=head1 NAME
-perlwin32 - Perl under WindowsNT [XXX and perhaps under Windows95]
+perlwin32 - Perl under Win32
=head1 SYNOPSIS
These are instructions for building Perl under WindowsNT (versions
-3.51 or 4.0), using Visual C++.
+3.51 or 4.0), using Visual C++ (versions 2.0 through 5.0). Currently,
+this port may also build under Windows95, but you can expect problems
+stemming from the unmentionable command shell that infests that
+platform. Note this caveat is only about B<building> perl. Once
+built, you should be able to B<use> it on either Win32 platform (modulo
+the problems arising from the inferior command shell).
=head1 DESCRIPTION
-Before you start, you should glance through the README file found
+Before you start, you should glance through the README file
found in the top-level directory where the Perl distribution
was extracted. Make sure you read and understand the terms under
which this software is being distributed.
-Make sure you read the L<BUGS AND CAVEATS> section below for the
+Also make sure you read the L<BUGS AND CAVEATS> section below for the
known limitations of this port.
The INSTALL file in the perl top-level has much information that is
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.
+compilers that can be used to build Win32 applications.
+
+This port currently 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.
=head2 Setting Up
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.
+compatible with that shell. You are mostly on your own if you can
+muster the temerity to attempt this with Windows95.
=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 three
-additional steps (these three steps are not required if you are
+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
=item 1.
Overwrite the *.mak files in the win32 subdirectory with the versions
-in the win32\VC-2.0 directory. (The only difference in those makefiles
-is in how the $(INCLUDE) variable is handled--VC 2.0 NMAKE does not
-grok a path list in $(INCLUDE)).
+in the win32\VC-2.0 directory.
=item 2.
VCVARS32.BAT may put multiple locations in there, which is why this step
is required.
-=item 3.
-
-Apply the patch found in win32\VC-2.0\vc2.patch, like so:
-
- cd win32
- patch -p2 -N < VC-2.0\vc2.patch
-
-You may have to edit win32\win32.c manually if you don't have GNU patch.
-
=back
=item *
=head2 Testing
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.
+testsuite (many tests will be skipped, and but no test should fail).
-To get a more detailed breakdown of the tests that failed, say:
+If some tests do fail, it may be because you are using a different command
+shell than the native "cmd.exe". To get a more detailed breakdown of the
+tests that failed, you may want to say:
cd ..\t
.\perl harness
-This should produce a summary very similar to the following:
-
- 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
- io/tell.t 13 1 7.69% 10
- 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/mkdir.t 7 2 28.57% 3, 7
- op/runlevel.t 8 1 12.50% 4
- op/stat.t 56 3 5.36% 3-4, 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. 86/3506 subtests failed, 97.55% okay.
-
-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.
+Please report any failures as described under L<BUGS AND CAVEATS>.
=head1 BUGS AND CAVEATS
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 be ultimately
+functionality specific to the Win32 environment may ultimately
be supported as either core modules or extensions.
-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
+If you have had prior exposure to Perl on Unix platforms, you will notice
+this port exhibits behavior different from what is documented. Most of the
+differences fall under one of these categories.
=over 8
=item *
The following functions are currently unavailable: C<fork()>, C<exec()>,
-C<dump()>, C<kill()>, C<chown()>, C<link()>, C<symlink()>, C<chroot()>,
+C<dump()>, C<chown()>, C<link()>, C<symlink()>, C<chroot()>,
C<setpgrp()>, C<getpgrp()>, C<setpriority()>, C<getpriority()>,
-C<syscall()>, C<fcntl()>, C<flock()>. This list is possibly incomplete.
+C<syscall()>, C<fcntl()>, C<flock()>. This list is possibly very
+incomplete.
=item *
=item *
-C<$!> doesn't work reliably yet.
+C<$?> ends up with the exitstatus of the subprocess (this is different
+from Unix, where the exitstatus is actually given by "$? >> 8").
+Failure to spawn() the subprocess is indicated by setting $? to
+"255<<8". This is subject to change.
=item *
Nick Ing-Simmons and Gurusamy Sarathy have made numerous and
sundry hacks since then.
-Last updated: 19 March 1997
+Last updated: 05 April 1997
=cut
-
projects / p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git / blobdiff