X-Git-Url: https://perl5.git.perl.org/perl5.git/blobdiff_plain/3fe9a6f19eb206c685bd7389e54e2838fdfd04b7..c8c7fdd1a93cac2b3a20ec43fed0b1327c000811:/README.win32 diff --git a/README.win32 b/README.win32 index 82c9bac..219a096 100644 --- a/README.win32 +++ b/README.win32 @@ -4,21 +4,21 @@ specially designed to be readable as is. =head1 NAME -perlwin32 - Perl under WindowsNT [XXX and perhaps under Windows95] +perlwin32 - Perl under Windows =head1 SYNOPSIS -These are instructions for building Perl under WindowsNT (versions -3.51 or 4.0), using Visual C++. +These are instructions for building Perl under Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP +on the Intel x86 and Itanium architectures. =head1 DESCRIPTION Before you start, you should glance through the README file -found in the top-level directory where the Perl distribution +found in the top-level directory to which the Perl distribution was extracted. Make sure you read and understand the terms under which this software is being distributed. -Also make sure you read the L section below for the +Also make sure you read L below for the known limitations of this port. The INSTALL file in the perl top-level has much information that is @@ -26,210 +26,737 @@ only relevant to people building Perl on Unix-like systems. In particular, you can safely ignore any information that talks about "Configure". -You should probably also read the README.os2 file, which gives a -different set of rules to build a Perl that will work on Win32 -platforms. That method will probably enable you to build a more -Unix-compatible perl, but you will also need to download and use -various other support software described in that file. +You may also want to look at two other options for building +a perl that will work on Windows NT: the README.cygwin and +README.os2 files, each of which give a different set of rules to +build a Perl that will work on Win32 platforms. Those two methods +will probably enable you to build a more Unix-compatible perl, but +you will also need to download and use various other build-time and +run-time support software described in those files. This set of instructions is meant to describe a so-called "native" -port of Perl to Win32 platforms. The resulting Perl requires no +port of Perl to Win32 platforms. This includes both 32-bit and +64-bit Windows operating systems. The resulting Perl requires no additional software to run (other than what came with your operating -system). Currently, this port is only capable of using Microsoft's -Visual C++ compiler. The ultimate goal is to support the other major -compilers that can be used on the platforms. +system). Currently, this port is capable of using one of the +following compilers on the Intel x86 architecture: -=head2 Setting Up + Borland C++ version 5.02 or later + Microsoft Visual C++ version 4.2 or later + Mingw32 with GCC version 2.95.2 or better + +The last of these is a high quality freeware compiler. Support +for it is still experimental. (Older versions of GCC are known +not to work.) + +This port can also be built on the Intel IA64 using: + + Microsoft Platform SDK Nov 2001 (64-bit compiler and tools) + +The MS Platform SDK can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/. + +This port fully supports MakeMaker (the set of modules that +is used to build extensions to perl). Therefore, you should be +able to build and install most extensions found in the CPAN sites. +See L below for general hints about this. + +=head2 Setting Up Perl on Win32 =over 4 -=item * +=item Make + +You need a "make" program to build the sources. If you are using +Visual C++ or the Platform SDK tools under Windows NT/2000/XP, nmake +will work. All other builds need dmake. + +dmake is a freely available make that has very nice macro features +and parallelability. + +A port of dmake for Windows is available from: + + http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/GSAR/dmake-4.1pl1-win32.zip + +(This is a fixed version of the original dmake sources obtained from +http://www.wticorp.com/ As of version 4.1PL1, the original +sources did not build as shipped and had various other problems. +A patch is included in the above fixed version.) + +Fetch and install dmake somewhere on your path (follow the instructions +in the README.NOW file). + +There exists a minor coexistence problem with dmake and Borland C++ +compilers. Namely, if a distribution has C files named with mixed +case letters, they will be compiled into appropriate .obj-files named +with all lowercase letters, and every time dmake is invoked +to bring files up to date, it will try to recompile such files again. +For example, Tk distribution has a lot of such files, resulting in +needless recompiles every time dmake is invoked. To avoid this, you +may use the script "sync_ext.pl" after a successful build. It is +available in the win32 subdirectory of the Perl source distribution. + +=item Command Shell + +Use the default "cmd" shell that comes with NT. Some versions of the +popular 4DOS/NT shell have incompatibilities that may cause you trouble. +If the build fails under that shell, try building again with the cmd +shell. + +The nmake Makefile also has known incompatibilities with the +"command.com" shell that comes with Windows 9x. You will need to +use dmake and makefile.mk to build under Windows 9x. + +The surest way to build it is on Windows NT/2000/XP, using the cmd shell. + +Make sure the path to the build directory does not contain spaces. The +build usually works in this circumstance, but some tests will fail. + +=item Borland C++ + +If you are using the Borland compiler, you will need dmake. +(The make that Borland supplies is seriously crippled and will not +work for MakeMaker builds.) + +See L above. + +=item Microsoft Visual C++ + +The nmake that comes with Visual C++ will suffice for building. +You will need to run the VCVARS32.BAT file, usually found somewhere +like C:\MSDEV4.2\BIN. This will set your build environment. + +You can also use dmake to build using Visual C++; provided, however, +you set OSRELEASE to "microsft" (or whatever the directory name +under which the Visual C dmake configuration lives) in your environment +and edit win32/config.vc to change "make=nmake" into "make=dmake". The +latter step is only essential if you want to use dmake as your default +make for building extensions using MakeMaker. + +=item Microsoft Platform SDK 64-bit Compiler + +The nmake that comes with the Platform SDK will suffice for building +Perl. Make sure you are building within one of the "Build Environment" +shells available after you install the Platform SDK from the Start Menu. + +=item MinGW32 with gcc -Use the default "cmd" shell that comes with NT. In particular, do -*not* use the 4DOS/NT shell. The Makefile has commands that are not -compatible with that shell. +The latest release of MinGW (at the time of writing) is 2.0.0, which comes +with gcc-3.2, and can be downloaded here: + + http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw + +Perl compiles with earlier releases of gcc (2.95 and up) that can be +downloaded from the same place. If you use gcc-3.2, comment out the +line: + + USE_GCC_V3_2 *= define + +in win32\makefile.mk + +You also need dmake. See L above on how to get it. + +=item MinGW release 1 + +The MinGW-1.1 bundle comes with gcc-2.95.3. + +Make sure you install the binaries that work with MSVCRT.DLL as indicated +in the README for the GCC bundle. You may need to set up a few environment +variables (usually ran from a batch file). + +There are a couple of problems with the version of gcc-2.95.2-msvcrt.exe +released 7 November 1999: + +=over =item * -Run the VCVARS32.BAT file usually found somewhere like C:\MSDEV4.2\BIN. -This will set your build environment. +It left out a fix for certain command line quotes. To fix this, be sure +to download and install the file fixes/quote-fix-msvcrt.exe from the above +ftp location. =item * -Depending on how you extracted the distribution, you have to make sure -all the files are writable by you. The easiest way to make sure of -this is to execute: +The definition of the fpos_t type in stdio.h may be wrong. If your +stdio.h has this problem, you will see an exception when running the +test t/lib/io_xs.t. To fix this, change the typedef for fpos_t from +"long" to "long long" in the file i386-mingw32msvc/include/stdio.h, +and rebuild. - attrib -R *.* /S +=back -from the perl toplevel directory. You don't I to do this if you -used the right tools to extract the files in the standard distribution, -but it doesn't hurt to do so. +A potentially simpler to install (but probably soon-to-be-outdated) bundle +of the above package with the mentioned fixes already applied is available +here: + + http://downloads.ActiveState.com/pub/staff/gsar/gcc-2.95.2-msvcrt.zip + ftp://ftp.ActiveState.com/pub/staff/gsar/gcc-2.95.2-msvcrt.zip =back -=head2 Building and Installation +=head2 Building =over 4 =item * -The "win32" directory contains *.mak files for use with the NMAKE that -comes with Visual C++ ver. 4.0 and above. If you wish to build perl -using Visual C++ versions between 2.0 and 4.0, do the following two -additional steps (these steps are not required if you are -using Visual C++ versions 4.0 and above): - -=over 8 +Make sure you are in the "win32" subdirectory under the perl toplevel. +This directory contains a "Makefile" that will work with +versions of nmake that come with Visual C++ or the Platform SDK, and +a dmake "makefile.mk" that will work for all supported compilers. The +defaults in the dmake makefile are setup to build using Microsoft Visual +C++ 6.0 or newer. -=item 1. +=item * -Overwrite the *.mak files in the win32 subdirectory with the versions -in the win32\VC-2.0 directory. +Edit the makefile.mk (or Makefile, if you're using nmake) and change +the values of INST_DRV and INST_TOP. You can also enable various +build flags. These are explained in the makefiles. -=item 2. +You will have to make sure that CCTYPE is set correctly and that +CCHOME points to wherever you installed your compiler. -Reset your INCLUDE environment variable to the MSVC include directory. -For example: +The default value for CCHOME in the makefiles for Visual C++ +may not be correct for some versions. Make sure the default exists +and is valid. - set INCLUDE=E:\MSVC20\INCLUDE +If you have either the source or a library that contains des_fcrypt(), +enable the appropriate option in the makefile. des_fcrypt() is not +bundled with the distribution due to US Government restrictions +on the export of cryptographic software. Nevertheless, this routine +is part of the "libdes" library (written by Eric Young) which is widely +available worldwide, usually along with SSLeay ( for example, +ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/crypt/mirrors/dsi/libdes/ ). Set CRYPT_SRC to the +name of the file that implements des_fcrypt(). Alternatively, if +you have built a library that contains des_fcrypt(), you can set +CRYPT_LIB to point to the library name. The location above contains +many versions of the "libdes" library, all with slightly different +implementations of des_fcrypt(). Older versions have a single, +self-contained file (fcrypt.c) that implements crypt(), so they may be +easier to use. A patch against the fcrypt.c found in libdes-3.06 is +in des_fcrypt.patch. -This must have only one directory (a list of directories will not work). -VCVARS32.BAT may put multiple locations in there, which is why this step -is required. +An easier alternative may be to get the pre-patched and ready-to-use +fcrypt.c that can be found here: -=back + http://downloads.ActiveState.com/pub/staff/gsar/fcrypt.c + ftp://ftp.ActiveState.com/pub/staff/gsar/fcrypt.c -=item * +Perl will also build without des_fcrypt(), but the crypt() builtin will +fail at run time. -Make sure you are in the "win32" subdirectory under the perl toplevel. +Be sure to read the instructions near the top of the makefiles carefully. =item * -Type "nmake" while in the "win32" subdirectory. This should build -everything. Specifically, it will create perl.exe, perl.dll, and -perlglob.exe at the perl toplevel, and various other extension dll's -under the lib\auto directory. If the make fails for any reason, make +Type "dmake" (or "nmake" if you are using that make). + +This should build everything. Specifically, it will create perl.exe, +perl59.dll at the perl toplevel, and various other extension dll's +under the lib\auto directory. If the build fails for any reason, make sure you have done the previous steps correctly. -=item * +=back -Type "nmake install". This will put the newly built perl and the -libraries under C:\PERL. If you want to alter this location, to say, -D:\FOO\PERL, you will have to say: +=head2 Testing Perl on Win32 - nmake install INST_TOP=D:\FOO\PERL +Type "dmake test" (or "nmake test"). This will run most of the tests from +the testsuite (many tests will be skipped). -instead. To use the Perl you just installed, make sure you set your -PATH environment variable to C:\PERL\BIN (or D:\FOO\PERL\BIN). +There should be no test failures when running under Windows NT/2000/XP. +Many tests I fail under Windows 9x due to the inferior command shell. -=back +Some test failures may occur if you use a command shell other than the +native "cmd.exe", or if you are building from a path that contains +spaces. So don't do that. -=head2 Testing +If you are running the tests from a emacs shell window, you may see +failures in op/stat.t. Run "dmake test-notty" in that case. -Type "nmake test". This will run most of the tests from the -testsuite (many tests will be skipped, and some tests will fail). -Most failures are due to UNIXisms in the standard perl testsuite. +If you're using the Borland compiler, you may see a failure in op/taint.t +arising from the inability to find the Borland Runtime DLLs on the system +default path. You will need to copy the DLLs reported by the messages +from where Borland chose to install it, into the Windows system directory +(usually somewhere like C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32) and rerun the test. -To get a more detailed breakdown of the tests that failed, say: +If you're using Borland compiler versions 5.2 and below, you may run into +problems finding the correct header files when building extensions. For +example, building the "Tk" extension may fail because both perl and Tk +contain a header file called "patchlevel.h". The latest Borland compiler +(v5.5) is free of this misbehaviour, and it even supports an +option -VI- for backward (bugward) compatibility for using the old Borland +search algorithm to locate header files. - cd ..\t - .\perl harness +If you run the tests on a FAT partition, you may see some failures for +C related tests (I, I ...). Testing on +NTFS avoids these errors. -This should produce a summary very similar to the following: +Furthermore, you should make sure that during C you do not +have any GNU tool packages in your path: some toolkits like Unixutils +include some tools (C for instance) which override the Windows +ones and makes tests fail. Remove them from your path while testing to +avoid these errors. - Failed Test Status Wstat Total Fail Failed List of failed - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - io/fs.t 26 16 61.54% 1-5, 7-11, 16-18, 23-25 - lib/anydbm.t 12 1 8.33% 2 - lib/findbin.t 1 1 100.00% 1 - lib/sdbm.t 12 1 8.33% 2 - op/magic.t 28 1 3.57% 16 - op/mkdir.t 7 2 28.57% 3, 7 - op/runlevel.t 8 1 12.50% 4 - op/stat.t 56 3 5.36% 2-3, 20 - op/taint.t 98 20 20.41% 1-6, 14, 16, 19-21, 24, 26, 35-3 - pragma/locale.t 98 40 40.82% 1, 13-14, 21-27, 33, 39, 45-53, - Failed 10/149 test scripts, 93.29% okay. 86/3871 subtests failed, 97.78% okay. +Please report any other failures as described under L. +=head2 Installation of Perl on Win32 -Check if any additional tests other than the ones shown here -failed. The standard testsuite will ultimately be modified so -that the testsuite avoids running irrelevant tests on Win32. +Type "dmake install" (or "nmake install"). This will put the newly +built perl and the libraries under whatever C points to in the +Makefile. It will also install the pod documentation under +C<$INST_TOP\$VERSION\lib\pod> and HTML versions of the same under +C<$INST_TOP\$VERSION\lib\pod\html>. To use the Perl you just installed, +you will need to add two components to your PATH environment variable, +C<$INST_TOP\$VERSION\bin> and C<$INST_TOP\$VERSION\bin\$ARCHNAME>. +For example: -=head1 BUGS AND CAVEATS + set PATH c:\perl\5.6.0\bin;c:\perl\5.6.0\bin\MSWin32-x86;%PATH% -This is still very much an experimental port, and should be considered -alpha quality software. You can expect changes in virtually all of -these areas: build process, installation structure, supported -utilities/modules, and supported perl functionality. Specifically, -functionality that supports the Win32 environment may ultimately -be supported as either core modules or extensions. +If you opt to comment out INST_VER and INST_ARCH in the makefiles, the +installation structure is much simpler. In that case, it will be +sufficient to add a single entry to the path, for instance: -Many tests from the standard testsuite either fail or produce different -results under this port. Most of the problems fall under one of these -categories + set PATH c:\perl\bin;%PATH% -=over 8 +=head2 Usage Hints for Perl on Win32 -=item * +=over 4 -C and C functions may not behave as documented. They -may return values that bear no resemblance to those reported on Unix -platforms, and some fields may be completely bogus. +=item Environment Variables -=item * +The installation paths that you set during the build get compiled +into perl, so you don't have to do anything additional to start +using that perl (except add its location to your PATH variable). -The following functions are currently unavailable: C, C, -C, C, C, C, C, C, -C, C, C, C, -C, C, C. This list is possibly incomplete. +If you put extensions in unusual places, you can set PERL5LIB +to a list of paths separated by semicolons where you want perl +to look for libraries. Look for descriptions of other environment +variables you can set in L. -=item * +You can also control the shell that perl uses to run system() and +backtick commands via PERL5SHELL. See L. -Various C related calls are supported, but they may not -behave as on Unix platforms. +Perl does not depend on the registry, but it can look up certain default +values if you choose to put them there. Perl attempts to read entries from +C and C. +Entries in the former override entries in the latter. One or more of the +following entries (of type REG_SZ or REG_EXPAND_SZ) may be set: -=item * + lib-$] version-specific standard library path to add to @INC + lib standard library path to add to @INC + sitelib-$] version-specific site library path to add to @INC + sitelib site library path to add to @INC + vendorlib-$] version-specific vendor library path to add to @INC + vendorlib vendor library path to add to @INC + PERL* fallback for all %ENV lookups that begin with "PERL" -The four-argument C call is only supported on sockets. +Note the C<$]> in the above is not literal. Substitute whatever version +of perl you want to honor that entry, e.g. C<5.6.0>. Paths must be +separated with semicolons, as usual on win32. -=item * +=item File Globbing -The behavior of C or the C operator (a.k.a. "backticks"), -when used to call interactive commands, is ill-defined. +By default, perl handles file globbing using the File::Glob extension, +which provides portable globbing. -=item * +If you want perl to use globbing that emulates the quirks of DOS +filename conventions, you might want to consider using File::DosGlob +to override the internal glob() implementation. See L for +details. -C<$!> doesn't work reliably yet. +=item Using perl from the command line + +If you are accustomed to using perl from various command-line +shells found in UNIX environments, you will be less than pleased +with what Windows offers by way of a command shell. + +The crucial thing to understand about the Windows environment is that +the command line you type in is processed twice before Perl sees it. +First, your command shell (usually CMD.EXE on Windows NT, and +COMMAND.COM on Windows 9x) preprocesses the command line, to handle +redirection, environment variable expansion, and location of the +executable to run. Then, the perl executable splits the remaining +command line into individual arguments, using the C runtime library +upon which Perl was built. + +It is particularly important to note that neither the shell nor the C +runtime do any wildcard expansions of command-line arguments (so +wildcards need not be quoted). Also, the quoting behaviours of the +shell and the C runtime are rudimentary at best (and may, if you are +using a non-standard shell, be inconsistent). The only (useful) quote +character is the double quote ("). It can be used to protect spaces +and other special characters in arguments. + +The Windows NT documentation has almost no description of how the +quoting rules are implemented, but here are some general observations +based on experiments: The C runtime breaks arguments at spaces and +passes them to programs in argc/argv. Double quotes can be used to +prevent arguments with spaces in them from being split up. You can +put a double quote in an argument by escaping it with a backslash and +enclosing the whole argument within double quotes. The backslash and +the pair of double quotes surrounding the argument will be stripped by +the C runtime. + +The file redirection characters "<", ">", and "|" can be quoted by +double quotes (although there are suggestions that this may not always +be true). Single quotes are not treated as quotes by the shell or +the C runtime, they don't get stripped by the shell (just to make +this type of quoting completely useless). The caret "^" has also +been observed to behave as a quoting character, but this appears +to be a shell feature, and the caret is not stripped from the command +line, so Perl still sees it (and the C runtime phase does not treat +the caret as a quote character). + +Here are some examples of usage of the "cmd" shell: + +This prints two doublequotes: + + perl -e "print '\"\"' " + +This does the same: + + perl -e "print \"\\\"\\\"\" " + +This prints "bar" and writes "foo" to the file "blurch": + + perl -e "print 'foo'; print STDERR 'bar'" > blurch + +This prints "foo" ("bar" disappears into nowhereland): + + perl -e "print 'foo'; print STDERR 'bar'" 2> nul + +This prints "bar" and writes "foo" into the file "blurch": + + perl -e "print 'foo'; print STDERR 'bar'" 1> blurch + +This pipes "foo" to the "less" pager and prints "bar" on the console: + + perl -e "print 'foo'; print STDERR 'bar'" | less + +This pipes "foo\nbar\n" to the less pager: + + perl -le "print 'foo'; print STDERR 'bar'" 2>&1 | less + +This pipes "foo" to the pager and writes "bar" in the file "blurch": + + perl -e "print 'foo'; print STDERR 'bar'" 2> blurch | less -=item * -Building modules available on CPAN is mostly supported, but this -hasn't been tested much yet. Expect strange problems, and be -prepared to deal with the consequences. +Discovering the usefulness of the "command.com" shell on Windows 9x +is left as an exercise to the reader :) + +One particularly pernicious problem with the 4NT command shell for +Windows NT is that it (nearly) always treats a % character as indicating +that environment variable expansion is needed. Under this shell, it is +therefore important to always double any % characters which you want +Perl to see (for example, for hash variables), even when they are +quoted. + +=item Building Extensions + +The Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN) offers a wealth +of extensions, some of which require a C compiler to build. +Look in http://www.cpan.org/ for more information on CPAN. + +Note that not all of the extensions available from CPAN may work +in the Win32 environment; you should check the information at +http://testers.cpan.org/ before investing too much effort into +porting modules that don't readily build. + +Most extensions (whether they require a C compiler or not) can +be built, tested and installed with the standard mantra: + + perl Makefile.PL + $MAKE + $MAKE test + $MAKE install + +where $MAKE is whatever 'make' program you have configured perl to +use. Use "perl -V:make" to find out what this is. Some extensions +may not provide a testsuite (so "$MAKE test" may not do anything or +fail), but most serious ones do. + +It is important that you use a supported 'make' program, and +ensure Config.pm knows about it. If you don't have nmake, you can +either get dmake from the location mentioned earlier or get an +old version of nmake reportedly available from: + + ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Softlib/MSLFILES/nmake15.exe + +Another option is to use the make written in Perl, available from +CPAN. + + http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/Make/ + +You may also use dmake. See L above on how to get it. + +Note that MakeMaker actually emits makefiles with different syntax +depending on what 'make' it thinks you are using. Therefore, it is +important that one of the following values appears in Config.pm: + + make='nmake' # MakeMaker emits nmake syntax + make='dmake' # MakeMaker emits dmake syntax + any other value # MakeMaker emits generic make syntax + (e.g GNU make, or Perl make) + +If the value doesn't match the 'make' program you want to use, +edit Config.pm to fix it. + +If a module implements XSUBs, you will need one of the supported +C compilers. You must make sure you have set up the environment for +the compiler for command-line compilation. + +If a module does not build for some reason, look carefully for +why it failed, and report problems to the module author. If +it looks like the extension building support is at fault, report +that with full details of how the build failed using the perlbug +utility. + +=item Command-line Wildcard Expansion + +The default command shells on DOS descendant operating systems (such +as they are) usually do not expand wildcard arguments supplied to +programs. They consider it the application's job to handle that. +This is commonly achieved by linking the application (in our case, +perl) with startup code that the C runtime libraries usually provide. +However, doing that results in incompatible perl versions (since the +behavior of the argv expansion code differs depending on the +compiler, and it is even buggy on some compilers). Besides, it may +be a source of frustration if you use such a perl binary with an +alternate shell that *does* expand wildcards. + +Instead, the following solution works rather well. The nice things +about it are 1) you can start using it right away; 2) it is more +powerful, because it will do the right thing with a pattern like +*/*/*.c; 3) you can decide whether you do/don't want to use it; and +4) you can extend the method to add any customizations (or even +entirely different kinds of wildcard expansion). + + C:\> copy con c:\perl\lib\Wild.pm + # Wild.pm - emulate shell @ARGV expansion on shells that don't + use File::DosGlob; + @ARGV = map { + my @g = File::DosGlob::glob($_) if /[*?]/; + @g ? @g : $_; + } @ARGV; + 1; + ^Z + C:\> set PERL5OPT=-MWild + C:\> perl -le "for (@ARGV) { print }" */*/perl*.c + p4view/perl/perl.c + p4view/perl/perlio.c + p4view/perl/perly.c + perl5.005/win32/perlglob.c + perl5.005/win32/perllib.c + perl5.005/win32/perlglob.c + perl5.005/win32/perllib.c + perl5.005/win32/perlglob.c + perl5.005/win32/perllib.c + +Note there are two distinct steps there: 1) You'll have to create +Wild.pm and put it in your perl lib directory. 2) You'll need to +set the PERL5OPT environment variable. If you want argv expansion +to be the default, just set PERL5OPT in your default startup +environment. + +If you are using the Visual C compiler, you can get the C runtime's +command line wildcard expansion built into perl binary. The resulting +binary will always expand unquoted command lines, which may not be +what you want if you use a shell that does that for you. The expansion +done is also somewhat less powerful than the approach suggested above. + +=item Win32 Specific Extensions + +A number of extensions specific to the Win32 platform are available +from CPAN. You may find that many of these extensions are meant to +be used under the Activeware port of Perl, which used to be the only +native port for the Win32 platform. Since the Activeware port does not +have adequate support for Perl's extension building tools, these +extensions typically do not support those tools either and, therefore, +cannot be built using the generic steps shown in the previous section. + +To ensure smooth transitioning of existing code that uses the +ActiveState port, there is a bundle of Win32 extensions that contains +all of the ActiveState extensions and most other Win32 extensions from +CPAN in source form, along with many added bugfixes, and with MakeMaker +support. This bundle is available at: + + http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/GSAR/libwin32-0.18.zip + +See the README in that distribution for building and installation +instructions. Look for later versions that may be available at the +same location. + +=item Notes on 64-bit Windows + +Windows .NET Server supports the LLP64 data model on the Intel Itanium +architecture. + +The LLP64 data model is different from the LP64 data model that is the +norm on 64-bit Unix platforms. In the former, C and C are +both 32-bit data types, while pointers are 64 bits wide. In addition, +there is a separate 64-bit wide integral type, C<__int64>. In contrast, +the LP64 data model that is pervasive on Unix platforms provides C +as the 32-bit type, while both the C type and pointers are of +64-bit precision. Note that both models provide for 64-bits of +addressability. + +64-bit Windows running on Itanium is capable of running 32-bit x86 +binaries transparently. This means that you could use a 32-bit build +of Perl on a 64-bit system. Given this, why would one want to build +a 64-bit build of Perl? Here are some reasons why you would bother: =item * -C, C and process-related functions may not -behave as described in the documentation, and some of the -returned values or effects may be bogus. +A 64-bit native application will run much more efficiently on +Itanium hardware. =item * -Signal handling may not behave as on Unix platforms. +There is no 2GB limit on process size. =item * -File globbing may not behave as on Unix platforms. +Perl automatically provides large file support when built under +64-bit Windows. =item * -Not all of the utilities that come with the Perl distribution -are supported yet. +Embedding Perl inside a 64-bit application. =back +=head2 Running Perl Scripts + +Perl scripts on UNIX use the "#!" (a.k.a "shebang") line to +indicate to the OS that it should execute the file using perl. +Win32 has no comparable means to indicate arbitrary files are +executables. + +Instead, all available methods to execute plain text files on +Win32 rely on the file "extension". There are three methods +to use this to execute perl scripts: + +=over 8 + +=item 1 + +There is a facility called "file extension associations" that will +work in Windows NT 4.0. This can be manipulated via the two +commands "assoc" and "ftype" that come standard with Windows NT +4.0. Type "ftype /?" for a complete example of how to set this +up for perl scripts (Say what? You thought Windows NT wasn't +perl-ready? :). + +=item 2 + +Since file associations don't work everywhere, and there are +reportedly bugs with file associations where it does work, the +old method of wrapping the perl script to make it look like a +regular batch file to the OS, may be used. The install process +makes available the "pl2bat.bat" script which can be used to wrap +perl scripts into batch files. For example: + + pl2bat foo.pl + +will create the file "FOO.BAT". Note "pl2bat" strips any +.pl suffix and adds a .bat suffix to the generated file. + +If you use the 4DOS/NT or similar command shell, note that +"pl2bat" uses the "%*" variable in the generated batch file to +refer to all the command line arguments, so you may need to make +sure that construct works in batch files. As of this writing, +4DOS/NT users will need a "ParameterChar = *" statement in their +4NT.INI file or will need to execute "setdos /p*" in the 4DOS/NT +startup file to enable this to work. + +=item 3 + +Using "pl2bat" has a few problems: the file name gets changed, +so scripts that rely on C<$0> to find what they must do may not +run properly; running "pl2bat" replicates the contents of the +original script, and so this process can be maintenance intensive +if the originals get updated often. A different approach that +avoids both problems is possible. + +A script called "runperl.bat" is available that can be copied +to any filename (along with the .bat suffix). For example, +if you call it "foo.bat", it will run the file "foo" when it is +executed. Since you can run batch files on Win32 platforms simply +by typing the name (without the extension), this effectively +runs the file "foo", when you type either "foo" or "foo.bat". +With this method, "foo.bat" can even be in a different location +than the file "foo", as long as "foo" is available somewhere on +the PATH. If your scripts are on a filesystem that allows symbolic +links, you can even avoid copying "runperl.bat". + +Here's a diversion: copy "runperl.bat" to "runperl", and type +"runperl". Explain the observed behavior, or lack thereof. :) +Hint: .gnidnats llits er'uoy fi ,"lrepnur" eteled :tniH + +=item Miscellaneous Things + +A full set of HTML documentation is installed, so you should be +able to use it if you have a web browser installed on your +system. + +C is also a useful tool for browsing information contained +in the documentation, especially in conjunction with a pager +like C (recent versions of which have Win32 support). You may +have to set the PAGER environment variable to use a specific pager. +"perldoc -f foo" will print information about the perl operator +"foo". + +One common mistake when using this port with a GUI library like C +is assuming that Perl's normal behavior of opening a command-line +window will go away. This isn't the case. If you want to start a copy +of C without opening a command-line window, use the C +executable built during the installation process. Usage is exactly +the same as normal C on Win32, except that options like C<-h> +don't work (since they need a command-line window to print to). + +If you find bugs in perl, you can run C to create a +bug report (you may have to send it manually if C cannot +find a mailer on your system). + +=back + +=head1 BUGS AND CAVEATS + +Norton AntiVirus interferes with the build process, particularly if +set to "AutoProtect, All Files, when Opened". Unlike large applications +the perl build process opens and modifies a lot of files. Having the +the AntiVirus scan each and every one slows build the process significantly. +Worse, with PERLIO=stdio the build process fails with peculiar messages +as the virus checker interacts badly with miniperl.exe writing configure +files (it seems to either catch file part written and treat it as suspicious, +or virus checker may have it "locked" in a way which inhibits miniperl +updating it). The build does complete with + + set PERLIO=perlio + +but that may be just luck. Other AntiVirus software may have similar issues. + +Some of the built-in functions do not act exactly as documented in +L, and a few are not implemented at all. To avoid +surprises, particularly if you have had prior exposure to Perl +in other operating environments or if you intend to write code +that will be portable to other environments. See L +for a reasonably definitive list of these differences. + +Not all extensions available from CPAN may build or work properly +in the Win32 environment. See L. + +Most C related calls are supported, but they may not +behave as on Unix platforms. See L for the full list. + +Signal handling may not behave as on Unix platforms (where it +doesn't exactly "behave", either :). For instance, calling C +or C from signal handlers will cause an exception, since most +implementations of C on Win32 are severely crippled. +Thus, signals may work only for simple things like setting a flag +variable in the handler. Using signals under this port should +currently be considered unsupported. + Please send detailed descriptions of any problems and solutions that you may find to >, along with the output produced by C. @@ -238,14 +765,16 @@ by C. =over 4 -=item Gary Ng > +=item Gary Ng E71564.1743@CompuServe.COME -=item Gurusamy Sarathy > +=item Gurusamy Sarathy Egsar@activestate.comE -=item Nick Ing-Simmons > +=item Nick Ing-Simmons Enick@ing-simmons.netE =back +This document is maintained by Gurusamy Sarathy. + =head1 SEE ALSO L @@ -254,12 +783,21 @@ L This port was originally contributed by Gary Ng around 5.003_24, and borrowed from the Hip Communications port that was available -at the time. +at the time. Various people have made numerous and sundry hacks +since then. -Nick Ing-Simmons and Gurusamy Sarathy have made numerous and -sundry hacks since then. +Borland support was added in 5.004_01 (Gurusamy Sarathy). -Last updated: 19 March 1997 +GCC/mingw32 support was added in 5.005 (Nick Ing-Simmons). -=cut +Support for PERL_OBJECT was added in 5.005 (ActiveState Tool Corp). + +Support for fork() emulation was added in 5.6 (ActiveState Tool Corp). + +Win9x support was added in 5.6 (Benjamin Stuhl). +Support for 64-bit Windows added in 5.8 (ActiveState Corp). + +Last updated: 20 April 2002 + +=cut