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

Greetings most holy ones, Does anyone here have experience of running Perl on VMS? Could they tell me if they have run into any problems with this? many thanks the doctor

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Perl with VMS
by grinder (Bishop) on Aug 27, 2002 at 14:06 UTC

    I used Perl on VMS for about 6 years up until 1999, so my information is a little dated. Charles Bailey did a stellar job for ages making it run smoothly, and after that Dan Sugalski (a.k.a Elian) took up the slack. Eventually my old VAX C compiler couldn't cope any more, and I became marooned at 5.003_11GAMMA or so. Then I changed jobs.

    The two canonical pages (as of 1999) were (and still are, I just checked):

    There are a few odd corners, such as opening files, unlinking files (should it delete the current version or all versions?) and interactions between defines and logicals and other VMS esoterica (i.e., basically whenever VMS goes its own way compared to how Unix would approach a problem). For system-level stuff it is well-nigh impossible to write cross-platform compatible scripts, but if you're looking to replace DCL, just go with the flow and delight in all the VMSicity available from Perl. All in all it sure beats the pants off writing DCL!


    print@_{sort keys %_},$/if%_=split//,'= & *a?b:e\f/h^h!j+n,o@o;r$s-t%t#u'
Re: Perl with VMS
by Elian (Parson) on Aug 27, 2002 at 18:13 UTC
    You might want to try the VMSPerl list--vmsperl@perl.org. A reasonably low-volume list, and a good place to start. Subscribe at vmsper-subscribe@perl.org.
Re: Perl with VMS
by talexb (Chancellor) on Aug 27, 2002 at 13:25 UTC
    Doctor,

    I'm not quite sure how Perl Monks can help you .. is this a fishing expidition, or are you currently having specific problems?

    In any event, Google is your friend ..

    --t. alex
    but my friends call me T.

Re: Perl with VMS
by Doctor Who (Initiate) on Aug 28, 2002 at 09:08 UTC
    Thankyou for helping to enlighten me - it has been a great help :) the doctor