1 | If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the equal signs on the left.
|
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2 | This file is written in the POD format (see [.POD]PERLPOD.POD;1) which is
|
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3 | specially designed to be readable as is.
|
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4 |
|
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5 | =head1 NAME
|
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6 |
|
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7 | README.vms - Configuring, building, testing, and installing perl on VMS
|
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8 |
|
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9 | =head1 SYNOPSIS
|
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10 |
|
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11 | To configure, build, test, and install perl on VMS:
|
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12 |
|
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13 | @ Configure
|
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14 | mms
|
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15 | mms test
|
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16 | mms install
|
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17 |
|
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18 | mmk may be used in place of mms in the last three steps.
|
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19 |
|
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20 | =head1 DESCRIPTION
|
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21 |
|
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22 | =head2 Important safety tip
|
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23 |
|
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24 | The build and install procedures have changed significantly from the 5.004
|
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25 | releases! Make sure you read the "Configuring the Perl Build", "Building
|
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26 | Perl", and "Installing Perl" sections of this document before you build or
|
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27 | install. Also please note other changes in the current release by having
|
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28 | a look at L<perldelta/VMS>.
|
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29 |
|
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30 | Also note that, as of Perl version 5.005 and later, an ANSI C compliant
|
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31 | compiler is required to build Perl. VAX C is *not* ANSI compliant, as it
|
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32 | died a natural death some time before the standard was set. Therefore
|
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33 | VAX C will not compile Perl 5.005 or later. We are sorry about that.
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34 |
|
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35 | If you are stuck without Compaq (formerly DEC) C consider trying Gnu C
|
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36 | instead, though there have been no recent reports of builds using Gnu C.
|
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37 | There is minimal support for Compaq C++ but this support is not complete;
|
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38 | if you get it working please write to the vmsperl list (for info see
|
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39 | L</"Mailing Lists">).
|
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40 |
|
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41 |
|
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42 | =head2 Introduction to Perl on VMS
|
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43 |
|
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44 | The VMS port of Perl is as functionally complete as any other Perl port
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45 | (and as complete as the ports on some Unix systems). The Perl binaries
|
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46 | provide all the Perl system calls that are either available under VMS or
|
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47 | reasonably emulated. There are some incompatibilities in process handling
|
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48 | (e.g. the fork/exec model for creating subprocesses doesn't do what you
|
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49 | might expect under Unix), mainly because VMS and Unix handle processes and
|
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50 | sub-processes very differently.
|
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51 |
|
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52 | There are still some unimplemented system functions, and of course we
|
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53 | could use modules implementing useful VMS system services, so if you'd like
|
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54 | to lend a hand we'd love to have you. Join the Perl Porting Team Now!
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55 |
|
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56 | The current sources and build procedures have been tested on a VAX using
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57 | DEC C, and on an AXP using DEC C. If you run into problems with
|
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58 | other compilers, please let us know. (Note: DEC C was renamed to Compaq C
|
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59 | around version 6.2).
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60 |
|
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61 | There are issues with various versions of DEC C, so if you're not running a
|
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62 | relatively modern version, check the "DEC C issues" section later on in this
|
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63 | document.
|
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64 |
|
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65 | =head2 Other required software for Compiling Perl on VMS
|
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66 |
|
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67 | In addition to VMS and DCL you will need two things:
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68 |
|
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69 | =over 4
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70 |
|
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71 | =item 1 A C compiler.
|
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72 |
|
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73 | DEC (now Compaq) C or gcc for VMS (AXP or VAX).
|
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74 |
|
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75 | =item 2 A make tool.
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76 |
|
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77 | DEC's MMS (v2.6 or later), or MadGoat's free MMS
|
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78 | analog MMK (available from ftp.madgoat.com/madgoat) both work
|
---|
79 | just fine. Gnu Make might work, but it's been so long since
|
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80 | anyone's tested it that we're not sure. MMK is free though, so
|
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81 | go ahead and use that.
|
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82 |
|
---|
83 | =back
|
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84 |
|
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85 | =head2 Additional software that is optional for Perl on VMS
|
---|
86 |
|
---|
87 | You may also want to have on hand:
|
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88 |
|
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89 | =over 4
|
---|
90 |
|
---|
91 | =item 1 GUNZIP/GZIP.EXE for VMS
|
---|
92 |
|
---|
93 | A de-compressor for *.gz and *.tgz files available from a number
|
---|
94 | of web/ftp sites and is distributed on the OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM
|
---|
95 | from Compaq.
|
---|
96 |
|
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97 | http://www.fsf.org/order/ftp.html
|
---|
98 | http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/
|
---|
99 | http://www.crinoid.com/utils/
|
---|
100 |
|
---|
101 | =item 2 VMS TAR
|
---|
102 |
|
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103 | For reading and writing unix tape archives (*.tar files). Vmstar is also
|
---|
104 | available from a number of web/ftp sites and is distributed on the OpenVMS
|
---|
105 | Freeware CD-ROM from Compaq.
|
---|
106 |
|
---|
107 | ftp://ftp.lp.se/vms/
|
---|
108 | http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/
|
---|
109 |
|
---|
110 | Recent versions of VMS tar on ODS-5 volumes may extract tape archive
|
---|
111 | files with ^. escaped periods in them. See below for further workarounds.
|
---|
112 |
|
---|
113 | =item 3 UNZIP.EXE for VMS
|
---|
114 |
|
---|
115 | A combination decompressor and archive reader/writer for *.zip files.
|
---|
116 | Unzip is available from a number of web/ftp sites.
|
---|
117 |
|
---|
118 | http://www.info-zip.org/UnZip.html
|
---|
119 | http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/
|
---|
120 | ftp://ftp.openvms.compaq.com/
|
---|
121 | ftp://ftp.madgoat.com/madgoat/
|
---|
122 | ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/
|
---|
123 |
|
---|
124 | =item 4 MOST
|
---|
125 |
|
---|
126 | Most is an optional pager that is convenient to use with perldoc (unlike
|
---|
127 | TYPE/PAGE, MOST can go forward and backwards in a document and supports
|
---|
128 | regular expression searching). Most builds with the slang
|
---|
129 | library on VMS. Most and slang are available from:
|
---|
130 |
|
---|
131 | ftp://space.mit.edu/pub/davis/
|
---|
132 | ftp://ftp.process.com/vms-freeware/narnia/
|
---|
133 |
|
---|
134 | =item 5 GNU PATCH and DIFFUTILS for VMS
|
---|
135 |
|
---|
136 | Patches to Perl are usually distributed as GNU unified or contextual diffs.
|
---|
137 | Such patches are created by the GNU diff program (part of the diffutils
|
---|
138 | distribution) and applied with GNU patch. VMS ports of these utilities are
|
---|
139 | available here:
|
---|
140 |
|
---|
141 | http://www.crinoid.com/utils/
|
---|
142 | http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/
|
---|
143 |
|
---|
144 | =back
|
---|
145 |
|
---|
146 | Please note that UNZIP and GUNZIP are not the same thing (they work with
|
---|
147 | different formats). Many of the useful files from CPAN (the Comprehensive
|
---|
148 | Perl Archive Network) are in *.tar.gz or *.tgz format (this includes copies
|
---|
149 | of the source code for perl as well as modules and scripts that you may
|
---|
150 | wish to add later) hence you probably want to have GUNZIP.EXE and
|
---|
151 | VMSTAR.EXE on your VMS machine.
|
---|
152 |
|
---|
153 | If you want to include socket support, you'll need a TCP/IP stack and either
|
---|
154 | DEC C, or socket libraries. See the "Socket Support (optional)" topic
|
---|
155 | for more details.
|
---|
156 |
|
---|
157 | =head1 Unpacking the Perl source code
|
---|
158 |
|
---|
159 | You may need to set up a foreign symbol for the unpacking utility of choice.
|
---|
160 |
|
---|
161 | If you unpack a perl source kit with a name containing multiple periods on
|
---|
162 | an ODS-5 volume using recent versions of vmstar (e.g. V3.4 or later) you may
|
---|
163 | need to be especially careful in unpacking the tape archive file. Try to use
|
---|
164 | the ODS-2 compatability qualifiers such as:
|
---|
165 |
|
---|
166 | vmstar /extract/verbose/ods2 perl-V^.VIII^.III.tar
|
---|
167 |
|
---|
168 | or:
|
---|
169 |
|
---|
170 | vmstar -xvof perl-5^.8^.8.tar
|
---|
171 |
|
---|
172 | If you neglected to use the /ODS2 qualifier or the -o switch then you
|
---|
173 | could rename the source directory:
|
---|
174 |
|
---|
175 | set security/protection=(o:rwed) perl-5^.8^.8.dir
|
---|
176 | rename perl-5^.8^.8.dir perl-5_8_8.dir
|
---|
177 |
|
---|
178 | Perl on VMS as of 5.8.8 does not completely handle extended file
|
---|
179 | parse styles such as are encountered on ODS-5. While it can be built,
|
---|
180 | installed, and run on ODS-5 filesystems; it may encounter
|
---|
181 | trouble with characters that are otherwise illegal on ODS-2
|
---|
182 | volumes (notably the ^. escaped period sequence).
|
---|
183 |
|
---|
184 | =head1 Configuring the Perl build
|
---|
185 |
|
---|
186 | To configure perl (a necessary first step), issue the command
|
---|
187 |
|
---|
188 | @ Configure
|
---|
189 |
|
---|
190 | from the top of an unpacked perl source directory. You will be asked a
|
---|
191 | series of questions, and the answers to them (along with the capabilities
|
---|
192 | of your C compiler and network stack) will determine how perl is custom
|
---|
193 | built for your machine.
|
---|
194 |
|
---|
195 | If you have multiple C compilers installed, you'll have your choice of
|
---|
196 | which one to use. Various older versions of DEC C had some caveats, so if
|
---|
197 | you're using a version older than 5.2, check the "DEC C Issues" section.
|
---|
198 |
|
---|
199 | If you have any symbols or logical names in your environment that may
|
---|
200 | interfere with the build or regression testing of perl then configure.com
|
---|
201 | will try to warn you about them. If a logical name is causing
|
---|
202 | you trouble but is in an LNM table that you do not have write access to
|
---|
203 | then try defining your own to a harmless equivalence string in a table
|
---|
204 | such that it is resolved before the other (e.g. if TMP is defined in the
|
---|
205 | SYSTEM table then try DEFINE TMP "NL:" or somesuch in your process table)
|
---|
206 | otherwise simply deassign the dangerous logical names. The potentially
|
---|
207 | troublesome logicals and symbols are:
|
---|
208 |
|
---|
209 | COMP "LOGICAL"
|
---|
210 | EXT "LOGICAL"
|
---|
211 | FOO "LOGICAL"
|
---|
212 | LIB "LOGICAL"
|
---|
213 | LIST "LOGICAL"
|
---|
214 | MIME "LOGICAL"
|
---|
215 | POSIX "LOGICAL"
|
---|
216 | SYS "LOGICAL"
|
---|
217 | T "LOGICAL"
|
---|
218 | THREAD "LOGICAL"
|
---|
219 | THREADS "LOGICAL"
|
---|
220 | TIME "LOGICAL"
|
---|
221 | TMP "LOGICAL"
|
---|
222 | UNICODE "LOGICAL"
|
---|
223 | UTIL "LOGICAL"
|
---|
224 | TEST "SYMBOL"
|
---|
225 |
|
---|
226 | As a handy shortcut, the command:
|
---|
227 |
|
---|
228 | @ Configure "-des"
|
---|
229 |
|
---|
230 | (note the quotation marks and case) will choose reasonable defaults
|
---|
231 | automatically (it takes DEC C over Gnu C, DEC C sockets over SOCKETSHR
|
---|
232 | sockets, and either over no sockets). Some options can be given
|
---|
233 | explicitly on the command line; the following example specifies a
|
---|
234 | non-default location for where Perl will be installed:
|
---|
235 |
|
---|
236 | @ Configure "-d" "-Dprefix=dka100:[utils.perl5.]"
|
---|
237 |
|
---|
238 | Note that the installation location would be by default where you unpacked
|
---|
239 | the source with a "_ROOT." appended. For example if you unpacked the perl
|
---|
240 | source into:
|
---|
241 |
|
---|
242 | DKA200:[PERL-5_10_2...]
|
---|
243 |
|
---|
244 | Then the PERL_SETUP.COM that gets written out by CONFIGURE.COM will
|
---|
245 | try to DEFINE your installation PERL_ROOT to be:
|
---|
246 |
|
---|
247 | DKA200:[PERL-5_10_2_ROOT.]
|
---|
248 |
|
---|
249 | More help with configure.com is available from:
|
---|
250 |
|
---|
251 | @ Configure "-h"
|
---|
252 |
|
---|
253 | See the "Changing compile-time options (optional)" section below to learn
|
---|
254 | even more details about how to influence the outcome of the important
|
---|
255 | configuration step. If you find yourself reconfiguring and rebuilding
|
---|
256 | then be sure to also follow the advice in the "Cleaning up and starting
|
---|
257 | fresh (optional)" and the checklist of items in the "CAVEATS" sections
|
---|
258 | below.
|
---|
259 |
|
---|
260 | =head2 Changing compile-time options (optional) for Perl on VMS
|
---|
261 |
|
---|
262 | Most of the user definable features of Perl are enabled or disabled in
|
---|
263 | configure.com, which processes the hints file config_h.SH. There is
|
---|
264 | code in there to Do The Right Thing, but that may end up being the
|
---|
265 | wrong thing for you. Make sure you understand what you are doing since
|
---|
266 | inappropriate changes to configure.com or config_h.SH can render perl
|
---|
267 | unbuildable; odds are that there's nothing in there you'll need to
|
---|
268 | change.
|
---|
269 |
|
---|
270 | The one exception is the various *DIR install locations. Changing those
|
---|
271 | requires changes in genconfig.pl as well. Be really careful if you need to
|
---|
272 | change these, as they can cause some fairly subtle problems.
|
---|
273 |
|
---|
274 | =head2 Socket Support (optional) for Perl on VMS
|
---|
275 |
|
---|
276 | Perl includes a number of functions for IP sockets, which are available if
|
---|
277 | you choose to compile Perl with socket support. Since IP networking is an
|
---|
278 | optional addition to VMS, there are several different IP stacks available.
|
---|
279 | How well integrated they are into the system depends on the stack, your
|
---|
280 | version of VMS, and the version of your C compiler.
|
---|
281 |
|
---|
282 | The most portable solution uses the SOCKETSHR library. In combination with
|
---|
283 | either UCX or NetLib, this supports all the major TCP stacks (Multinet,
|
---|
284 | Pathways, TCPWare, UCX, and CMU) on all versions of VMS Perl runs on, with
|
---|
285 | all the compilers on both VAX and Alpha. The socket interface is also
|
---|
286 | consistent across versions of VMS and C compilers. It has a problem with
|
---|
287 | UDP sockets when used with Multinet, though, so you should be aware of
|
---|
288 | that.
|
---|
289 |
|
---|
290 | The other solution available is to use the socket routines built into DEC
|
---|
291 | C. Which routines are available depend on the version of VMS you're
|
---|
292 | running, and require proper UCX emulation by your TCP/IP vendor.
|
---|
293 | Relatively current versions of Multinet, TCPWare, Pathway, and UCX all
|
---|
294 | provide the required libraries--check your manuals or release notes to see
|
---|
295 | if your version is new enough.
|
---|
296 |
|
---|
297 | =head1 Building Perl
|
---|
298 |
|
---|
299 | The configuration script will print out, at the very end, the MMS or MMK
|
---|
300 | command you need to compile perl. Issue it (exactly as printed) to start
|
---|
301 | the build.
|
---|
302 |
|
---|
303 | Once you issue your MMS or MMK command, sit back and wait. Perl should
|
---|
304 | compile and link without a problem. If a problem does occur check the
|
---|
305 | "CAVEATS" section of this document. If that does not help send some
|
---|
306 | mail to the VMSPERL mailing list. Instructions are in the "Mailing Lists"
|
---|
307 | section of this document.
|
---|
308 |
|
---|
309 | =head1 Testing Perl
|
---|
310 |
|
---|
311 | Once Perl has built cleanly you need to test it to make sure things work.
|
---|
312 | This step is very important since there are always things that can go wrong
|
---|
313 | somehow and yield a dysfunctional Perl for you.
|
---|
314 |
|
---|
315 | Testing is very easy, though, as there's a full test suite in the perl
|
---|
316 | distribution. To run the tests, enter the *exact* MMS line you used to
|
---|
317 | compile Perl and add the word "test" to the end, like this:
|
---|
318 |
|
---|
319 | If the compile command was:
|
---|
320 |
|
---|
321 | MMS
|
---|
322 |
|
---|
323 | then the test command ought to be:
|
---|
324 |
|
---|
325 | MMS test
|
---|
326 |
|
---|
327 | MMS (or MMK) will run all the tests. This may take some time, as there are
|
---|
328 | a lot of tests. If any tests fail, there will be a note made on-screen.
|
---|
329 | At the end of all the tests, a summary of the tests, the number passed and
|
---|
330 | failed, and the time taken will be displayed.
|
---|
331 |
|
---|
332 | The test driver invoked via MMS TEST has a DCL wrapper ([.VMS]TEST.COM) that
|
---|
333 | downgrades privileges to NETMBX, TMPMBX for the duration of the test run,
|
---|
334 | and then restores them to their prior state upon completion of testing.
|
---|
335 | This is done to ensure that the tests run in a private sandbox and can do no
|
---|
336 | harm to your system even in the unlikely event something goes badly wrong in
|
---|
337 | one of the test scripts while running the tests from a privileged account.
|
---|
338 | A side effect of this safety precaution is that the account used to run the
|
---|
339 | test suite must be the owner of the directory tree in which Perl has been
|
---|
340 | built; otherwise the manipulations of temporary files and directories
|
---|
341 | attempted by some of the tests will fail.
|
---|
342 |
|
---|
343 | If any tests fail, it means something is wrong with Perl. If the test suite
|
---|
344 | hangs (some tests can take upwards of two or three minutes, or more if
|
---|
345 | you're on an especially slow machine, depending on your machine speed, so
|
---|
346 | don't be hasty), then the test *after* the last one displayed failed. Don't
|
---|
347 | install Perl unless you're confident that you're OK. Regardless of how
|
---|
348 | confident you are, make a bug report to the VMSPerl mailing list.
|
---|
349 |
|
---|
350 | If one or more tests fail, you can get more information on the failure by
|
---|
351 | issuing this command sequence:
|
---|
352 |
|
---|
353 | @ [.VMS]TEST .typ "" "-v" [.subdir]test.T
|
---|
354 |
|
---|
355 | where ".typ" is the file type of the Perl images you just built (if you
|
---|
356 | didn't do anything special, use .EXE), and "[.subdir]test.T" is the test
|
---|
357 | that failed. For example, with a normal Perl build, if the test indicated
|
---|
358 | that t/op/time failed, then you'd do this:
|
---|
359 |
|
---|
360 | @ [.VMS]TEST .EXE "" "-v" [.OP]TIME.T
|
---|
361 |
|
---|
362 | Note that test names are reported in UNIX syntax and relative to the
|
---|
363 | top-level build directory. When supplying them individually to the test
|
---|
364 | driver, you can use either UNIX or VMS syntax, but you must give the path
|
---|
365 | relative to the [.T] directory and you must also add the .T extension to the
|
---|
366 | filename. So, for example if the test lib/Math/Trig fails, you would run:
|
---|
367 |
|
---|
368 | @ [.VMS]TEST .EXE "" -"v" [-.lib.math]trig.t
|
---|
369 |
|
---|
370 | When you send in a bug report for failed tests, please include the output
|
---|
371 | from this command, which is run from the main source directory:
|
---|
372 |
|
---|
373 | MCR []MINIPERL "-V"
|
---|
374 |
|
---|
375 | Note that -"V" really is a capital V in double quotes. This will dump out a
|
---|
376 | couple of screens worth of configuration information, and can help us
|
---|
377 | diagnose the problem. If (and only if) that did not work then try enclosing
|
---|
378 | the output of:
|
---|
379 |
|
---|
380 | MMS printconfig
|
---|
381 |
|
---|
382 | If (and only if) that did not work then try enclosing the output of:
|
---|
383 |
|
---|
384 | @ [.vms]myconfig
|
---|
385 |
|
---|
386 | You may also be asked to provide your C compiler version ("CC/VERSION NL:"
|
---|
387 | with DEC C, "gcc --version" with GNU CC). To obtain the version of MMS or
|
---|
388 | MMK you are running try "MMS/ident" or "MMK /ident". The GNU make version
|
---|
389 | can be identified with "make --version".
|
---|
390 |
|
---|
391 | =head2 Cleaning up and starting fresh (optional) installing Perl on VMS
|
---|
392 |
|
---|
393 | If you need to recompile from scratch, you have to make sure you clean up
|
---|
394 | first. There is a procedure to do it--enter the *exact* MMS line you used
|
---|
395 | to compile and add "realclean" at the end, like this:
|
---|
396 |
|
---|
397 | if the compile command was:
|
---|
398 |
|
---|
399 | MMS
|
---|
400 |
|
---|
401 | then the cleanup command ought to be:
|
---|
402 |
|
---|
403 | MMS realclean
|
---|
404 |
|
---|
405 | If you do not do this things may behave erratically during the subsequent
|
---|
406 | rebuild attempt. They might not, too, so it is best to be sure and do it.
|
---|
407 |
|
---|
408 | =head1 Installing Perl
|
---|
409 |
|
---|
410 | There are several steps you need to take to get Perl installed and
|
---|
411 | running.
|
---|
412 |
|
---|
413 | =over 4
|
---|
414 |
|
---|
415 | =item 1
|
---|
416 |
|
---|
417 | Check your default file protections with
|
---|
418 |
|
---|
419 | SHOW PROTECTION /DEFAULT
|
---|
420 |
|
---|
421 | and adjust if necessary with SET PROTECTION=(code)/DEFAULT.
|
---|
422 |
|
---|
423 | =item 2
|
---|
424 |
|
---|
425 | Decide where you want Perl to be installed (unless you have already done so
|
---|
426 | by using the "prefix" configuration parameter -- see the example in the
|
---|
427 | "Configuring the Perl build" section).
|
---|
428 |
|
---|
429 | The DCL script PERL_SETUP.COM that is written by CONFIGURE.COM will help you
|
---|
430 | with the definition of the PERL_ROOT and PERLSHR logical names and the PERL
|
---|
431 | foreign command symbol. Take a look at PERL_SETUP.COM and modify it if you
|
---|
432 | want to. The installation process will execute PERL_SETUP.COM and copy
|
---|
433 | files to the directory tree pointed to by the PERL_ROOT logical name defined
|
---|
434 | there, so make sure that you have write access to the parent directory of
|
---|
435 | what will become the root of your Perl installation.
|
---|
436 |
|
---|
437 | =item 3
|
---|
438 |
|
---|
439 | Run the install script via:
|
---|
440 |
|
---|
441 | MMS install
|
---|
442 |
|
---|
443 | or
|
---|
444 |
|
---|
445 | MMK install
|
---|
446 |
|
---|
447 | If for some reason it complains about target INSTALL being up to date,
|
---|
448 | throw a /FORCE switch on the MMS or MMK command.
|
---|
449 |
|
---|
450 | =back
|
---|
451 |
|
---|
452 | Copy PERL_SETUP.COM to a place accessible to your perl users.
|
---|
453 |
|
---|
454 | For example:
|
---|
455 |
|
---|
456 | COPY PERL_SETUP.COM SYS$LIBRARY:
|
---|
457 |
|
---|
458 | If you want to have everyone on the system have access to perl
|
---|
459 | then add a line that reads
|
---|
460 |
|
---|
461 | $ @sys$library:perl_setup
|
---|
462 |
|
---|
463 | to SYS$MANAGER:SYLOGIN.COM.
|
---|
464 |
|
---|
465 | Two alternatives to the foreign symbol would be to install PERL into
|
---|
466 | DCLTABLES.EXE (Check out the section "Installing Perl into DCLTABLES
|
---|
467 | (optional)" for more information), or put the image in a
|
---|
468 | directory that's in your DCL$PATH (if you're using VMS V6.2 or higher).
|
---|
469 |
|
---|
470 | An alternative to having PERL_SETUP.COM define the PERLSHR logical name
|
---|
471 | is to simply copy it into the system shareable library directory with:
|
---|
472 |
|
---|
473 | copy perl_root:[000000]perlshr.exe sys$share:
|
---|
474 |
|
---|
475 | See also the "INSTALLing images (optional)" section.
|
---|
476 |
|
---|
477 | =head2 Installing Perl into DCLTABLES (optional) on VMS
|
---|
478 |
|
---|
479 | Execute the following command file to define PERL as a DCL command.
|
---|
480 | You'll need CMKRNL privilege to install the new dcltables.exe.
|
---|
481 |
|
---|
482 | $ create perl.cld
|
---|
483 | !
|
---|
484 | ! modify to reflect location of your perl.exe
|
---|
485 | !
|
---|
486 | define verb perl
|
---|
487 | image perl_root:[000000]perl.exe
|
---|
488 | cliflags (foreign)
|
---|
489 | $!
|
---|
490 | $ set command perl /table=sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe -
|
---|
491 | /output=sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe
|
---|
492 | $ install replace sys$common:[syslib]dcltables.exe
|
---|
493 | $ exit
|
---|
494 |
|
---|
495 | =head2 INSTALLing Perl images (optional) on VMS
|
---|
496 |
|
---|
497 | On systems that are using perl quite a bit, and particularly those with
|
---|
498 | minimal RAM, you can boost the performance of perl by INSTALLing it as
|
---|
499 | a known image. PERLSHR.EXE is typically larger than 3000 blocks
|
---|
500 | and that is a reasonably large amount of IO to load each time perl is
|
---|
501 | invoked.
|
---|
502 |
|
---|
503 | INSTALL ADD PERLSHR/SHARE
|
---|
504 | INSTALL ADD PERL/HEADER
|
---|
505 |
|
---|
506 | should be enough for PERLSHR.EXE (/share implies /header and /open),
|
---|
507 | while /HEADER should do for PERL.EXE (perl.exe is not a shared image).
|
---|
508 |
|
---|
509 | If your code 'use's modules, check to see if there is a shareable image for
|
---|
510 | them, too. In the base perl build, POSIX, IO, Fcntl, Opcode, SDBM_File,
|
---|
511 | DCLsym, and Stdio, and other extensions all have shared images that can be
|
---|
512 | installed /SHARE.
|
---|
513 |
|
---|
514 | How much of a win depends on your memory situation, but if you are firing
|
---|
515 | off perl with any regularity (like more than once every 20 seconds or so)
|
---|
516 | it is probably beneficial to INSTALL at least portions of perl.
|
---|
517 |
|
---|
518 | While there is code in perl to remove privileges as it runs you are advised
|
---|
519 | to NOT INSTALL PERL.EXE with PRIVs!
|
---|
520 |
|
---|
521 | =head2 Running h2ph to create perl header files (optional) on VMS
|
---|
522 |
|
---|
523 | If using DEC C or Compaq C ensure that you have extracted loose versions
|
---|
524 | of your compiler's header or *.H files. Be sure to check the contents of:
|
---|
525 |
|
---|
526 | SYS$LIBRARY:DECC$RTLDEF.TLB
|
---|
527 | SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$LIB_C.TLB
|
---|
528 | SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$STARLET_C.TLB
|
---|
529 |
|
---|
530 | etcetera.
|
---|
531 |
|
---|
532 | If using GNU cc then also check your GNU_CC:[000000...] tree for the locations
|
---|
533 | of the GNU cc headers.
|
---|
534 |
|
---|
535 | =head1 Reporting Bugs
|
---|
536 |
|
---|
537 | If you come across what you think might be a bug in Perl, please report
|
---|
538 | it. There's a script in PERL_ROOT:[UTILS], perlbug, that walks you through
|
---|
539 | the process of creating a bug report. This script includes details of your
|
---|
540 | installation, and is very handy. Completed bug reports should go to
|
---|
541 | [email protected].
|
---|
542 |
|
---|
543 | =head1 CAVEATS
|
---|
544 |
|
---|
545 | Probably the single biggest gotcha in compiling Perl is giving the wrong
|
---|
546 | switches to MMS/MMK when you build. Use *exactly* what the configure.com
|
---|
547 | script prints!
|
---|
548 |
|
---|
549 | The next big gotcha is directory depth. Perl can create directories four,
|
---|
550 | five, or even six levels deep during the build, so you don't have to be
|
---|
551 | too deep to start to hit the RMS 8 level limit (for ODS 2 volumes which were
|
---|
552 | common on versions of VMS prior to V7.2 and even with V7.2 on the VAX).
|
---|
553 | It is best to do:
|
---|
554 |
|
---|
555 | DEFINE/TRANS=(CONC,TERM) PERLSRC "disk:[dir.dir.dir.perldir.]"
|
---|
556 | SET DEFAULT PERLSRC:[000000]
|
---|
557 |
|
---|
558 | before building in cases where you have to unpack the distribution so deep
|
---|
559 | (note the trailing period in the definition of PERLSRC). Perl modules
|
---|
560 | from CPAN can be just as bad (or worse), so watch out for them, too. Perl's
|
---|
561 | configuration script will warn if it thinks you are too deep (at least on
|
---|
562 | a VAX or on Alpha versions of VMS prior to 7.2). But MakeMaker will not
|
---|
563 | warn you if you start out building a module too deep in a directory.
|
---|
564 |
|
---|
565 | As noted above ODS-5 escape sequences such as ^. can break the perl
|
---|
566 | build. Solutions include renaming files and directories as needed or
|
---|
567 | being careful to use the -o switch or /ODS2 qualifier with latter
|
---|
568 | versions of the vmstar utility when unpacking perl or CPAN modules
|
---|
569 | on ODS-5 volumes.
|
---|
570 |
|
---|
571 | Be sure that the process that you use to build perl has a PGFLQ greater
|
---|
572 | than 100000. Be sure to have a correct local time zone to UTC offset
|
---|
573 | defined (in seconds) in the logical name SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL before
|
---|
574 | running the regression test suite. The SYS$MANAGER:UTC$CONFIGURE_TDF.COM
|
---|
575 | procedure will help you set that logical for your system but may require
|
---|
576 | system privileges. For example, a location 5 hours west of UTC (such as
|
---|
577 | the US East coast while not on daylight savings time) would have:
|
---|
578 |
|
---|
579 | DEFINE SYS$TIMEZONE_DIFFERENTIAL "-18000"
|
---|
580 |
|
---|
581 | A final thing that causes trouble is leftover pieces from a failed
|
---|
582 | build. If things go wrong make sure you do a "(MMK|MMS|make) realclean"
|
---|
583 | before you rebuild.
|
---|
584 |
|
---|
585 | =head2 DEC C issues with Perl on VMS
|
---|
586 |
|
---|
587 | Note to DEC C users: Some early versions (pre-5.2, some pre-4. If you're DEC
|
---|
588 | C 5.x or higher, with current patches if any, you're fine) of the DECCRTL
|
---|
589 | contained a few bugs which affect Perl performance:
|
---|
590 |
|
---|
591 | =over 4
|
---|
592 |
|
---|
593 | =item - pipes
|
---|
594 |
|
---|
595 | Newlines are lost on I/O through pipes, causing lines to run together.
|
---|
596 | This shows up as RMS RTB errors when reading from a pipe. You can
|
---|
597 | work around this by having one process write data to a file, and
|
---|
598 | then having the other read the file, instead of the pipe. This is
|
---|
599 | fixed in version 4 of DEC C.
|
---|
600 |
|
---|
601 | =item - modf()
|
---|
602 |
|
---|
603 | The modf() routine returns a non-integral value for some values above
|
---|
604 | INT_MAX; the Perl "int" operator will return a non-integral value in
|
---|
605 | these cases. This is fixed in version 4 of DEC C.
|
---|
606 |
|
---|
607 | =item - ALPACRT ECO
|
---|
608 |
|
---|
609 | On the AXP, if SYSNAM privilege is enabled, the CRTL chdir() routine
|
---|
610 | changes the process default device and directory permanently, even
|
---|
611 | though the call specified that the change should not persist after
|
---|
612 | Perl exited. This is fixed by DEC CSC patch ALPACRT04_061 or later.
|
---|
613 | See also:
|
---|
614 |
|
---|
615 | http://ftp.support.compaq.com/patches/.new/openvms.shtml
|
---|
616 |
|
---|
617 | =back
|
---|
618 |
|
---|
619 | Please note that in later versions "DEC C" may also be known as
|
---|
620 | "Compaq C".
|
---|
621 |
|
---|
622 | =head2 GNU issues with Perl on VMS
|
---|
623 |
|
---|
624 | It has been a while since the GNU utilities such as GCC or GNU make
|
---|
625 | were used to build perl on VMS. Hence they may require a great deal
|
---|
626 | of source code modification to work again.
|
---|
627 |
|
---|
628 | http://slacvx.slac.stanford.edu/HELP/GCC
|
---|
629 | http://www.progis.de/
|
---|
630 | http://www.lp.se/products/gnu.html
|
---|
631 |
|
---|
632 | =head2 Floating Point Considerations
|
---|
633 |
|
---|
634 | Prior to 5.8.0, Perl simply accepted the default floating point options of the
|
---|
635 | C compiler, namely representing doubles with D_FLOAT on VAX and G_FLOAT on
|
---|
636 | Alpha. Single precision floating point values are represented in F_FLOAT
|
---|
637 | format when either D_FLOAT or G_FLOAT is in use for doubles. Beginning with
|
---|
638 | 5.8.0, Alpha builds now use IEEE floating point formats by default, which in
|
---|
639 | VMS parlance are S_FLOAT for singles and T_FLOAT for doubles. IEEE is not
|
---|
640 | available on VAX, so F_FLOAT and D_FLOAT remain the defaults for singles and
|
---|
641 | doubles respectively. The available non-default options are G_FLOAT on VAX
|
---|
642 | and D_FLOAT or G_FLOAT on Alpha.
|
---|
643 |
|
---|
644 | The use of IEEE on Alpha introduces NaN, infinity, and denormalization
|
---|
645 | capabilities not available with D_FLOAT and G_FLOAT. When using one of those
|
---|
646 | non-IEEE formats, silent underflow and overflow are emulated in the conversion
|
---|
647 | of strings to numbers, but it is preferable to get the real thing by using
|
---|
648 | IEEE where possible.
|
---|
649 |
|
---|
650 | Regardless of what floating point format you consider preferable, be aware
|
---|
651 | that the choice may have an impact on compatibility with external libraries,
|
---|
652 | such as database interfaces, and with existing data, such as data created with
|
---|
653 | the C<pack> function and written to disk, or data stored via the Storable
|
---|
654 | extension. For example, a C<pack("d", $foo)")> will create a D_FLOAT,
|
---|
655 | G_FLOAT, or T_FLOAT depending on what your Perl was configured with. When
|
---|
656 | written to disk, the value can only be retrieved later by a Perl configured
|
---|
657 | with the same floating point option that was in effect when it was created.
|
---|
658 |
|
---|
659 | To obtain a non-IEEE build on Alpha, simply answer no to the "Use IEEE math?"
|
---|
660 | question during the configuration. To obtain an option different from the C
|
---|
661 | compiler default on either VAX or Alpha, put in the option that you want in
|
---|
662 | answer to the "Any additional cc flags?" question. For example, to obtain a
|
---|
663 | G_FLOAT build on VAX, put in C</FLOAT=G_FLOAT>.
|
---|
664 |
|
---|
665 | =head2 Multinet issues with Perl on VMS
|
---|
666 |
|
---|
667 | Prior to the release of Perl 5.8.0 it was noted that the regression
|
---|
668 | test for lib/Net/hostent (in file [.lib.Net]hostent.t) will fail owing
|
---|
669 | to problems with the hostent structure returned by C calls to either
|
---|
670 | gethostbyname() or gethostbyaddr() using DEC or Compaq C with a
|
---|
671 | Multinet TCP/IP stack. The problem was noted in Multinet 4.3A
|
---|
672 | using either Compaq C 6.5 or DEC C 6.0, and with Multinet 4.2A
|
---|
673 | using DEC C 5.2, but could easily affect other versions of Multinet.
|
---|
674 | Process Software Inc. has acknowledged a bug in the Multinet version
|
---|
675 | of UCX$IPC_SHR and has provided an ECO for it. The ECO is called
|
---|
676 | UCX_LIBRARY_EMULATION-010_A044 and is available from:
|
---|
677 |
|
---|
678 | http://www.multinet.process.com/eco.html
|
---|
679 |
|
---|
680 | As of this writing, the ECO is only available for Multinet versions
|
---|
681 | 4.3A and later. You may determine the version of Multinet that you
|
---|
682 | are running using the command:
|
---|
683 |
|
---|
684 | multinet show /version
|
---|
685 |
|
---|
686 | from the DCL command prompt.
|
---|
687 |
|
---|
688 | If the ECO is unavailable for your version of Multinet and you are
|
---|
689 | unable to upgrade, you might try using Perl programming constructs
|
---|
690 | such as:
|
---|
691 |
|
---|
692 | $address = substr($gethostbyname_addr,0,4);
|
---|
693 |
|
---|
694 | to temporarily work around the problem, or if you are brave
|
---|
695 | and do not mind the possibility of breaking IPv6 addresses,
|
---|
696 | you might modify the pp_sys.c file to add an ad-hoc correction
|
---|
697 | like so:
|
---|
698 |
|
---|
699 |
|
---|
700 | --- pp_sys.c;1 Thu May 30 14:42:17 2002
|
---|
701 | +++ pp_sys.c Thu May 30 12:54:02 2002
|
---|
702 | @@ -4684,6 +4684,10 @@
|
---|
703 | }
|
---|
704 | #endif
|
---|
705 |
|
---|
706 | + if (hent) {
|
---|
707 | + hent->h_length = 4;
|
---|
708 | + }
|
---|
709 | +
|
---|
710 | if (GIMME != G_ARRAY) {
|
---|
711 | PUSHs(sv = sv_newmortal());
|
---|
712 | if (hent) {
|
---|
713 |
|
---|
714 | then re-compile and re-test your perl. After the installation
|
---|
715 | of the Multinet ECO you ought to back out any such changes though.
|
---|
716 |
|
---|
717 | =head1 Mailing Lists
|
---|
718 |
|
---|
719 | There are several mailing lists available to the Perl porter. For VMS
|
---|
720 | specific issues (including both Perl questions and installation problems)
|
---|
721 | there is the VMSPERL mailing list. It is usually a low-volume (10-12
|
---|
722 | messages a week) mailing list.
|
---|
723 |
|
---|
724 | To subscribe, send a mail message to [email protected]. The VMSPERL
|
---|
725 | mailing list address is [email protected]. Any mail sent there gets echoed
|
---|
726 | to all subscribers of the list. There is a searchable archive of the list
|
---|
727 | on the web at:
|
---|
728 |
|
---|
729 | http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/
|
---|
730 |
|
---|
731 | To unsubscribe from VMSPERL send a message to [email protected].
|
---|
732 | Be sure to do so from the subscribed account that you are canceling.
|
---|
733 |
|
---|
734 | =head2 Web sites for Perl on VMS
|
---|
735 |
|
---|
736 | Vmsperl pages on the web include:
|
---|
737 |
|
---|
738 | http://www.sidhe.org/vmsperl/index.html
|
---|
739 | http://www.crinoid.com/
|
---|
740 | http://duphy4.physics.drexel.edu/pub/cgi_info.htmlx
|
---|
741 | http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/VMS/
|
---|
742 | http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/vmsperl/
|
---|
743 | http://www.best.com/~pvhp/vms/
|
---|
744 | http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~binder/perl.html
|
---|
745 | http://lists.perl.org/showlist.cgi?name=vmsperl
|
---|
746 | http://archive.develooper.com/[email protected]/
|
---|
747 | http://www.openvms.compaq.com/openvms/products/ips/apache/csws_modperl.html
|
---|
748 |
|
---|
749 | =head1 SEE ALSO
|
---|
750 |
|
---|
751 | Perl information for users and programmers about the port of perl to VMS is
|
---|
752 | available from the [.VMS]PERLVMS.POD file that gets installed as L<perlvms>.
|
---|
753 | For administrators the perlvms document also includes a detailed discussion
|
---|
754 | of extending vmsperl with CPAN modules after Perl has been installed.
|
---|
755 |
|
---|
756 | =head1 AUTHORS
|
---|
757 |
|
---|
758 | Revised 10-October-2001 by Craig Berry [email protected].
|
---|
759 | Revised 25-February-2000 by Peter Prymmer [email protected].
|
---|
760 | Revised 27-October-1999 by Craig Berry [email protected].
|
---|
761 | Revised 01-March-1999 by Dan Sugalski [email protected].
|
---|
762 | Originally by Charles Bailey [email protected].
|
---|
763 |
|
---|
764 | =head1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
|
---|
765 |
|
---|
766 | A real big thanks needs to go to Charles Bailey
|
---|
767 | [email protected], who is ultimately responsible for Perl 5.004
|
---|
768 | running on VMS. Without him, nothing the rest of us have done would be at
|
---|
769 | all important.
|
---|
770 |
|
---|
771 | There are, of course, far too many people involved in the porting and testing
|
---|
772 | of Perl to mention everyone who deserves it, so please forgive us if we've
|
---|
773 | missed someone. That said, special thanks are due to the following:
|
---|
774 |
|
---|
775 | Tim Adye [email protected]
|
---|
776 | for the VMS emulations of getpw*()
|
---|
777 | David Denholm [email protected]
|
---|
778 | for extensive testing and provision of pipe and SocketShr code,
|
---|
779 | Mark Pizzolato [email protected]
|
---|
780 | for the getredirection() code
|
---|
781 | Rich Salz [email protected]
|
---|
782 | for readdir() and related routines
|
---|
783 | Peter Prymmer [email protected]
|
---|
784 | for extensive testing, as well as development work on
|
---|
785 | configuration and documentation for VMS Perl,
|
---|
786 | Dan Sugalski [email protected]
|
---|
787 | for extensive contributions to recent version support,
|
---|
788 | development of VMS-specific extensions, and dissemination
|
---|
789 | of information about VMS Perl,
|
---|
790 | the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and the
|
---|
791 | Laboratory of Nuclear Studies at Cornell University for
|
---|
792 | the opportunity to test and develop for the AXP,
|
---|
793 | John Hasstedt [email protected]
|
---|
794 | for VAX VMS V7.2 support
|
---|
795 |
|
---|
796 | and to the entire VMSperl group for useful advice and suggestions. In
|
---|
797 | addition the perl5-porters deserve credit for their creativity and
|
---|
798 | willingness to work with the VMS newcomers. Finally, the greatest debt of
|
---|
799 | gratitude is due to Larry Wall [email protected], for having the ideas which
|
---|
800 | have made our sleepless nights possible.
|
---|
801 |
|
---|
802 | Thanks,
|
---|
803 | The VMSperl group
|
---|
804 |
|
---|
805 | =cut
|
---|
806 |
|
---|