X-Git-Url: http://git.shadowcat.co.uk/gitweb/gitweb.cgi?a=blobdiff_plain;f=README.win32;h=fb0715cd9b23da2a816d8497d88cc5d2cde181e9;hb=67597c89125e7e144f9ba60f5b1fe23b951286d8;hp=b9f6b15d09f2ebb54056d3c6da31ee6ff38d32c7;hpb=ee4d903cc41711efc019efd25339b39970bad65c;p=p5sagit%2Fp5-mst-13.2.git diff --git a/README.win32 b/README.win32 index b9f6b15..fb0715c 100644 --- a/README.win32 +++ b/README.win32 @@ -1,751 +1,722 @@ -If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the funny characters you -see. It is written in the POD format (see pod/perlpod.pod) which is -specially designed to be readable as is. - -=head1 NAME - -perlwin32 - Perl under Win32 - -=head1 SYNOPSIS - -These are instructions for building Perl under Windows NT (versions -3.51 or 4.0). Currently, this port is reported to build -under Windows95 using the 4DOS shell--the default shell that infests -Windows95 will not work (see below). Note this caveat is only about -B perl. Once built, you should be able to B 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 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. - -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 -only relevant to people building Perl on Unix-like systems. In -particular, you can safely ignore any information that talks about -"Configure". - -You may also want to look at two other options for building -a perl that will work on Windows NT: the README.cygwin32 and -README.os2 files, which each 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 -additional software to run (other than what came with your operating -system). Currently, this port is capable of using one of the -following compilers: - - Borland C++ version 5.02 or later - Microsoft Visual C++ version 4.2 or later - Mingw32 with EGCS versions 1.0.2, 1.1 - Mingw32 with GCC version 2.8.1 - -The last two of these are high quality freeware compilers. Support -for them is still experimental. - -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. -See L below for general hints about this. - -=head2 Setting Up - -=over 4 - -=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 Makefile also has known incompatibilites with the "command.com" -shell that comes with Windows95, so building under Windows95 should -be considered "unsupported". However, there have been reports of successful -build attempts using 4DOS/NT version 6.01 under Windows95, using dmake, but -your mileage may vary. - -The surest way to build it is on WindowsNT, 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, a freely -available make that has very nice macro features and parallelability. -(The make that Borland supplies is seriously crippled, and will not -work for MakeMaker builds.) - -A port of dmake for win32 platforms is available from: - - http://www-personal.umich.edu/~gsar/dmake-4.1-win32.zip - -Fetch and install dmake somewhere on your path (follow the instructions -in the README.NOW file). - -=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: -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 Mingw32 with EGCS or GCC - -ECGS-1.0.2 binaries can be downloaded from: - - ftp://ftp.xraylith.wisc.edu/pub/khan/gnu-win32/mingw32/ - -GCC-2.8.1 binaries are available from: - - http://agnes.dida.physik.uni-essen.de/~janjaap/mingw32/ - -You only need either one of those, not both. Both bundles come with -Mingw32 libraries and headers. While both of them work to build perl, -the EGCS binaries are currently favored by the maintainers, since they -come with more up-to-date Mingw32 libraries. - -Make sure you install the binaries as indicated in the web sites -above. You will need to set up a few environment variables (usually -run from a batch file). - -You also need dmake. See L above on how to get it. - -=back - -=head2 Building - -=over 4 - -=item * - -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++, and a dmake "makefile.mk" -that will work for all supported compilers. The defaults in the dmake -makefile are setup to build using the Borland compiler. - -=item * - -Edit the makefile.mk (or Makefile, if using nmake) and change the values -of INST_DRV and INST_TOP. You can also enable various build -flags. - -Beginning with version 5.005, there is experimental support for building -a perl interpreter that supports the Perl Object abstraction (courtesy -ActiveState Tool Corp.) PERL_OBJECT uses C++, and the binaries are -therefore incompatible with the regular C build. However, the -PERL_OBJECT build does provide something called the C-API, for linking -it with extensions that won't compile under PERL_OBJECT. PERL_OBJECT -is not yet supported under GCC or EGCS. WARNING: Binaries built with -PERL_OBJECT enabled are B compatible with binaries built without. -Perl installs PERL_OBJECT binaries under a distinct architecture name, -so they B coexist, though. - -Beginning with version 5.005, there is experimental support for building -a perl interpreter that is capable of native threading. Binaries built -with thread support enabled are also incompatible with the vanilla C -build. WARNING: Binaries built with threads enabled are B compatible -with binaries built without. Perl installs threads enabled binaries under -a distinct architecture name, so they B coexist, though. - -At the present time, you cannot enable both threading and PERL_OBJECT. -You can get only one of them in a Perl interpreter. - -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 Ed Young) which is widely -available worldwide, usually along with SSLeay (for example: -"ftp://fractal.mta.ca/pub/crypto/SSLeay/DES/"). 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. - -Perl will also build without des_fcrypt(), but the crypt() builtin will -fail at run time. - -You will also have to make sure CCHOME points to wherever you installed -your compiler. Make sure this path has no spaces in it. If you -insist on spaces in your path names, there is no telling what else -will fail, but you can try putting the path in double quotes. Some -parts of perl try to accomodate that, but not all pieces do. - -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. - -Other options are explained in the makefiles. Be sure to read the -instructions carefully. - -=item * - -Type "dmake" (or "nmake" if you are using that make). - -This should build everything. Specifically, it will create perl.exe, -perl.dll (or perlcore.dll), and perlglob.exe 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. - -The build process may produce "harmless" compiler warnings (more or -less copiously, depending on how picky your compiler gets). The -maintainers are aware of these warnings, thankyouverymuch. :) - -When building using Visual C++, a perl95.exe will also get built. This -executable is only needed on Windows95, and should be used instead of -perl.exe, and then only if you want sockets to work properly on Windows95. -This is necessitated by a bug in the Microsoft C Runtime that cannot be -worked around in the "normal" perl.exe. perl95.exe gets built with its -own private copy of the C Runtime that is not accessible to extensions -(which see the DLL version of the CRT). Be aware, therefore, that this -perl95.exe will have esoteric problems with extensions like perl/Tk that -themselves use the C Runtime heavily, or want to free() pointers -malloc()-ed by perl. - -You can avoid the perl95.exe problems completely if you either enable -USE_PERLCRT with Visual C++, or use Borland C++ for building perl. In -those cases, perl95.exe is not needed and will not be built. - -=back - -=head2 Testing - -Type "dmake test" (or "nmake test"). This will run most of the tests from -the testsuite (many tests will be skipped, and but no test should fail). - -If some tests do fail, it may be because you are using a different command -shell than the native "cmd.exe", or because you are building from a path -that contains spaces. So don't do that. - -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. - -The Visual C runtime apparently has a bug that causes posix.t to fail -test#2. This usually happens only if you extracted the files in text -mode. Enable the USE_PERLCRT option in the Makefile to fix this bug. - -Please report any other failures as described under L. - -=head2 Installation - -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: - - set PATH c:\perl\5.005\bin;c:\perl\5.005\bin\MSWin32-x6;%PATH% - - -=head2 Usage Hints - -=over 4 - -=item Environment Variables - -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). - -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. - -You can also control the shell that perl uses to run system() and -backtick commands via PERL5SHELL. See L. - -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: - - lib-$] version-specific path to add to @INC - lib path to add to @INC - sitelib-$] version-specific path to add to @INC - sitelib path to add to @INC - PERL* fallback for all %ENV lookups that begin with "PERL" - -Note the C<$]> in the above is not literal. Substitute whatever version -of perl you want to honor that entry, e.g. C<5.00502>. Paths must be -separated with semicolons, as usual on win32. - -=item File Globbing - -By default, perl spawns an external program to do file globbing. -The install process installs both a perlglob.exe and a perlglob.bat -that perl can use for this purpose. Note that with the default -installation, perlglob.exe will be found by the system before -perlglob.bat. - -perlglob.exe relies on the argv expansion done by the C Runtime of -the particular compiler you used, and therefore behaves very -differently depending on the Runtime used to build it. To preserve -compatiblity, perlglob.bat (a perl script that can be used portably) -is installed. Besides being portable, perlglob.bat also offers -enhanced globbing functionality. - -If you want perl to use perlglob.bat instead of perlglob.exe, just -delete perlglob.exe from the install location (or move it somewhere -perl cannot find). Using File::DosGlob.pm (which implements the core -functionality of perlglob.bat) to override the internal CORE::glob() -works about 10 times faster than spawing perlglob.exe, and you should -take this approach when writing new modules. See File::DosGlob for -details. - -=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 NT offers by way of a command shell. - -The crucial thing to understand about the "cmd" shell (which is -the default on Windows NT) is that it does not do any wildcard -expansions of command-line arguments (so wildcards need not be -quoted). It also provides only rudimentary quoting. The only -(useful) quote character is the double quote ("). It can be used to -protect spaces in arguments and other special characters. 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 shell breaks arguments at spaces and -passes them to programs in argc/argv. Doublequotes 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 shell. - -The file redirection characters "<", ">", and "|" cannot be quoted -by double quotes (there are probably more such). Single quotes -will protect those three file redirection characters, but the -single quotes 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 (and doesn't get -stripped by the shell also). - -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 - - -Discovering the usefulness of the "command.com" shell on Windows95 -is left as an exercise to the reader :) - -=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.perl.com/ for more information on CPAN. - -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.perl.com/CPAN/authors/id/NI-S/Make-0.03.tar.gz - -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: 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 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.perl.com/CPAN/authors/id/GSAR/libwin32-0.14.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 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 - -=back - -=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". - -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 - -An effort has been made to ensure that the DLLs produced by the two -supported compilers are compatible with each other (despite the -best efforts of the compiler vendors). Extension binaries produced -by one compiler should also coexist with a perl binary built by -a different compiler. In order to accomplish this, PERL.DLL provides -a layer of runtime code that uses the C Runtime that perl was compiled -with. Extensions which include "perl.h" will transparently access -the functions in this layer, thereby ensuring that both perl and -extensions use the same runtime functions. - -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. We do not consider -any of them to be serious limitations (especially when compared to the -limited nature of some of the Win32 OSes themselves :) - -=over 8 - -=item * - -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 (like the the one for inode) may be completely -bogus. - -=item * - -The following functions are currently unavailable: C, -C, C, C, C, C, -C and related security functions, C, -C, C, C, C, -C, C, C, C, C, -C<*netent()>, C<*protoent()>, C<*servent()>, C<*hostent()>, -C. -This list is possibly incomplete. - -=item * - -Various C related calls are supported, but they may not -behave as on Unix platforms. - -=item * - -The four-argument C call is only supported on sockets. - -=item * - -The C call is only supported on sockets (where it provides the -functionality of ioctlsocket() in the Winsock API). - -=item * - -Failure to spawn() a subprocess is indicated by setting $? to "255 << 8". -C<$?> is set in a way compatible with Unix (i.e. the exitstatus of the -subprocess is obtained by "$? >> 8", as described in the documentation). - -=item * - -You can expect problems building modules available on CPAN if you -build perl itself with -DUSE_THREADS. These problems should be resolved -as we get closer to 5.005. - -=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. - -=item * - -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. - -=item * - -C is implemented, but doesn't have the semantics of -C, i.e. it doesn't send a signal to the identified process -like it does on Unix platforms. Instead it immediately calls -C. Thus the signal argument is -used to set the exit-status of the terminated process. This behavior -may change in future. - -=item * - -File globbing may not behave as on Unix platforms. In particular, -if you don't use perlglob.bat for globbing, it will understand -wildcards only in the filename component (and not in the pathname). -In other words, something like "print <*/*.pl>" will not print all the -perl scripts in all the subdirectories one level under the current one -(like it does on UNIX platforms). perlglob.exe is also dependent on -the particular implementation of wildcard expansion in the vendor -libraries used to build it (which varies wildly at the present time). -Using perlglob.bat (or File::DosGlob) avoids these limitations, but -still only provides DOS semantics (read "warts") for globbing. - -=back - -Please send detailed descriptions of any problems and solutions that -you may find to >, along with the output produced -by C. - -=head1 AUTHORS - -=over 4 - -Gary Ng E71564.1743@CompuServe.COME - -Gurusamy Sarathy Egsar@umich.eduE - -Nick Ing-Simmons Enick@ni-s.u-net.comE - -=back - -This document is maintained by Gurusamy Sarathy. - -=head1 SEE ALSO - -L - -=head1 HISTORY - -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. - -Nick Ing-Simmons and Gurusamy Sarathy have made numerous and -sundry hacks since then. - -Borland support was added in 5.004_01 (Gurusamy Sarathy). - -GCC/mingw32 support was added in 5.005 (Nick Ing-Simmons). - -Last updated: 29 November 1998 - -=cut - +If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the funny characters you +see. It is written in the POD format (see pod/perlpod.pod) which is +specially designed to be readable as is. + +=head1 NAME + +perlwin32 - Perl under Win32 + +=head1 SYNOPSIS + +These are instructions for building Perl under Windows (9x, NT and +2000). + +=head1 DESCRIPTION + +Before you start, you should glance through the README file +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 L below for the +known limitations of this port. + +The INSTALL file in the perl top-level has much information that is +only relevant to people building Perl on Unix-like systems. In +particular, you can safely ignore any information that talks about +"Configure". + +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 +additional software to run (other than what came with your operating +system). Currently, this port is capable of using one of the +following compilers: + + 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 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. +See L below for general hints about this. + +=head2 Setting Up Perl on Win32 + +=over 4 + +=item Make + +You need a "make" program to build the sources. If you are using +Visual C++ under Windows NT or 2000, 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/dmake/. 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 everytime 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, 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 Mingw32 with GCC + +GCC-2.95.2 binaries can be downloaded from: + + ftp://ftp.xraylith.wisc.edu/pub/khan/gnu-win32/mingw32/ + +You also need dmake. See L above on how to get it. + +The GCC-2.95.2 bundle comes with Mingw32 libraries and headers. + +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 * + +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 * + +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. + +=back + +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 + +=over 4 + +=item * + +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++, and a dmake "makefile.mk" +that will work for all supported compilers. The defaults in the dmake +makefile are setup to build using the GCC compiler. + +=item * + +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. + +You will have to make sure that CCTYPE is set correctly and that +CCHOME points to wherever you installed your compiler. + +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. + +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. + +An easier alternative may be to get the pre-patched and ready-to-use +fcrypt.c that can be found here: + + http://downloads.ActiveState.com/pub/staff/gsar/fcrypt.c + ftp://ftp.ActiveState.com/pub/staff/gsar/fcrypt.c + +Perl will also build without des_fcrypt(), but the crypt() builtin will +fail at run time. + +Be sure to read the instructions near the top of the makefiles carefully. + +=item * + +Type "dmake" (or "nmake" if you are using that make). + +This should build everything. Specifically, it will create perl.exe, +perl56.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. + +=back + +=head2 Testing Perl on Win32 + +Type "dmake test" (or "nmake test"). This will run most of the tests from +the testsuite (many tests will be skipped). + +There should be no test failures when running under Windows NT 4.0 or +Windows 2000. Many tests I fail under Windows 9x due to the inferior +command shell. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Please report any other failures as described under L. + +=head2 Installation of Perl 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<$INST_TOP\$VERSION\bin\$ARCHNAME>. +For example: + + set PATH c:\perl\5.6.0\bin;c:\perl\5.6.0\bin\MSWin32-x86;%PATH% + +If you opt to comment out INST_VER and INST_ARCH in the makefiles, the +installation structure is much simpler. In that case, it will be +sufficient to add a single entry to the path, for instance: + + set PATH c:\perl\bin;%PATH% + +=head2 Usage Hints for Perl on Win32 + +=over 4 + +=item Environment Variables + +The installation paths that you set during the build get compiled +into perl, so you don't have to do anything additional to start +using that perl (except add its location to your PATH variable). + +If you put extensions in unusual places, you can set PERL5LIB +to a list of paths separated by semicolons where you want perl +to look for libraries. Look for descriptions of other environment +variables you can set in L. + +You can also control the shell that perl uses to run system() and +backtick commands via PERL5SHELL. See L. + +Perl does not depend on the registry, but it can look up certain default +values if you choose to put them there. Perl attempts to read entries from +C and C. +Entries in the former override entries in the latter. One or more of the +following entries (of type REG_SZ or REG_EXPAND_SZ) may be set: + + lib-$] 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" + +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 File Globbing + +By default, perl handles file globbing using the File::Glob extension, +which provides portable globbing. + +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. + +=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 + + +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/authors/id/NI-S/Make-0.03.tar.gz + +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/libwin32-0.151.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 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 + +=back + +=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". + +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. + +=head1 AUTHORS + +=over 4 + +=item Gary Ng E71564.1743@CompuServe.COME + +=item Gurusamy Sarathy Egsar@activestate.comE + +=item Nick Ing-Simmons Enick@ing-simmons.netE + +=back + +This document is maintained by Gurusamy Sarathy. + +=head1 SEE ALSO + +L + +=head1 HISTORY + +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. Various people have made numerous and sundry hacks +since then. + +Borland support was added in 5.004_01 (Gurusamy Sarathy). + +GCC/mingw32 support was added in 5.005 (Nick Ing-Simmons). + +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). + +Last updated: 1 April 2001 + +=cut