Provided by: libinline-perl_0.80-1_all 
NAME
Inline-FAQ - The Inline FAQ
DESCRIPTION
Welcome to the official Inline FAQ. In this case, FAQ means: Formerly Answered Questions
This is a collection of old, long-winded emails that myself and others have sent to the
Inline mailing list. (inline@perl.org) They have been reviewed and edited for general
Inline edification. Some of them may be related to a specific language. They are presented
here in a traditional FAQ layout.
GENERAL INLINE
Since there is only a handful of content so far, all FAQs are currently under this
heading.
How disposable is a ".Inline" or "_Inline" directory?
I probably need to be more emphatic about the role of "_Inline/" cache directories. Since
they are created automatically, they are completely disposable. I delete them all the
time. And it is fine to have a different one for each project. In fact as long as you
don't have "~/.Inline/" defined, Inline will create a new "./_Inline" directory (unless,
you've done something to override this automatic process - such as using the DIRECTORY
config option, or using the "PERL_INLINE_DIRECTORY" environment variable). You can move
that to "./.Inline" and it will continue to work if you want togive it more longevity and
hide it from view. There is a long complicated list of rules about how "[_.]Inline/"
directories are used/created. But it was designed to give you the most
flexibility/ease-of-use. Never be afraid to nuke 'em. They'll just pop right back next
time they're needed. :)
Whatever happened to the "SITE_INSTALL" option?
"SITE_INSTALL" is gone. I was going to leave it in and change the semantics, but thought
it better to remove it, so people wouldn't try to use it the old way. There is now
"_INSTALL_" (but you're not supposed to know that :). It works magically through the use
of Inline::MakeMaker. I explained this earlier but it's worth going through again because
it's the biggest change for 0.40. Here's how to 'permanently' install an Inline extension
(Inline based module) with 0.40:
1. Create a module with Inline.
2. Test it using the normal / local "_Inline/" cache.
3. Create a Makefile.PL (like the one produced by h2xs)
4. Change 'use ExtUtils::MakeMaker' to 'use Inline::MakeMaker'
5. In the Makefile.PL's WriteMakefile() insert:
CONFIGURE_REQUIRES => {
'Inline::MakeMaker' => 0.45,
'ExtUtils::MakeMaker' => 6.52,
},
(See the "Writing Modules with Inline" section of Inline.pod for an explanation /
elaboration.)
6. Change your 'use Inline C => DATA' to 'use Inline C => DATA => NAME => Foo
=> VERSION => 1.23' + Make sure NAME matches your package name ('Foo'), or => begins with
'Foo::'. + If you want to quiet a harmless warning that will => appear when the module is
loaded via "require", do "Inline->init();". See => "Writing Modules with Inline" in the
Inline pod for details. + Make sure => VERSION matches $Foo::VERSION. This must be a
string (not a number) => matching "/^\d\.\d\d$/" + Do the perl / make / test / install
dance => (thanks binkley :)
With Inline 0.41 (or thereabouts) you can skip steps 3 & 4, and just say "perl
-MInline=INSTALL ./Foo.pm". This will work for non-Inline modules too. It will become the
defacto standard (since there is no easy standard) way of installing a Perl module. It
will allow Makefile.PL parameters "perl - MInline=INSTALL ./Foo.pm -
PREFIX=/home/ingy/perl" and things like that. It will also make use of a MANIFEST if you
provide one.
How do I create a binary distribution using Inline?
I've figured out how to create and install a PPM binary distribution; with or without
distributing the C code! And I've decided to share it with all of you :)
NOTE: Future versions of Inline will make this process a one line command. But
for now just use this simple recipe.
The Inline 0.40 distribution comes with a sample extension module called Math::Simple.
Theoretically you could distribute this module on CPAN. It has all the necessary support
for installation. You can find it in "Inline- 0.40/modules/Math/Simple/". Here are the
steps for converting this into a binary distribution without C source code.
NOTE: The recipient of this binary distribution will need to have the
PPM.pm module installed. This module requires a lot of other CPAN
modules. ActivePerl (available for Win32, Linux, and Solaris) has all
of these bundled. While ActivePerl isn't required, it makes things (a
lot) easier.
1. cd "Inline-0.40/Math/Simple/"
2. Divide Simple.pm into two files:
---8<--- (Simple.pm)
package Math::Simple;
use strict;
require Exporter;
@Math::Simple::ISA = qw(Exporter);
@Math::Simple::EXPORT = qw(add subtract);
$Math::Simple::VERSION = '1.23';
use Inline (C => 'src/Simple.c' =>
NAME => 'Math::Simple',
VERSION => '1.23',
);
1;
---8<---
---8<--- (src/Simple.c)
int add (int x, int y) {
return x + y;
}
int subtract (int x, int y) {
return x - y;
}
---8<---
3. now you have the Perl in one file and the C in the other. The C code must be
in a subdirectory. + Note that I also changed the term 'DATA' to the name of the C file.
This will work just as if the C were still inline. + Run 'perl Makefile.PL' + Run 'make
test' + Get the MD5 key from "blib/arch/auto/Math/Simple/Simple.inl" + Edit
"blib/lib/Math/Simple.pm". Change "src/Simple.c" to "02c61710cab5b659efc343a9a830aa73"
(the MD5 key)
1. Run 'make ppd'
2. Edit 'Math-Simple.ppd'. Fill in AUTHOR and ABSTRACT if you wish. Then
change:
<CODEBASE HREF="" />
to
<CODEBASE HREF="Math-Simple.tar.gz" />
1. Run:
tar cvf Math-Simple.tar blib
gzip --best Math-Simple.tar
2. Run:
tar cvf Math-Simple-1.23.tar Math-Simple.ppd Math-Simple.tar.gz
gzip --best Math-Simple-1.23.tar
3. Distribute Math-Simple-1.23.tar.gz with the following instructions:
1. Run:
gzip -d Math-Simple-1.23.tar.gz tar xvzf Math-Simple-1.23.tar
2. Run 'ppm install Math-Simple.ppd'
3. Delete Math-Simple.tar and Math-Simple.ppd.
4. Test with:
perl -MMath::Simple -le 'print add(37, 42)'
That's it. The process should also work with zip instead of tar, but I haven't tried it.
The recipient of the binary must have Perl built with a matching architecture. Luckily,
ppm will catch this.
For a binary dist with C source code, simply omit steps 2, 3, 6, and 7.
If this seems too hard, then in a future version you should be able to just type:
make ppm
Why does "C/t/09parser.t" fail on Cygwin ?
It doesn't always fail on Cygwin, but if you find that it produces "unable to remap ....
to same address as parent" errors during the build phase, then it's time for you to run
rebaseall.
See <http://cygwin.com/faq/faq-nochunks.html#faq.using.fixing-fork-failures> and, if
needed, seek further help from the Cygwin mailing list.