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

Oh great and wise monks, I'm using Win XP, and have the MinGW compiler for C stuff. I'm trying to build Perl from source so I can use the Inline::C module and having no luck. Everything I've read or tried is ridiculously complicated. (And hasn't worked) I'm about ready to throw the whole thing out the window and just do it in C. (I'm processing binary data) I know I'm not giving you a lot of detail here... I did try downloading Perl source, MinGw, dmake.. along with setting all environment variables correctly.... Yet when I tried to compile Perl, I got a "startup.mk" not found error. I'll admit, I'm a newbie, and hopefully this request for help will not enrage anyone with it's patheticness....

2005-03-05 Edited by Arunbear: Changed title from 'compiling Perl myself so I can use inline C'

  • Comment on compiling Perl on Win32 so I can use Inline::C

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Re: compiling Perl on Win32 so I can use Inline::C
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Mar 03, 2005 at 04:10 UTC

    If you grab the MS VC++ compiler, you can use Inline::C in combination with ActiveStates pre-built binaries. Saves a bunch of hassle.

    Then again, once you have MS VC++, building Perl yourself is considerably easier anyway.

    That said, why read a byte at a time? If your frames are fixed length, read or sysread a frame's worth of bytes and process the buffer a byte at a time. Then you can use Perl's string-wise and, or exlusive or and not to process whole strings together if that fits your purpose. And if not, you can always drop into C for that bit and leave the filehandling to perl.

    Examine what is said, not who speaks.
    Silence betokens consent.
    Love the truth but pardon error.
[reply]
[d/l]
      Wow, I really appreciate everyone's comments! I can't assume fixed frame length or even that a frame begins on the first bit. I wanted to use Perl for its cool data structures and file I/O... Not giving up yet... :)
[reply]
        Definitely don't give up! I am also confident that Perl can do what you are needing, although I am confident only because others Monks I trust say it is so.

        Your's sounds like a cool problem, to me at least. Stick around so we can watch it get solved! :)

[reply]
Re: compiling Perl on Win32 so I can use Inline::C
by thor (Priest) on Mar 03, 2005 at 01:34 UTC
    I have no experience in compiling perl. However, I find that your statement of "I'm processing binary data" sets off a trigger with me. Perl has facilities for dealing with binary data. I've written a couple of modules at work to do just that. You don't need C to do this, so if that's your only reason for this trek, perhaps you could pose your problem for the monks at large to answer...

    thor

    Feel the white light, the light within
    Be your own disciple, fan the sparks of will
    For all of us waiting, your kingdom will come

[reply]
      Why thank you, kind thor. Can Perl read one byte at a time, do bit-shifts and ands and ors to find a sync pattern, and then translate the binary to hex and then apply a decimal conversion formula to that hex data? And fast? If so, then no, I don't need C. (I'm processing frames of spacecraft telemetry in a sort of home-grown, let's figure out how to do this ourself research atmosphere)
[reply]
        In one word, YES.

        Read 1 byte at a time:

        read() # when reading from a file, or
unpack() # using b or B in the template when reading from a string

        [download]

        Bit shift left 3 bits:

        $a = $b << 3;

        [download]

        Bit shift right 2 bits:

        $a = $b >> 2;

        [download]

        Bitwise AND:

        $c = $a & $b;

        [download]

        Bitwise OR:

        $c = $a | $b;

        [download]

        Bitwise XOR:

        $c = $a ^ $b;

        [download]

        Binary to hex conversion (4 bits at a time):

        $hex =~ s/([01]{4})/sprintf("%.1x", eval('0b'.$binary))/eg;

        [download]
        (or something similar using the sprintf function)

        --------------------
        mlh2003
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[d/l]
[select]
Re: compiling Perl on Win32 so I can use Inline::C
by PodMaster (Abbot) on Mar 03, 2005 at 01:53 UTC
[reply]
Re: compiling Perl on Win32 so I can use Inline::C
by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Mar 03, 2005 at 13:31 UTC
    I strongly urge you to reexamine your assumption that you have to use C to do this task. Anything C can do, Perl can also do, and usually without dropping into XS. When it comes to binary data, pack and unpack are your friends. read and sysread are also very helpful, though standard file I/O can also be used if you set $/ to a number indicating how many bytes to read at a time.

    Alternately, you can install Cygwin and just do it in Unix. :-)

    Being right, does not endow the right to be rude; politeness costs nothing.
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    Expressing a contrary opinion, whether to the individual or the group, is more often a sign of deeper thought than of cantankerous belligerence.
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[reply]
Re: compiling Perl on Win32 so I can use Inline::C
by zentara (Cardinal) on Mar 03, 2005 at 12:44 UTC
    I'm using Win XP.....is ridiculously complicated....about ready to throw the whole thing out the window....

    Switch to Linux, and your world will once again become beautiful.

    I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. flash japh
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