/ 
Devel-PPPort-2.99_01
River stage four • 73 direct dependents • 1315 total dependents
/ Devel::PPPort

NAME

Devel::PPPort - Perl/Pollution/Portability

SYNOPSIS

Devel::PPPort::WriteFile() ; # defaults to ./ppport.h
Devel::PPPort::WriteFile('someheader.h') ;

DESCRIPTION

Perl has changed over time, gaining new features, new functions, increasing its flexibility, and reducing the impact on the C namespace environment (reduced pollution). The header file, typicaly ppport.h, written by this module attempts to bring some of the newer Perl features to older versions of Perl, so that you can worry less about keeping track of old releases, but users can still reap the benefit.

Why you should use ppport.h in modern code: so that your code will work with the widest range of Perl interpreters possible, without significant additional work.

Why you should attempt older code to fully use ppport.h: because the reduced pollution of newer Perl versions is an important thing, so important that the old polluting ways of original Perl modules will not be supported very far into the future, and your module will almost certainly break! By adapting to it now, you'll gain compatibility and a sense of having done the electronic ecology some good.

How to use ppport.h: Don't direct the user to download Devel::PPPort, and don't make ppport.h optional. Rather, just take the most recent copy of ppport.h that you can find (probably in Devel::PPPort on CPAN), copy it into your project, adjust your project to use it, and distribute the header along with your module.

Devel::PPPort contains a single function, called WriteFile. It's purpose is to write a 'C' header file that is used when writing XS modules. The file contains a series of macros that allow XS modules to be built using older versions of Perl.

Not only macros, but also static/global functions, if requested. !!!TODO!!!

This module is used by h2xs to write the file ppport.h.

WriteFile

WriteFile takes a zero or one parameters. When called with one parameter it expects to be passed a filename. When called with no parameters, it defaults to the filename ./pport.h.

The function returns TRUE if the file was written successfully. Otherwise it returns FALSE.

ppport.h

Provided Perl compatibility API

The file written by this module, typically ppport.h, provides access to the following Perl API if not already available (and in some cases [*] !!!TODO!!! even if available, access to a fixed interface):

__PROVIDED_API__

Perl API not supported by ppport.h

There is still a big part of the API not supported by ppport.h. Either because it doesn't make sense to backport that part of the API, or simply because it hasn't been implemented yet. Patches welcome!

Here's a list of the currently unsupported API, and also which version of Perl introduced it:

    __UNSUPPORTED_API__

AUTHOR

Version 1.x of Devel::PPPort was written by Kenneth Albanowski.

Version 2.x was ported to the Perl core by Paul Marquess.

Version 3.x was ported back to CPAN by Marcus Holland-Moritz.

SEE ALSO

See h2xs.