WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS - can't exec "phantomjs"

Special_K has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hello,
I just installed WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS and am trying to run the first sample program I found here:
http://search.cpan.org/~corion/WWW-Mechanize-PhantomJS-0.08/lib/WWW/Mechanize/PhantomJS.pm

Here is the actual code:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS;

my $mech = WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS->new();
$mech->get('http://google.com');

$mech->eval_in_page('alert("Hello PhantomJS")');
my $png= $mech->content_as_png();
[download]

When I try to run it I get the following error:

./phantomjs_test.pl 
Can't exec "phantomjs": No such file or directory at /usr/lib/perl5/si
+te_perl/5.14/WWW/Mechanize/PhantomJS.pm line 131.
Couldn't launch [| phantomjs /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.14/WWW/Mechani
+ze/PhantomJS/ghostdriver/main.js --port=8910 --logLevel=OFF]: No such
+ file or directory / 0 at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.14/WWW/Mechanize
+/PhantomJS.pm line 131.
[download]

FWIW, line 131 of PhantomJS.pm is as follows:

$options{ pid } = open my $fh, $cmd
[download]

and $cmd is:

my $cmd= "| $options{ launch_exe } $options{ launch_ghostdir } @{ $opt
+ions{ launch_arg } }";
[download]

Does anyone know what the problem could be?

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Re: WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS - can't exec "phantomjs" by NetWallah (Canon) on Sep 13, 2014 at 05:55 UTC
The installation instructions for the perl module WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS are rather cryptic, but they DO say: INSTALLING Install the PhantomJS executable So - you DO need to download and install it from the PhantomJS download page. "You're only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it." - Robin Williams	[reply]
Re^2: WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS - can't exec "phantomjs" by Special_K (Pilgrim) on Sep 13, 2014 at 06:11 UTC
Thanks - I didn't read the page closely enough and assumed cpan would take care of all dependencies. NEW ISSUE: Rather than make a new post, I'll just add this one: After downloading phantomjs.exe and pointing to it in my test program above using this line: `my $mech = WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS->new(launch_exe => "/home/user1/p +hantomjs.exe");` [download] I now receive the following error when I try to run it: `Can't open '/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.14/WWW/Mechanize/PhantomJS/ghos +tdriver/main.js' Selenium server did not return proper status at (eval 82) line 61.` [download] Any ideas on this one? The main.js file referenced in the message does exist.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS - can't exec "phantomjs" by Anonymous Monk on Sep 13, 2014 at 07:00 UTC
Any ideas on this one? The main.js file referenced in the message does exist. Well, it needs to exist :) See https://metacpan.org/source/CORION/WWW-Mechanize-PhantomJS-0.08/MANIFEST it lists https://metacpan.org/source/CORION/WWW-Mechanize-PhantomJS-0.08/lib/WWW/Mechanize/PhantomJS/ghostdriver/main.js So wherever you installed it (let perl know about it PERL5LIB...), whatever your cpan configuration, whatever your logs say ... you probably need to reinstall it :)	[reply]
Re^4: WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS - can't exec "phantomjs" by Special_K (Pilgrim) on Sep 13, 2014 at 17:10 UTC
Re^5: WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS - can't exec "phantomjs" by NetWallah (Canon) on Sep 13, 2014 at 23:47 UTC
Some notes below your chosen depth have not been shown here
Re: WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS - can't exec "phantomjs" by Special_K (Pilgrim) on Sep 19, 2014 at 04:34 UTC
After some digging, I found the solution. It turns out that while cygwin can call windows executables, the POSIX-style pathnames that cygwin uses (e.g. /home/user/hello.js) must first be converted to Windows-compatible paths (e.g. C:\cygdrive\cygwin64\home\user\hello.js) using the cygpath utility. Here is the actual code I had to use: my $mech = WWW::Mechanize::PhantomJS->new( launch_ghostdir => '"`cygpath -w /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.14/WWW +/Mechanize/PhantomJS/ghostdriver/main.js`"', ); [download] I'm not sure why I need both double quotes and backticks to make it work, but that's what the example I found used, so I went with it. I decided to update this post because I hate searching and finding the exact issue I am having with no solution posted. Hopefully someone finds this information useful someday.	[reply] [d/l]