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Who should read this
Those who want to use Perl in
Windows.
What are the options?
There are currently two ready
distributions for Windows: ActivePerl
and IndigoPerl
What is the difference between
the two distributions?
The core program is basically the
same. The major difference between the two distributions is that
IndigoPerl comes with the Apache Server. (For those who do not
know, the Apache Web Server allows you to test CGI scripts written in
Perl).
ActivePerl comes with the
Perl Program Manager (PPM). The PPM allows you to install Perl
modules directly by downloading the packaged modules from
ActiveState.
Click
on the link for instructions on installing:
Where
can I get ActivePerl
Go to the ActiveState
website. Select the Windows MSI file to begin
downloading. When I did this, my Internet Explorer expected a VRML
file. This indicates that I did not have Microsoft Installer on my
machine. If this happens to you, point the cursor on the Windows
MSI link and right click your mouse. This will display a menu.
Select the Save Target As item in the menu. Explorer will
proceed to download the file.
If you do not have Microsoft
Installer, you can download it using the link from the same
ActiveState download page.
Installing ActivePerl
ActivePerl needs the Microsoft
Installer. You will need to install this first. Go to the directory
where you downloaded the Installer. Double-click on the downloaded
Installer file. Windows will proceed to install the Installer.
Once you have installed the
Installer, you can double-click on the downloaded ActivePerl file.
This will start the install process.
Checking your Installation
After the installation, you may
want to re-boot your system. By default, your Perl system is
installed in the C:perl directory. To check if you have installed
Perl correctly, go to the bin subdirectory (default is perl/bin).
Enter
You should get a message like
this:
This is perl, v5.6.0 built for
MSWin32-x86-multi-thread
(with 1 registered patch, see perl -V for
more detail)
Copyright 1987-2000, Larry Wall
Binary build 616 provided by
ActiveState Tool Corp.
http://www.ActiveState.com
Built
13:47:17 Jul 14 2000
Perl may be copied only under
the terms of either the Artistic License or the
GNU General Public
License, which may be found in the Perl 5.0 source kit.
Complete documentation for
Perl, including FAQ lists, should be found on
this system using
`man perl' or `perldoc perl'. If you have access to the
Internet,
point your browser at http://www.perl.com/,
the Perl Home Page.
You have successfully installed
Perl in Windows if you see this message. If you did not get this
message, you may want to check the documentation on the ActiveState
website.
Where
can I get IndigoPerl
IndigoPerl is in the IndigoStar
website. The download file is a 7.3 MB zip file. This means
that you will need an unzip program like pkunzip. You can
download the program from the PkWare
site.
Installing IndigoPerl
If you have a copy of PKUNZIP, you
can unzip the files. First, copy the files to the directory where you
want to install the distribution (I used IndigoPerl).
Change to that directory using the
cd command. Then type this on the command line:
Where zipfilename is the
downloaded IndigoPerl file name. This should restore all the files in
the directory.
Execute the Setup.bat batch
file. Answer the questions and it will perform the installation
process.
Checking your Installation
To check if IndigoPerl has been
installed, go to the command line and type:
Perl should display something like
this:
This is perl, v5.6.0 built for
MSWin32-x86-multi-thread
Copyright 1987-2000, Larry Wall
Perl may be copied only under
the terms of either the Artistic License or the
GNU General Public
License, which may be found in the Perl 5.0 source kit.
Complete documentation for
Perl, including FAQ lists, should be found on
this system using
`man perl' or `perldoc perl'. If you have access to the
Internet,
point your browser at http://www.perl.com/,
the Perl Home Page.
Once this is displayed, you have
installed IndigoPerl successfully.
Apache Server Setup
IndigoPerl comes with an Apache
Server. Although the website says that it is ready to go on
installation, I had to do some tweaking on the configuration file
before I was able to make it work.
For one, their CGI scripts were
pointing to the E:/perl subdirectory. Unless your Perl system
is installed in that subdirectory, you will have to change this
value. Also check the configuration file. You should have a file
called HTTPD.CONF in the CONF subdirectory.
Backup
the configuration file.
Edit
this using your favourite text editor (i.e. Notepad).
Look
for fields whose value is e:perl and change it to the
directory where you installed IndigoPerl.
Save the edited file
You can start the Apache Web
Server from the Start menu as this has been set up during the Setup
process. To check if your Apache Server is setup, click the Apache
Start icon on the Start Menu. This should start an MS-DOS window
with the Apache Server running under it. To stop the Apache Server,
click the Apache Stop icon on the Start Menu.
For the
latest distribution of IndigoPerl, you can also stop Apache by
closing its DOS Window.
If you want more details on
installing Perl Modules, you can purchase my e-book (Getting Started
with Perl) at Self-Help
Guides
Follow
these links from the site:
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