perlos400 (1)

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NAME

perlos400 - Perl version 5 on OS/400

This document needs to be updated, but we don't know what it should say. Please email comments to perlbug@perl.org <mailto:perlbug@perl.org>.

DESCRIPTION

This document describes various features of 's operating system that will affect how Perl version 5 (hereafter just Perl) is compiled and/or runs.

By far the easiest way to build Perl for

is to use the (Portable Application Solutions Environment), for more information see <www.iseries.ibm.com/developer/factory/pase/index.html> This environment allows one to use APIs while programming, and it provides a runtime that allows binaries to execute directly on the PowerPC iSeries.

Compiling Perl for

OS/400 PASE

The recommended way to build Perl for the is to build the Perl 5 source code (release 5.8.1 or later) under

The trick is to give a special parameter to the Configure shell script when running it on

  sh Configure -DPASE ...

The default installation directory of Perl under

is /QOpenSys/perl. This can be modified if needed with Configure parameter -Dprefix=/some/dir.

Starting from

the Visual Age compiler is supported on so it is possible to build Perl natively on The easier way, however, is to compile in as just described.

If you don't want to install the compiled Perl in

into /QOpenSys (for packaging it before copying it to ), you can use a Configure parameter: -Dinstallprefix=/tmp/QOpenSys/perl. This will cause the ``make install'' to install everything into that directory, while the installed files still think they are (will be) in /QOpenSys/perl.

If building natively on

please do the build under the /QOpenSys directory, since Perl is happier when built on a case sensitive filesystem.

Installing Perl in

OS/400 PASE

If you are compiling on simply do a ``make install'' on the box. Once the install finishes, tar up the /QOpenSys/perl directory. Transfer the tarball to the using with the following commands:

  > binary
  > site namefmt 1
  > put perl.tar /QOpenSys

Once you have it on, simply bring up a

shell and extract the tarball.

If you are compiling in

then ``make install'' is the only thing you will need to do.

The default path for perl binary is /QOpenSys/perl/bin/perl. You'll want to symlink /QOpenSys/usr/bin/perl to this file so you don't have to modify your path.

Using Perl in

OS/400 PASE

Perl in may be used in the same manner as you would use Perl on

Scripts starting with #!/usr/bin/perl should work if you have /QOpenSys/usr/bin/perl symlinked to your perl binary. This will not work if you've done a setuid/setgid or have environment variable PASE_EXEC_QOPENSYS=``N''. If you have V5R1, you'll need to get the latest PTFs to have this feature. Scripts starting with #!/QOpenSys/perl/bin/perl should always work.

Known Problems

When compiling in there is no ``oslevel'' command. Therefore, you may want to create a script called ``oslevel'' that echoes the level of that your version of runtime supports. If you're unsure, consult your documentation or use ``4.3.3.0''.

If you have test cases that fail, check for the existence of spool files. The test case may be trying to use a syscall that is not implemented in

To avoid the try setting the environment variable or have a handler for the If you can compile programs for run the config script and edit config.sh when it gives you the option. If you want to remove fchdir(), which isn't implement in V5R1, simply change the line that says:

d_fchdir='define'

to

d_fchdir='undef'

and then compile Perl. The places where fchdir() is used have alternatives for systems that do not have fchdir() available.

Perl on

ILE

There exists a port of Perl to the environment. This port, however, is based quite an old release of Perl, Perl 5.00502 (August 1998). (As of July 2002 the latest release of Perl is 5.8.0, and even 5.6.1 has been out since April 2001.) If you need to run Perl on though, you may need this older port: <www.cpan.org/ports/#os400> Note that any Perl release later than 5.00502 has not been ported to

If you need to use Perl in the

environment, you may want to consider using Qp2RunPase() to call the version of Perl.

AUTHORS

Jarkko Hietaniemi <jhi@iki.fi> Bryan Logan <bryanlog@us.ibm.com> David Larson <larson1@us.ibm.com>