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      1 Notes on Perl
      2 =============
      3 
      4  - [General Notes](#general-notes)
      5  - [Perl on Windows](#perl-on-windows)
      6  - [Perl on VMS](#perl-on-vms)
      7  - [Perl on NonStop](#perl-on-nonstop)
      8  - [Required Perl modules](#required-perl-modules)
      9  - [Notes on installing a Perl module](#notes-on-installing-a-perl-module])
     10 
     11 General Notes
     12 -------------
     13 
     14 For our scripts, we rely quite a bit on Perl, and increasingly on
     15 some core Perl modules.  These Perl modules are part of the Perl
     16 source, so if you build Perl on your own, you should be set.
     17 
     18 However, if you install Perl as binary packages, the outcome might
     19 differ, and you may have to check that you do get the core modules
     20 installed properly.  We do not claim to know them all, but experience
     21 has told us the following:
     22 
     23  - on Linux distributions based on Debian, the package `perl` will
     24    install the core Perl modules as well, so you will be fine.
     25  - on Linux distributions based on RPMs, you will need to install
     26    `perl-core` rather than just `perl`.
     27 
     28 You MUST have at least Perl version 5.10.0 installed.  This minimum
     29 requirement is due to our use of regexp backslash sequence \R among
     30 other features that didn't exist in core Perl before that version.
     31 
     32 Perl on Windows
     33 ---------------
     34 
     35 There are a number of build targets that can be viewed as "Windows".
     36 Indeed, there are `VC-*` configs targeting Visual Studio C, as well as
     37 MinGW and Cygwin. The key recommendation is to use a Perl installation
     38 that matches the build environment. For example, if you will build
     39 on Cygwin be sure to use the Cygwin package manager to install Perl.
     40 For MSYS builds use the MSYS provided Perl.
     41 For VC-* builds, we recommend Strawberry Perl, from <http://strawberryperl.com>.
     42 An alternative is ActiveState Perl, from <http://www.activestate.com/ActivePerl>
     43 for which you may need to explicitly select the Perl module Win32/Console.pm
     44 available via <https://platform.activestate.com/ActiveState>.
     45 
     46 Perl on VMS
     47 -----------
     48 
     49 You will need to install Perl separately.  One way to do so is to
     50 download the source from <http://perl.org/>, unpacking it, reading
     51 `README-VMS.md` and follow the instructions.  Another way is to download a
     52 `.PCSI` file from <http://www.vmsperl.com/> and install it using the
     53 POLYCENTER install tool.
     54 
     55 Perl on NonStop
     56 ---------------
     57 
     58 Perl is installed on HPE NonStop platforms as part of the Scripting Languages
     59 package T1203PAX file. The package is shipped as part of a NonStop RVU
     60 (Release Version Updates) package. Individual SPRs (Software Product Release)
     61 representing fixes can be obtained from the Scout website at
     62 <https://h22204.www2.hpe.com/NEP>. Follow the appropriate set of installation
     63 instructions for your operating system release as described in the
     64 Script Language User Guide available from the NonStop Technical Library.
     65 
     66 Required Perl modules
     67 ---------------------
     68 
     69 We do our best to limit ourselves to core Perl modules to keep the
     70 requirements down. There are just a few exceptions.
     71 
     72  * Text::Template this is required *for building*
     73 
     74    To avoid unnecessary initial hurdles, we include a copy of this module
     75    in the source. It will work as a fallback if the module isn't already
     76    installed.
     77 
     78  * `Test::More` this is required *for testing*
     79 
     80    We require the minimum version to be 0.96, which appeared in Perl 5.13.4,
     81    because that version was the first to have all the features we're using.
     82    This module is required for testing only!  If you don't plan on running
     83    the tests, you don't need to bother with this one.
     84 
     85 Notes on installing a Perl module
     86 ---------------------------------
     87 
     88 There are a number of ways to install a perl module.  In all
     89 descriptions below, `Text::Template` will serve as an example.
     90 
     91 1. for Linux users, the easiest is to install with the use of your
     92    favorite package manager.  Usually, all you need to do is search
     93    for the module name and to install the package that comes up.
     94 
     95    On Debian based Linux distributions, it would go like this:
     96 
     97        $ apt-cache search Text::Template
     98        ...
     99        libtext-template-perl - perl module to process text templates
    100        $ sudo apt-get install libtext-template-perl
    101 
    102    Perl modules in Debian based distributions use package names like
    103    the name of the module in question, with "lib" prepended and
    104    "-perl" appended.
    105 
    106 2. Install using CPAN.  This is very easy, but usually requires root
    107    access:
    108 
    109        $ cpan -i Text::Template
    110 
    111    Note that this runs all the tests that the module to be installed
    112    comes with.  This is usually a smooth operation, but there are
    113    platforms where a failure is indicated even though the actual tests
    114    were successful.  Should that happen, you can force an
    115    installation regardless (that should be safe since you've already
    116    seen the tests succeed!):
    117 
    118        $ cpan -f -i Text::Template
    119 
    120    Note: on VMS, you must quote any argument that contains uppercase
    121    characters, so the lines above would be:
    122 
    123        $ cpan -i "Text::Template"
    124 
    125    and:
    126 
    127        $ cpan -f -i "Text::Template"
    128