Using Strawberry Perl v5.32.1 and cpanm I installed MCE on a Windows 11 machine and run the first sample from the synopsis for MCE without issue.

C:\...>cpanm MCE
--> Working on MCE
Fetching http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/M/MA/MARIOROY/MCE-1.882.tar.gz
+ ... OK
Configuring MCE-1.882 ... OK
Building and testing MCE-1.882 ... OK
Successfully installed MCE-1.882
1 distribution installed

C:\...>perl -v

This is perl 5, version 32, subversion 1 (v5.32.1) built for MSWin32-x
+64-multi-thread
[download]

Note that this is a 64 bit build of Perl (the x64 bit). What version of Perl are you using?

I wonder if sleep is broken or if the box is busy or delays coming from Windows anti-malware? Looking at tests 4, 5, and 8.

perl -Ilib t/05_mce_child.t
...
ok 2 - spawning asynchronously
ok 3 - check for unique pids 
ok 4 - check list_running
ok 5 - check list_joinable
ok 6 - check list
ok 7 - check pending
ok 8 - check is_running child1
ok 9 - check is_joinable child1
ok 10 - check is_running child2
ok 11 - check is_joinable child2
ok 12 - check is_running child3
ok 13 - check is_joinable child3
...
[download]

Is there an alternative to sleep on the Windows platform, ensuring delay before the workers exit?

{
   my ( $cnt, @list, %pids, %ret ); local $_;
   my ( $come_then_i_pray ) = ( "さあ、私&#123
+99;祈る" . "Ǣ" );

   ok( 1, "spawning asynchronously" );             # test 2

   MCE::Child->create( sub { sleep 1; sleep 1; "$come_then_i_pray $_" 
+} ) for ( 1..3 );

   %pids = map { $_ => undef } MCE::Child->list_pids;
   is ( scalar( keys %pids ), 3, 'check for unique pids' ); # test 3

   @list = MCE::Child->list_running;
   is ( scalar @list, 3, 'check list_running' );   # test 4

   @list = MCE::Child->list_joinable;
   is ( scalar @list, 0, 'check list_joinable' );  # test 5

   @list = MCE::Child->list;
   is ( scalar @list, 3, 'check list' );           # test 6
   is ( MCE::Child->pending, 3, 'check pending' ); # test 7

   $cnt = 0;

   for ( @list ) {
      ++$cnt;
      is ( $_->is_running, 1, 'check is_running child'.$cnt );    # te
+sts 8, 10, 12
      is ( $_->is_joinable, '', 'check is_joinable child'.$cnt ); # te
+sts 9, 11, 13
   }

   $cnt = 0;

   for ( @list ) {
      ++$cnt; $ret{ $_->join } = 1;
      is ( $_->error, undef, 'check error child'.$cnt );
   }

   is ( scalar keys %ret, 3, 'check for unique values' );

   for ( sort keys %ret ) {
      my $id = chop; s/ $//;
      is ( $_, $come_then_i_pray, "check for utf8 string $id" );
   };
}
[download]

Update 1: I have an idea to not use sleep. Instead, I will have workers read a channel. The manager process will notify workers to exit after completing tests list_running, list_joinable, list, pending, is_running, and is_joinable.

Update 2: Released MCE 1.883 on meta::cpan

G'day Mario,

I saw this being discussed in the CB, but the data is a bit too big for there. I attempted installation of MCE and MCE::Shared on Cygwin and MSWin. Cygwin was completely successful. MSWin didn't pick up the latest (1.883) version of MCE, nor the latest (1.880) version of MCE::Shared. Details follow.

Cygwin

Cygwin (on Win10) with Perl v5.36.0 (Perlbrew):

cpan[1]> install MCE
...
  MARIOROY/MCE-1.883.tar.gz
  /usr/bin/make -- OK
...
  MARIOROY/MCE-1.883.tar.gz
  /usr/bin/make test -- OK
...
  MARIOROY/MCE-1.883.tar.gz
  /usr/bin/make install  -- OK

cpan[2]> install MCE::Shared
...
  MARIOROY/MCE-Shared-1.880.tar.gz
  /usr/bin/make -- OK
...
  MARIOROY/MCE-Shared-1.880.tar.gz
  /usr/bin/make test -- OK
...
  MARIOROY/MCE-Shared-1.880.tar.gz
  /usr/bin/make install  -- OK
[download]

I'm set up as a CPAN Tester on this platform; green swatches in the post, i.e. awaiting matrix update. :-)

MSWin

Windows 10 with Strawberry Perl v5.26.3:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.2364]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
...
cpan> install MCE
Database was generated on Tue, 03 Jan 2023 22:15:36 GMT

MCE is up to date (1.882).

cpan> install MCE::Shared
...
  MARIOROY/MCE-Shared-1.879.tar.gz
  C:\Users\ken\local\opt\strawberry_perl\5_026_003\install\c\bin\gmake
+.exe -- OK
...
  MARIOROY/MCE-Shared-1.879.tar.gz
  C:\Users\ken\local\opt\strawberry_perl\5_026_003\install\c\bin\gmake
+.exe test -- OK
...
  MARIOROY/MCE-Shared-1.879.tar.gz
  C:\Users\ken\local\opt\strawberry_perl\5_026_003\install\c\bin\gmake
+.exe install UNINST=1 -- OK
[download]

So, MCE v1.883 wasn't found/identified/whatever and v1.882 was up to date; and, MCE::Shared v1.880 wasn't found/identified/whatever and v1.879 was installed successfully.

I'll be happy to test further; let me know.

— Ken

c:> perl -V:archname -V:myuname -V:osvers
archname='MSWin32-x64-multi-thread';
myuname='Win32 strawberry-perl 5.32.1.1 #1 Sun Jan 24 15:00:15 2021 x6
+4';
osvers='10.0.19042.746';
[download]

or just the full perl -V to give the full information about your specific strawberry, in case perl -v and the three specific config variables above aren't sufficient to tell the other monks about your setup. (generally, if you ever think that there might be version or OS issues involved, sharing your full perl -V is best practice).

and in your other post, you said, I don't exactly know what system "win32" is. Mine is a Win10/64bit.. that must make a difference.:

Yes, win10/64bit could make a difference compared to 32bit or compared to win8/win7/.... But many of those passing results were win10/64bit: you can see that by clicking on the Win32 column header from the cpantesters report, which gives you a table of just those results, with more information. And each individual report will give perl -V or similar information, along with as much other meta-info as they can muster, which might help you determine the difference between your setup and theirs.

Did you somehow get a version of strawberry that doesn't have multi-thread enabled?

A fair enough question, and worth asking.
However, AFAICT, Strawberry have never provided such a build of perl.

Cheers,
Rob

G'day BernieC,

I assume the output you've shown is from the cpan utility. I had a look at "reports MARIOROY/MCE-1.882.tar.gz": you're correct in that its huge and not particularly useful. Even the link from the last line, "See http://www.cpantesters.org/show/MCE.html for details", wasn't helpful: it redirected then timed out.

A much better way to look at these reports is as follows. I've shown this for MCE; the procedure's the same for most, if not all, modules.

• Find the module on CPAN: https://metacpan.org/pod/MCE
• Follow the "Testers" link: http://matrix.cpantesters.org/?dist=MCE+1.882
• That shows the latest version, 1.882. If you're using a different version, there's a list of links in the "Other versions" column beneath the matrix (table).
• For an MSWin O/S, use the "mswin32" column. Then pick the row that indicates your Perl version. If the cell matching that column & row has a coloured "swatch", that O/S & Perl version combination has been tested. Click on the "swatch" for more details of individual tests.
• You'll sometimes find FAIL or UNKNOWN results which match your own; a comparison can be helpful. In this instance, there were no problems reported for "t/05_mce_child.t": not helpful for your current issue.

As I said above, I've assumed you're using the cpan utility (could be wrong). I don't know how you've set that up or how you ran the installation. I don't know what Perl version you're using. Overall, there's insufficient information to suggest a fix.

If you can provide more verbose output, that would be great. If not, maybe look at the prove utility for detailed feedback. I wrote some notes about prove a day or two ago: possibly useful if you haven't previously used it.

I have Strawberry Perl v5.26.3 on Win10. Purely as a test, I successfully installed MCE.

cpan> install MCE
...
All tests successful.
Files=39, Tests=617,  9 wallclock secs ( 0.12 usr +  0.01 sys =  0.14 
+CPU)
Result: PASS
  MARIOROY/MCE-1.882.tar.gz
  C:\Users\ken\local\opt\strawberry_perl\5_026_003\install\c\bin\gmake
+.exe test -- OK
Running make install
...
  MARIOROY/MCE-1.882.tar.gz
  C:\Users\ken\local\opt\strawberry_perl\5_026_003\install\c\bin\gmake
+.exe install UNINST=1 -- OK
[download]

— Ken