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(crazyinsomniac) Re: IndigoPerl 5.6 for Win32

by crazyinsomniac (Prior)
on Jan 11, 2001 at 09:25 UTC ( [id://51081]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to IndigoPerl 5.6 for Win32

I have tried IndigoPerl on Win98 and it runs great. It's excellent for testing cgi scripts and 'mock' websites. It is also excellent for newbies, like myself, as well as for seasoned veterans, who want to learn more about perl, cgi, and real servers.

Right off the bat, after you 'start apache', you have a fully functional, fully configurable Apache server with perl/mod_perl running on localhost.

Also included is the 'PerlConsole' which basically runs Apache on localhost:444 and brings up a framed browser window, with the documentation, a search for the documentation, and the package manger, which is pretty nifty.

The documentation regarding indigoperl specifics is a little thin, but what else do you really need besides perl pod.

I wouldn't reccoment anyone run this as a 'live'(on the net) server on a Win9x machine. Please get an os with more 'security' built-in.


I give this product an overall rating of ******** + 1/4* (8.25 stars).
Setup: ********* (10 stars) updated (01/10/2001)
All you need to do is download the zip, unzip, run setup.bat and reboot, that simple. Then simply go to your start menu > programs > IndigoPerl > start apache, open a browser and type http://localhost/ and do a little dance. If you wanna run it as a service(NT only) it is a bit more complicated. I personally have not tried it.

Overall Performance: ******* (7 stars)
Runs great considering its windows, but it can be slow at times seeing how some features are run via *.bat files(hella slow). Occasionally you can get some msdos zombies just by using packaged tools(GPM).

Documentation: ********* (9 stars)
Like the name states the main focus of this package is Perl, and that's what kind of documentation you get. Although, it would've been nice if Apache documentation was included as well. A search engine is included for the pod, but is only available if you use the perlconsole. It is basic, but improving it can make a good learning project.

Features: ******* (7 stars)
There are a number of features, one being the Apache webserver, but mainly this section rates the GPM(Gui Package Manager).

GPM is a CGI front-end for the DPM(Dynamic Package Manager), which is a batch script with embedded perl. The GPM is very good, but lacks some important functionality and is kind of slow, and not quite robust.

There is on key thing to remember before you can successfully use it:
Whether installing or downloading a module using the GPM, do not select more than one at a time, cause this'll make it do funky stuff.

The handling of multiple module 2 install/download is pretty much the big bug and unimplement feature. While it appears that there is a check in place for this, it doesn't work very well and can cause some funky results(zombies).

Also when installing/downloading a module, GPM will try and parse the module, and automatically update the html version of the pod in html/lib/$Package/$Module.html, much like ActivePerls PPM(Perl Package manager).

One feature, which you can probably hack, is the unneccessary automatic updating of the repository packages list for the selected repository, every single time you visit the GPM. For example if you select http://www.indigostar.com/packages/perl5_6 as your repository, and click select, the list will be updated. And if you then chose to download/install a module, and that happens, and you get a message saying installed/downloaded click here to go back to the GPM, when you click to go back, the GPM will automatically update the list, for which there is no real reason to.

Another behaviour is to refresh the page automatically when downloading/installing a module, with updated status, which can get ridiculous when you're downloading/installing a big module like TK(1.4+MB), and causes the script to run hella slow. And when you get tired of it refreshing every 5 seconds, with little or no progress, and hit escape, or click stop on your browser, guess what happens. That's right, the module doesn't get installed/downloaded and some zombies might get created.

The good news is that dpm keeps a cache of each session in dbmcache and that bigass module'll be there if it downloaded correctly, and what might simply be the case is that the parsing/generation of the htmlpod was all you stopped. The zombies will go away once you 'stop apache'.

Another bug(appears to be) is the failure of automatic creation of a local_repository directory. There is a file called save_location.txt with local_repository as the default directory to save in, but as i said before, you have to manually create the directory. The file will be updated when you enter the full path of the directory in the GPM save to field, or whenever you edit it.

UPDATE:01/10/2001 @10:32
Funny, tried updating Compress-Zlib, but unable to update completely automatically, suprising ;)


In conclusion IndigoPerl is a little funky, but hella cool %-)

update: 2-18-2002
Much much trouble can occur if you're running `perlconsole' and a apache at the same time (like if you started apache, and then started perlsonsole) .... my httpd.conf got overwritten with F:\indigoperl x 3000~, really really bizzare! (this happened while i was using the GPM to save stuff to my local repository)

update:
Hiya jotti. Don't keep images in the cgi-bin directory, it's special (and that be an apache tip).

"cRaZy is co01, but sometimes cRaZy is cRaZy".
                                                      - crazyinsomniac

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: (crazyinsomniac) Re: IndigoPerl 5.6 for Win32
by jotti (Scribe) on May 07, 2002 at 10:38 UTC
    I've installed IndigoPerl and tested it. Looks grat. But I have difficulties in showing graphics on my html pages created with Perl CGI scripts. Both graphics and the scripts are in the cgi-bin directory.

    Johan Halmén

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