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- <title>ActivePerl -- Readme</title>
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- <td width="57"><a target=_blank href="http://www.ActiveState.com/ActivePerl/">
- <img src="images/activeperl_logo.gif" width="57" height="48" border="0" alt="ActivePerl"></a></td>
- <td><div align="center" class="heading">ActivePerl User Guide</div></td>
- <td width="112"><a target=_blank href="http://www.ActiveState.com">
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- <h1>Contents</h1>
- <ul>
- <li><a class="doc" href="#What_is_ActivePerl">What is ActivePerl</a></li>
- <li><a class="doc" href="#Using_ActivePerl">Getting Started on Windows</a></li>
- <li><a class="doc" href="#Troubleshooting_FAQ">Troubleshooting ActivePerl</a></li>
- </ul>
-
- <h2><a name="What_is_ActivePerl">What is ActivePerl?</a></h2>
-
- <p>ActivePerl is a quality-assured binary build of Perl, available for
- Windows, Linux and Solaris.</p>
-
- <h3>New Features in ActivePerl 5.8:</h3>
- <ul>
- <li>I/O filters</li>
- <li>Improved Unicode support</li>
- <li>Reliable signals</li>
- <li>New <code>threads</code> package</li>
- <li>Better accuracy in numeric operations</li>
- <li>Support for large file operations on all platforms</li>
- <li>Additional documentation and tutorials</li>
- </ul>
-
- <h3>The complete ActivePerl Package contains:</h3>
- <ul>
- <li>Perl - binary of core perl distribution</li>
- <li>Complete Online documentation</li>
- <li>Perl Package Manager - Perl extension installer and manager.</li>
- </ul>
-
- <h3>The Windows version also includes:</h3>
- <ul>
- <li>Perl for ISAPI - IIS plug-in that makes perl CGI faster</li>
- <li>PerlScript - ActiveX scripting engine, like JavaScript or VBScript with a
- Perl brain</li>
- <li>PerlEz - Embedded Perl</li>
- </ul>
-
- <h2><a name="Using_ActivePerl">Getting Started on Windows</a></h2>
-
- <h3>Running Perl scripts from the command line</h3>
-
- <p>To run your Perl scripts, type:</p>
-
- <blockquote><code>perl -w yourscriptname.pl</code></blockquote>
-
- <p>at the command prompt, where <code>yourscriptname.pl</code> is the name of
- the script you want to run. If you are using Windows and have
- associated the extension of the file with perl, typing <code>yourscriptname</code>
- (i.e., without the <code>.pl</code> extension) will also launch the script.</p>
-
- <h3>Sample Script</h3>
-
- <p>In the <code>/eg</code> directory of your Perl install there is a sample
- script named <code>example.pl</code> To run it, launch a console window, make
- the <code>/eg</code> directory your current working directory and type:</p>
-
- <blockquote>
- <code>perl example.pl</code>
- </blockquote>
-
- <p>You should see:</p>
-
- <blockquote>
- <code>"Hello from ActivePerl!"</code>
- </blockquote>
-
- <p>If you do, you've successfully installed ActivePerl! If not, there's
- something wrong with your installation. Check to make sure that your PATH
- environment variable includes the directories to which you installed the
- Perl core binaries.
- (You can type <code>set</code> at the command prompt to see what's in your
- Path.) If you chose the defaults during the install, these should be set to the
- correct values for you when you start a new command prompt.</p>
-
- <p>One last note: typing <code>perl -h </code>will display all of the available
- command line options available to you.</p>
-
- <h2><a name="Troubleshooting_FAQ">Troubleshooting ActivePerl</a></h2>
-
- <p>ActivePerl includes a collection of
- <a class="doc" href="faq/ActivePerl-faq.html">Frequently
- Asked Questions about ActivePerl</a>. The FAQ is a valuable source of distilled
- wisdom about using Perl. It is a must read!</p>
-
- <p>The <a class="doc" href="lib/Pod/perlfaq.html">Perl FAQ</a> is included in
- the ActivePerl documentation, and answers many questions regarding the use of
- Perl.</p>
-
- <p>Search the
- <a class="doc" target="_blank"
- href="http://www.ActiveState.com/ASPN/Mail/browse/activeperl">ActivePerl Mailing
- List</a> archives for information about your problem. Before posting to the
- mailing list, ensure that you have thoroughly read the FAQs and the relevant
- Perl documentation.</p>
-
- <p>See <a class="doc" href="resources.html">More Resources</a> for additional
- sources of information.</p>
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