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The graphical interface to PerlApp provides full PerlApp functionality via a
graphical front end.
The drop-down menus are used to save and load project files containing PerlApp
configuration details, and to set default display properties.
- New
-
To return the settings on each of the tabs to their default state, select
File|New. If there is an open project, it is closed.
- Open Project
-
To load a previously saved PerlApp project, select File|Open Project.
Project files are created via the Save Project or Save Project As menu
items, and have a
.perlapp extension. When opening a project, all
configuration items are set according to the configuration saved in the project
file.
- Open Script
-
To load a Perl script without an associated configuration, select File|Open
Script.
- Save Project
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To save the current configuration, select File|Save Project. The project
file is updated with recent changes.
- Save Project As
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If the current configuration was loaded from a project file, use File|Save
Project As to save the project to a new filename. If a Perl script was opened,
use File|Save Project As to create a new project file for it.
- Make Executable
-
This generates the output executable in the same manner as clicking the Make
Executable button on the Output tab.
- Recent Files
-
This provides shortcuts for opening recently visited projects and scripts.
- Exit
-
To close PerlApp, select File|Exit.
- Source Line Context
-
On the Files tab, when a module is selected, context information from the
program or module that
uses or requires the module is displayed in the
right pane. The Source Line Context setting determines the number of context
lines from the calling source file that are displayed.
- Line Numbers
-
On the Files tab, when a module is selected, the lines that are relevant to
the script dependencies are numbered.
- Wrapped Output Lines
-
If this option is enabled, information about the build process displayed in the
Output field of the Output tab is wrapped. Otherwise, long lines generate
a scroll bar.
- Contents
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Display the PerlApp reference.
- Describe Current Tab
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Display usage help for the tab that is currently displayed.
- PDK User Guide
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Display the user guide in a new browser window.
- Web Resources
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Click a submenu item to report a bug in the Perl Dev Kit section of
ActiveState's bug database, or to visit the Perl Dev Kit, ActivePerl, or
ActiveState home pages.
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- About PerlApp
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Display copyright, license and version information.
The tabs (Main, Files, Size, Options 1, Options 2, Version,
Output) are used to configure build information for the output executable.
The tabs are described individually below.
The Main tab is used to specify the source script and configure general
parameters for the project.
- Project
-
Specify the PerlApp project by clicking the folder button to browse the
filesystem.
- Script
-
Specify the source Perl script by clicking the folder button to browse the
filesystem.
-
This option corresponds to the --script scriptname command-line option.
- Executable
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Specify a name and directory location for the output file. By default, this
field is populated with the name of the input Script file (with an
.exe
extension on Windows) and is stored in the build directory. Click the 'browse'
button to specify a different filename or path, or manually enter the path
and/or name in the Executable field.
-
This option corresponds to the --exe filename command-line option.
- Build directory
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The output directory for the generated executable. All relative filenames and
paths are resolved from this location. Click the 'browse' button to navigate to
a different location.
- Perl
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The location of the Perl executable. Click the 'browse' button to specify a
different filename or path.
The Module Search Path field displays the directories and libraries that are
searched for modules used by the application. The default Perl search path
directories are always at the end of the search path, and cannot be deleted.
To add directories or libraries to the search path, click Add. Specify the
desired directory or file in the Path field, or click the 'browse' button to
select a directory or file via file system navigation. Select Blib search to
specify modules stored in 'MakeMaker'-style directory structures; for example,
modules containing C code that must be compiled, rather than pure Perl modules.
Select Shared executable to look for modules from a prebuilt library file.
 Additions to the module search path are added to the beginning of the list. To
alter the search order, either Edit an existing entry or delete and re-add
directories in the desired order. The Edit button is also used to toggle the
Blib search status for a directory. To remove a directory or file, select
the desired directory and click Delete.
The keyboard keys can also be used to navigate, add, edit and delete entries.
The Insert key brings up the 'add' dialog box. The Enter key brings up
the 'edit' dialog box for the currently selected entry. The Delete key
deletes the currently selected entry.
These options correspond to the --lib libpath, --blib libpath and
--use libname command-line options.
The Files tab is used to view, add and remove components from the output
executable. Component types are organized into 'containers' in the left pane;
the right pane displays information about the item selected in the left pane.
Click top-level component containers ('Script', 'Added modules', etc) to view a
description of the component type. Click individual items in component
containers to view information about specific components. For example, click a
module name in the 'Script' container to view the source of the module
reference, the relevant snippet of code, and links to a read-only display of
the relevant files.
 Each component type (described in individual sections below) has a
context-sensitive menu that is invoked by right-clicking. The context menus are
used for manipulating components. For example, right-click the Added modules
container to add a new module; right-click a specific module contained in the
'Script' container to remove a module, or to view a module's source code.
When a module name is red, it indicates that the module was not found in the
Module Search Path configured on the Main tab.
The source script specified on the Main tab is analyzed to determine its
'dependencies' - that is, the modules the source script requires, and modules
required by those modules. These modules are displayed in the 'Script'
container.
Right-click the 'Script' container to display a context menu with the following
options:
- View source script
-
This option displays a window containing a read-only version of the source file
specified on the Main tab.
- Rescan
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After editing the source script or a required module, use the Rescan option
to refresh the list of required modules.
- Expand 2 levels
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This option expands the first two levels of the module hierarchy.
- Open new script
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This option replaces the file specified in the Script field on the Main
tab with the selected file. This has the same effect as selecting File|Open
Script from the main menu.
Required modules are displayed beneath the script container in a hierarchical
structure, with module dependencies nested under the modules that require them.
Right-click a specific module to display a context menu with the following
options:
- View module
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Select this option to display a read-only window containing the source code for
the selected module.
- Trim module
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To remove a module from the list of modules to be included in the output
executable, select Trim module. The module is added to the Module trim
list on the Size tab.
- Trim all prefix
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To remove all modules with the same prefix as the current module, select Trim
all prefix. An entry is added to the Module trim list on the Size
tab.
-
This menu entry is only available if there are other modules included with a
module name prefix shared with the current module.
- Expand 2 levels
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This option expands the first two levels of the module hierarchy beneath the
module where it was invoked.
The Added modules container stores modules that are manually added to the
project. Modules must be manually added if the PerlApp dependency checker fails
to recognize that they are required. Right-click Added modules to display a
context menu with the following options:
- Add module
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Specify the desired modules in the standard format, such as
IO::Socket.
PerlApp automatically tries to fix case mismatches.
- Emtpy added modules
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To remove all modules in the Added modules container, select Emtpy added
modules from the context menu.
The added modules displayed directly beneath the Added modules container
will have the context menu entry Remove module from added modules instead
of the Trim... entries described for the modules under the Script
container. Select this entry to get rid of added modules one by one.
The Added modules container corresponds to the --add modules
command-line option.
To include additional files in the output executable (accessed via the
PerlApp::get_bound_file() and PerlApp::extract_bound_file() functions),
use the Bound files container.
The Bound files container corresponds to the --bind file command-line
option.
Right-click to display a context menu containing the following options:
- Add bound file
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Clicking this command displays a dialog box with options for specifying
additional files to include in the executable. This dialog have the following
fields:
- Filename
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Specify the name under which the file is to be bound. This is the name that
should be passed to the
PerlApp::get_bound_file() and
PerlApp::extract_bound_file() functions.
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Alternatively, use the Browse button in the Source panel to select a file
from the file sytem. Once a file is selected, its basename automatically
appears in the Filename field.
- Source
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If File is selected, specify the file to read content from and whether it
will be read in text mode. Use the Browse button to find the file on the
file system; use the View button to view the contents of the selected file.
Alternatively, select Data to pass in a data string that will be included
directly as the file content.
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These settings correspond to the --bind command's file, data and
text arguments.
- Extract
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Configure whether the bound file should be automatically extracted when the
application is run, or if invoking
PerlApp::get_bound_file() or
PerlApp::extract_bound_file() is needed to obtain the file.
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This setting corresponds to the --bind command's extract argument.
- Permissions
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Configure the permissions assigned to the file when it is extracted from the
executable.
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This setting corresponds to the --bind command's mode argument.
- Empty bound files
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To remove all files in the Bound files container, select Emtpy bound
files from the context menu.
Use the Icon sources container to specify icon files to include in the
output application. This container is only applicable in PerlApp for Windows.
Right-click for a context menu with the following options:
- Add Icon Source
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Use this option to select icon files to include in the output application.
- Remove icons
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Use this option to remove all icon files.
This setting corresponds to the --icon command-line option.
PerlApp can be instructed to scan extra scripts so that their dependent modules
are included in the generated control. Right-click for a context menu with the
following options:
- Add Scanned Scripts
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Selecting this option displays a dialog box used to specify one or more scanned
scripts.
- Remove Scanned Scripts
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Use this option to remove all scanned scripts.
Some core modules are required implicitly by the use of specific code
constructs. These modules are listed in the Implicit modules container.
Right-click to access this option:
- Expand 2 levels
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This option expands the first two levels of the module hierarchy.
The Size tab contains options that can be used to affect the size of the
output executable.
- Make dependent executable
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A 'dependent' executable can only be run on systems where Perl and any required
modules (as applicable) are already installed. Modules included from
directories specified in the Module Search Path field on the Main tab or
explictily added on the File tab are included regardless of this setting.
-
This option corresponds to the --dependent and --freestanding
command-line options.
- Exclude perl*.dll from executable
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If perl56.dll, perl58.dll, or perl510.dll is installed on the system
where the application is run, it can be excluded from the output executable.
This option is only applicable to PerlApp for Windows.
-
This option corresponds to the --xclude command-line option.
- Don't compress files in executable
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If the contents of the output executable are compressed, the executable will be
smaller but may run less quickly because components must be decompressed before
they are parsed.
-
This option corresponds to the --nocompress command-line option.
The Module Trim List is used to specify modules that should be excluded from
the output executable.
To add a module or sub-modules to the list, click Add. Specify the name of
the module in the Module field. Select the appropriate option button to
include the Specified module only, Specified module and sub-modules,
Sub-modules one level down only, or Sub-modules only. Use the Edit and
Remove buttons to change or delete existing list items.
The keyboard keys can also be used to navigate, add, edit and delete entries.
The Insert key displays the 'add' dialog box. The Enter key displays the
'edit' dialog box for the currently selected entry. The Delete key deletes
the currently selected entry.
This option corresponds to the --trim modules command-line option.
To create a debug application, specify debugging parameters as described below.
- Select debugger
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From the drop-down list, select the debugger that you want to use. None
creates a normal, as opposed to debuggable, application. PDK Debugger uses
the graphical debugger included with the Perl Dev Kit. Remote PDK Debugger
uses an instance of the Perl Dev Kit debugger installed on a different machine.
Use Custom to specify an alternate debugger, such as Komodo's Perl debugger.
The defaults in the Host and Port fields vary according to which option
is selected.
- Host
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For debugging with a local instance of the PDK debugger, specify '127.0.0.1'.
To debug the application with an instance of the PDK debugger running on a
remote machine, specify the hostname of the remote machine, and the port on
which the remote debugging instance is 'listening'. To use a 'custom' debugger,
refer to the debugger's documentation for connection information.
- Port
-
The default debug port for the Perl Dev Kit is '2000'.
These options correspond to the --debug host:port command-line option.
The temporary directory is used by the executable to store temporary files
extracted from the executable.
- Specify Temporary Directory
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Select Use default temporary directory to use the temporary directory
identified as the system's default according to the
TEMP (Windows) or
TMPDIR (Unix) environment variable. Select Use custom temporary directory
to specify an alternate directory for storing temporary files.
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This option corresponds to the --tmpdir path command-line option.
- Clean Up Temporary Files
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To automatically delete temporary files after the application terminates,
select Clean up temporary files when the executable terminates.
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This option corresponds to the --clean command-line option.
Select the Use run library option to specify an external directory relative
to the executable used to look up additional modules and DLLs at runtime. The
default is to Use no run library.
These options correspond to the --runlib and --norunlib command-line
options.
The generated executable can be shared so that other executables can make use
of its modules and bound files. The default does not share the generated
executable, but you can choose to share it only with executables generated by
your own PDK license or with all other executables.
These options correspond to the --shared command-line option.
- Don't print version and copyright info
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If this option is selected, version and copyright information are not displayed
in the Output tab.
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This option corresponds to the --nologo command-line option.
- Verbose logging during run
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If this option is enabled, the Output tab displays more information as the
application is built.
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This option corresponds to the --verbose command-line option.
- Overwrite executable if already exists
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Select this option to prevent PerlApp from asking whether existing output files
should be overwritten by new builds. If this option is not enabled, you will be
prompted to confirm the overwrite when building the output executable.
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This option corresponds to the --force command-line option.
- Use the in-memory dynamic DLL-loader at runtime
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Select this option to have PerlApp use an internal library loader to load
libraries directly into the process space without writing them to a temporary
directory. This avoids cluttering the hard disk with temporary files, prevents
problems that could arise when two applications try to extract the same file at
the same time, and improves application security.
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This option corresponds to the --dyndll command-line option.
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This option is MS-Windows specific. On other systems it is ignored.
- Hide console (GUI executable)
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To build a standalone application that does not open a console window, select
this option. This option is only applicable to PerlApp for Windows.
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This option corresponds to the --gui command-line option.
Use the Version tab to configure the information that is displayed to users
when they view the properties of the output executable. This tab is only
applicable to PerlApp for Windows.
This option corresponds to the --info name = val ; ... command-line
option.
The Output tab is used to generate the output application according to the
specifications on the other tabs. The command string (corresponding to the
command-line version of PerlApp) is displayed in the PerlApp Command Line
field. Click the Make executable button to generate the application; build
messages are displayed in the Output field. The verbosity of output is
determined by the Verbose logging during run setting on the Options 2
tab.
If the executable was generated, then the Output field will have a link that
can be used to test or debug the generated executable. This starts the
executable without any command-line arguments. If arguments must be provided,
start the executable from the command line.
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