using perl plug-ins

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

Hi Monks, I have been given a perl module to use but don't have the correct permissions to install in on my server. I have been told that one way around this is to create a folder in my home directory called 'Plug-in' and then put the file into it.

How can i then use this in my perl script? How can I tell perl to look for the module in this location?

I have tried the following:

# module is in ~/Plug-ins/Find.pm
use Plug-ins::Find;
[download]

But I get this error:

Can't locate Plug.pm in @INC (@INC contains: /biol/programs/perl580/li
+b/5.8.0/i686-linux /biol/programs/perl580/lib/5.8.0 /biol/programs/pe
+rl580/lib/site_perl/5.8.0/i686-linux /biol/programs/perl580/lib/site_
+perl/5.8.0 /biol/programs/perl580/lib/site_perl .) at get_them.pl lin
+e 5.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at get_them.pl line 5.
[download]

Kind regards
K

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Re: using perl plug-ins by tinita (Parson) on Feb 19, 2006 at 13:41 UTC
try: `use lib "$ENV{HOME}/Plug-ins"; use Find;` [download] i guess the package name of the module is 'Find' and not 'Plug-ins::Find'. dashes are not allowed in package names, at least not unquoted.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: using perl plug-ins by borisz (Canon) on Feb 19, 2006 at 14:10 UTC
Or set your Environment var `PERL5LIB` to the plugin directory. `export PERL5LIB=$HOME/plug-ins use Find;` [download] And notice, that a dash is not a good choice as part of a directoryname. Even if it does not mater for your example: `use Plug-ins::Find; # is seen by perl as use Plug '-ins::Find';` [download] Boris	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: using perl plug-ins by brian_d_foy (Abbot) on Feb 19, 2006 at 18:57 UTC
You can't use a hyphen as part of a package name. You have a package named "Plug-in.pm"; but it's looking for "Plug.pm", after which it will substract the result of `&in::Find`. Beside that, you may want to see the answers to " How do I keep my own module/library directory?" and "How do I add a directory to my include path (@INC) at runtime?" in perlfaq8. Good luck :) -- brian d foy <brian@stonehenge.com> Subscribe to The Perl Review	[reply] [d/l]
Re: using perl plug-ins by arcnon (Monk) on Feb 19, 2006 at 15:06 UTC
think of it like so..... your directory structure `home ........your home dir test.pl ........the script your running Plug-Ins ........the folder you made Find.pm ........the module you added More ........and another folder More.pm....and another module` [download] in test.pl `use Plug-Ins::Find; use Plug-Ins::More::More;` [download] If the module is not installed think of 'use' as the path to where the module you want to use is located.. This is useful only in a descending folder structure.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: using perl plug-ins by fishbot_v2 (Chaplain) on Feb 19, 2006 at 15:20 UTC
If you do something like this, remember that `Plug-Ins` is not a valid package name. Also, remember that the file that you use has to think that it is defining a package called "Plugin::Find", not just "Find". The file will be required, but the package will not be `import()`ed, unless the OP edits his modules to use the new qualified package name. This solution also assumes that `"."` (the CWD) is in the OP @INC, and that the OP will only ever run it from that directory. The best solution is just to `use lib`, though, with a full qualified path: `use lib '/some/dir/Plug-Ins/'; use Find;` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]