Languguage OS 2/Languguage OS II Version 10-94 (Knowledge Media)(1994).ISO/a_utils/perl/msds-prl/ptchds19.zoo/README_msdos

Text File | 1992-02-23 | 19KB | 475 lines

MS-DOS patches to perl.
Apply this patch to the standard perl source, version 4, patch level 19,
using "patch -p."  Do this in the root directory of the perl source
distribution.

You can cat all these patches together and pipe the output to patch -p.

Len Reed
Holos Software, Inc.
..!gatech!holos0!lbr
holos0![e-mail]
--------------------------------------
*** msdos/README.msdos.old    Wed Apr 17 17:16:58 1991
--- msdos/README.msdos    Sun Feb 23 10:52:04 1992
***************
*** 1,195 ****
!            Notes on the MS-DOS Perl port

-             Diomidis Spinellis
-              ([e-mail])

! [0. First copy the files in the msdos directory into the parent
! directory--law]

! 1.  Compiling.

-      Perl has been compiled under MS-DOS using the Microsoft
- C  compiler  version 5.1.  Before compiling install dir.h as
- <sys/dir.h>.  You will need a Unix-like make  program  (e.g.
- pdmake) and something like yacc (e.g. bison).  You could get
- away by running yacc and dry running make on  a  Unix  host,
- but  I  haven't tried it.  Compilation takes 12 minutes on a
- 20MHz 386 machine (together with formating the  manual),  so
- you  will probably need something to do in the meantime. The
- executable is 272k and the top level directory needs 1M  for
- sources  and  about the same ammount for the object code and
- the executables.

!      The makefile will compile glob for you which  you  will
! need  to  place somewhere in your path so that perl globbing
! will work correctly.  I have not tried all the tests or  the
! examples,  nor the awk and sed to Perl translators.  You are
! on your own with them.  In the eg directory I have  included
! an  example  program  that uses ioctl to display the charac-
! teristics of the storage devices of the system.

- 2.  Using MS-DOS Perl

!      The MS-DOS version of perl has most of the  functional-
! ity of the Unix version.  Functions that can not be provided
! under  MS-DOS  like  sockets,  password  and  host  database
! access,  fork  and wait have been ommited and will terminate
! with a fatal error.  Care has been taken  to  implement  the
! rest.   In particular directory access, redirection (includ-
! ing pipes, but excluding the pipe function),  system,  ioctl
! and sleep have been provided.

! [Files currently can be edited in-place provided you are cre-
! ating  a  backup.   However, if the backup coincidentally has
! the same name as the original, or  if  the  resulting  backup
! filename  is invalid, then the file will probably be trashed.
! For example, don't do

!     perl -i~ script makefile
!     perl -i.bak script file.dat

! because  (1)  MS-DOS treats "makefile~" and "makefile" as the
! same filename, and (2) "file.dat.bak" is an invalid filename.
! The  files  "makefile"  and  "file.dat" will probably be lost
! forever.  Moral of the story:   Don't  use  in-place  editing
! under MS-DOS. --rjc]

! 2.1.  Interface to the MS-DOS ioctl system call.

-      The function code of the  ioctl  function  (the  second
- argument) is encoded as follows:

! - The lowest nibble of the function code goes to AL.
! - The two middle nibbles go to CL.
! - The high nibble goes to CH.

!      The return code is -1 in the case of an  error  and  if
! successful:

! - for functions AL = 00, 09, 0a the value of the register DX
! - for functions AL = 02 - 08, 0e the value of the register AX
! - for functions AL = 01, 0b - 0f the number 0.

!      See the perl manual for instruction on how  to  distin-
! guish between the return value and the success of ioctl.

!      Some ioctl functions need a number as the  first  argu-
! ment.   Provided  that  no  other files have been opened the
! number  can  be   obtained   if   ioctl   is   called   with
! @fdnum[number]  as  the  first  argument after executing the
! following code:

!         @fdnum = ("STDIN", "STDOUT", "STDERR");
!         $maxdrives = 15;
!         for ($i = 3; $i < $maxdrives; $i++) {
!                 open("FD$i", "nul");
!                 @fdnum[$i - 1] = "FD$i";
!         }

! 2.2.  Binary file access

!      Files are opened in text mode by default.   This  means
! that  CR LF pairs are translated to LF.  If binary access is
! needed the `binary'  function  should  be  used.   There  is
! currently  no  way to reverse the effect of the binary func-
! tion.  If that is needed close and reopen the file.

- 2.3.  Interpreter startup.

!      The effect of the Unix #!/bin/perl interpreter  startup
! can  be  obtained  under  MS-DOS by giving the script a .bat
! extension and using the following lines on its begining:

!         @REM=("
!         @perl %0.bat %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
!         @end ") if 0 ;

! (Note that you will probably want an absolute path name in
! front of %0.bat).

!                 March 1990

!                 Diomidis Spinellis <[e-mail]>
!                 Myrsinis 1
!                 GR-145 62 Kifissia
!                 Greece

! --------------------------------------------------------------------------

!     Revisions to the MS-DOS support in Perl 4.0
!     Tom Dinger, 18 March 1991

! The DOS compatibility added to Perl sometime in release 3.x was not
! maintained, and Perl as distributed could not be built without changes.

- Both myself and Len Reed more or less "rediscovered" how to get Perl built
- and running reliably for MS-DOS, using the Microsoft C compiler.  He and I
- have communicated, and will be putting together additional patches for the
- DOS version of Perl.

! 1. Compiling Perl

!     For now, I have not supplied a makefile, as there is no standard for
!     make utilities under DOS.  All the files can be compiled with Microsoft
!     C 5.1, using the switches "-AL -Ox" for Large memory model, maximum
!     optimization (this turned out a few code generation bugs in MSC 5.1).
!     The code will also compile with MSC 6.00A, with the optimization
!     "-Oacegils /Gs" for all files (regcomp.c has special case code to change
!     the aliasing optimizations).

!     Generally, you follow the instructions given above to compile and build
!     Perl 4.0 for DOS.  I used the output of SunOS yacc run on perly.y,
!     without modification, but I expect both Bison and Berkeley-YACC will work
!     also.  From inspection of the generated code, however, I believe AT&T
!     derived YACC produces the smallest tables, i.e. uses the least memory.
!     This is important for a 300K executable file.

! 2. Editing in-place.

!     You will need the file suffix.c from the os2 subdirectory -- it will
!     create a backup file with much less danger for DOS.

! 3. A "Smarter" chdir() function.

!     I have added to the DOS version of Perl 4.0 a replacement chdir()
!     function.  Unlike the "normal" behavior, it is aware of drive letters
!     at the start of paths for DOS.  So for example:

-     perl_chdir( "B:" )      changes to the default directory, on drive B:
-     perl_chdir( "C:\FOO" )  changes to the specified directory, on drive C:
-     perl_chdir( "\BAR" )    changes to the specified directory on the
-                             current drive.

! 4. *.BAT Scripts as Perl scripts

!     The strategy described above for turning a Perl script into a *.BAT
!     script do not work.  I have been using the following lines at the
!     beginning of a Perl *.BAT script:

!         @REM=(qq!
!         @perl -S %0.bat %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
!         @goto end !) if 0 ;

!     and the following at the end of the *.BAT script:

!         @REM=(qq!
!         :end !) if 0 ;

!     If you like, with the proper editor you can replace the four '!'
!     characters with some untypeable character, such as Ctrl-A.  This will
!     allow you to pass any characters, including ".." strings as arguments.

! 4. Things to Come

!      *  Better temporary file handling.
!      *  A real Makefile -- Len Reed has one for Dmake 3.6
!      *  Swapping code -- swaps most of Perl out of memory (to EMS, XMS or
!     disk) before running a sub-program or pipe.
!      *    MKS command line support, both into Perl, and to other programs
!     spawned by Perl.
!      *    Smarter pipe functions, not using COMMAND.COM.


!                     Tom Dinger
!                     [e-mail]
!                     Martch 18, 1991
--- 1,262 ----
!                       Notes on MS-DOS Perl
!                 Len Reed <holos0![e-mail]>
!                          September, 1991


! Note: the documentation relating to using MS-DOS perl has been
! incorporated into the main manual.  See the section below on the
! manual.

! Copying
! -------
! MS-DOS perl may be distributed under the terms of the Gnu public
! license or the artistic license.  You should have received copies
! of the files License and Artistic.


! Warranty
! --------
! This is free software.  It comes with no warranty of any kind.


! Obtaining the Source Code
! -------------------------

! The standard perl source may be obtained from numerous public
! archive sources, and is available for anonymous ftp from
! <jpl-devvax.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>.  The MS-DOS changes incorporated into
! this version are not yet publically available, but should be
! soon.

! Carriage-Return/Line-feed Fixup
! -------------------------------
! This package has been back and forth from Unix to MS-DOS many
! times.  If your MS-DOS text files, e.g., a manual or batch file,
! are missing the carriage returns, the following will insert them:

! a    perl -i.bak -pe ";" file [file ...]

! The ";" is a null perl script, the fixup is accomplished by
! reading a text file (which converts CR/LF ==> LF but passes LFs
! unmolested) and writing it (which converts LF==>CR/LF).


! Functionality
! -------------
! Several standard perl commands are not supported by MS-DOS perl
! for this simple reason that MS-DOS does not support many basic
! Unix functions like fork(), pipe(), and wait().  Use of these
! functions and many other like them will result in a fatal error.
! See the manual for details.  All text processing features are
! intact.

! The other limiting factor in using MS-DOS perl is memory.  The
! executable takes over 300 K-bytes before it starts calling
! malloc().  And it loves to call malloc().  You'll need 640K.  An
! 80286 with MS-DOS 5.0 running in high memory will help.  If you
! have an 80386 perl will find and use "upper memory" if available.
! (Refer to Microsoft's documentation on XMS and MS-DOS 5.0.)

! Subprocesses are always run to completion, since MS-DOS doesn't
! support multi-tasking.  Pipes are emulated by using temporary
! files.  MS-DOS perl can swap itself to disk (ideally a RAM disk
! in extended or expanded memory) so that the subprocess has space
! to run.

! MS-DOS perl is compatible with the MKS toolkit: it can pass and
! receive extended argument lists to/from MKS tools.

! To read and write binary files, use the binmode command.  (See
! the manual.)

! The chdir function has been enhanced to allow changing the drive
! and/or the directory.

! The Gnu version of dbm (gdbm) has been added to MS-DOS perl.

! The perl debugger works as described in the manual, but it takes
! a lot of memory, so you won't be able to use it to debug any
! complicated.  (Bit of a Catch-22, I'm afraid.)


! Things To Do
! ------------
! The globbing for non-MKS users is pretty bad: the Microsoft
! globbing routines are used, and they're pretty primitive.

! Some users have expressed an interest in 4DOS argument-passing
! compatibility.

! Network communication (sockets) is not implemented.  There's a
! need for a freely distributable sockets library that works with a
! variety of network cards.

! The exec() function is poorly implemented.  Without forks it's
! not too useful, and hence the considerable work required to make
! it function properly has been repeatedly put off.

! MS-DOS perl takes too much memory.  There's a lot of code that
! doesn't do anything useful under MS-DOS but that is nevertheless
! compiled in.

! I'm convinced that the exec-swapping code is not general enough
! for the worst case.  (That code was adapted from Dennis Vadura's
! dmake program.)  There may also be some memory leakage due to
! bugs in Microsoft's malloc library code.

! For the truly ambitious, perl could be ported to gcc for i386 MS-
! DOS.  It could then run in 32-bit mode with large amounts of
! memory.  That would be a big project and really should use this
! port only as a basepoint: it should remain separate.  Any
! takers? :-)

! See also Wishlist.dds.


! The Perl Manual
! ---------------
! If you got this file as part of the complete perl source
! distribution, you can make one of three manuals from the n/troff
! manual source: the standard Unix manual, an MS-DOS manual, or a
! combined Unix/MS-DOS manual.  Near the top of that file there's a
! string register that gets set to 'unix', 'msdos', or 'both'.  The
! 'unix' version has little mention of MS-DOS, the 'both' version
! includes additional commentary on MS-DOS and a section on "MS-DOS
! Considerations."  The 'msdos' version omits large sections of the
! standard manual that are not relevant to MS-DOS: every command is
! mentioned, but many simply note that they are not supported on
! MS-DOS.

! If you got this file as part of an MS-DOS executable kit, you
! should have received a formatted manual in that kit: perldos.man.
! This manual contains simple highlighting in the form of boldface
! and underlining accomplished by backspacing.  There is a one-line
! script in the eg directory (nohigh.bat) that will remove the
! highlighting.

!      perl -p eg/nohigh.bat perldos.man > perldos.van

! This will create perldos.van without highlighting.

! Only the perl.exe file is needed for this script; it doesn't
! require a full installation of perl.

! The versions of the manual that include MS-DOS commentary are not
! major re-writes; many of the examples have Unixisms that won't
! work on MS-DOS without some changes.

! Beware that the "Camel" book, the only text on perl, barely
! mentions MS-DOS.  Nevertheless, this book should prove useful to
! the MS-DOS perl programmer.


! Installing MS-DOS Perl
! ----------------------
! Put perl.exe into a directory in your PATH.  Put perlglob.exe
! into that directory, too.  (Not needed for MKS users.)  If you
! wish to use the -P switch, copy doscpp.pl to a library directory.
! (If you don't have Microsoft C 6.0 you'll have to edit this
! file.)  If you want to use the perl debugger, copy perldb.pl to
! the library directory, too.  Set up your environment as explained
! in the manual.

! Building MS-DOS Perl from the Source
! ------------------------------------
! Apply the patches to the standard 4.019 source.

! This code will compile only on Microsoft C, 5.0, 5.1, or 6.0.
! The last of these produces the best code.  (It may be possible to
! cross-compile from SCO Xenix or Unix, since these cross-compilers
! are close relatives of the Microsoft compilers.)  The makefile is
! specific to Dennis Vadura's dmake program; if you don't have
! this, get it.  (See the makefile for the ftp address.)  There are
! batch files build5.bat and build6.bat to build perl.exe with
! Microsoft C 5.x and 6.0, respectively, if you don't have dmake.

! If you wish to include gdbm, you'll have to obtain it.  Be sure
! to get the MS-DOS version.  I used version 1.4, with MS-DOS
! patches by Thorsten Ohl <td12@@ddagsi3.bitnet>.  Build the
! library (LGDBM.LIB) and copy it to the directory with the
! compiler libraries.  Copy the files "ndbm.h" and "gdbmdefs.h" to
! the compiler include file directory.  Enable the GDBM option in
! the makefile or edit the batch script or the config.h file to
! define HAS_NDBM.  Do not copy any other gdbm header files: in
! particular, "extern.h" will conflict with perl's extern.h.

! Don't run Configure for MS-DOS: a pre-made config.h file is found
! in the msdos subdirectory.

! Edit the makefile at the top to select the options you need.  (Or
! edit the batch file, using the makefile as a guide.)  The
! makefile will attempt to run BISON to create perly.c and perly.h
! from perly.y.  You can instead import your Unix-made version of
! these files.  (These are independent of platform, so you don't
! need to do anything to the Unix versions.  If using Unix yacc, be
! sure to copy over the version that had perlyfixer.sh run against
! it.)

! Build perl.exe in the msdos subdirectory.

! You'll need free XMS memory to run the Microsoft Codeview
! debugger on perl.


! Running the Test Suite
! ----------------------
! This section applies only if you're building MS-DOS perl from the
! source.  The test suite has been altered to run under MS-DOS.
! Tests that aren't relevant under MS-DOS are if'ed around, so all
! tests should pass.  You'll need a lot of Unix-like tools (e.g.,
! rm); I used the MKS toolkit.  Copy perl.exe into the "t"
! directory.  Set up the environment and install doscpp.pl.
!
!
! You can't just run "perl test" since you'll run out of memory.
! Try running each directory of tests, e.g.,
!     ./perl test base/*.t"
!
! It may be necessary to break this even finer, some of the
! directories have a lot of tests.
!
!
! History of MS-DOS Perl
! ----------------------
! Larry Wall wrote perl, and continues to enhance it.  While he has
! done no direct work on MS-DOS perl, most of the code in MS-DOS
! perl is his since most of the code concerns portable features.
!
! Perl was originally ported to MS-DOS by Diomidis Spinellis.  His
! code was distributed with version 3, patch level 18 (3.018).
! This was in April, 1990.
!
! Len Reed's executable version based upon 3.041 source with
! considerable enhancements was posted to USENET
! comp.binaries.ibm.pc in November, 1990.  This version included
! considerable minor bug fixes, swapping to disk while running
! subprocesses, "smarter" subprocesses (i.e., don't use COMMAND.COM
! if you don't need it), MKS toolkit compatibility, support for
! the -P switch, enhanced chdir semantics, and enhanced support for
! the -i switch.  (The last two of these due to Tom Dinger.)
!
! Tom Dinger cleaned up the released MS-DOS source code after perl
! 4.x came out.  By 4.010, he had put the following into the
! standard sources: enhanced chdir, enhanced -i support, several
! bug fixes.  He also created the msdos/config.h file.
!
! In September 1991, I (Len Reed) added the functions that were in
! my 3.041 version that hadn't been incorporated into the standard
! 4.010 source: notably swapping, smarter subprocesses, support
! for -P, and MKS compatibility.  I fixed some minor bugs.  I added
! gdbm support.  I altered the test suite to work with MS-DOS.  I
! put MS-DOS support into the main manual and reworked the other
! documentation, including this file.
!
!
! The Authors
! -----------
! Larry Wall         <[e-mail]>
! Diomidis Spinellis <[e-mail]>
! Len Reed           <holos0![e-mail]>
! Tom Dinger         <[e-mail]>
!
! The address for Diomidis Spinellis may be out of date.