CPAN troubles again

[Arkady Zilberberg]

Hello all,
a few days ago I posted a message describing my problems installing
a module from CPAN (namely, Win32::SerialPort). Since then, I also
tried to install the required Win32::API manually (even though I
configured CPAN to automatically install dependencies) and failed
yet again - this time 'make' fails with an error during Callback.dll
creation with one unresolved reference: _itoa.
I will try to debug the problem but it still doesn't answer my first
question "Why Win32::SerialPort doesn't create the Makefile?"
Is there anyone familiar with such problems? I'm using perl 5.8.5
under cygwin/Windows 2000.

Thanks in advance,
Arkady.

 

[Jim Keenan]

Hello all,
a few days ago I posted a message describing my problems installing
a module from CPAN (namely, Win32::SerialPort).
[snip]

I will try to debug the problem but it still doesn't answer my first
question "Why Win32::SerialPort doesn't create the Makefile?"

It fails because it's a failure as a module. Go to
http://testers.cpan.org/show/Win32-SerialPort.html#Win32-SerialPort-0.19
and note that the module failed the one test it needed to pass, viz.,
the test on Win32. Go further to
http://search.cpan.org/~bbirth/Win32-SerialPort-0.19/ and note that the
module was last updated on 05 Nov 1999.

In other words, it's dead.

But to return to your original question: How to set the baud rate on a
serial port (Perl under cygwin)? Why Cygwin? My impression is that
Cygwin is primarily used to provide a Unix-like command interface in a
Win32 environment, i.e., it's primarily for the programmer's
convenience rather than for ongoing production. But your problem
sounds like a production problem. What prevents you from solving this
problem in a "regular" Win32 environment and perhaps using, say,
ActivePerl, a Perl distribution fine-tuned for Win32?

Jim Keenan

 

[Sisyphus]

Hello all,
a few days ago I posted a message describing my problems installing
a module from CPAN (namely, Win32::SerialPort).

[snip]


I will try to debug the problem but it still doesn't answer my first
question "Why Win32::SerialPort doesn't create the Makefile?"

It's not intended to create a Makefile. The intention is that you run
(in succession):
perl Makefile.PL
perl test.pl
perl install.pl

That's the way the author set it up. Hard to see that such a procedure
is going to fit very well with CPAN and CPANPLUS requirements

It fails because it's a failure as a module. Go to
http://testers.cpan.org/show/Win32-SerialPort.html#Win32-SerialPort-0.19
and note that the module failed the one test it needed to pass, viz.,
the test on Win32.

Yes - but it did pass 5 of the 7 test scripts - and on those 2 scripts
it did fail, it failed *all* tests, which looks (to me) suspiciously
like it could be a bug in those 2 scripts, rather than a problem with
the actual module.

Go further to
http://search.cpan.org/~bbirth/Win32-SerialPort-0.19/ and note that the
module was last updated on 05 Nov 1999.

In other words, it's dead.

I'm not so sure that's correct ..... it *may* be ..... I'm just not sure

I think people are still getting good mileage out of this module.

But to return to your original question: How to set the baud rate on a
serial port (Perl under cygwin)? Why Cygwin? My impression is that
Cygwin is primarily used to provide a Unix-like command interface in a
Win32 environment, i.e., it's primarily for the programmer's
convenience rather than for ongoing production. But your problem
sounds like a production problem. What prevents you from solving this
problem in a "regular" Win32 environment and perhaps using, say,
ActivePerl, a Perl distribution fine-tuned for Win32?

No arguments there. What you say makes perfect sense. In any case,
installing the Win32-specific modules on Cygwin is always liable to be
difficult.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Jim Keenan]

Jim Keenan wrote:
[snip]

It's not intended to create a Makefile. The intention is that you run
(in succession):
perl Makefile.PL
perl test.pl
perl install.pl

That's the way the author set it up. Hard to see that such a procedure
is going to fit very well with CPAN and CPANPLUS requirements
Agreed.
Yes - but it did pass 5 of the 7 test scripts - and on those 2 scripts
it did fail, it failed *all* tests, which looks (to me) suspiciously
like it could be a bug in those 2 scripts, rather than a problem with
the actual module.

Ah, you read farther than I did.

I'm not so sure that's correct ..... it *may* be ..... I'm just not sure


I think people are still getting good mileage out of this module.

Rob Rothenberg, who's knowledgeable on Windows, reviewed this module at
http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Win32-SerialPort. I think he would tend
to agree with your last statement.

Jim Keenan

 

[Josef Moellers]

Hello all,
a few days ago I posted a message describing my problems installing
a module from CPAN (namely, Win32::SerialPort). Since then, I also
tried to install the required Win32::API manually (even though I
configured CPAN to automatically install dependencies) and failed
yet again - this time 'make' fails with an error during Callback.dll
creation with one unresolved reference: _itoa.
I will try to debug the problem but it still doesn't answer my first
question "Why Win32::SerialPort doesn't create the Makefile?"
Is there anyone familiar with such problems? I'm using perl 5.8.5
under cygwin/Windows 2000.

Sisyphus (poor guy) already pointed out how to install SerialPort.
I have also tried to install Win32::API and have resorted to use ppm to
install it. That worked for me.

I, too, use SerialPort and Win32::API and am quite happy with it.
The only problem I have is that SerialPort does not provide timeouts on
the first character, but using polling (timeout 0xffffffff) and
usleep(1000), I managed to fake it.

Josef

 

[Sisyphus]

Sisyphus (poor guy)

Five years of posting all over the place ... and finally, some sympathy.
Thanks Josef.

Josef

Josef Möllers (Pinguinpfleger bei FSC)
If failure had no penalty success would not be a prize
-- T. Pratchett

If success were not a prize failure would incur no penalty.

Cheers,
Rob