Commit | Line | Data |
b4bc034f |
1 | If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the equal signs on the left. |
2 | This file is written in the POD format (see [.POD]PERLPOD.POD;1) which is |
3 | specially designed to be readable as is. |
fb73857a |
4 | |
b4bc034f |
5 | =head1 NAME |
6 | |
7 | README.vms - Configuring, building, testing, and installing perl on VMS |
8 | |
9 | =head1 SYNOPSIS |
10 | |
11 | To configure, build, test, and install perl on VMS: |
12 | |
13 | @ Configure |
14 | mms |
15 | mms test |
16 | mms install |
17 | |
18 | mmk may be used in place of mms in the last three steps. |
19 | |
20 | =head1 DESCRIPTION |
21 | |
22 | =head2 Important safety tip |
97abc6ad |
23 | |
3a385817 |
24 | The build and install procedures have changed significantly from the 5.004 |
b4bc034f |
25 | releases! Make sure you read the "Configuring the Perl Build", "Building |
26 | Perl", and "Installing Perl" sections of this document before you build or |
27 | install. |
97abc6ad |
28 | |
b4bc034f |
29 | Also note that, as of Perl version 5.005 and later, an ANSI C compliant |
30 | compiler is required to build Perl. VAX C is *not* ANSI compliant, as it |
31 | died a natural death some time before the standard was set. Therefore |
32 | VAX C will not compile perl 5.005. We are sorry about that. |
3bf5f72b |
33 | |
b4bc034f |
34 | If you are stuck without DEC C (the VAX C license should be good for DEC C, |
3bf5f72b |
35 | but the media charges might prohibit an upgrade), consider getting Gnu C |
36 | instead. |
37 | |
b4bc034f |
38 | |
39 | =head2 Introduction |
fb73857a |
40 | |
41 | The VMS port of Perl is as functionally complete as any other Perl port |
42 | (and as complete as the ports on some Unix systems). The Perl binaries |
43 | provide all the Perl system calls that are either available under VMS or |
b4bc034f |
44 | reasonably emulated. There are some incompatibilities in process handling |
45 | (e.g. the fork/exec model for creating subprocesses doesn't do what you |
fb73857a |
46 | might expect under Unix), mainly because VMS and Unix handle processes and |
47 | sub-processes very differently. |
48 | |
b4bc034f |
49 | There are still some unimplemented system functions, and of course we |
fb73857a |
50 | could use modules implementing useful VMS system services, so if you'd like |
b4bc034f |
51 | to lend a hand we'd love to have you. Join the Perl Porting Team Now! |
fb73857a |
52 | |
53 | The current sources and build procedures have been tested on a VAX using |
b4bc034f |
54 | DEC C, and on an AXP using DEC C. If you run into problems with |
fb73857a |
55 | other compilers, please let us know. |
56 | |
b4bc034f |
57 | There are issues with various versions of DEC C, so if you're not running a |
58 | relatively modern version, check the "DEC C issues" section later on in this |
fb73857a |
59 | document. |
60 | |
b4bc034f |
61 | =head2 Other required software |
62 | |
63 | In addition to VMS and DCL you will need two things: |
fb73857a |
64 | |
b4bc034f |
65 | =over 4 |
66 | |
67 | =item 1 A C compiler. |
68 | |
69 | DEC C or gcc for VMS (AXP or VAX). |
70 | |
71 | =item 2 A make tool. |
72 | |
73 | DEC's MMS (v2.6 or later), or MadGoat's free MMS |
74 | analog MMK (available from ftp.madgoat.com/madgoat) both work |
75 | just fine. Gnu Make might work, but it's been so long since |
76 | anyone's tested it that we're not sure. MMK is free though, so |
77 | go ahead and use that. |
78 | |
79 | =back |
80 | |
81 | =head2 Additional software that is optional |
fb73857a |
82 | |
9f3f8d50 |
83 | You may also want to have on hand: |
b4bc034f |
84 | |
85 | =over 4 |
86 | |
87 | =item 1 GUNZIP/GZIP.EXE for VMS |
88 | |
89 | A de-compressor for *.gz and *.tgz files available from a number |
90 | of web/ftp sites. |
91 | |
9f3f8d50 |
92 | http://www.fsf.org/order/ftp.html |
93 | ftp://ftp.uu.net/archive/systems/gnu/diffutils*.tar.gz |
94 | ftp://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/GNU/diffutils*.tar.gz |
95 | ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/diffutils*.tar.gz |
96 | http://www.openvms.digital.com/cd/GZIP/ |
97 | ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/VMS/ |
b4bc034f |
98 | |
99 | =item 2 VMS TAR |
100 | |
101 | For reading and writing unix tape archives (*.tar files). Vmstar is also |
102 | available from a number of web/ftp sites. |
103 | |
9f3f8d50 |
104 | ftp://ftp.lp.se/vms/ |
105 | http://www.openvms.digital.com/cd/VMSTAR/ |
106 | ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/VMS/ |
b4bc034f |
107 | |
108 | =item 3 UNZIP.EXE for VMS |
109 | |
110 | A combination decompressor and archive reader/writer for *.zip files. |
111 | Unzip is available from a number of web/ftp sites. |
112 | |
113 | http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/UnZip.html |
114 | http://www.openvms.digital.com/cd/INFO-ZIP/ |
115 | ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/VMS/ |
116 | ftp://ftp.openvms.digital.com/ |
117 | ftp://ftp.madgoat.com/madgoat/ |
118 | ftp://ftp.wku.edu/vms/ |
119 | |
120 | =item 4 MOST |
121 | |
122 | Most is an optional pager that is convenient to use with perldoc (unlike |
123 | TYPE/PAGE, MOST can go forward and backwards in a document and supports |
124 | regular expression searching). Most builds with the slang |
125 | library on VMS. Most and slang are available from: |
126 | |
127 | ftp://space.mit.edu/pub/davis/ |
128 | ftp://ftp.wku.edu/vms/narnia/most.zip |
129 | |
130 | =back |
131 | |
9f3f8d50 |
132 | Please note that UNZIP and GUNZIP are not the same thing (they work with |
b4bc034f |
133 | different formats). Many of the useful files from CPAN (the Comprehensive |
134 | Perl Archive Network) are in *.tar.gz format (this includes copies of the |
9f3f8d50 |
135 | source code for perl as well as modules and scripts that you may wish to |
136 | add later) hence you probably want to have GUNZIP.EXE and VMSTAR.EXE on |
137 | your VMS machine. |
fb73857a |
138 | |
b4bc034f |
139 | If you want to include socket support, you'll need a TCP/IP stack and either |
140 | DEC C, or socket libraries. See the "Socket Support (optional)" topic |
141 | for more details. |
fb73857a |
142 | |
b4bc034f |
143 | =head1 Configuring the Perl build |
fb73857a |
144 | |
97abc6ad |
145 | To configure perl (a necessary first step), issue the command |
fb73857a |
146 | |
b4bc034f |
147 | @ Configure |
fb73857a |
148 | |
b4bc034f |
149 | from the top of an unpacked perl source directory. You will be asked a |
150 | series of questions, and the answers to them (along with the capabilities |
151 | of your C compiler and network stack) will determine how perl is custom |
152 | built for your machine. |
fb73857a |
153 | |
b4bc034f |
154 | If you have multiple C compilers installed, you'll have your choice of |
155 | which one to use. Various older versions of DEC C had some caveats, so if |
156 | you're using a version older than 5.2, check the "DEC C Issues" section. |
fb73857a |
157 | |
b4bc034f |
158 | If you have any symbols or logical names in your environment that may |
159 | interfere with the build or regression testing of perl then configure.com |
160 | will try to warn you about them. If a logical name is causing |
7bb57f25 |
161 | you trouble but is in an LNM table that you do not have write access to |
162 | then try defining your own to a harmless equivalence string in a table |
163 | such that it is resolved before the other (e.g. if TMP is defined in the |
b4bc034f |
164 | SYSTEM table then try DEFINE TMP "NL:" or somesuch in your process table) |
165 | otherwise simply deassign the dangerous logical names. The potentially |
166 | troublesome logicals and symbols are: |
7bb57f25 |
167 | |
168 | TMP "LOGICAL" |
169 | LIB "LOGICAL" |
170 | T "LOGICAL" |
171 | FOO "LOGICAL" |
172 | EXT "LOGICAL" |
173 | TEST "SYMBOL" |
fb73857a |
174 | |
97abc6ad |
175 | As a handy shortcut, the command: |
176 | |
b4bc034f |
177 | @ Configure "-des" |
178 | |
179 | (note the quotation marks and case) will choose reasonable defaults |
180 | automatically (it takes DEC C over Gnu C, DEC C sockets over SOCKETSHR |
181 | sockets, and either over no sockets). More help with configure.com is |
182 | available from: |
183 | |
184 | @ Configure "-h" |
185 | |
186 | See the "Changing compile-time options (optional)" section below to learn |
187 | even more details about how to influence the outcome of the important |
188 | configuration step. If you find yourself reconfiguring and rebuilding |
189 | then be sure to also follow the advice in the "Cleaning up and starting |
190 | fresh (optional)" and the checklist of items in the "CAVEATS" sections |
191 | below. |
192 | |
193 | =head2 Changing compile-time options (optional) |
194 | |
195 | Most of the user definable features of Perl are enabled or disabled in |
196 | [.VMS]CONFIG.VMS. There is code in there to Do The Right Thing, but that |
197 | may end up being the wrong thing for you. Make sure you understand what |
198 | you are doing since inappropriate changes to CONFIG.VMS can render perl |
199 | unbuildable. |
200 | |
201 | Odds are that there's nothing here to change, unless you're on a version of |
202 | VMS later than 6.2 and DEC C later than 5.6. Even if you are, the correct |
203 | values will still be chosen, most likely. Poking around here should be |
204 | unnecessary. |
205 | |
206 | The one exception is the various *DIR install locations. Changing those |
207 | requires changes in genconfig.pl as well. Be really careful if you need to |
208 | change these, as they can cause some fairly subtle problems. |
209 | |
210 | =head2 Socket Support (optional) |
211 | |
212 | Perl includes a number of functions for IP sockets, which are available if |
213 | you choose to compile Perl with socket support. Since IP networking is an |
214 | optional addition to VMS, there are several different IP stacks available. |
215 | How well integrated they are into the system depends on the stack, your |
216 | version of VMS, and the version of your C compiler. |
217 | |
218 | The most portable solution uses the SOCKETSHR library. In combination with |
219 | either UCX or NetLib, this supports all the major TCP stacks (Multinet, |
220 | Pathways, TCPWare, UCX, and CMU) on all versions of VMS Perl runs on, with |
221 | all the compilers on both VAX and Alpha. The socket interface is also |
222 | consistent across versions of VMS and C compilers. It has a problem with |
223 | UDP sockets when used with Multinet, though, so you should be aware of |
224 | that. |
225 | |
226 | The other solution available is to use the socket routines built into DEC |
227 | C. Which routines are available depend on the version of VMS you're |
228 | running, and require proper UCX emulation by your TCP/IP vendor. |
229 | Relatively current versions of Multinet, TCPWare, Pathway, and UCX all |
230 | provide the required libraries--check your manuals or release notes to see |
231 | if your version is new enough. |
232 | |
233 | =head1 Building Perl |
234 | |
235 | The configuration script will print out, at the very end, the MMS or MMK |
236 | command you need to compile perl. Issue it (exactly as printed) to start |
237 | the build. |
97abc6ad |
238 | |
b4bc034f |
239 | Once you issue your MMS or MMK command, sit back and wait. Perl should |
240 | compile and link without a problem. If a problem does occur check the |
241 | "CAVEATS" section of this document. If that does not help send some |
242 | mail to the VMSPERL mailing list. Instructions are in the "Mailing Lists" |
243 | section of this document. |
97abc6ad |
244 | |
b4bc034f |
245 | =head1 Testing Perl |
fb73857a |
246 | |
b4bc034f |
247 | Once Perl has built cleanly you need to test it to make sure things work. |
248 | This step is very important since there are always things that can go wrong |
249 | somehow and yield a dysfunctional Perl for you. |
fb73857a |
250 | |
251 | Testing is very easy, though, as there's a full test suite in the perl |
b4bc034f |
252 | distribution. To run the tests, enter the *exact* MMS line you used to |
fb73857a |
253 | compile Perl and add the word "test" to the end, like this: |
254 | |
b4bc034f |
255 | If the compile command was: |
fb73857a |
256 | |
b4bc034f |
257 | MMS |
fb73857a |
258 | |
b4bc034f |
259 | then the test command ought to be: |
fb73857a |
260 | |
b4bc034f |
261 | MMS test |
fb73857a |
262 | |
b4bc034f |
263 | MMS (or MMK) will run all the tests. This may take some time, as there are |
264 | a lot of tests. If any tests fail, there will be a note made on-screen. |
265 | At the end of all the tests, a summary of the tests, the number passed and |
266 | failed, and the time taken will be displayed. |
fb73857a |
267 | |
b4bc034f |
268 | If any tests fail, it means something is wrong with Perl. If the test suite |
fb73857a |
269 | hangs (some tests can take upwards of two or three minutes, or more if |
9f3f8d50 |
270 | you're on an especially slow machine, depending on your machine speed, so |
fb73857a |
271 | don't be hasty), then the test *after* the last one displayed failed. Don't |
272 | install Perl unless you're confident that you're OK. Regardless of how |
273 | confident you are, make a bug report to the VMSPerl mailing list. |
274 | |
b4bc034f |
275 | If one or more tests fail, you can get more information on the failure by |
276 | issuing this command sequence: |
fb73857a |
277 | |
b4bc034f |
278 | @ [.VMS]TEST .typ "" "-v" [.subdir]test.T |
fb73857a |
279 | |
280 | where ".typ" is the file type of the Perl images you just built (if you |
281 | didn't do anything special, use .EXE), and "[.subdir]test.T" is the test |
282 | that failed. For example, with a normal Perl build, if the test indicated |
283 | that [.op]time failed, then you'd do this: |
284 | |
b4bc034f |
285 | @ [.VMS]TEST .EXE "" "-v" [.OP]TIME.T |
fb73857a |
286 | |
287 | When you send in a bug report for failed tests, please include the output |
288 | from this command, which is run from the main source directory: |
289 | |
b4bc034f |
290 | MCR []MINIPERL "-V" |
291 | |
292 | Note that -"V" really is a capital V in double quotes. This will dump out a |
293 | couple of screens worth of configuration information, and can help us |
294 | diagnose the problem. If (and only if) that did not work then try enclosing |
295 | the output of: |
296 | |
297 | MMS printconfig |
fb73857a |
298 | |
9f3f8d50 |
299 | If (and only if) that did not work then try enclosing the output of: |
300 | |
b4bc034f |
301 | @ [.vms]myconfig |
fb73857a |
302 | |
b4bc034f |
303 | You may also be asked to provide your C compiler version ("CC/VERSION NL:" |
304 | with DEC C, "gcc --version" with GNU CC). To obtain the version of MMS or |
305 | MMK you are running try "MMS/ident" or "MMK /ident". The GNU make version |
306 | can be identified with "make --version". |
307 | |
308 | =head2 Cleaning up and starting fresh (optional) |
fb73857a |
309 | |
310 | If you need to recompile from scratch, you have to make sure you clean up |
b4bc034f |
311 | first. There is a procedure to do it--enter the *exact* MMS line you used |
312 | to compile and add "realclean" at the end, like this: |
fb73857a |
313 | |
b4bc034f |
314 | if the compile command was: |
fb73857a |
315 | |
b4bc034f |
316 | MMS |
fb73857a |
317 | |
b4bc034f |
318 | then the cleanup command ought to be: |
fb73857a |
319 | |
b4bc034f |
320 | MMS realclean |
fb73857a |
321 | |
b4bc034f |
322 | If you do not do this things may behave erratically during the subsequent |
323 | rebuild attempt. They might not, too, so it is best to be sure and do it. |
fb73857a |
324 | |
b4bc034f |
325 | =head1 Installing Perl |
fb73857a |
326 | |
327 | There are several steps you need to take to get Perl installed and |
3a385817 |
328 | running. |
fb73857a |
329 | |
a3ef2c6f |
330 | =over 4 |
b4bc034f |
331 | |
a3ef2c6f |
332 | =item 1 |
fb73857a |
333 | |
a3ef2c6f |
334 | Check your default file protections with |
fb73857a |
335 | |
a3ef2c6f |
336 | SHOW PROTECTION /DEFAULT |
fb73857a |
337 | |
a3ef2c6f |
338 | and adjust if necessary with SET PROTECTION=(code)/DEFAULT. |
fb73857a |
339 | |
a3ef2c6f |
340 | =item 2 |
3a385817 |
341 | |
a3ef2c6f |
342 | Create a directory somewhere and either run @perl_setup or |
343 | define the concealed logical PERL_ROOT to point to it by hand. |
344 | For example, |
3a385817 |
345 | |
a3ef2c6f |
346 | CREATE/DIRECTORY dka200:[perl] |
347 | @PERL_SETUP |
348 | SHOW LOGICAL PERL_ROOT |
9f3f8d50 |
349 | |
a3ef2c6f |
350 | or, |
b4bc034f |
351 | |
a3ef2c6f |
352 | CREATE/DIRECTORY dka200:[perl] |
353 | DEFINE/TRANS=(CONC,TERM) PERL_ROOT dka200:[perl.] |
b4bc034f |
354 | |
fb73857a |
355 | |
a3ef2c6f |
356 | =item 3 |
b4bc034f |
357 | |
a3ef2c6f |
358 | Run the install script via: |
b4bc034f |
359 | |
a3ef2c6f |
360 | MMS install |
b4bc034f |
361 | |
a3ef2c6f |
362 | or |
9f3f8d50 |
363 | |
a3ef2c6f |
364 | MMK install |
b4bc034f |
365 | |
a3ef2c6f |
366 | If for some reason it complains about target INSTALL being up to date, |
367 | throw a /FORCE switch on the MMS or MMK command. |
b4bc034f |
368 | |
a3ef2c6f |
369 | =back |
370 | |
371 | The DCL script PERL_SETUP.COM that is written by CONFIGURE.COM |
372 | will help you with the definition of PERL_ROOT, PERLSHR and the PERL |
373 | Foreign symbol. Take a look at PERL_SETUP.COM and modify it if you want |
374 | to. Then copy PERL_SETUP.COM to a place accessible to your perl users. |
375 | For example: |
fb73857a |
376 | |
a3ef2c6f |
377 | COPY PERL_SETUP.COM SYS$LIBRARY: |
b4bc034f |
378 | |
a3ef2c6f |
379 | If you want to have everyone on the system have access to perl |
380 | then add a line that reads |
fb73857a |
381 | |
a3ef2c6f |
382 | $ @sys$library:perl_setup |
491527d0 |
383 | |
a3ef2c6f |
384 | to SYS$MANAGER:SYLOGIN.COM. |
85988417 |
385 | |
a3ef2c6f |
386 | Two alternatives to the foreign symbol would be to install PERL into |
387 | DCLTABLES.EXE (Check out the section "Installing Perl into DCLTABLES |
388 | (optional)" for more information), or put the image in a |
389 | directory that's in your DCL$PATH (if you're using VMS V6.2 or higher). |
85988417 |
390 | |
a3ef2c6f |
391 | An alternative to having PERL_SETUP.COM define the PERLSHR logical name |
392 | is to simply copy it into the system shareable library directory with: |
393 | |
394 | copy perl_root:[000000]perlshr.exe sys$share: |
85988417 |
395 | |
a3ef2c6f |
396 | See also the "INSTALLing images (optional)" section. |
491527d0 |
397 | |
b4bc034f |
398 | =head2 Installing Perl into DCLTABLES (optional) |
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 |
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 | |
b4bc034f |
416 | =head2 INSTALLing images (optional) |
9f3f8d50 |
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 |
c54e8273 |
420 | a known image. PERLSHR.EXE is typically larger than 2000 blocks |
9f3f8d50 |
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 | |
427 | should be enough for PERLSHR.EXE (/share implies /header and /open), |
428 | while /HEADER should do for PERL.EXE (perl.exe is not a shared image). |
429 | |
b4bc034f |
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, |
9f3f8d50 |
432 | DCLsym, and Stdio all have shared images that can be installed /SHARE. |
433 | |
b4bc034f |
434 | How much of a win depends on your memory situation, but if you are firing |
9f3f8d50 |
435 | off perl with any regularity (like more than once every 20 seconds or so) |
b4bc034f |
436 | it is probably beneficial to INSTALL at least portions of perl. |
9f3f8d50 |
437 | |
438 | While there is code in perl to remove privileges as it runs you are advised |
439 | to NOT INSTALL PERL.EXE with PRIVs! |
fb73857a |
440 | |
b4bc034f |
441 | =head1 Reporting Bugs |
fb73857a |
442 | |
443 | If you come across what you think might be a bug in Perl, please report |
444 | it. There's a script in PERL_ROOT:[UTILS], perlbug, that walks you through |
445 | the process of creating a bug report. This script includes details of your |
446 | installation, and is very handy. Completed bug reports should go to |
9f3f8d50 |
447 | perlbug@perl.com. |
fb73857a |
448 | |
b4bc034f |
449 | =head1 CAVEATS |
fb73857a |
450 | |
451 | Probably the single biggest gotcha in compiling Perl is giving the wrong |
b4bc034f |
452 | switches to MMS/MMK when you build. Use *exactly* what the configure.com |
453 | script prints! |
454 | |
455 | The next big gotcha is directory depth. Perl can create directories four, |
456 | five, or even six levels deep during the build, so you don't have to be |
457 | too deep to start to hit the RMS 8 level limit (for versions of VMS prior |
458 | to V7.2 and even with V7.2 on the VAX). It is best to do |
459 | |
460 | DEFINE/TRANS=(CONC,TERM) PERLSRC "disk:[dir.dir.dir.perldir.]" |
461 | SET DEFAULT PERLSRC:[000000] |
462 | |
463 | before building in cases where you have to unpack the distribution so deep |
464 | (note the trailing period in the definition of PERLSRC). Perl modules |
465 | from CPAN can be just as bad (or worse), so watch out for them, too. Perl's |
466 | configuration script will warn if it thinks you are too deep (at least on |
467 | a VAX or on Alpha versions of VMS prior to 7.2). But MakeMaker will not |
468 | warn you if you start out building a module too deep in a directory. |
469 | |
470 | Be sure that the process that you use to build perl has a PGFLQ greater |
471 | than 100000. Be sure to have a correct local time zone to UTC offset |
472 | defined (in seconds) in the logical name SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL before |
473 | running the regression test suite. The SYS$MANAGER:UTC$CONFIGURE_TDF.COM |
474 | procedure will help you set that logical for your system but may require |
475 | system privileges. For example, a location 5 hours west of UTC (such as |
476 | the US East coast while not on daylight savings time) would have: |
477 | |
478 | DEFINE SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL "-18000" |
479 | |
480 | A final thing that causes trouble is leftover pieces from a failed |
481 | build. If things go wrong make sure you do a "(MMK|MMS|make) realclean" |
fb73857a |
482 | before you rebuild. |
483 | |
b4bc034f |
484 | =head2 DEC C issues |
fb73857a |
485 | |
b4bc034f |
486 | Note to DEC C users: Some early versions (pre-5.2, some pre-4. If you're DEC |
c54e8273 |
487 | C 5.x or higher, with current patches if any, you're fine) of the DECCRTL |
fb73857a |
488 | contained a few bugs which affect Perl performance: |
b4bc034f |
489 | |
490 | =over 4 |
491 | |
492 | =item - pipes |
493 | |
494 | Newlines are lost on I/O through pipes, causing lines to run together. |
495 | This shows up as RMS RTB errors when reading from a pipe. You can |
496 | work around this by having one process write data to a file, and |
497 | then having the other read the file, instead of the pipe. This is |
498 | fixed in version 4 of DEC C. |
499 | |
500 | =item - modf() |
501 | |
502 | The modf() routine returns a non-integral value for some values above |
503 | INT_MAX; the Perl "int" operator will return a non-integral value in |
504 | these cases. This is fixed in version 4 of DEC C. |
505 | |
506 | =item - ALPACRT ECO |
507 | |
508 | On the AXP, if SYSNAM privilege is enabled, the CRTL chdir() routine |
509 | changes the process default device and directory permanently, even |
510 | though the call specified that the change should not persist after |
511 | Perl exited. This is fixed by DEC CSC patch ALPACRT04_061 or later. |
512 | See also: |
513 | |
514 | http://ftp.service.digital.com/patches/.new/openvms.html |
515 | |
516 | =back |
517 | |
518 | Please note that in later versions "DEC C" may also be known as |
519 | "Compaq C". |
520 | |
521 | =head2 GNU issues |
522 | |
523 | It has been a while since the GNU utilities such as GCC or GNU make |
524 | were used to build perl on VMS. Hence they may require a great deal |
525 | of source code modification to work again. |
526 | |
527 | http://slacvx.slac.stanford.edu/HELP/GCC |
528 | http://www.progis.de/ |
529 | http://vms.gnu.org/ |
530 | http://www.lp.se/products/gnu.html |
531 | |
532 | =head1 Mailing Lists |
533 | |
534 | There are several mailing lists available to the Perl porter. For VMS |
fb73857a |
535 | specific issues (including both Perl questions and installation problems) |
b4bc034f |
536 | there is the VMSPERL mailing list. It is usually a low-volume (10-12 |
fb73857a |
537 | messages a week) mailing list. |
538 | |
b4bc034f |
539 | The subscription address is MAJORDOMO@PERL.ORG. Send a mail message with |
540 | just the words SUBSCRIBE VMSPERL in the body of the message. |
c54e8273 |
541 | |
542 | The VMSPERL mailing list address is VMSPERL@PERL.ORG. Any mail sent there |
543 | gets echoed to all subscribers of the list. There is a searchable archive of |
b4bc034f |
544 | the list on the web at: |
545 | |
546 | http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/ |
c54e8273 |
547 | |
9f3f8d50 |
548 | To unsubscribe from VMSPERL send the message UNSUBSCRIBE VMSPERL to |
c54e8273 |
549 | MAJORDOMO@PERL.ORG. Be sure to do so from the subscribed account that |
b4bc034f |
550 | you are canceling. |
551 | |
552 | =head2 Web sites |
553 | |
554 | Vmsperl pages on the web include: |
555 | |
556 | http://www.sidhe.org/vmsperl/index.html |
557 | http://duphy4.physics.drexel.edu/pub/cgi_info.htmlx |
558 | http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/ |
559 | http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/VMS/ |
560 | http://nucwww.chem.sunysb.edu/htbin/software_list.cgi |
561 | http://www.best.com/~pvhp/vms/ |
562 | http://bkfug.kfunigraz.ac.at/~binder/perl.html |
fb73857a |
563 | |
b4bc034f |
564 | =head1 SEE ALSO |
565 | |
566 | Perl information for users and programmers about the port of perl to VMS is |
567 | available from the [.VMS]PERLVMS.POD file that gets installed as L<perlvms>. |
568 | For administrators the perlvms document also includes a detailed discussion |
569 | of extending vmsperl with CPAN modules after Perl has been installed. |
570 | |
571 | =head1 AUTHORS |
572 | |
a3ef2c6f |
573 | Last revised 25-February-2000 by Peter Prymmer pvhp@best.com. |
b4bc034f |
574 | Revised 27-October-1999 by Craig Berry craig.berry@metamorgs.com. |
575 | Revised 01-March-1999 by Dan Sugalski dan@sidhe.org. |
576 | Originally by Charles Bailey bailey@newman.upenn.edu. |
577 | |
578 | =head1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
fb73857a |
579 | |
580 | A real big thanks needs to go to Charles Bailey |
b4bc034f |
581 | bailey@newman.upenn.edu, who is ultimately responsible for Perl 5.004 |
fb73857a |
582 | running on VMS. Without him, nothing the rest of us have done would be at |
583 | all important. |
584 | |
585 | There are, of course, far too many people involved in the porting and testing |
586 | of Perl to mention everyone who deserves it, so please forgive us if we've |
587 | missed someone. That said, special thanks are due to the following: |
b4bc034f |
588 | |
589 | Tim Adye T.J.Adye@rl.ac.uk |
fb73857a |
590 | for the VMS emulations of getpw*() |
b4bc034f |
591 | David Denholm denholm@conmat.phys.soton.ac.uk |
fb73857a |
592 | for extensive testing and provision of pipe and SocketShr code, |
b4bc034f |
593 | Mark Pizzolato mark@infocomm.com |
fb73857a |
594 | for the getredirection() code |
b4bc034f |
595 | Rich Salz rsalz@bbn.com |
fb73857a |
596 | for readdir() and related routines |
b4bc034f |
597 | Peter Prymmer pvhp@best.com |
fb73857a |
598 | for extensive testing, as well as development work on |
599 | configuration and documentation for VMS Perl, |
b4bc034f |
600 | Dan Sugalski dan@sidhe.org |
fb73857a |
601 | for extensive contributions to recent version support, |
602 | development of VMS-specific extensions, and dissemination |
603 | of information about VMS Perl, |
604 | the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and the |
605 | Laboratory of Nuclear Studies at Cornell University for |
9f3f8d50 |
606 | the opportunity to test and develop for the AXP, |
a3ef2c6f |
607 | John Hasstedt John.Hasstedt@sunysb.edu |
608 | for VAX VMS V7.2 support |
b4bc034f |
609 | |
fb73857a |
610 | and to the entire VMSperl group for useful advice and suggestions. In |
611 | addition the perl5-porters deserve credit for their creativity and |
612 | willingness to work with the VMS newcomers. Finally, the greatest debt of |
b4bc034f |
613 | gratitude is due to Larry Wall larry@wall.org, for having the ideas which |
fb73857a |
614 | have made our sleepless nights possible. |
615 | |
616 | Thanks, |
617 | The VMSperl group |
b4bc034f |
618 | |
619 | =cut |
620 | |