back
Please note that UNZIP and GUNZIP are not the same thing (they work with
different formats). Many of the useful files from CPAN (the Comprehensive
-Perl Archive Network) are in *.tar.gz format (this includes copies of the
-source code for perl as well as modules and scripts that you may wish to
-add later) hence you probably want to have GUNZIP.EXE and VMSTAR.EXE on
-your VMS machine.
+Perl Archive Network) are in *.tar.gz or *.tgz format (this includes copies
+of the source code for perl as well as modules and scripts that you may
+wish to add later) hence you probably want to have GUNZIP.EXE and
+VMSTAR.EXE on your VMS machine.
If you want to include socket support, you'll need a TCP/IP stack and either
DEC C, or socket libraries. See the "Socket Support (optional)" topic
T "LOGICAL"
FOO "LOGICAL"
EXT "LOGICAL"
+ SOME_LOGICAL_NAME_NOT_LIKELY "LOGICAL"
+ DOWN_LOGICAL_NAME_NOT_LIKELY "LOGICAL"
TEST "SYMBOL"
As a handy shortcut, the command:
(note the quotation marks and case) will choose reasonable defaults
automatically (it takes DEC C over Gnu C, DEC C sockets over SOCKETSHR
-sockets, and either over no sockets). More help with configure.com is
-available from:
+sockets, and either over no sockets). Some options can be given
+explicitly on the command line; the following example specifies a
+non-default location for where Perl will be installed:
+
+ @ Configure "-d" "-Dprefix=dka100:[utils.perl5.]"
+
+Note that the installation location would be by default where you unpacked
+the source with a "_ROOT." appended. For example if you unpacked the perl
+source into:
+
+ DKA200:[PERL-5_10_2...]
+
+Then the PERL_SETUP.COM that gets written out by CONFIGURE.COM will
+try to DEFINE your installation PERL_ROOT to be:
+
+ DKA200:[PERL-5_10_2_ROOT.]
+
+More help with configure.com is available from:
@ Configure "-h"
fresh (optional)" and the checklist of items in the "CAVEATS" sections
below.
-=head2 Changing compile-time options (optional)
+=head2 Changing compile-time options (optional) for Perl on VMS
Most of the user definable features of Perl are enabled or disabled in
-[.VMS]CONFIG.VMS. There is code in there to Do The Right Thing, but that
-may end up being the wrong thing for you. Make sure you understand what
-you are doing since inappropriate changes to CONFIG.VMS can render perl
-unbuildable.
-
-Odds are that there's nothing here to change, unless you're on a version of
-VMS later than 6.2 and DEC C later than 5.6. Even if you are, the correct
-values will still be chosen, most likely. Poking around here should be
-unnecessary.
+configure.com, which processes the hints file config_h.SH. There is
+code in there to Do The Right Thing, but that may end up being the
+wrong thing for you. Make sure you understand what you are doing since
+inappropriate changes to configure.com or config_h.SH can render perl
+unbuildable; odds are that there's nothing in there you'll need to
+change.
The one exception is the various *DIR install locations. Changing those
requires changes in genconfig.pl as well. Be really careful if you need to
change these, as they can cause some fairly subtle problems.
-=head2 Socket Support (optional)
+=head2 Socket Support (optional) for Perl on VMS
Perl includes a number of functions for IP sockets, which are available if
you choose to compile Perl with socket support. Since IP networking is an
MMK you are running try "MMS/ident" or "MMK /ident". The GNU make version
can be identified with "make --version".
-=head2 Cleaning up and starting fresh (optional)
+=head2 Cleaning up and starting fresh (optional) installing Perl on VMS
If you need to recompile from scratch, you have to make sure you clean up
first. There is a procedure to do it--enter the *exact* MMS line you used
There are several steps you need to take to get Perl installed and
running.
-1) Create a directory somewhere and define the concealed logical PERL_ROOT
-to point to it. For example,
+=over 4
- CREATE/DIRECTORY dka200:[perl]
- DEFINE/TRANS=(CONC,TERM) PERL_ROOT dka200:[perl.]
+=item 1
-2) Run the install script via:
+Check your default file protections with
- MMS install
+ SHOW PROTECTION /DEFAULT
-or
+and adjust if necessary with SET PROTECTION=(code)/DEFAULT.
- MMK install
+=item 2
-If for some reason it complains about target INSTALL being up to date,
-throw a /FORCE switch on the MMS or MMK command.
+Decide where you want Perl to be installed (unless you have already done so
+by using the "prefix" configuration parameter -- see the example in the
+"Configuring the Perl build" section).
-The DCL script [.VMS]PERL_SETUP.COM that is written by CONFIGURE.COM
-will take care of most of the following:
+The DCL script PERL_SETUP.COM that is written by CONFIGURE.COM will help you
+with the definition of the PERL_ROOT and PERLSHR logical names and the PERL
+foreign command symbol. Take a look at PERL_SETUP.COM and modify it if you
+want to. The installation process will execute PERL_SETUP.COM and copy
+files to the directory tree pointed to by the PERL_ROOT logical name defined
+there, so make sure that you have write access to the parent directory of
+what will become the root of your Perl installation.
-3) Either create the global foreign symbol PERL somewhere, such as
-SYS$MANAGER:SYLOGIN.COM, to be
+=item 3
- $ PERL :== "$PERL_ROOT:[000000]PERL.EXE"
+Run the install script via:
-or install Perl into DCLTABLES.EXE (Check out the section "Installing Perl
-into DCLTABLES (optional)" for more information), or put the image in a
-directory that's in your DCL$PATH (if you're using VMS V6.2 or higher).
+ MMS install
-4) Either define the logical name PERLSHR somewhere
-(such as in PERL_SETUP.COM) like so
+or
- $ DEFINE/NOLOG PERLSHR PERL_ROOT:[000000]PERLSHR.EXE
+ MMK install
-or copy the file into the system shareable library directory with
+If for some reason it complains about target INSTALL being up to date,
+throw a /FORCE switch on the MMS or MMK command.
- copy perl_root:[000000]perlshr.exe sys$share:
+=back
-5) Optionally define the command PERLDOC as
+Copy PERL_SETUP.COM to a place accessible to your perl users.
- $ PERLDOC == "$PERL_ROOT:[000000]PERL PERL_ROOT:[LIB.POD]PERLDOC.COM -t"
+For example:
-(See above for where to find the B<most> pager for use with perldoc).
+ COPY PERL_SETUP.COM SYS$LIBRARY:
-6) Optionally define the command PERLBUG (the Perl bug report generator) as
+If you want to have everyone on the system have access to perl
+then add a line that reads
- $ PERLBUG == "$PERL_ROOT:[000000]PERL PERL_ROOT:[LIB]PERLBUG.COM"
+ $ @sys$library:perl_setup
-7) Optionally define the command POD2MAN (Converts POD files to nroff
-source suitable for converting to man pages. Also quiets complaints during
-module builds) as
+to SYS$MANAGER:SYLOGIN.COM.
- $ DEFINE/NOLOG POD2MAN PERL_ROOT:[LIB.POD]POD2MAN.COM
- $ POD2MAN == "$PERL_ROOT:[000000]PERL POD2MAN"
+Two alternatives to the foreign symbol would be to install PERL into
+DCLTABLES.EXE (Check out the section "Installing Perl into DCLTABLES
+(optional)" for more information), or put the image in a
+directory that's in your DCL$PATH (if you're using VMS V6.2 or higher).
-8) Optionally define the command POD2TEXT (Converts POD files to text,
-which is required for B<perldoc -f> to work properly) as
+An alternative to having PERL_SETUP.COM define the PERLSHR logical name
+is to simply copy it into the system shareable library directory with:
- $ DEFINE/NOLOG POD2TEXT PERL_ROOT:[LIB.POD]POD2TEXT.COM
- $ POD2TEXT == "$PERL_ROOT:[000000]PERL POD2TEXT"
+ copy perl_root:[000000]perlshr.exe sys$share:
-In all these cases, if you've got PERL defined as a foreign command symbol,
-you can replace $PERL_ROOT:[000000]PERL with ''perl'. If you have installed
-perl into DCLTABLES, replace it with just perl.
+See also the "INSTALLing images (optional)" section.
-=head2 Installing Perl into DCLTABLES (optional)
+=head2 Installing Perl into DCLTABLES (optional) on VMS
Execute the following command file to define PERL as a DCL command.
You'll need CMKRNL privilege to install the new dcltables.exe.
$ install replace sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe
$ exit
-=head2 INSTALLing images (optional)
+=head2 INSTALLing Perl images (optional) on VMS
On systems that are using perl quite a bit, and particularly those with
minimal RAM, you can boost the performance of perl by INSTALLing it as
-a known image. PERLSHR.EXE is typically larger than 2000 blocks
+a known image. PERLSHR.EXE is typically larger than 3000 blocks
and that is a reasonably large amount of IO to load each time perl is
invoked.
While there is code in perl to remove privileges as it runs you are advised
to NOT INSTALL PERL.EXE with PRIVs!
+=head2 Running h2ph to create perl header files (optional) on VMS
+
+If using DEC C or Compaq C ensure that you have extracted loose versions
+of your compiler's header or *.H files. Be sure to check the contents of:
+
+ SYS$LIBRARY:DECC$RTLDEF.TLB
+ SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$LIB_C.TLB
+ SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$STARLET_C.TLB
+
+etcetera.
+
+If using GNU cc then also check your GNU_CC:[000000...] tree for the locations
+of the GNU cc headers.
+
=head1 Reporting Bugs
If you come across what you think might be a bug in Perl, please report
The next big gotcha is directory depth. Perl can create directories four,
five, or even six levels deep during the build, so you don't have to be
-too deep to start to hit the RMS 8 level limit (for versions of VMS prior
-to V7.2 and even with V7.2 on the VAX). It is best to do
+too deep to start to hit the RMS 8 level limit (for ODS 2 volumes which were
+common on versions of VMS prior to V7.2 and even with V7.2 on the VAX).
+It is best to do:
DEFINE/TRANS=(CONC,TERM) PERLSRC "disk:[dir.dir.dir.perldir.]"
SET DEFAULT PERLSRC:[000000]
build. If things go wrong make sure you do a "(MMK|MMS|make) realclean"
before you rebuild.
-=head2 DEC C issues
+=head2 DEC C issues with Perl on VMS
Note to DEC C users: Some early versions (pre-5.2, some pre-4. If you're DEC
C 5.x or higher, with current patches if any, you're fine) of the DECCRTL
Perl exited. This is fixed by DEC CSC patch ALPACRT04_061 or later.
See also:
- http://ftp.service.digital.com/patches/.new/openvms.html
+ http://ftp.service.compaq.com/patches/.new/openvms.shtml
=back
Please note that in later versions "DEC C" may also be known as
"Compaq C".
-=head2 GNU issues
+=head2 GNU issues with Perl on VMS
It has been a while since the GNU utilities such as GCC or GNU make
were used to build perl on VMS. Hence they may require a great deal
http://slacvx.slac.stanford.edu/HELP/GCC
http://www.progis.de/
- http://vms.gnu.org/
http://www.lp.se/products/gnu.html
=head1 Mailing Lists
there is the VMSPERL mailing list. It is usually a low-volume (10-12
messages a week) mailing list.
-The subscription address is MAJORDOMO@PERL.ORG. Send a mail message with
-just the words SUBSCRIBE VMSPERL in the body of the message.
-
-The VMSPERL mailing list address is VMSPERL@PERL.ORG. Any mail sent there
-gets echoed to all subscribers of the list. There is a searchable archive of
-the list on the web at:
+To subscribe, send a mail message to VMSPERL-SUBSCRIBE@PERL.ORG. The VMSPERL
+mailing list address is VMSPERL@PERL.ORG. Any mail sent there gets echoed
+to all subscribers of the list. There is a searchable archive of the list
+on the web at:
http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/
-
-To unsubscribe from VMSPERL send the message UNSUBSCRIBE VMSPERL to
-MAJORDOMO@PERL.ORG. Be sure to do so from the subscribed account that
-you are canceling.
-=head2 Web sites
+To unsubscribe from VMSPERL send a message to VMSPERL-UNSUBSCRIBE@PERL.ORG.
+Be sure to do so from the subscribed account that you are canceling.
+
+=head2 Web sites for Perl on VMS
Vmsperl pages on the web include:
http://www.sidhe.org/vmsperl/index.html
+ http://www.crinoid.com/
http://duphy4.physics.drexel.edu/pub/cgi_info.htmlx
- http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/
http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/VMS/
- http://nucwww.chem.sunysb.edu/htbin/software_list.cgi
+ http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/
http://www.best.com/~pvhp/vms/
- http://bkfug.kfunigraz.ac.at/~binder/perl.html
+ http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~binder/perl.html
+ http://lists.perl.org/showlist.cgi?name=vmsperl
+ http://archive.develooper.com/vmsperl@perl.org/
+ http://www.openvms.compaq.com/openvms/products/ips/apache/csws_modperl.html
=head1 SEE ALSO
=head1 AUTHORS
-Last revised 13-February-2000 by Peter Prymmer pvhp@best.com.
-Revised 27-October-1999 by Craig Berry craig.berry@metamorgs.com.
+Revised 10-October-2001 by Craig Berry craigberry@mac.com.
+Revised 25-February-2000 by Peter Prymmer pvhp@best.com.
+Revised 27-October-1999 by Craig Berry craigberry@mac.com.
Revised 01-March-1999 by Dan Sugalski dan@sidhe.org.
Originally by Charles Bailey bailey@newman.upenn.edu.
the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and the
Laboratory of Nuclear Studies at Cornell University for
the opportunity to test and develop for the AXP,
+ John Hasstedt John.Hasstedt@sunysb.edu
+ for VAX VMS V7.2 support
and to the entire VMSperl group for useful advice and suggestions. In
addition the perl5-porters deserve credit for their creativity and
https://perl5.git.perl.org / perl5.git / blobdiff