piyush.shourie has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Fellow Monks,

I am not able to compile Text::IConv module on Windows. However, when I try to run “perl Makefile.PL”, the error message “Checking for iconv ... The system cannot find the path specified.” comes up.

Please suggest some way to build the said module.

If we need IConv to be installed (pre-requisite ), please let me know some web-site where I can get the same for Windows.

Thanks in advance,
Piyush

  • Comment on Problem in compiling Text::IConv module on Windows

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Re: Problem in compiling Text::IConv module on Windows
by tachyon (Chancellor) on Nov 02, 2004 at 09:48 UTC

    Perl modules come in 3 forms.

    • Those that are in pure Perl. These will usually build on anything.
    • Those that are in C and Perl ie XS - these may or may not build, like any C source.
      • + you need a C compiler
    • Finally you have C/XS modules that are thin wrappers for C/C++/other compiled libraries. Text::Iconv is of the final type <UNDERSTATEMENT>all</UNDERSTATEMENT> it does is provide a wrapper layer that glues Perl to the underlying libiconv library.
      • Naturally you need a C compiler
      • Additionally you need the actual library as well

    So down to practicalities. The easy way is to use ppm. If you Google for Text::Iconv you will find dozens of repositiories that have a ppm available. ppm install http://domain.com/path/to/good_stuff/iconv.ppd

    A good place to start is often the README. Typically it is suggested you READIT but in this case there is little/nothing on Win32 so you are forgiven ;-) See also A Guide to Installing Modules and A Practical Guide to Compiling C based Modules under ActiveState using Microsoft C++ HTH

    cheers

    tachyon

Re: Problem in compiling Text::IConv module on Windows
by borisz (Canon) on Nov 02, 2004 at 09:56 UTC
      Hi,

      The zip file (Text-Iconv.zip) does not have any support for Windows. Can any Perl Monk please help me out with the IConv library for Windows platform?

      Regards,
      Piyush

Re: Problem in compiling Text::IConv module on Windows
by gellyfish (Monsignor) on Nov 02, 2004 at 11:19 UTC