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diff --git a/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlplan9.pod b/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlplan9.pod new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..5e53c05bdb9 --- /dev/null +++ b/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlplan9.pod @@ -0,0 +1,146 @@ +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 + +perlplan9 - Plan 9-specific documentation for Perl + +=head1 DESCRIPTION + +These are a few notes describing features peculiar to +Plan 9 Perl. As such, it is not intended to be a replacement +for the rest of the Perl 5 documentation (which is both +copious and excellent). If you have any questions to +which you can't find answers in these man pages, contact +Luther Huffman at lutherh@stratcom.com and we'll try to +answer them. + +=head2 Invoking Perl + +Perl is invoked from the command line as described in +L<perl>. Most perl scripts, however, do have a first line +such as "#!/usr/local/bin/perl". This is known as a shebang +(shell-bang) statement and tells the OS shell where to find +the perl interpreter. In Plan 9 Perl this statement should be +"#!/bin/perl" if you wish to be able to directly invoke the +script by its name. + Alternatively, you may invoke perl with the command "Perl" +instead of "perl". This will produce Acme-friendly error +messages of the form "filename:18". + +Some scripts, usually identified with a *.PL extension, are +self-configuring and are able to correctly create their own +shebang path from config information located in Plan 9 +Perl. These you won't need to be worried about. + +=head2 What's in Plan 9 Perl + +Although Plan 9 Perl currently only provides static +loading, it is built with a number of useful extensions. +These include Opcode, FileHandle, Fcntl, and POSIX. Expect +to see others (and DynaLoading!) in the future. + +=head2 What's not in Plan 9 Perl + +As mentioned previously, dynamic loading isn't currently +available nor is MakeMaker. Both are high-priority items. + +=head2 Perl5 Functions not currently supported in Plan 9 Perl + +Some, such as C<chown> and C<umask> aren't provided +because the concept does not exist within Plan 9. Others, +such as some of the socket-related functions, simply +haven't been written yet. Many in the latter category +may be supported in the future. + +The functions not currently implemented include: + + chown, chroot, dbmclose, dbmopen, getsockopt, + setsockopt, recvmsg, sendmsg, getnetbyname, + getnetbyaddr, getnetent, getprotoent, getservent, + sethostent, setnetent, setprotoent, setservent, + endservent, endnetent, endprotoent, umask + +There may be several other functions that have undefined +behavior so this list shouldn't be considered complete. + +=head2 Signals in Plan 9 Perl + +For compatibility with perl scripts written for the Unix +environment, Plan 9 Perl uses the POSIX signal emulation +provided in Plan 9's ANSI POSIX Environment (APE). Signal stacking +isn't supported. The signals provided are: + + SIGHUP, SIGINT, SIGQUIT, SIGILL, SIGABRT, + SIGFPE, SIGKILL, SIGSEGV, SIGPIPE, SIGPIPE, SIGALRM, + SIGTERM, SIGUSR1, SIGUSR2, SIGCHLD, SIGCONT, + SIGSTOP, SIGTSTP, SIGTTIN, SIGTTOU + +=head1 COMPILING AND INSTALLING PERL ON PLAN 9 + +WELCOME to Plan 9 Perl, brave soul! + + This is a preliminary alpha version of Plan 9 Perl. Still to be +implemented are MakeMaker and DynaLoader. Many perl commands are +missing or currently behave in an inscrutable manner. These gaps will, +with perseverance and a modicum of luck, be remedied in the near +future.To install this software: + +1. Create the source directories and libraries for perl by running the +plan9/setup.rc command (i.e., located in the plan9 subdirectory). +Note: the setup routine assumes that you haven't dearchived these +files into /sys/src/cmd/perl. After running setup.rc you may delete +the copy of the source you originally detarred, as source code has now +been installed in /sys/src/cmd/perl. If you plan on installing perl +binaries for all architectures, run "setup.rc -a". + +2. After making sure that you have adequate privileges to build system +software, from /sys/src/cmd/perl/5.00301 (adjust version +appropriately) run: + + mk install + +If you wish to install perl versions for all architectures (68020, +mips, sparc and 386) run: + + mk installall + +3. Wait. The build process will take a *long* time because perl +bootstraps itself. A 75MHz Pentium, 16MB RAM machine takes roughly 30 +minutes to build the distribution from scratch. + +=head2 Installing Perl Documentation on Plan 9 + +This perl distribution comes with a tremendous amount of +documentation. To add these to the built-in manuals that come with +Plan 9, from /sys/src/cmd/perl/5.00301 (adjust version appropriately) +run: + + mk man + +To begin your reading, start with: + + man perl + +This is a good introduction and will direct you towards other man +pages that may interest you. + +(Note: "mk man" may produce some extraneous noise. Fear not.) + +=head1 BUGS + +"As many as there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the +world . . ." - Carl Sagan + +=head1 Revision date + +This document was revised 09-October-1996 for Perl 5.003_7. + +=head1 AUTHOR + +Direct questions, comments, and the unlikely bug report (ahem) direct +comments toward: + +Luther Huffman, lutherh@stratcom.com, +Strategic Computer Solutions, Inc. |