NAME
binsearchaperl - binary search perl versions that exhibit changing behaviour
SYNOPSIS
binsearchaperl --bounds 17000-18000 --prog testscript.pl --build
binsearchaperl --hDESCRIPTION
This script is built upon the buildaperl script and the Perl::Repository::APC module and All Perl Changes . You pass it a interval of patch numbers and a test script that exhibits some change in the behaviour of perl. The script then does a binary search to determine when exactly the change in behaviour occurred. It then stops.
The --h option displays all available options.
The most convenient setup to run this script is just the same as described in the buildaperl manpage.
Test programs are ideally written in a simple style that outputs "ok" or "not ok", but you did know that already.
Caching in the install directory
Per default the underlying buildaperl script installs all resulting perls for later perusal. binsearchaperl searches in the tree of installed perls and uses them if they seem useful for a comparison. The upside of this is faster execution, but the downside is that binsearchaperl just looks at the branch and the patch number to determine the usefulness of a cached perl. In case you work with the --config option and change these options sometimes, the result of binsearchaperl may be wrong. It may happen that a difference in behaviour is due to different config options and not merely to the patch level. When in doubt, remove your whole installed-perls directory or remove all perls compiled with irrelevant config options.