Getting Started
February 14, 2000
Whether you are simply wishing to begin an investigation of
the core language and your platform happens be Windows or
whether you wish to look at specific-Windows integration tools
such as
- OLE [ object linking and Embedding ] with PERL,
- control of the Windows registry via PERL,
- using PERL to write COM [ Component Object Model ] objects,
- communicating with pre existing COM objects from PERL, or
- facilitating data aware pages via the PERLscript
and IIS [ Internet Information Server ], your starting point
remains the same - the installation of PERL on Windows.
This article is intended as a guide to that process. Future
additions will delve more deeply into the Windows-specific
capabilities of Perl.
Before you start though, we have one warning. Installing Perl
is not a "click here and you're done" process. In fact,
packaging Perl for Windows is an iterative process. Because
Perl is an incredibly active, vibrant and living language,
not only does the core language itself undergo changes and
new releases periodically, but the thousands of
your fellow Perl developers constantly release new, free
tools through archives such as CPAN. Thus, "installation"
includes regular upgrades and your active attention to the
world of Perl.
As we mentioned earlier, the organisation at the heart of
Perl for Windows is ActiveState, and their home page is
located at:
http://www.activestate.com
Perl for Windows is available from the ActiveState site as
a product called ActivePerl. At the time of this writing,
ActivePerl is in release 522 and can be downloaded directly
from
http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/Download.html.
Windows users will want to download the Intel release,
and as the download page notes, those who are installing
the package under Windows 95 require DCOM for Windows,
Available from the
Microsoft Site. Whether you download
the package using
HTTP or
FTP does not
really matter. Either way, you'll get what you are after.
When you are done downloading, you'll have a self-extracting
executable such as the file Api509e.exe shown in the figure
below. To begin the installation process, just double click
the file.
It is important to note that the installation of ActivePerl may
not proceed correctly if your system has a previously installed
version AND that version is in use by a process at the time you
commence your installation. If that is the case, you may be
presented with a warning dialog box.
If this happens, you should exit the installation process
immediately. Close any services/applications that may be
using Perl and try again.
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If you are having trouble locating Perl-based services and you
happen to be using Windows NT, you can get help by using
Start->Settings->Control Panel->Services. Look through the
list of services running on your machine to see if you can
find one that may currently be using Perl. Terminate it/them,
and then recommence your installation.
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Most users of course will not have to worry about this problem.
In fact, most likely, if you double clicked the self-extracting
executable, you will now see the ActiveState license agreement.
After you have read and accepted the license, you will be
presented with the "Installation Notes" screen. This screen
informs you of all the different installation options that
are available with ActivePerl. This page has a number of
different headings, and some explanation regarding each.
The headings include:
- Add the Perl bin directory to your path
- Associate '.pl' with Perl.exe in Explorer
- Associate '.pl' with Perl.exe for your Web server(s)
- Associate '.plx' with Perl for ISAPI in IIS
It then asks if you have read and understand the notes. Let's
make sure that you do!
Introduction to Perl on Windows
Introduction to Perl on Windows - Table of Contents
Add the Perl bin directory to your path
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