BePerl v4.8.2 Parts (c) Copyright Martin C Brown, 6/7/1997

Welcome to BePerl v4.pr2.1, the latest implementation of GNU Perl for the
BeBox!

What is BePerl?

BePerl is a Be version of the Perl programming and processing language.
Perl combines the best aspects of C, awk and Shell programming to produce 
a powerful and easy to use language for all programming tasks, but 
especially text processing and number crunching!

This version adds DBM and NDBM support to Perl which should enable all
those database programmers to use the BeBox as their new platform!

This version (V4.aa.1) of BePerl is based on Perl-4.036, the most stable, 
but not the most recent release of the Perl language.

This version contains all of the source for BePerl 4.aa.1.

You can identify the version of any BePerl by looking at it's version 
number. As follows:

BePerlx.y.z where

x - is the major Perl revision
y - is the release of BeOS (currently DRy)
z - is the release of BePerl that this represents of this major and BeOS 
version.

Eg. 4.8.1 is based on Perl v4, compiled for DR8, release version 1.

How do I install it?

BePerl has been configured to run in the following directories:

/boot/local/bin - For the executable(s)
/boot/local/lib/perl - For the Perl library functions.

once you've FTP'd the file, change to /boot:

% cd /boot

and then extract the archive:

% gunzip beperl4.pr2.1-src.tar.gz
% tar xvf beperl4.pr2.1-src.tar

You can use the enclosed application or make the program yourself using the commands below:

% cd beperl4.pr2.1-src
% make clean
% make

Copy the files into the correct directories, as follows:

% cp perl /boot/local/bin
% cp -pr lib /boot/local/lib/perl

You'll need to change your profile so that your PATH includes 
/boot/local/bin, or alternatively copy the PERL program to your apps
directory.

Fixes in this release

Thanks to Peter Greis (peter@mathworks.com) for spotting a bug in the
@INC section...now fixed!

DBM/NDBM support added!

Known Problems

As I write this (6/11/97) having run the PERL tests on the program there
are a few known problems that I either have workarounds for, or I'm
attempting to fix:

System commands - using 'system()' or `command args` remember to include
a full path name. The BeOS currently works differently to Unix so make
sure any scripts you have written under Unix are edited for this change.

High-number calculations - Particularly above 999999999, figures are wrong
floating point numbers seem to be handled correctly.

Where to mail bugs:

Send Bug reports to: mc@however.com, please use a subject line of:

BePerl xxxxx 

so your message doesn't get lost in my mountains of mail!

When will source be available?

This is the source!

--

If you have any questions, suggestions, or requests, please mail me on
mc@however.com, I'll try to write back within 48 hours.



