Do you really need a compiler or do you need a maker? Most win32 machines have neither, but its the later thats important for non XS modules.

I thought that MakeMaker was smart enough to know which compiler to use, but its up to the end user to make sure that its available from the path and that the LIB and INCLUDE directories. Maybe a simple prompt at the beginning saying "You need to make sure a compiler is available from the path. If this requires running a batch file then do so before you use this code..." or somethign like that.

As a last point, maybe File::Which is useful to you?

--- demerphq
my friends call me, usually because I'm late....