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


Can someone save my computer from a dance with a baseball bat?
I am trying to compile XML::LibXML::Common and I'm getting an error creating the make file.
I have libxml2, zlib and iconv installed with the path in my PATH varible (c:\libxml). I am running Windows XP Pro SP2 and ActiveState Perl 5.10

I execute "perl Makefile.pl" from the directory containing XML::LibXML::Common and I get the following error: 
C:\TempPerl\XML-LibXML-Common-0.13>perl Makefile.pl
enable native perl UTF8
looking for -lxml2... no
looking for -llibxml2... no
libxml2 not found
Try setting LIBS and INC values on the command line
Or get libxml2 from
 http://www.libxml.org/
If you install via RPMs, make sure you also install the -devel
RPMs, as this is where the headers (.h files) are.

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I then try to use the INC and LIBS option from the command line and get the same results. 
C:\TempPerl\XML-LibXML-Common-0.13>perl Makefile.pl INC=-Ic:\libxml2\i
+nclude LIBS=-Lc:\libxml2\lib
enable native perl UTF8
looking for -lxml2... no
looking for -llibxml2... no
libxml2 not found
Try setting LIBS and INC values on the command line
Or get libxml2 from
 http://www.libxml.org/
If you install via RPMs, make sure you also install the -devel
RPMs, as this is where the headers (.h files) are.

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When I run in debug mode I can see that the command line options for LIBS and INC are picked up. Any ideas?

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Error compiling XML::LibXML::Common
by syphilis (Archbishop) on Jul 02, 2009 at 00:06 UTC
    perl Makefile.pl INC=-Ic:\libxml2\include LIBS=-Lc:\libxml2\lib

    Get rid of the insane Makefile.PL that comes with the distro, and replace it with: 
    use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;

WriteMakefile(
    NAME        => 'XML::LibXML::Common',
    VERSION_FROM    => 'Common.pm', # finds $VERSION
    AUTHOR        => 'Christian Glahn <christian.glahn@uibk.ac.at>',
    ABSTRACT      => 'Routines and Constants common for XML::LibXML an
+d XML::GDOME',
    LIBS          => '-lxml2',
);

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    Then run perl Makefile.pl INC="-Ic:/libxml2/include" LIBS="-Lc:/libxml2/lib -lxml2"
    Because there's now a space in the LIBS arg, you need to enclose that arg in double quotes. You don't really need double quotes around the INC arg (as it contains no spaces), but I always put them in anyway. Not sure if the backslashes need to be escaped or not - so I just use forward slashes as the path separator to avoid the worry.

    That should now work if you're building against a dynamic library (dll). The dll does, of course, need to be in your path. (I'm finding that the module won't build against a static lib as it expects to find a dll ... and I haven't yet worked out why it has that expectation.)

    Cheers,
    Rob
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      If you're editing Makefile.PL, you can do away with commandline overrides 
      use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;

WriteMakefile(
    NAME        => 'XML::LibXML::Common',
    VERSION_FROM    => 'Common.pm', # finds $VERSION
    AUTHOR        => 'Christian Glahn <christian.glahn@uibk.ac.at>',
    ABSTRACT      => 'Routines and Constants common for XML::LibXML an
+d XML::GDOME',
    INC           => "-Ic:/libxml2/include",
    LIBS          => [ "-Lc:/libxml2/lib -lxml2", ],
);

      [download]
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[d/l]
        And iff you're building against a static libxml2 library, you need to define -DLIBXML_STATIC. So the Makefile.PL would finally look like: 
        use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;

WriteMakefile(
    NAME        => 'XML::LibXML::Common',
    VERSION_FROM    => 'Common.pm', # finds $VERSION
    AUTHOR        => 'Christian Glahn <christian.glahn@uibk.ac.at>',
    ABSTRACT      => 'Routines and Constants common for XML::LibXML an
+d XML::GDOME',
    DEFINE        => '-DLIBXML_STATIC',
    INC           => "-Ic:/libxml2/include",
    LIBS          => [ "-Lc:/libxml2/lib -lxml2", ],
);

        [download]
        (But leave that DEFINE out if you want to build against a dll.)

        Cheers,
        Rob
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Re: Error compiling XML::LibXML::Common
by Anonymous Monk on Jul 01, 2009 at 16:29 UTC
[reply]
[d/l]
      Thanks for the information but it doesn't seem to work.
      When I execute the ppm command, it can't find an installable package for XML::LibXML::Common. 
      C:\TempPerl\XML-LibXML-Common-0.13>ppm install XML::LibXML::Common
Downloading ActiveState Package Repository packlist...not modified
ppm install failed: Can't find any package that provides XML::LibXML::
+Common

C:\TempPerl\XML-LibXML-Common-0.13>

      [download]

      I have my search sites to be CPAN, 2 sites at Uwinnipeg and Trouchelle.
      If I try to download using a browser I get the following error. 
      Content Encoding Error (content_encoding_error) 

 
Server response could not be decoded using encoding type returned by s
+erver.  
This is typically caused by a Web Site presenting a content encoding h
+eader of one type, and then encoding the data differently.

      [download]
      Any other leads or recommendations on the Make errors?
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