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

Hello there,

Following some suggestions regarding web scraping, it looks like I'll have to use Win32::IE::Mechanize. However, I'm new to perl and seem to have some trouble installing the module.

I downloaded it, and extracted it into C:/perl/lib/Win32-IE-Mechanize-0.009

I downloaded nmake, then I ran:
1. perl Makefile.PM
2. nmake
3. nmake test
4. nmake install

The makefile seems to go smoothly, then nmake gives this: Math::BigInt: couldn't load specified math lib(s), fallback to Math::BigInt::FastCalc at C:/Perl/lib/Win32API/File.pm line 20, followed by going through some .pm files

nmake test gives some failed tests, and then nmake install yields this: Math::BigInt: couldn't load specified math lib(s), fallback to Math::BigInt::FastCalc at C:/Perl/lib/Win32API/File.pm line 20 Appending installation info to C:\Perl\lib/perllocal.pod

am I doing something wrong here?

Thanks

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Installing Modules on Windows
by jettero (Monsignor) on Jun 18, 2008 at 20:14 UTC
    What you're doing wrong is not using CPAN or your distribution's package manager. Either would work pretty well I imagine.

    Had you typed "perl -MCPAN -e shell" and used "install Mechan....blah", it would have found the Math::BigInt dependency and installed that package for you (usually after asking first).

    What perl are you using? There's a surprising number of choices these days.

    -Paul

[reply]
      Are you talking about using ppm? I'm behind a firewall, so I can't get through.
[reply]
        Either get permission to get through the firewall or figure out how to proxy your ppm session -- I believe there exists a way to do it. Installing modules by hand is very 1989... Avoid doing it at all costs. It would make more sense to drive your dev computer to an internet cafe than install the modules by hand. I'm exaggerating...

        But if you really must, you can just download all the prereqs listed in the Makefile.PL, then download allt he prereqs from those, and so on and build them all by hand. But you will run into trouble. The PPMs have solved all the hard problems for you, so they're worth using.

        -Paul

[reply]
        ppm through a firewall works well for me, but I had to ask the sysadmin for the proxy, and then set the HTTP_PROXY environment variable to this proxy.
        Ronald
        -- 
        Ronald Fischer <ynnor@mm.st>
[reply]
[reply]
Re: Installing Modules on Windows
by syphilis (Archbishop) on Jun 18, 2008 at 22:55 UTC
    I downloaded it, and extracted it into C:/perl/lib/Win32-IE-Mechanize-0.009

    It doesn't really matter, but it's better to extract to some directory that's outside your perl tree - say C:/my_build/Win32-IE-Mechanize-0.009 for example.

    Math::BigInt: couldn't load specified math lib(s), fallback to Math::BigInt::FastCalc at C:/Perl/lib/Win32API/File.pm line 20

    That's merely a warning - it's harmless and you can safely ignore it. It comes from a bug in that particular version of Win32API::File, and that particular version of Win32API::File was included by mistake in build 1003 of ActivePerl. Afaik, other builds of ActivePerl are unaffected, as also will be future builds.

    For mine, the only worry about what you have done is the failing tests - perhaps they're just the result of your firewall. (If you now run the test scripts individually as normal perl scripts, you'll probably get some verbose error messages that tell you precisely what is failing.) Other than that, just start using the module and see how it goes.

    Cheers,
    Rob
[reply]
Re: Installing Modules on Windows
by xgamma (Novice) on Jun 19, 2008 at 13:57 UTC
    K, well, I got PPM to work after setting the HTTP_proxy environment variable...but Win32::IE::Mechanize doesn't seem to be available on the repositories...I added all the default ones that are listed in PPM.

    Am I stuck doing this the old fashioned way, or are there other repositories that would have it?

    Thanks

[reply]
[reply]
        When I do this:

        C:\>ppm install http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/ppms/Win32-IE-Mechanize.ppd

        I get this: ppm install failed: The PPD does not provide code to install for this platform

[reply]
Re: Installing Modules on Windows
by holli (Abbot) on Jun 19, 2008 at 17:26 UTC
[reply]

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