| ActivePerl Developer's Guide |
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The book is split into four main sections, the first covers the
basic differences the two platforms and the basics of using the Win32
libraries. Section 2 covers different aspects of Perl programming and
provides a complete guide to developing applications on the Windows
platform using Win32 specific extensions. Part 3 covers some of the
tools available with the ActivePerl and Perl Development Kit
distribution which can help with your Perl programming. The last
section covers the migration from Visual Basic programming to
ActivePerl programming.
The chapter specific contents are detailed below.
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| Chapter 1 Introduction |
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Looks at Perl and the ActivePerl distribution, including ActivePerl's history and how the core development of Perl interacts with the Perl distribution supplied by ActiveState.
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| Chapter 2 Compatibility Fundamentals |
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Covers the basics of the Windows version of Perl, how Windows differs from Unix, and how to avoid many of the problems associated with the core differences between the two platforms whilst programming in Perl.
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| Chapter 3 Database Access |
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Examines the two base database types supported internally by Perl, text files and DBM, including information on how to convert from the Unix formats to Windows. This chapter also includes extensive information on how to use the Win32::ODBC driver for accessing ODBC compliant databases such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server.
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| Chapter 4 File Management |
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Provides a guide to using files and obtaining file information such as the file statistics and information, both at a simple level and also for accessing the security and extended property information supported by the Windows filesystems.
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| Chapter 5 Process Management |
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Looks at the basics of starting new processes within Windows, and at the problems associated with starting applications using some of the Perl built-in functions.
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| Chapter 6 Interprocess Communication |
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Gives an overview of the interprocess communication services offered by Windows and how to migrate Unix specific IPC to your Windows applications.
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| Chapter 7 Networking |
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Provides information on how to share and communicate with other machines over the network using a combination of the built-in tools, the LWP and libnet modules available from CPAN, and the Windows specific modules such as Win32::Internet.
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| Chapter 8 Systems Information and Administration |
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Covers the use of Perl as a tool for obtaining information about a system, including the registry, and for administrating a machine through the supplied extensions, and the Win32::AdminMisc extension from Dave Roth.
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| Chapter 9 Web Development |
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Examines some of the more unusual things that are capable when using Perl as a scripting solution under Windows. We start with a basic look at how to use Perl as a scripting solution, and then at ways in which we can use Perl for server side and client scripting.
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| Chapter 10 Interface Development |
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Covers the production of a user interface using Perl, first using the text-based Win32::Console module and the Tk GUI interface system, which has an advantage in that it is truly cross platform.
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| Chapter 11 Beyond Compatibility |
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Completely ignores Perl's Unix roots and instead looks at the features offered by ActivePerl that aren't supported by default in the Unix core distribution. This includes the playing of sounds and how to control and communicate with other Windows applications through the Win32::OLE interface.
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| Chapter 12 Perl Package Managers |
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Provides information on using the package management tools provided by ActiveState to replace the CPAN module.
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| Chapter 13 ActiveState Perl Debugger |
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Covers the debugging tool available with the Perl Development kit.
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| Chapter 14 Creating Applications with PerlApp |
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Offers some solutions to those people wanting to produce standalone executable applications using the ActivePerl and Perl Development Kit suites.
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| Chapter 15 A Difference of Approach |
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Provides some overview material for those users wanting to migrate from Visual Basic to Perl.
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| Chapter 16 Data Types and Operators |
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Gives a quick guide to the basic data types and statements provided by Perl and how they relate to Visual Basic's solutions.
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| Chapter 17 Functions, Packages and Modules |
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Examines the processes behind abstracting your scripts into the various sub-components that make up a Perl script in relation to the structures normally offered under Visual Basic.
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| Chapter 18 Data Manipulation |
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Looks at the basic mechanics of manipulating information in Perl, including reading and writing files and regular expressions.
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| Appendix A Resource Guide |
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Gives you a quick guide of the other books, websites, mailing lists, and Usenet newsgroups that are available for solving your Perl problems.
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| Appendix B Tk Quick Reference |
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Covers the basic method and properties for the main widgets supported by the Tk GUI interface builder and is designed to augment the information in Chapter 10.
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| Appendix C VB/Perl Function Cross Reference |
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A complete guide to all of the functions in Visual Basic and how to achieve the same results in Perl, either by using the internal functions, a custom function, or one of the many extensions available from CPAN.
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| Appendix D Windows Error Messages |
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Provides a organized list of the message constants and errors returned under Windows. These can be used in combination with the information in Chapter 8 to more closely monitor errors in your code.
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