The essential rule is:

If the .pm file lives in the path /yourperl/site/lib/your/module.pm

Then the associated .dll needs to be in /yourperl/site/lib/auto/your/module.dll

Then the associated .dll needs to be in /yourperl/site/lib/auto/your/module.dll

That's what I thought, too ... until I discovered recently that the dll can go in, for example, /yourperl/site/lib/module.dll. The 'auto' is not needed, and the 'your' is not needed either. I've just double checked this by relocating perl/site/5.10.0/lib/auto/Math/GMP/GMP.dll to perl/site/5.10.0/lib/GMP.dll. There may be other alternative locations, too. I haven't checked.

Cheers,
Rob

True, but as this extract from Dynaloader.pm shows, it looks in site/lib/auto/module first:

    foreach (@INC) {
    chop($_ = VMS::Filespec::unixpath($_)) if $Is_VMS;
    my $dir;
    if ($Is_MacOS) {
        my $path = $_;
        if ($Mac_FS && ! -d $path) {
        $path = Mac::FileSpec::Unixish::nativize($path);
        }
        $path .= ":"  unless /:$/;
        $dir = "${path}auto:$modpname";
    } else {
        $dir = "$_/auto/$modpname";
    }
    
    next unless -d $dir; # skip over uninteresting directories
    
    # check for common cases to avoid autoload of dl_findfile
    my $try = $Is_MacOS ? "$dir:$modfname.$dl_dlext" : "$dir/$modfname
+.$dl_dlext";
    last if $file = ($do_expand) ? dl_expandspec($try) : ((-f $try) &&
+ $try);
    
    # no luck here, save dir for possible later dl_findfile search
    push @dirs, $dir;
    }
[download]

After that, it basically goes off on a mind-blowingly slow and complicated tour of every directory in @INC and a few other places. The question is: why? What does this 'flexibily' buy anyone? It's just more complexity for no gain.

The danger of omitting the your is that Simple.dll from the XS version of XML::Simple overwrites Simple.dll from the XS version of CGI::Simple. Omitting the auto compounds the problem.

Define a rule, document it and stick to it. And then, when the dll isn't found the module can report site/lib/auto/your/module.dll not found. Currently, they cannot do that because they would have to say:

Couldn't find Module.dll in site/lib/auto/your, or site/lib/auto or si
+te/lib or site/lib/some/other/module/You/Used or site/lib/some/Other/
+Random/Place/WeT/hought/To/Try/ ...
[download]

Sigh! If only we could go back in time.

---

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.

"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".

In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

"Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."

I would suggest formatting your output with <code></code> tags. That way it will make things better on the eyes of the reader.

Other than that, concensus seems to be in favour of using a Windows Perl distribution (ActiveState/Strawberry ) rather than building it yourself.

perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install UNINST=1
[download]

make is whatever is reported by 'perl -V:make'

How to make a CPAN Module Distribution

. Installation goes as ...

Which is all fine and dandy if you can work out what combination of magical incantations and curses are required to pursuade EU::MM to construct a makefile and build environment that works for the requirements of your DLL.

But that's like trying to say "left hand down a bit" to the driver of a truck, by using your mobile phone to tap out morse code to your mother, which she relays to the driver using semaphore flags. Possible, but slow, labourious, with huge latency and frustrating in the extreme.

If the OP obviously has their development environment for building this DLL already worked and working. Expecting them to move that into the arcane blib structure just so that they can use and nested pile of stinking OO to construct a 100 times over-elaborate makefile, so that they can use nmake to copy the file to the appropriate destination is stupid.

---

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.

"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".

In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

"Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."

I don't think its stupid. If anything, it will show you how copying the pm/dll to the right spots is done. If you don't know already know, then you shouldn't be doing it that way.