Modules and sample scripts
ActivePerl-faq9 - Modules and sample scripts
General questions about using modules and scripts with ActivePerl
As of version 5.005, ActivePerl supports the MakeMaker utility. This allows
you to install modules from CPAN, but requires you to
have a make utility, such as nmake or dmake. Modules are generally distributed
in gzipped tar files, such as Data-Dumper-2.08.tar.gz.
However, ActivePerl includes the Perl Package Manager (PPM),
a utility that allows you to install modules, including modules that contain
binary extensions. You should consider using PPM to install a module, as this
greatly simplifies the management of modules.
Nevertheless, there are times when it is necessary to build a module from
source. Typically, an installation session goes something like this:
-
Extract the module. This creates a directory based on the name of the
archive.
gzip -d -c Data-Dumper-2.08.tar.gz | tar xvf -
-
Change directory to the module's directory.
cd Data-Dumper-2.08
-
Consult the README file.
more < README
-
Run the Makefile.PL script. This uses the MakeMaker module to
build a makefile you can build the extension with.
perl Makefile.PL
-
Run your make utility. This prepares the module for installation, and
compiles any extension if one is present.
nmake
-
If this module has tests, run them.
nmake test
-
If the tests succeeded, install the module.
nmake install
See Where
can I find Win32 ports of UNIX tools? for information on the availability of
tools like gzip and tar.
Nmake is a 'make' like program for Win32 systems by Microsoft. It is included in several
Microsoft development tools (such as VisualStudio for .NET) and it is included in the
Shared Source Common Language Infrastructure 1.0 Release.
-
DBI, a Database Interface Module for Perl provides
a consistent interface for database application development. DBI
supports ODBC drivers as well as the native APIs of
certain databases, including Oracle. The DBI home
page is located at:
http://dbi.perl.org/
-
The ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) API
can be used with the Win32::OLE module. You can use ADO
to access any ODBC data source. The
Perl-Win32-Database FAQ includes some information on ADO:
http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Message/perl-win32-database/216463
The ADO home page is located at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/ado270/htm/dasdkadooverview.asp
-
There are a couple of extensions that have been developed to access
databases from ActivePerl. Win32::ODBC is widely popular, and is available
on CPAN and at this URL:
http://www.roth.net/perl/odbc/
-
The Sybperl module allows you to connect to Sybase SQL
Server (and possibly Microsoft SQL Server). The
Sybperl home page, which includes links to binary releases of Sybperl, is
located at:
http://www.peppler.org/freeware/sybperl.html
If you choose to use a database API that depends on ODBC,
you must have an ODBC driver for the DBMS
you're using. You will need to configure a data source for that driver on each
machine that needs to access the database. For more information on ODBC
and how to configure a data source, check the ODBC
Control Panel help.
Some DBMSes, such as Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL
Server, can be controlled through OLE Automation (see the
next question). See the product documentation for details.
Yes. See the documentation for the Win32::OLE module, which is included with
Perl. You can use Win32::OLE to control a wide range of Win32 applications and
APIs, including ADO.
After reading the documentation, you can read the FAQ
on using OLE.
You should use Win32::OLE to access this API. See
question Is there a way to use OLE
Automation servers from my Perl script? and consult the DAO
documentation.
If you need to send Internet mail, you should use Net::SMTP, Mail::Sender, or
Mail::Sendmail. For more information on these modules, see How
do I send email from ActivePerl?.
You can use the Win32::OLE module to create an instance of a MAPI
session and send a message. In order for this to work, you must have messaging
configured correctly on your machine. If you are using Microsoft Exchange,
chances are this will work fine.
If you need to send Internet mail, you should use Net::SMTP. For more
information on Net::SMTP, see How
do I send email from ActivePerl?. Here is an example script that sends mail
using MAPI:
# Sender's Name and Password
#
my $sender = "YOUR NAME HERE";
my $passwd = "YOUR PASSWORD HERE";
# Create a new MAPI Session
#
use Win32::OLE;
$session = Win32::OLE->new("MAPI.Session")
or die "Could not create a new MAPI Session: $!";
# Attempt to log on.
#
my $err = $session->Logon($sender, $passwd);
if ($err) {
die "Logon failed: $!";
}
# Add a new message to the Outbox.
#
$msg = $session->Outbox->Messages->Add();
# Add the recipient.
#
$rcpt = $msg->Recipients->Add();
$rcpt->{Name} = "RECIPIENT NAME HERE";
$rcpt->Resolve();
# Create a subject and a body.
#
$msg->{Subject} = "Test Message";
$msg->{Text} = <<EOF;
This is a sample test message.
Cheers,
Mr. Email
EOF
# Send the message and log off.
#
$msg->Update();
$msg->Send(0, 0, 0);
$session->Logoff();
Yes, there is. SDBM_File is a free clone of DBM, and
is implemented and distributed with the ActivePerl distribution. You can use it
as follows:
use SDBM_File;
use Fcntl;
tie( %myhash, "SDBM_File", 'myfile', O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_BINARY, 0666 )
or die( "Can't tie: $!" );
$myhash{"bibim"} = "bap";
untie( %myhash );
After the DBM file is tied, you can use it just like
any other hash.
As of the Perl Resource Kit for Win32, the Tk library has been successfully
ported to ActivePerl. Tk version 8xx and above also now has the look and feel of
Windows programs, and not the old UNIX look of previous
versions.
You can also use the Win32::GUI module which also allows for GUI's to be
made/manipulated using Perl. This module uses the standard Windows widgets to
give the look and feel of Windows programs.
For Perl Tk information, go to http://www.perltk.org/
For Win32::GUI, go to http://dada.perl.it
Win32::MsgBox allows for a fast and easy way to display a
Windows message box, for example:
use Win32;
MsgBox("Test", "This is a test", 48);
# display a message box with an exclamation mark and an 'Ok' button
sub MsgBox {
my ($caption, $message, $icon_buttons) = @_;
my @return = qw/- Ok Cancel Abort Retry Ignore Yes
No/;
my $result = Win32::MsgBox($message, $icon_buttons,
$caption);
return $return[$result];
}
The last value, $icon_buttons, is the sum of two values, the value for the
icon and the value for the buttons. For example, if you need a message box with
a question mark and the 'Ok' and 'Cancel' buttons the value you want is 32
(question mark) + 1 (Ok, Cancel) = 39. The values are listed here:
Icons:
0 - no icon
16 - Hand
32 - Question
48 - Exclamation
64 - Asterisk
Buttons:
0 - Ok
1 - Ok, Cancel
2 - Abort, Retry, Ignore
3 - Yes, No, Cancel
4 - Yes, No
5 - Retry, Cancel
Oraperl is available as an emulation layer on top of DBD::Oracle. Oraperl is
included with the DBD::Oracle distribution. Because the DBI interface is
evolving, the Oraperl emulation layer is recommended because its API is fairly stable.
Patches are available for DBD::Oracle that allow it to build on Windows. More
information is available at:
http://search.cpan.org/~pythian/DBD-Oracle-1.19/Oraperl.pm
Along with the standard library files, there are several Win32-specific
modules that are distributed with ActivePerl. These include:
These are documented on the Win32mod documentation page. There are also a
number of subs built into the Win32 package, namely:
No longer included in the Win32 module:
Modules for ActivePerl are available on CPAN
(Comprehensive Perl Archive Network), a Perl archive that's mirrored around the
world. To find your nearest mirror, check here:
http://mirrors.cpan.org/
(Note that this will send you to your nearest mirror automagically. Cool,
huh?)
CPAN is the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a collection of pretty much
every file you could ever want for Perl programming. The original archive is in
Finland, but it is mirrored on FTP servers throughout the
world.
You can connect to your closest CPAN mirror using the CPAN
redirector at http://www.perl.com. The
following URL:
http://www.perl.com/CPAN/
will redirect your browser to the nearest CPAN mirror
(one on your continent and maybe only a few hops away). This URL
http://mirrors.cpan.org/
lets you pick a CPAN mirror site yourself, as well as
giving a little more information.
CPAN is good for finding ActivePerl distributions as
well as modules and scripts. However, read
How can I use modules from CPAN?
for more information.
In general, there aren't any library modules to read or write application
files, like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, WordPerfect,
Lotus 1-2-3, etc.
However, many if not most major Windows applications now support OLE
Automation. You can use the OLE Automation support of
Microsoft Office applications to read and write their file formats, for example.
See the documentation on your application for information on its support for OLE
Automation. See Is there a way to
use OLE Automation servers from my Perl script? for more information.
As a special case, many database files, like Microsoft Access, FoxPro, dBase
or Paradox files, can be accessed using ODBC (Open
DataBase Connectivity). See How do I
access databases from my Perl script? for details on how to use ODBC with
ActivePerl.
This FAQ was originally assembled and maintained by Evangelo Prodromou. It
has been revised and updated by Brian Jepson of O'Reilly & Associates, David
Grove and David Dmytryshyn of ActiveState, Henning Michael Møller-Nielsen of
RTO, Kevin Meltzer and David Sparks of ActiveState.
This FAQ is in the public domain. If you use it,
however, please ensure that you give credit to the original authors.
ActivePerl FAQ - Modules and sample scripts
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