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   1  If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the funny characters you see.
   2  It is written in the POD format (see pod/perlpod.pod) which is specially
   3  designed to be readable as is.
   4  
   5  =head1 NAME
   6  
   7  README.tru64 - Perl version 5 on Tru64 (formerly known as Digital UNIX formerly known as DEC OSF/1) systems
   8  
   9  =head1 DESCRIPTION
  10  
  11  This document describes various features of HP's (formerly Compaq's,
  12  formerly Digital's) Unix operating system (Tru64) that will affect
  13  how Perl version 5 (hereafter just Perl) is configured, compiled
  14  and/or runs.
  15  
  16  =head2 Compiling Perl 5 on Tru64
  17  
  18  The recommended compiler to use in Tru64 is the native C compiler.
  19  The native compiler produces much faster code (the speed difference is
  20  noticeable: several dozen percentages) and also more correct code: if
  21  you are considering using the GNU C compiler you should use at the
  22  very least the release of 2.95.3 since all older gcc releases are
  23  known to produce broken code when compiling Perl.  One manifestation
  24  of this brokenness is the lib/sdbm test dumping core; another is many
  25  of the op/regexp and op/pat, or ext/Storable tests dumping core
  26  (the exact pattern of failures depending on the GCC release and
  27  optimization flags).
  28  
  29  gcc 3.2.1 is known to work okay with Perl 5.8.0.  However, when
  30  optimizing the toke.c gcc likes to have a lot of memory, 256 megabytes
  31  seems to be enough.  The default setting of the process data section
  32  in Tru64 should be one gigabyte, but some sites/setups might have
  33  lowered that.  The configuration process of Perl checks for too low
  34  process limits, and lowers the optimization for the toke.c if
  35  necessary, and also gives advice on how to raise the process limits.
  36  
  37  Also, Configure might abort with
  38  
  39      Build a threading Perl? [n]
  40      Configure[2437]: Syntax error at line 1 : `config.sh' is not expected.
  41  
  42  This indicates that Configure is being run with a broken Korn shell
  43  (even though you think you are using a Bourne shell by using
  44  "sh Configure" or "./Configure").  The Korn shell bug has been reported
  45  to Compaq as of February 1999 but in the meanwhile, the reason ksh is
  46  being used is that you have the environment variable BIN_SH set to
  47  'xpg4'.  This causes /bin/sh to delegate its duties to /bin/posix/sh
  48  (a ksh).  Unset the environment variable and rerun Configure.
  49  
  50  =head2 Using Large Files with Perl on Tru64
  51  
  52  In Tru64 Perl is automatically able to use large files, that is,
  53  files larger than 2 gigabytes, there is no need to use the Configure
  54  -Duselargefiles option as described in INSTALL (though using the option
  55  is harmless).
  56  
  57  =head2 Threaded Perl on Tru64
  58  
  59  If you want to use threads, you should primarily use the Perl
  60  5.8.0 threads model by running Configure with -Duseithreads.
  61  
  62  Perl threading is going to work only in Tru64 4.0 and newer releases,
  63  older operating releases like 3.2 aren't probably going to work
  64  properly with threads.
  65  
  66  In Tru64 V5 (at least V5.1A, V5.1B) you cannot build threaded Perl with gcc
  67  because the system header <pthread.h> explicitly checks for supported
  68  C compilers, gcc (at least 3.2.2) not being one of them.  But the
  69  system C compiler should work just fine.
  70  
  71  =head2 Long Doubles on Tru64
  72  
  73  You cannot Configure Perl to use long doubles unless you have at least
  74  Tru64 V5.0, the long double support simply wasn't functional enough
  75  before that.  Perl's Configure will override attempts to use the long
  76  doubles (you can notice this by Configure finding out that the modfl()
  77  function does not work as it should).
  78  
  79  At the time of this writing (June 2002), there is a known bug in the
  80  Tru64 libc printing of long doubles when not using "e" notation.
  81  The values are correct and usable, but you only get a limited number
  82  of digits displayed unless you force the issue by using C<printf
  83  "%.33e",$num> or the like.  For Tru64 versions V5.0A through V5.1A, a
  84  patch is expected sometime after perl 5.8.0 is released.  If your libc
  85  has not yet been patched, you'll get a warning from Configure when
  86  selecting long doubles.
  87  
  88  =head2 DB_File tests failing on Tru64
  89  
  90  The DB_File tests (db-btree.t, db-hash.t, db-recno.t) may fail you
  91  have installed a newer version of Berkeley DB into the system and the
  92  -I and -L compiler and linker flags introduce version conflicts with
  93  the DB 1.85 headers and libraries that came with the Tru64.  For example, 
  94  mixing a DB v2 library with the DB v1 headers is a bad idea.  Watch
  95  out for Configure options -Dlocincpth and -Dloclibpth, and check your
  96  /usr/local/include and /usr/local/lib since they are included by default.
  97  
  98  The second option is to explicitly instruct Configure to detect the
  99  newer Berkeley DB installation, by supplying the right directories with
 100  C<-Dlocincpth=/some/include> and C<-Dloclibpth=/some/lib> B<and> before
 101  running "make test" setting your LD_LIBRARY_PATH to F</some/lib>.
 102  
 103  The third option is to work around the problem by disabling the
 104  DB_File completely when build Perl by specifying -Ui_db to Configure,
 105  and then using the BerkeleyDB module from CPAN instead of DB_File.
 106  The BerkeleyDB works with Berkeley DB versions 2.* or greater.
 107  
 108  The Berkeley DB 4.1.25 has been tested with Tru64 V5.1A and found
 109  to work.  The latest Berkeley DB can be found from F<http://www.sleepycat.com>.
 110  
 111  =head2 64-bit Perl on Tru64
 112  
 113  In Tru64 Perl's integers are automatically 64-bit wide, there is
 114  no need to use the Configure -Duse64bitint option as described
 115  in INSTALL.  Similarly, there is no need for -Duse64bitall
 116  since pointers are automatically 64-bit wide.
 117  
 118  =head2 Warnings about floating-point overflow when compiling Perl on Tru64
 119  
 120  When compiling Perl in Tru64 you may (depending on the compiler
 121  release) see two warnings like this
 122  
 123      cc: Warning: numeric.c, line 104: In this statement, floating-point overflow occurs in evaluating the expression "1.8e308". (floatoverfl)
 124          return HUGE_VAL;
 125      -----------^
 126  
 127  and when compiling the POSIX extension
 128  
 129      cc: Warning: const-c.inc, line 2007: In this statement, floating-point overflow occurs in evaluating the expression "1.8e308". (floatoverfl)
 130                  return HUGE_VAL;
 131      -------------------^
 132  
 133  The exact line numbers may vary between Perl releases.  The warnings
 134  are benign and can be ignored: in later C compiler releases the warnings
 135  should be gone.
 136  
 137  When the file F<pp_sys.c> is being compiled you may (depending on the
 138  operating system release) see an additional compiler flag being used:
 139  C<-DNO_EFF_ONLY_OK>.  This is normal and refers to a feature that is
 140  relevant only if you use the C<filetest> pragma.  In older releases of
 141  the operating system the feature was broken and the NO_EFF_ONLY_OK
 142  instructs Perl not to use the feature.
 143  
 144  =head1 Testing Perl on Tru64
 145  
 146  During "make test" the C<comp/cpp> will be skipped because on Tru64 it
 147  cannot be tested before Perl has been installed.  The test refers to
 148  the use of the C<-P> option of Perl.
 149  
 150  =head1 ext/ODBM_File/odbm Test Failing With Static Builds
 151  
 152  The ext/ODBM_File/odbm is known to fail with static builds
 153  (Configure -Uusedl) due to a known bug in Tru64's static libdbm
 154  library.  The good news is that you very probably don't need to ever
 155  use the ODBM_File extension since more advanced NDBM_File works fine,
 156  not to mention the even more advanced DB_File.
 157  
 158  =head1 Perl Fails Because Of Unresolved Symbol sockatmark
 159  
 160  If you get an error like
 161  
 162      Can't load '.../OSF1/lib/perl5/5.8.0/alpha-dec_osf/auto/IO/IO.so' for module IO: Unresolved symbol in .../lib/perl5/5.8.0/alpha-dec_osf/auto/IO/IO.so: sockatmark at .../lib/perl5/5.8.0/alpha-dec_osf/XSLoader.pm line 75.
 163  
 164  you need to either recompile your Perl in Tru64 4.0D or upgrade your
 165  Tru64 4.0D to at least 4.0F: the sockatmark() system call was
 166  added in Tru64 4.0F, and the IO extension refers that symbol.
 167  
 168  =head1 AUTHOR
 169  
 170  Jarkko Hietaniemi <jhi@iki.fi>
 171  
 172  =cut