Installing modules

Hi,

I'm looking for a tutorial that will tell me how to install perl modules
into my webspace. If possible, it should be aimed at a total perl beginner.

Any pointers?

Thanks.

Re: Installing modules

"David H" writes:
> I'm looking for a tutorial that will tell me how to install perl modules
> into my webspace. If possible, it should be aimed at a total perl beginner.

Your hosting provider is likely to have more specific information than
any of us could give (especially what libraries are available, and
what directories you have available to put modules in), but you
probably still want to look at

perldoc -q 'own module'

for some generally useful tips on how to install Perl modules into
nonstandard locations.

-=Eric

Re: Installing modules

Eric Schwartz wrote in message
news:eto4qa4898t.fsf@wilson.emschwar...
> "David H" writes:
> > I'm looking for a tutorial that will tell me how to install perl modules
> > into my webspace. If possible, it should be aimed at a total perl
beginner.
>
> Your hosting provider is likely to have more specific information than
> any of us could give (especially what libraries are available, and
> what directories you have available to put modules in), but you
> probably still want to look at
>
> perldoc -q 'own module'
>
> for some generally useful tips on how to install Perl modules into
> nonstandard locations.
>
> -=Eric

Eric, thanks for the reply.

I asked my hoster, but I have no knowledge of perl and little of UNIX and
the answer meant nothing to me:

"You can set @INC to include your current directory. Perhaps...

unshift @INC, "/home/me/perl/lib/";

use MyModule.pl"

I found what looked like a useful tutorial on unpacking and installing
modules at http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?topic=perlmodinstall, but got
stymied when it said "Decompress the file with gzip -d yourmodule.tar.gz
You can get gzip from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/". Gzip seems to be a
compressed file itself, so I interpreted this (doubtless incorrectly) as
meaning I had to unzip a file which would allow me to unzip files.

I suspect with my level of knowledge I have two options - go away and learn
UNIX and perl, or throw my computer out the window. The latter would be most
fun, as far as I can make out.

Re: Installing modules

"David H" writes:

> I asked my hoster, but I have no knowledge of perl and little of UNIX and
> the answer meant nothing to me:
>
> "You can set @INC to include your current directory. Perhaps...
>
> unshift @INC, "/home/me/perl/lib/";
>
> use MyModule.pl"

With all due respect, it sounds to me like you're attempting to run before
you've even learned to walk.

What module do you want to use? Have you even looked to see if it's already
installed?

> I found what looked like a useful tutorial on unpacking and installing
> modules at http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?topic=perlmodinstall, but got
> stymied when it said "Decompress the file with gzip -d yourmodule.tar.gz
> You can get gzip from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/".

That's where you can get gzip *if you need to*. Haven't you looked at your
server to see if gzip's already there? Frankly, I'd be astonished if it's not.

> I suspect with my level of knowledge I have two options - go away and learn
> UNIX and perl

You don't necessarily have to "go away" - but you do need to take things in a
logical progression, beginning with the easy stuff and moving on to the more
difficult stuff once you're ready.

Installing Perl modules and/or Perl itself isn't rocket surgery. But I wouldn't
recommend it for a complete beginner either - you do need to be comfortable
with at least the bare basics of using Perl and your OS.

sherm--

--
Cocoa programming in Perl: http://camelbones.sourceforge.net
Hire me! My resume: http://www.dot-app.org

Re: Installing modules

"David H" writes:
> I asked my hoster, but I have no knowledge of perl and little of UNIX and
> the answer meant nothing to me:

I don't say this to be flippant or rude, but if your job requires you
to do tasks like this with Perl, you really ought to spend some time
to learn it. You don't have to "go away" to learn it, but your
problems sound much like those of a soi-disant trapeeze artist who
still hasn't mastered tumbling.

> "You can set @INC to include your current directory. Perhaps...
>
> unshift @INC, "/home/me/perl/lib/";
>
> use MyModule.pl"

To learn about @INC, read 'perldoc perlvar', and search for @INC. To
figure out how you should have known to check that in the first place,
read 'perldoc perl', which has a nice index of all the documentation
that perldoc can show you, and what they cover. Given your comments
about UNIX, I'm guessing you're running Windows; if you have
ActiveState Perl installed, they convert all those pages into HTML
files you can access from your Start menu.

> I found what looked like a useful tutorial on unpacking and installing
> modules at http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?topic=perlmodinstall, but got
> stymied when it said "Decompress the file with gzip -d yourmodule.tar.gz
> You can get gzip from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/". Gzip seems to be a
> compressed file itself, so I interpreted this (doubtless incorrectly) as
> meaning I had to unzip a file which would allow me to unzip files.

Most Unix or Unix-like systems, including Linux and the various *BSDs,
include gzip by default. That line is just there in case you're on a
particularly weird one, which you probably aren't. Anyhow, only two
of the 7 available packages of gzip available from prep right now are
compressed.

> I suspect with my level of knowledge I have two options - go away and learn
> UNIX and perl, or throw my computer out the window. The latter would be most
> fun, as far as I can make out.

Have you considered hiring a consultant, if this is for work, or
bribing one (beer and food are usual in this context), if it's for
personal use? Why are you installing Perl modules if you don't want
to learn/use Perl?

-=Eric

Re: Installing modules

Eric Schwartz wrote in message
news:etovf2k6oy0.fsf@wilson.emschwar...
> "David H" writes:
> > I asked my hoster, but I have no knowledge of perl and little of UNIX
and
> > the answer meant nothing to me:
>
> I don't say this to be flippant or rude, but if your job requires you
> to do tasks like this with Perl, you really ought to spend some time
> to learn it. You don't have to "go away" to learn it, but your
> problems sound much like those of a soi-disant trapeeze artist who
> still hasn't mastered tumbling.

Yup, I think you're right. It's not for work though - I'm trying to grab the
news releases from the European Union website and convert them to RSS with a
script I found. Why? Because they ought to have RSS by now, and they
haven't, so I thought I'd apply a bit of self-help...

>
> > "You can set @INC to include your current directory. Perhaps...
> >
> > unshift @INC, "/home/me/perl/lib/";
> >
> > use MyModule.pl"
>
> To learn about @INC, read 'perldoc perlvar', and search for @INC. To
> figure out how you should have known to check that in the first place,
> read 'perldoc perl', which has a nice index of all the documentation
> that perldoc can show you, and what they cover.

Thanks for these pointers. I'll do as you suggest.

> Given your comments
> about UNIX, I'm guessing you're running Windows; if you have
> ActiveState Perl installed, they convert all those pages into HTML
> files you can access from your Start menu.

Great stuff.

>
> > I found what looked like a useful tutorial on unpacking and installing
> > modules at http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?topic=perlmodinstall, but
got
> > stymied when it said "Decompress the file with gzip -d yourmodule.tar.gz
> > You can get gzip from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/". Gzip seems to be
a
> > compressed file itself, so I interpreted this (doubtless incorrectly) as
> > meaning I had to unzip a file which would allow me to unzip files.
>
> Most Unix or Unix-like systems, including Linux and the various *BSDs,
> include gzip by default. That line is just there in case you're on a
> particularly weird one, which you probably aren't. Anyhow, only two
> of the 7 available packages of gzip available from prep right now are
> compressed.
>
> > I suspect with my level of knowledge I have two options - go away and
learn
> > UNIX and perl, or throw my computer out the window. The latter would be
most
> > fun, as far as I can make out.
>
> Have you considered hiring a consultant, if this is for work, or
> bribing one (beer and food are usual in this context), if it's for
> personal use? Why are you installing Perl modules if you don't want
> to learn/use Perl?

Well, I'll learn it if I have to. But the beer and food option sounds more
efficient for what I'm trying to do.

Thanks again, Eric.

Re: Installing modules

Sherm Pendley wrote in message
news:m2wtn0p02w.fsf@Sherm-Pendleys-Computer.local...
> "David H" writes:
>
> > I asked my hoster, but I have no knowledge of perl and little of UNIX
and
> > the answer meant nothing to me:
> >
> > "You can set @INC to include your current directory. Perhaps...
> >
> > unshift @INC, "/home/me/perl/lib/";
> >
> > use MyModule.pl"
>
> With all due respect, it sounds to me like you're attempting to run before
> you've even learned to walk.
>
> What module do you want to use? Have you even looked to see if it's
already
> installed?
>
> > I found what looked like a useful tutorial on unpacking and installing
> > modules at http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?topic=perlmodinstall, but
got
> > stymied when it said "Decompress the file with gzip -d yourmodule.tar.gz
> > You can get gzip from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/".
>
> That's where you can get gzip *if you need to*. Haven't you looked at your
> server to see if gzip's already there? Frankly, I'd be astonished if it's
not.

OK. I'll go have a look.

>
> > I suspect with my level of knowledge I have two options - go away and
learn
> > UNIX and perl
>
> You don't necessarily have to "go away" - but you do need to take things
in a
> logical progression, beginning with the easy stuff and moving on to the
more
> difficult stuff once you're ready.
>
> Installing Perl modules and/or Perl itself isn't rocket surgery. But I
wouldn't
> recommend it for a complete beginner either - you do need to be
comfortable
> with at least the bare basics of using Perl and your OS.
>
> sherm--

There are three modules - LWP::Simple, HTML::TokeParser, and XML::RSS. As
far as I can work out, they're not installed.

Thanks Sherm.

Re: Installing modules

i would advise you to use google is your friend
and you can find what you looking for at
http://cpan.org/modules/INSTALL.html

http://learn.perl.org/library/beginning_perl/

"David H" wrote in message
news:42f3bed1$0$38037$bed64819@news.gradwell.net...
> Hi,
>
> I'm looking for a tutorial that will tell me how to install perl modules
> into my webspace. If possible, it should be aimed at a total perl
> beginner.
>
> Any pointers?
>
> Thanks.
>
>