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[MacPerl] MacPerl FAQ 2.5
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Updated just recently, here is the MacPerl FAQ. Note that it is not on CPAN until I get
some site addresses checked out, but the HTML version is at
http://www.industrialstrengthsw.sk.ca/MacPerl/MacPerlFAQ.html
About the MacPerl FAQ
Version and Date information:
This is version 2.5 which was last revised Tuesday, March 25, 1997. Changes
since prior release:
* Added European location for FAQ.
* Updated Perl5 version to 5.002.
* Added section about setting preferences.
* Added link through to cbooks.com review page.
* Tidied discussion of extended characters.
* Removed redundancy in discussion of run-time distributions.
* Provided pointers for CGI programming on the Mac.
* Updated ObjectSupport Lib version number.
See below for locations of the current FAQ.
The MacPerl FAQ is currently being edited and maintained by Bob Dalgleish
and Bob Wilkinson. Contact them for editorial or publication information.
The initial version of the FAQ was prepared by Hal Wine. The current outline
and a lot of the useful words in this edition were prepared by Hal, as well.
This FAQ is intended as a supplement to the main Perl FAQ , and does not
replace it.
Where to get the most recent MacPerl release:
The best way to get official releases of the MacPerl application or tool or
this FAQ is to use the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network at
http://www.perl.com/CPAN.
* Use FTP to get the site registry and find the repository site nearest
you. Save this information for later use when you want to get files. It
saves wear and tear on the 'net and administrators everywhere.
* Use a Web browser to search for the file to download. This URL will
find a (relatively local) mirror site to get your file. This URL uses a
magic process to refer you to a nearby FTP site. There is also a form
that will identify the most recent versions of released files and give
you the URL without the search.
Where to get the most recent FAQ:
The most recent copy of the FAQ is available as MacPerlFAQ.html and
MacPerlFAQ.txt.
They are mirrored from MacPerlFAQ.html and MacPerlFAQ.txt, but this web-site
has some name registration problems.
In Europe, these files are available from MacPerlFAQ.html and MacPerlFAQ.txt
* http://www.perl.com/CPAN/doc/FAQs/mac/
* http://www.industrialstrengthsw.sk.ca/MacPerl/
* http://www.connection.co.uk/bob/perl/
Versions of the FAQ can be retrieved by e-mail. Send e-mail to
MacPerl@dtor.com with a subject of either:
get FAQ
for the text version or
get FAQ.html
for the html version.
What the FAQ covers:
The MacPerl FAQ tries to answer simple questions that are unique to the
various versions of MacPerl. For more complex questions, pointers to more
detailed information may be given.
The MacPerl FAQ also contains information on some unique applications of
MacPerl. However, pointers to other information are more likely for these
topics.
Finally, the MacPerl FAQ contains information useful in porting Perl scripts
to and from the Unix environment.
What the FAQ doesn't cover:
The MacPerl FAQ does not cover basic Perl questions. Nor does it cover basic
Macintosh programming information. It certainly doesn't cover details of WWW
CGI programming! This is handled slightly different on the Mac than on other
platforms, and pointers are provided for detailed information.
The MacPerl FAQ is also not a tutorial. Nor is it a 100% correct authority
on anything! However, we ask your indulgence by sending comments,
clarifications, and revisions to one or both of the editors.
How the FAQ is organized:
This FAQ is organized from general information through more specific
information. A given topic is covered in the most general location possible.
Both Perl version 4 and 5 have been ported to the Mac. Much of the
information in this FAQ is not unique to the Perl version being used.
Where there is a distinction or discrepancy between the versions, the
applicable version will be mentioned. The most frequent difference is how
package qualifications are made. In Perl4, a variable in a package was
entered as $Package'variable. In Perl5, it is entered as $Package::variable,
although the old form is acceptable.
The major emphasis of the FAQ has moved to MacPerl 5, so the new package
syntax will be used.
Where possible, the users of MacPerl should upgrade to MacPerl5, since its
extensibility and generality are very much enhanced. Perl4 scripts will run
almost unimpeded under Perl5, but you can easily check for problems by
setting the -w switch to flag common errors. The reference file
pod:perltrap.html in the release describes common problems.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) General Questions
1.1) What's the most recent version of MacPerl?
MacPerl is available in forms corresponding to Unix Perl version 4.036 and
5.002. Both of these are also available as either a standalone Macintosh
application, or as a tool for the MPW (Macintosh Programmer's Workshop)
environment.
Unless you already have MPW, and know its environment, you want the
standalone version, hereafter called the MacPerl Application.
Perl5 introduced several powerful new technologies, including
object-oriented programming to Perl. This allowed modules to be much more
self-sufficient, yet extensible, as well as allowing system extensions.
These extensions will be capitalized upon in further releases of MacPerl.
1.1.1) Perl 5
The latest version of Perl 5 is available from the CPAN archives in
directory http://perl.com/CPAN/ports/mac/ as files:
Mac_Perl_tool.bin
for the MacPerl tool
Mac_Perl_appl.bin
for the MacPerl application
Mac_Perl_tool.bin
for the MacPerl tool from Switzerland
Mac_Perl_tool.bin
for the MacPerl application from Switzerland
Both of these files are in MacBinary format. Other versions may also be
available in those directories. For MacPerl 5, the version naming convention
also refers to the Unix Perl version. For example, MacPerl version 5.1.3r2
can be deciphered as follows: 5 is the major Perl release, .1.3 is the Mac
revision level, and 2 is the patchlevel of the Perl core.
The source code for these versions is also available in the same directory.
Consult the file Mac_Perl.info for details on which sources are needed for
which version.
1.1.2) Perl 4
The last version of Perl 4 ported to the Mac is MacPerl 4.1.8, which
corresponds to Unix Perl version 4.036 (the last release of Perl 4). While
it is quite stable, and has a lot of users still, MacPerl4 is no longer
being developed. Many of the newer Perl modules will not work with Perl 4.
The latest versions (4.1.8) are available from the CPAN archives in
directory ports/mac/ as file:
http://perl.com/CPAN/ports/mac/Mac_Perl_tool
for the MacPerl tool
http://perl.com/CPAN/ports/mac/Mac_Perl_appl
for the MacPerl application
ftp://ftp.switch.ch/software/mac/perl/Mac_Perl_tool
for the MacPerl tool from Switzerland
ftp://ftp.switch.ch/software/mac/perl/Mac_Perl_appl
for the MacPerl application from Switzerland
Both of these files are in MacBinary format.
1.2) How do I install MacPerl?
No matter which version of MacPerl you need, the installation process is
quite similar.
1.2.1) Transferring the files:
Be sure to transfer the files in binary mode.
After decompressing the archive, be sure to read all the text files in the
top level directory. (Or just review them if you're upgrading.)
1.2.2) How do I unpack the stuff I got?
In order to enable transmission of Macintosh files across the internet, they
must be encoded in various formats. Each layer of encoding adds a suffix to
the file. All MacPerl distribution files are StuffIt formatted archives,
encapsulated in MacBinary. Use StuffIt Expander, or a similar utility, to
decompress the files. See the comp.sys.mac.comm FAQ for a more complete list
1.2.3) Setting Preferences
Preferences are set for the MacPerl tool by pulling down the "Edit" menu,
and selecting "Preferences". This permits the user to
* Choose the path along which libraries are searched
* Determine whether MacPerl defaults to opening files for editing, or
tries to run them. The decision whether to check for a line starting
with the string "#!" can be toggled.
* The decision whether to check for inline input can be toggled
* "Internet config" can be launched, which enables various parameters to
be set
Preferences for the MPW tool are set as described in section 4.1.1.
1.3) What Macs does MacPerl run on?
MacPerl4 runs on any Macintosh, including the PowerMacs. MacPerl5 runs on
the same Macs mainly, with the exception of 68000-based machines. A 68000
savvy version of MacPerl5 will likely be available later in 1996.
1.4) Other MacPerl resources:
A primer on using MacPerl has been developed by Sandra Silcott. It's
available for FTP as a self-extracting archive. The porter of MacPerl,
Matthias Neeracher, maintains a question-and-answer list of his own. The
list is mailed periodically to macperl list subscribers, and is available at
his site.
1.4.1) Is there an email list for MacPerl?
Yes! To join, send mail to mac-perl-request@iis.ee.ethz.ch whose BODY (the
Subject is ignored) is the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe". If you send
your subscription notice to mac-perl, you will merely annoy people.
A searchable archive of the mailing list is available.
This mailing list is presently unavailable in digest form.
1.4.2) Newsgroups which cover Perl (not specifically MacPerl)
* comp.lang.perl.announce
* comp.lang.perl.misc
* comp.lang.perl.modules
* comp.lang.perl.tk
1.4.3) Perl Book reviews
The main site for Perl documentation is at perl.com.
An on-line review of books about Perl is available from cbooks.com.
2) Differences between MacPerl and Perl on other platforms
Differences in functions on MacPerl, compared with Perl under Unix.
Routine MacPerl4 MacPerl5
alarm Not implemented
chmod Meaning of the mode of files is different
chown Meaning of ownership is different
chroot Not implemented
crypt Not implemented Implemented but not distributed in the
sources.
dump Not implemented. See runtimes.
exec Not implemented
exit Needs to be accompanied by MacPerl::Quit to do what you expect.
fcntl Meaning of controls is Meaning of controls is system specific.
system specific POSIX.pm provides a useful interface.
fork Not implemented
getlogin
getpgrp
setpgrp
getppid
getpw* Not implemented
getgr*
setgr*
endgrent
endpwent
ioctl Meaning of controls is Meaning of controls is system specific.
system specific POSIX.pm provides a useful interface.
kill Not implemented
link Not implemented
msg* Not implemented
open Pipes are not supported, except with ToolServer support.
pipe Not implemented, except with ToolServer support.
shm* Not implemented
syscall Not implemented
time Uses January 1, 1904 as base (Unix uses January 1, 1970)
utime Not 100% compatible
umask * Does nothing
wait Not implemented
waitpid Not implemented
2.1) Compatability with Perl under Unix.
2.1.1) Why does source preprocessing (-P) not work?
Language processors on Unix have traditionally allowed arbitrary front end
preprocessing for their input. The Mac has not.
Perl5 has significantly extended the syntax and the preparation so that most
preprocessing is not needed. The usual use of preprocessing is to provide
manifest constants. Subroutines can be made into "bare-words", which allow
what-look-to-be constant values, like ENOFILE, to be used in Perl code.
2.1.2) How do I open a pipe both to and from a command?
You don't on the Mac.
2.1.3) Why do %ENV changes not pass to processes that I start?
The environment variables are aspects of Unix and MSDOS command processing.
They are supported only within single processes on the Mac for compatibility
purposes.
2.1.4) Why don't backticks work as they do on Unix?
The Mac OS doesn't (really) support the notion of subprocesses. These can be
faked from MacPerl and MPW if you have an application called "Tool Server".
Tool Server is sold as part of various Mac development tools (such as
Symantec C and Metroworks). It is also available with Apple's ETO. Even so,
there are many limitations that are not present under Unix.
Matthias has hardcoded some strings to be processed by MacPerl itself.
pwd Current working directory.
Directory
Current working directory.
hostname
Hostname as returned by MacTCP or OpenTransport.
stty -raw
Allow single character input from the keyboard.
stty -cooked
Allow normal character input (line-oriented) from the keyboard.
See the documentation file MacPerl.Specifics in your release for up-to-date
information. (This file has been superceded in MacPerl5 by the
pod:macperl.html file).
For greater portability, there is a module called Cwd.pm which sets the
environment variable PWD. For instance,
use Cwd;
chdir_init;
$p = $ENV{'PWD'};
...
chdir $newdir;
$p = $ENV{'PWD'};
2.2) MacOS file system issues
2.2.1) How do I request an input or output file under MacPerl?
require 'StandardFile.pl';
$infilename = &StandardFile::GetFile('TEXT','ttxt','ttro' , "Default file");
$outfilename = &StandardFile::PutFile("Output file", "Default output file");
The file, StandardFile.pl. is supplied in the lib folder. It presents a
convenient front-end to the more primitive routine, MacPerl::Choose, which
is discussed in pod:macperl.html.
2.2.2) Why can't I detect aliases in my script?
Droplets *never* see aliases in @ARGV, as the finder resolves them before
Perl sees them.
The same is true for the results of standard file calls.
This has been fixed in MacPerl5r2.
2.2.3) How do I pass environment variables to my script?
The "environment" parameter must be passed as a list of strings (name/value
pairs). Here is a snippet that works:
property env : {"HOME", "Boot", "TEMP", "Boot:Temporary Items"}
property perlScript : "Boot:Scripting:MacPerl:called_by_as_test.pl"
property opts : {"-n", "-x", "Boot:Scripting"}
tell application "MacPerl"
try
Do Script ({perlScript} & opts) mode batch environment env without extract
on error errorMessage number errorNumber
return errorNumber
end try
end tell
2.2.4) How do I perform globbing in MacPerl?
For MacPerl4, the functionality of globbing can often be achieved using the
opendir, readdir, closedir commands. For example,
@files = <*.error>;
is equivalent to:
opendir( DIR, ':' ) || die( "Can't open ':': $!\n" );
@files = grep( /\.error$/, readdir( DIR ) );
closedir( DIR );
For MacPerl5, globbing is available.
2.3) Application additions
2.3.1) MacPerl package
MacPerl comes with a built-in package of routines and variables which are
accessed using the syntax $MacPerl::Variable and &MacPerl::Subroutine. These
are documented in the file pod:macperl.html.
2.3.2) Macintosh Toolbox interfaces
The Macintosh Toolbox interfaces are being prepared and tested. To find out
about these interfaces, you had best join the MacPerl mailing list. See
mailing list section for details.
2.4) How can I compare two date strings?
See the FAQ.
2.5) How do I get MacPerl to recognize the Mac character set?
A byte can store 8 bits, however, there is only a general agreement as how
to use the bottom 7 bits (i.e. the first 128) for representing characters.
This standard is ASCII. (Of course, even this has detractors e.g. IBM's use
of EBCDIC).
The top 128 characters which can be stored in a byte are the extended
characters. However, which character is represented by which bit-pattern is
font-dependent, and especially machine-dependent. Some machines do share the
same extended character set e.g. Unix and MS-Windows both use the ISO-lat1
(Latin-1) character set; this is not the same as that generally used on a
Macintosh.
In regular expressions, \w can be used to match against an alphanumeric
character, where this set of characters is [A-Za-z0-9_]. This will not match
against , , , or any other accented characters which are found in the
extended characters of the Macintosh character set (or any other extended
characters for this matter). However, locale settings can influence the
characters matched by \w.
Portability of code (from platform to platform, and on the Macintosh from
font to font) would be compromised, if the extended characters were used
within the \w, \W matches. A set of characters may be constructed on an ad
hoc basis by encoding the characters as their hex values e.g. \xa9.
The library function, I18N:Collate may be used to order objects according to
the national character set used.
2.6) How do I access Mac Resources from MacPerl?
You don't, if you want portable code! If you do want to access them, you
have to use an XCMD or XFCN (see Extending Perl for information on that).
Recently, Matthias has released Perl extensions that allow access to the
Macintosh toolbox for Memory, Resources, and Apple Events. Currently, this
is PowerMac-compatible only.
3) MacPerl Application
3.1) How do I package my Perl scripts?
First, let's look at what you have to distribute in order to share a perl
script with a friend e.g. your wiz bang lotto number picker script.
Two methods of distributing clickable run-time applications are supported,
Droplets and Runtimes.
3.1.1) Droplets:
Droplets are mini applications that work in conjunction with MacPerl (the
application) under System 7. (Versions of MacOS prior to 7.5 require that
AppleScript is installed, too; 7.5 added this to the OS implicitly). They
are the "recommended" way to package perl scripts on the Mac.
To make a droplet, simply open your script in MacPerl, then choose "Save
As". One of the "Type" options is "Droplet". The droplet is actually an
application program that contains the text of your script, plus some code
(about 8KB). When launched, the droplet uses Apple Events to launch MacPerl
(if it isn't already running), and then sends it the script to execute.
You can reopen and change the script of droplets from within MacPerl.
Subsequent "Saves" will retain the droplet file type.
If the user launches a droplet by dragging and dropping some files onto the
droplet's icon in the Finder, those file names will appear as arguments to
the script (i.e. they will be in @ARGV). This is one of the simplest ways to
access the command line from outside of MPW.
The only downside to droplets is that users must have a complete
installation of MacPerl, including any libraries that are called by your
script. This means that the first application you distribute this way take
over 800K. However, future droplets only take up 8K over the size of the
script.
3.1.2) Standalone applications/Runtimes:
Saving your script as a runtime version (for either system 7 or systems 6 &
7) is another way to package a script as a double-clickable application.
However, droplets are the preferred method.
If having your users install a version of MacPerl is too onerous (required
for droplets), then you can save them as a runtime application. However, not
all features are supported in the runtime applications. Also, runtime
versions take over 500KB per script!
Note: runtime versions do not execute any quicker. Perl is always
interpreted every time the script is run, period.
3.1.3) What about other files to go with the package?
The Perl way to do things is to have Perl modules (files ending in .pm)
placed in the script's directory, or in the library, where they will be
found by searching the @INC path. (See Section 1.2.3 for details of how this
is set.)
The Macintosh way is to package everything that is needed into a single file
using (named) resources to differentiate components. In support of this,
MacPerl allows you to include CODE resources (of type XCMD or XFCN), as well
as TEXT resources containing source modules, into the droplet or runtime. To
get access to the CODE resource, you need to use the
MacPerl::LoadExternals() function. To get access to the source modules, the
require function searches the TEXT resources of the droplet for the module
name. (See Extending Perl .)
3.2) Devices (printer, screen, appleevent):
3.2.1) How can I get MacPerl to dial my modem?
Look at CommConnect.t in the :t:mac folder. One note: currently it seems to
be impossible to use the Apple Modem Tool successfully, so you have to rely
on sending a line like
ATDT 1-900-MACPERL
to the Serial Tool.
3.2.2) How can I keep local data files in my droplet/runtime?
You can access TEXT resources by name using open(STREAM,
"Dev:Pseudo:Stream"); for some resource named Stream.
3.2.3) How can I output to another window?
open(CON2, ">Dev:Console:Another Window");
3.2.4) How can I get/set AppleEvent data?
Open Dev:AEVT:FOOB, data associated with event parameter FOOB is
read/written.
3.3) How do I develop scripts?
3.3.1) Alpha Text Editor:
You may want to consider getting the shareware text editor Alpha
as well. Alpha offers a Perl editting mode in which keywords and
comments are automatically colorized, subroutines are easily
indexed, and the rather complete Perl man page is readily
available as an online help file (indexed by section and command
through a menubar popup menu) - ... Beyond that, Alpha is one of
the nicest text editors (and my favorite) on any platform.
Contact W. Thomas Pollard
Check the Alpha home page for more information. The FTP site has the most
recent version, and it is available on all Mac repositories.
3.3.2) BBEdit Text Editor:
BBEdit is a commercial text editor, with a free cousin called BBEdit Lite.
The editor can recognize Perl syntax, and has syntax colouring (as of
version 4.0).
4) MacPerl MPW tool
4.1) Installation of MPW MacPerl
4.1.1) Use the following steps:
* Copy the Perl executable into a folder on the MPW path. e.g. the "MPW
Folder:Tools" folder
* Copy the files in the "lib" folder which comes with the distribution to
a sensible place. e.g "MPW Folder:Libraries:PerlLibs".
* Create a UserStartup*Perl file. (The * is really the bullet character,
option-8 on your keyboard.)
This should be in the same folder as the MPW executable.
An example "UserStartup*Perl" is given here, which uses PerlLibs for
the libraries for Perl4 and Perl5Libs (and implictly PerlLibs) for
Perl5.
Set PERLLIB "{MPW}libraries:PerlLibs:"
Export PERLLIB
Set PERL5LIB "{MPW}libraries:Perl5Libs:"
Export PERL5LIB
4.2) Specific differences between the MPW tool and Perl under Unix
The functions which do not work in the same way are outlined in the
differences table, but otherwise it's usage is similar, subject to the
differences between MPW and a Unix environment.
5) Special Application Areas
5.1) How can I extend the capabilities of MacPerl?
AppleScript scripts can be compiled and executed by MacPerl. With a suitable
collection of AppleScript Scripting Additions, many system manipulation
functions are quite straightforward to perform. With the presence of the
Scriptable Finder, many file manipulation operations are quite easy.
The code modules (XCMD/XFCN) developed for HyperCard may often be used in
MacPerl. While there is no external documentation for which HyperCard
callbacks are not implemented, most widely available code module libraries
offer safe packages. See the macperl.html file in the pod directory of
MacPerl for how to use MacPerl::LoadExternal().
5.1.1) Perl Modules
See the Perl5 FAQ.
5.1.2) Perl Extension System (XS) and dynamic loading of extensions.
Perl 5 introduced the concept that the Perl platform was truly extensible by
knowledgeable programmers. External code modules can be written and imported
into the Perl application at run-time, while presenting a Perl-ish interface
to other programs. This is often the only way to get at many operating
systems functions.
Starting with MacPerl5r2, the extension system has gotten a lot easier, and
Matthias has written a number of modules that give access to the MacOS
functions. These extension modules are still in beta testing, but will be
made available for general release.
5.2) How do I program for the Web?
5.2.1) How do I serve Web information (CGI)?
Learn the basics of the Common Gateway Interface.
Then, get the CGI glue
Next, get some documentation from Using Perl With MacHTTP and MacUsers April
1997.
Other links which may be of use are MacWorld,Mac WWW: Network Questions, and
MacHTTP web site.
5.2.2) How do I mail the contents of a filled in form?
Use a package called MacSMTP.pl and a demo called MailIt that does these
things.
5.2.3) How do I create or parse HTML documents?
The best package for this set of tasks is libwww-perl and libwww-perl-5, for
MacPerl4 and MacPerl5 respectively. Paul Schinder has converted these
libraries to work with MacPerl. See the scripts directory for more
information.
If you want to do smaller versions of these tasks, then try Tom
Christiansen's hacks for useful scripts.
5.3) Portability tricks and techniques
5.3.1) How do I know that this script is running under MacPerl?
The basic method of determining whether the script is running under MacPerl
or some other Perl is the test.
print "Running under MacPerl\n" if $MacPerl::Version;
Under MacPerl5, there is a more portable method, sanctioned by the Perl
development community:
use Config;
if ( $Config{'osname'} =~ /^macos/i ) {
print "Running under MacPerl\n";
}
Accessing file names is different between Unix and MacOS. However, Unix,
MacOS and MSDOS all use hierarchical file naming, and some of the
commonality has been gathered together into Perl modules for Perl5. Learn to
use the portability-oriented modules, such as File::Basename.pm, and
File::Path.pm.
5.3.2) How do I get input from the user of the script?
The simplest method is to use the MacPerl::Ask() and MacPerl::Answer()
methods.
5.3.3) How do I pass parameters to the script?
The first line of the Perl script has room for one argument. For instance,
#!perl -pi.BAK
will invoke MacPerl with the parameters -p (for wrapping an input loop
around the code with autoprint), and -i.BAK (for renaming the input file
with .BAK appended, and rewriting the file).
In the MPW version, the command line is supplied in the same manner as on
Unix. For the application, there are two choices, depending on whether or
not you need just file names or also options.
If you also want to give the user a chance to enter command line options,
you can use the following code fragment:
if( $MacPerl::Version =~ /Application$/ ) {
# we're running from the app
my( $cmdLine, @args );
$cmdLine = &MacPerl::Ask( "Enter command line options:" );
require "shellwords.pl";
@args = &shellwords( $cmdLine );
unshift( @ARGV, @args );
}
If your script just needs to know file names, then you can save the script
as a droplet and start it by dropping the desired files onto the droplet's
icon from the Finder.
If the parameters you need to supply are mostly fixed, you can also put them
after the script itself, in the data portion of the script. For instance,
# Get the default parameters
{
my @parms = <DATA>;
chomp(@parms);
unshift(@ARGV, @parms);
}
...
__END__
parm1
parm2
...
5.4) How do I know what directory the current script is in?
$0 contains the full path to the script that is executing.
$dirSep = '/'; # assume Unix
$dirSep = ':' if $MacPerl::Version; # change to Mac
($path, $app) = $0 =~ /^(.*$dirSep)?([^$dirSep]+)$/;
or, better because it uses standard facilities,
use File::Basename;
($app, $path) = fileparse($0);
6) Common Problems
6.1) Why does the here-is document not get read properly?
6.1.1) More than likely one of the two following conditions is your problem:
1. there isn't a carriage return after the final HEREIS or
2. there is a bunch of white space after the final HEREIS
To put it in Perl terms, the line that terminates the string must be exactly
the line that would be produced by the perl code:
print "HEREIS\n";
6.2) Why does MacPerl not work with Netscape?
One release of MacPerl installed an incorrect version of ObjectSupportLib
into the System Folder on PowerMacs.
The latest version of ObjectSupportLib is 1.2.
6.3) When I try to read a particular file, why does MacPerl complain that it
is "out of memory"?
If the file that you are trying to read is big and was prepared on a Unix
system, and not translated to the Mac environment (for instance, FTP
transfer in binary mode), then each line in the file will have newline
instead of carriage-return at the end. This causes MacPerl to try to read
the entire file at once, in an inefficient manner.
Set the record separator character to "\012" using any of
* $/ = "\012";
* use English; $INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR = "\012";
* use English; $RS = "\012";
Alternatively, translate the file using an editor or file conversion
program.
6.4) I can't get my droplet to run when I drop files on it?
Through some low level interactions, software used in the AppleScript system
is needed to operate the droplet mechanism. Get the current version of
AppleScript and install it in the Extensions Folder of your system.