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1 | If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the funny characters you |
2 | see. It is written in the POD format (see pod/perlpod.pod) which is | |
3 | specially designed to be readable as is. | |
4 | ||
5 | =head1 NAME | |
6 | ||
7 | README.epoc - Perl for EPOC | |
8 | ||
9 | =head1 SYNOPSIS | |
10 | ||
11 | Perl 5 README file for the EPOC Release 5 operating system. | |
12 | ||
13 | =head1 INTRODUCTION | |
14 | ||
15 | EPOC is an OS for palmtops and mobile phones. For more informations look at: | |
16 | http://www.symbian.com/ | |
17 | ||
18 | This is a port of perl to the epocemx SDK by Eberhard Mattes, which | |
19 | itself uses the SDK by symbian. Essentially epocemx it is a POSIX | |
20 | look alike environment for the EPOC OS. For more information look at: | |
21 | http://epocemx.sourceforge.net/ | |
22 | ||
23 | perl and epocemx runs on Epoc Release 5 machines: Psion 5mx, 5mx Pro, | |
24 | Psion Revo, Psion Netbook and on the Ericsson M128. It may run on Epoc | |
25 | Release 3 Hardware (Series 5 classic), too. For more information about | |
26 | this hardware please refer to http://www.psion.com/ | |
27 | ||
28 | Vendors which like to have support for their devices are free to send | |
29 | me a sample. | |
30 | ||
31 | =head1 INSTALLING PERL ON EPOC | |
32 | ||
33 | You can download a ready-to-install version from | |
34 | http://www.oflebbe.de/oflebbe/perl/ | |
35 | ||
36 | You will need at least ~6MB free space in order to install and run perl. | |
37 | ||
38 | Please install the emxusr.sis package from | |
39 | http://epocemx.sourceforge.net/ first. | |
40 | ||
41 | Install perl.sis on the EPOC machine. If you do not know how to do | |
42 | that, consult your PsiWin documentation. | |
43 | ||
44 | Perl itself and its standard library is using 4 MB disk space. | |
45 | Unicode support and some other modules are left out. (For details, | |
46 | please look into epoc/createpkg.pl). If you like to use these modules, | |
47 | you are free to copy them from a current perl release. | |
48 | ||
49 | =head1 STARTING PERL ON EPOC | |
50 | ||
51 | Please use the epocemx shell to start perl. perl integrates with the | |
52 | conventions of epocemx. | |
53 | ||
54 | =head2 Editors on Epoc | |
55 | ||
56 | A suitable text editor can be downloaded from symbian | |
57 | http://www.symbian.com/developer/downloads/files/editor.zip | |
58 | ||
59 | =head2 Features of Perl on Epoc | |
60 | ||
61 | The built-in function EPOC::getcwd returns the current directory. | |
62 | ||
63 | =head2 Restrictions of Perl on Epoc | |
64 | ||
65 | Features are left out, because of restrictions of the POSIX support in | |
66 | EPOC: | |
67 | ||
68 | =over 4 | |
69 | ||
70 | =item * | |
71 | ||
72 | socket IO is only implemented poorly. You can only use sysread and | |
73 | syswrite on them. The commands read, write, print, <> do not work for | |
74 | sockets. This may change iff epocemx supports sockets. | |
75 | ||
76 | =item * | |
77 | ||
78 | kill, alarm and signals. Do not try to use them. This may be | |
79 | impossible to implement on EPOC. | |
80 | ||
81 | =item * | |
82 | ||
83 | select is missing. | |
84 | ||
85 | =item * | |
86 | ||
87 | binmode does not exist. (No CR LF to LF translation for text files) | |
88 | ||
89 | =item * | |
90 | ||
91 | EPOC does not handle the notion of current drive and current | |
92 | directory very well (i.e. not at all, but it tries hard to emulate | |
93 | one). See PATH. | |
94 | ||
95 | =item * | |
96 | ||
97 | Heap is limited to 4MB. | |
98 | ||
99 | =item * | |
100 | ||
101 | Dynamic loading is not implemented. | |
102 | ||
103 | =back | |
104 | ||
105 | =head2 Compiling Perl 5 on the EPOC cross compiling environment | |
106 | ||
107 | Sorry, this is far too short. | |
108 | ||
109 | =over 4 | |
110 | ||
111 | =item * | |
112 | ||
113 | You will need the epocemx SDK from Eberhard Mattes. | |
114 | ||
115 | =item * | |
116 | ||
117 | Get the Perl sources from your nearest CPAN site. | |
118 | ||
119 | =item * | |
120 | ||
121 | Unpack the sources. | |
122 | ||
123 | =item * | |
124 | ||
125 | Build a native perl from this sources... Make sure to save the | |
126 | miniperl executable as miniperl.native. | |
127 | ||
128 | Start again from scratch | |
129 | ||
130 | cp epoc/* . | |
131 | ./Configure -S | |
132 | make | |
133 | cp miniperl.native miniperl | |
134 | touch miniperl.exe | |
135 | make | |
136 | perl createpkg.pl | |
137 | ||
138 | emxsis perl.pkg perl.sis | |
139 | ||
140 | =back | |
141 | ||
142 | =head1 SUPPORT STATUS OF PERL ON EPOC | |
143 | ||
144 | I'm offering this port "as is". You can ask me questions, but I can't | |
145 | guarantee I'll be able to answer them. Since the port to epocemx is | |
146 | quite new, please check the web for updates first. | |
147 | ||
148 | Very special thanks to Eberhard Mattes for epocemx. | |
149 | ||
150 | =head1 AUTHOR | |
151 | ||
152 | Olaf Flebbe <olaf@oflebbe.de> | |
153 | http://www.oflebbe.de/oflebbe/perl/ | |
154 | ||
155 | =head1 LAST UPDATE | |
156 | ||
157 | 2003-01-18 | |
158 | ||
159 | =cut |