 |
Index for
Section 1 |
|
 |
Alphabetical
listing for P |
|
 |
Bottom of
page |
|
PERLMODINSTALL(1)
NAME
perlmodinstall - Installing CPAN Modules
DESCRIPTION
You can think of a module as the fundamental unit of reusable Perl code;
see perlmod for details. Whenever anyone creates a chunk of Perl code that
they think will be useful to the world, they register as a Perl developer
at http://www.cpan.org/modules/04pause.html so that they can then upload
their code to the CPAN. The CPAN is the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network
and can be accessed at http://www.cpan.org/ , and searched at
http://search.cpan.org/ .
This documentation is for people who want to download CPAN modules and
install them on their own computer.
PREAMBLE
First, are you sure that the module isn't already on your system? Try
"perl -MFoo -e 1". (Replace "Foo" with the name of the module; for
instance, "perl -MCGI::Carp -e 1".
If you don't see an error message, you have the module. (If you do see an
error message, it's still possible you have the module, but that it's not
in your path, which you can display with "perl -e "print qq(@INC)"".) For
the remainder of this document, we'll assume that you really honestly truly
lack an installed module, but have found it on the CPAN.
So now you have a file ending in .tar.gz (or, less often, .zip). You know
there's a tasty module inside. There are four steps you must now take:
DECOMPRESS the file
UNPACK the file into a directory
BUILD the module (sometimes unnecessary)
INSTALL the module.
Here's how to perform each step for each operating system. This is <not> a
substitute for reading the README and INSTALL files that might have come
with your module!
Also note that these instructions are tailored for installing the module
into your system's repository of Perl modules -- but you can install
modules into any directory you wish. For instance, where I say "perl
Makefile.PL", you can substitute "perl Makefile.PL
PREFIX=/my/perl_directory" to install the modules into
"/my/perl_directory". Then you can use the modules from your Perl programs
with "use lib "/my/perl_directory/lib/site_perl";" or sometimes just "use
"/my/perl_directory";". If you're on a system that requires superuser/root
access to install modules into the directories you see when you type "perl
-e "print qq(@INC)"", you'll want to install them into a local directory
(such as your home directory) and use this approach.
· If you're on a Unix or Unix-like system,
You can use Andreas Koenig's CPAN module (
http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/CPAN ) to automate the following
steps, from DECOMPRESS through INSTALL.
A. DECOMPRESS
Decompress the file with "gzip -d yourmodule.tar.gz"
You can get gzip from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/
Or, you can combine this step with the next to save disk space:
gzip -dc yourmodule.tar.gz | tar -xof -
B. UNPACK
Unpack the result with "tar -xof yourmodule.tar"
C. BUILD
Go into the newly-created directory and type:
perl Makefile.PL
make test
or
perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/my/perl_directory
to install it locally. (Remember that if you do this, you'll have to
put "use lib "/my/perl_directory";" near the top of the program that is
to use this module.
D. INSTALL
While still in that directory, type:
make install
Make sure you have the appropriate permissions to install the module in
your Perl 5 library directory. Often, you'll need to be root.
That's all you need to do on Unix systems with dynamic linking. Most
Unix systems have dynamic linking -- if yours doesn't, or if for
another reason you have a statically-linked perl, and the module
requires compilation, you'll need to build a new Perl binary that
includes the module. Again, you'll probably need to be root.
· If you're running ActivePerl (Win95/98/2K/NT/XP, Linux, Solaris)
First, type "ppm" from a shell and see whether ActiveState's PPM
repository has your module. If so, you can install it with "ppm" and
you won't have to bother with any of the other steps here. You might
be able to use the CPAN instructions from the "Unix or Linux" section
above as well; give it a try. Otherwise, you'll have to follow the
steps below.
A. DECOMPRESS
You can use the shareware Winzip ( http://www.winzip.com ) to
decompress and unpack modules.
B. UNPACK
If you used WinZip, this was already done for you.
C. BUILD
You'll need the "nmake" utility, available at
http://download.microsoft.com/download/vc15/Patch/1.52/W95/EN-US/nmake15.exe
or dmake, available on CPAN. http://search.cpan.org/dist/dmake/
Does the module require compilation (i.e. does it have files that end
in .xs, .c, .h, .y, .cc, .cxx, or .C)? If it does, life is now
officially tough for you, because you have to compile the module
yourself -- no easy feat on Windows. You'll need a compiler such as
Visual C++. Alternatively, you can download a pre-built PPM package
from ActiveState.
http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Downloads/ActivePerl/PPM/
Go into the newly-created directory and type:
perl Makefile.PL
nmake test
D. INSTALL
While still in that directory, type:
nmake install
· If you're using a Macintosh with "Classic" MacOS and MacPerl,
A. DECOMPRESS
First, make sure you have the latest cpan-mac distribution (
http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/CNANDOR/ ), which has utilities for
doing all of the steps. Read the cpan-mac directions carefully and
install it. If you choose not to use cpan-mac for some reason, there
are alternatives listed here.
After installing cpan-mac, drop the module archive on the untarzipme
droplet, which will decompress and unpack for you.
Or, you can either use the shareware StuffIt Expander program (
http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/ ) in combination with DropStuff
with Expander Enhancer ( http://www.aladdinsys.com/dropstuff/ ) or the
freeware MacGzip program (
http://persephone.cps.unizar.es/general/gente/spd/gzip/gzip.html ).
B. UNPACK
If you're using untarzipme or StuffIt, the archive should be extracted
now. Or, you can use the freeware suntar or Tar (
http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive/Archive/cmp/ ).
C. BUILD
Check the contents of the distribution. Read the module's
documentation, looking for reasons why you might have trouble using it
with MacPerl. Look for .xs and .c files, which normally denote that
the distribution must be compiled, and you cannot install it "out of
the box." (See "PORTABILITY".)
If a module does not work on MacPerl but should, or needs to be
compiled, see if the module exists already as a port on the MacPerl
Module Porters site ( http://pudge.net/mmp/ ). For more information on
doing XS with MacPerl yourself, see Arved Sandstrom's XS tutorial (
http://macperl.com/depts/Tutorials/ ), and then consider uploading your
binary to the CPAN and registering it on the MMP site.
D. INSTALL
If you are using cpan-mac, just drop the folder on the installme
droplet, and use the module.
Or, if you aren't using cpan-mac, do some manual labor.
Make sure the newlines for the modules are in Mac format, not Unix
format. If they are not then you might have decompressed them
incorrectly. Check your decompression and unpacking utilities settings
to make sure they are translating text files properly.
As a last resort, you can use the perl one-liner:
perl -i.bak -pe 's/(?:\015)?\012/\015/g' <filenames>
on the source files.
Then move the files (probably just the .pm files, though there may be
some additional ones, too; check the module documentation) to their
final destination: This will most likely be in "$ENV{MACPERL}site_lib:"
(i.e., "HD:MacPerl folder:site_lib:"). You can add new paths to the
default @INC in the Preferences menu item in the MacPerl application
("$ENV{MACPERL}site_lib:" is added automagically). Create whatever
directory structures are required (i.e., for "Some::Module", create
"$ENV{MACPERL}site_lib:Some:" and put "Module.pm" in that directory).
Then run the following script (or something like it):
#!perl -w
use AutoSplit;
my $dir = "${MACPERL}site_perl";
autosplit("$dir:Some:Module.pm", "$dir:auto", 0, 1, 1);
· If you're on the DJGPP port of DOS,
A. DECOMPRESS
djtarx ( ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2/ ) will both
uncompress and unpack.
B. UNPACK
See above.
C. BUILD
Go into the newly-created directory and type:
perl Makefile.PL
make test
You will need the packages mentioned in README.dos in the Perl
distribution.
D. INSTALL
While still in that directory, type:
make install
You will need the packages mentioned in README.dos in the Perl
distribution.
· If you're on OS/2,
Get the EMX development suite and gzip/tar, from either Hobbes (
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu ) or Leo ( http://www.leo.org ), and then follow
the instructions for Unix.
· If you're on VMS,
When downloading from CPAN, save your file with a ".tgz" extension
instead of ".tar.gz". All other periods in the filename should be
replaced with underscores. For example, "Your-Module-1.33.tar.gz"
should be downloaded as "Your-Module-1_33.tgz".
A. DECOMPRESS
Type
gzip -d Your-Module.tgz
or, for zipped modules, type
unzip Your-Module.zip
Executables for gzip, zip, and VMStar:
http://www.openvms.digital.com/freeware/
http://www.crinoid.com/utils/
and their source code:
http://www.fsf.org/order/ftp.html
Note that GNU's gzip/gunzip is not the same as Info-ZIP's zip/unzip
package. The former is a simple compression tool; the latter permits
creation of multi-file archives.
B. UNPACK
If you're using VMStar:
VMStar xf Your-Module.tar
Or, if you're fond of VMS command syntax:
tar/extract/verbose Your_Module.tar
C. BUILD
Make sure you have MMS (from Digital) or the freeware MMK ( available
from MadGoat at http://www.madgoat.com ). Then type this to create the
DESCRIP.MMS for the module:
perl Makefile.PL
Now you're ready to build:
mms test
Substitute "mmk" for "mms" above if you're using MMK.
D. INSTALL
Type
mms install
Substitute "mmk" for "mms" above if you're using MMK.
· If you're on MVS,
Introduce the .tar.gz file into an HFS as binary; don't translate from
ASCII to EBCDIC.
A. DECOMPRESS
Decompress the file with "gzip -d yourmodule.tar.gz"
You can get gzip from http://www.s390.ibm.com/products/oe/bpxqp1.html
B. UNPACK
Unpack the result with
pax -o to=IBM-1047,from=ISO8859-1 -r < yourmodule.tar
The BUILD and INSTALL steps are identical to those for Unix. Some
modules generate Makefiles that work better with GNU make, which is
available from http://www.mks.com/s390/gnu/
PORTABILITY
Note that not all modules will work with on all platforms. See perlport
for more information on portability issues. Read the documentation to see
if the module will work on your system. There are basically three
categories of modules that will not work "out of the box" with all
platforms (with some possibility of overlap):
· Those that should, but don't. These need to be fixed; consider
contacting the author and possibly writing a patch.
· Those that need to be compiled, where the target platform doesn't have
compilers readily available. (These modules contain .xs or .c files,
usually.) You might be able to find existing binaries on the CPAN or
elsewhere, or you might want to try getting compilers and building it
yourself, and then release the binary for other poor souls to use.
· Those that are targeted at a specific platform. (Such as the Win32::
modules.) If the module is targeted specifically at a platform other
than yours, you're out of luck, most likely.
Check the CPAN Testers if a module should work with your platform but it
doesn't behave as you'd expect, or you aren't sure whether or not a module
will work under your platform. If the module you want isn't listed there,
you can test it yourself and let CPAN Testers know, you can join CPAN
Testers, or you can request it be tested.
http://testers.cpan.org/
HEY
If you have any suggested changes for this page, let me know. Please don't
send me mail asking for help on how to install your modules. There are too
many modules, and too few Orwants, for me to be able to answer or even
acknowledge all your questions. Contact the module author instead, or post
to comp.lang.perl.modules, or ask someone familiar with Perl on your
operating system.
AUTHOR
Jon Orwant
orwant@medita.mit.edu
with invaluable help from Chris Nandor, and valuable help from Brandon
Allbery, Charles Bailey, Graham Barr, Dominic Dunlop, Jarkko Hietaniemi,
Ben Holzman, Tom Horsley, Nick Ing-Simmons, Tuomas J. Lukka, Laszlo Molnar,
Alan Olsen, Peter Prymmer, Gurusamy Sarathy, Christoph Spalinger, Dan
Sugalski, Larry Virden, and Ilya Zakharevich.
First version July 22, 1998; last revised November 21, 2001.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1998, 2002, 2003 Jon Orwant. All Rights Reserved.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
documentation provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
documentation under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that
they are marked clearly as modified versions, that the authors' names and
title are unchanged (though subtitles and additional authors' names may be
added), and that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the
terms of a permission notice identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
documentation into another language, under the above conditions for
modified versions.
|
Index for
Section 1 |
|
|
Alphabetical
listing for P |
|
 |
Top of
page |
|