patchlevel up to 72, update Changes, minor tweaks to win32/config*

and README.win32

p4raw-id: //depot/perl@1452

1 files changed, 75 insertions, 55 deletions

diff --git a/README.win32 b/README.win32
index 233bb6399c..873df29d6c 100644
--- a/README.win32
+++ b/README.win32
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ perlwin32 - Perl under Win32
 =head1 SYNOPSIS
 
 These are instructions for building Perl under Windows NT (versions
-3.51 or 4.0), using Visual C++ (versions 2.0 through 5.0) or Borland
-C++ (version 5.02 or later).  Currently, this port is reported to build
+3.51 or 4.0).  Currently, this port is reported to build
 under Windows95 using the 4DOS shell--the default shell that infests
 Windows95 will not work (see below).  Note this caveat is only about
 B<building> perl.  Once built, you should be able to B<use> it on
@@ -43,10 +42,15 @@ run-time support software described in those files.
 This set of instructions is meant to describe a so-called "native"
 port of Perl to Win32 platforms.  The resulting Perl requires no
 additional software to run (other than what came with your operating
-system).  Currently, this port is capable of using either the
-Microsoft Visual C++ compiler, or the Borland C++ compiler.  The
-ultimate goal is to support the other major compilers that can
-generally be used to build Win32 applications.
+system).  Currently, this port is capable of using one of the
+following compilers:
+
+      Borland C++		version 5.02 or later
+      Microsoft Visual C++	version 4.2 or later
+      Mingw32 with EGCS		version 1.0.2
+      Mingw32 with GCC		version 2.8.1
+
+The last two of these are high quality freeware compilers.
 
 This port currently supports MakeMaker (the set of modules that
 is used to build extensions to perl).  Therefore, you should be
@@ -87,10 +91,8 @@ in the README.NOW file).
 =item Microsoft Visual C++
 
 The NMAKE that comes with Visual C++ will suffice for building.
-If you did not choose to always initialize the Visual C++ compilation
-environment variables when you installed Visual C++ on your system, you
-will need to run the VCVARS32.BAT file usually found somewhere like
-C:\MSDEV4.2\BIN.  This will set your build environment.
+You will need to run the VCVARS32.BAT file usually found somewhere
+like C:\MSDEV4.2\BIN.  This will set your build environment.
 
 You can also use dmake to build using Visual C++, provided:
 you set OSRELEASE to "microsft" (or whatever the directory name
@@ -99,17 +101,24 @@ and edit win32/config.vc to change "make=nmake" into "make=dmake".  The
 latter step is only essential if you want to use dmake as your default
 make for building extensions using MakeMaker.
 
-=item Permissions
+=item Mingw32 with EGCS or GCC
+
+ECGS-1.0.2 binaries can be downloaded from:
+
+    ftp://ftp.xraylith.wisc.edu/pub/khan/gnu-win32/mingw32/
 
-Depending on how you extracted the distribution, you have to make sure
-some of the files are writable by you.  The easiest way to make sure of
-this is to execute:
+GCC-2.8.1 binaries are available from:
 
-	attrib -R *.* /S
+    http://agnes.dida.physik.uni-essen.de/~janjaap/mingw32/
 
-from the perl toplevel directory.  You don't I<have> to do this if you
-used the right tools to extract the files in the standard distribution,
-but it doesn't hurt to do so.
+You only need either one of those, not both.  Both bundles come with
+Mingw32 libraries and headers.  While both of them work to build perl,
+the EGCS binaries are currently favored by the maintainers, since they
+come with more up-to-date Mingw32 libraries.
+
+Make sure you install the binaries as indicated in the web sites
+above.  You will need to set up a few environment variables (usually
+run from a batch file).
 
 =back
 
@@ -121,18 +130,31 @@ but it doesn't hurt to do so.
 
 Make sure you are in the "win32" subdirectory under the perl toplevel.
 This directory contains a "Makefile" that will work with
-versions of NMAKE that come with Visual C++ ver. 2.0 and above, and
-a dmake "makefile.mk" that will work for both Borland and Visual C++
-builds.  The defaults in the dmake makefile are setup to build using the
-Borland compiler.
+versions of NMAKE that come with Visual C++, and a dmake "makefile.mk"
+that will work for all supported compilers.  The defaults in the dmake
+makefile are setup to build using the Borland compiler.
 
 =item *
 
-Edit the Makefile (or makefile.mk, if using dmake) and change the values
-of INST_DRV and INST_TOP.  If you are using Visual C++ ver. 2.0, uncomment
-the line that sets "CCTYPE=MSVC20".  You can also enable various build
+Edit the makefile.mk (or Makefile, if using nmake) and change the values
+of INST_DRV and INST_TOP.   You can also enable various build
 flags.
 
+Beginning with version 5.005, there is experimental support for building
+a perl interpreter that supports the Perl Object abstraction (courtesy
+ActiveState Tool Corp.)  PERL_OBJECT uses C++, and the binaries are
+therefore incompatible with the regular C build.  However, the
+PERL_OBJECT build does provide something called the C-API, for linking
+it with extensions that won't compile under PERL_OBJECT.
+
+Beginning with version 5.005, there is experimental support for building
+a perl interpreter that is capable of native threading.  Binaries built
+with thread support enabled are also incompatible with the vanilla C
+build.
+
+At the present time, you cannot enable both threading and PERL_OBJECT.
+You can get only one of them in a Perl interpreter.
+
 If you have either the source or a library that contains des_fcrypt(),
 enable the appropriate option in the makefile.  des_fcrypt() is not
 bundled with the distribution due to US Government restrictions
@@ -150,14 +172,17 @@ fail at run time.
 You will also have to make sure CCHOME points to wherever you installed
 your compiler.
 
+Other options are explained in the makefiles.  Be sure to read the
+instructions carefully.
+
 =item *
 
-Type "nmake" (or "dmake" if you are using that make).
+Type "dmake" (or "nmake" if you are using that make).
 
 This should build everything.  Specifically, it will create perl.exe,
-perl.dll, and perlglob.exe at the perl toplevel, and various other
-extension dll's under the lib\auto directory.  If the build fails for
-any reason, make sure you have done the previous steps correctly.
+perl.dll (or perlcore.dll), and perlglob.exe at the perl toplevel, and
+various other extension dll's under the lib\auto directory.  If the build
+fails for any reason, make sure you have done the previous steps correctly.
 
 The build process may produce "harmless" compiler warnings (more or
 less copiously, depending on how picky your compiler gets).  The
@@ -182,7 +207,7 @@ in that case).
 
 =head2 Testing
 
-Type "nmake test" (or "dmake test").  This will run most of the tests from
+Type "dmake test" (or "nmake test").  This will run most of the tests from
 the testsuite (many tests will be skipped, and but no test should fail).
 
 If some tests do fail, it may be because you are using a different command
@@ -194,16 +219,25 @@ default path.  You will need to copy the DLLs reported by the messages
 from where Borland chose to install it, into the Windows system directory
 (usually somewhere like C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32), and rerun the test.
 
+The Visual C runtime apparently has a bug that causes posix.t to fail
+one it test#2.  This usually happens only if you extracted the files in
+text mode.
+
 Please report any other failures as described under L<BUGS AND CAVEATS>.
 
 =head2 Installation
 
-Type "nmake install" (or "dmake install").  This will put the newly
+Type "dmake install" (or "nmake install").  This will put the newly
 built perl and the libraries under whatever C<INST_TOP> points to in the
 Makefile.  It will also install the pod documentation under
-C<$INST_TOP\lib\pod> and HTML versions of the same under
-C<$INST_TOP\lib\pod\html>.  To use the Perl you just installed,
-set your PATH environment variable to C<$INST_TOP\bin>.
+C<$INST_TOP\$VERSION\lib\pod> and HTML versions of the same under
+C<$INST_TOP\$VERSION\lib\pod\html>.  To use the Perl you just installed,
+you will need to add two components to your PATH environment variable,
+C<$INST_TOP\$VERSION\bin>, and C<$INST_TOP\$VERSION\bin\$ARCHNAME>.
+For example:
+
+    set PATH c:\perl\5.005\bin;c:\perl\5.005\bin\MSWin32-x6;%PATH%
+
 
 =head2 Usage Hints
 
@@ -223,8 +257,9 @@ variables you can set in L<perlrun>.
 You can also control the shell that perl uses to run system() and
 backtick commands via PERL5SHELL.  See L<perlrun>.
 
-Sometime in the future, some of the configuration information
-for perl will be moved into the Windows registry.
+Currently, Perl does not depend on the registry, but can look up
+values if you choose to put them there.  [XXX add registry locations
+that perl looks at here.]
 
 =item File Globbing
 
@@ -356,22 +391,17 @@ extensions typically do not support those tools either, and therefore
 cannot be built using the generic steps shown in the previous section.
 
 To ensure smooth transitioning of existing code that uses the
-Activeware port, there is a bundle of Win32 extensions that contains
-all of the Activeware extensions and most other Win32 extensions from
+ActiveState port, there is a bundle of Win32 extensions that contains
+all of the ActiveState extensions and most other Win32 extensions from
 CPAN in source form, along with many added bugfixes, and with MakeMaker
 support.  This bundle is available at:
 
-   http://www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/id/GSAR/libwin32-0.09.tar.gz
+   http://www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/id/GSAR/libwin32-0.12.zip
 
 See the README in that distribution for building and installation
 instructions.  Look for later versions that may be available at the
 same location.
 
-It is expected that authors of Win32 specific extensions will begin
-distributing their work in MakeMaker compatible form subsequent to
-the 5.004 release of perl, at which point the need for a dedicated
-bundle such as the above should diminish.
-
 =item Running Perl Scripts
 
 Perl scripts on UNIX use the "#!" (a.k.a "shebang") line to
@@ -463,16 +493,6 @@ find a mailer on your system).
 
 =head1 BUGS AND CAVEATS
 
-This port should be considered beta quality software at the present
-time because some details are still in flux and there may be
-changes in any of these areas: build process, installation structure,
-supported utilities/modules, and supported perl functionality.
-In particular, functionality specific to the Win32 environment may
-ultimately be supported as either core modules or extensions.  The
-beta status implies, among other things, that you should be prepared
-to recompile extensions when binary incompatibilites arise due to
-changes in the internal structure of the code.
-
 An effort has been made to ensure that the DLLs produced by the two
 supported compilers are compatible with each other (despite the
 best efforts of the compiler vendors).  Extension binaries produced
@@ -599,7 +619,7 @@ sundry hacks since then.
 
 Borland support was added in 5.004_01 (Gurusamy Sarathy).
 
-Last updated: 3 January 1998
+Last updated: 12 July 1998
 
 =cut