Suggestions for a new Perl Win32::API User?

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

I've been using Perl for quite some time now and have used half a dozen languages before it. Of course Perl is by far the best 8-}

Unfortunately, I have to do some work on Win32 systems, particularly using the Windows API. I'm at home in Unix but totally lost when it comes to the Win32::API...

I just read through the Win32::API pod and there just isn't a whole lot there. I don't understand how you *know* which API function you are going to use for a particular task. Is there *any* logic behind how this stuff is divided up? I only plan on accessing the Windows API from Perl, so what sources of information would you recommend to really get an understanding of:

How/why a particular API function is stored in a given module (dll)
How/where to find the parameters that are passed to the function and returned from the function.
How do the Microsoft Foundation Classes relate to the Win32 API and are the MFC's useable/useful from Perl?

Thanks 8-}

Comment on Suggestions for a new Perl Win32::API User?

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RE: Suggestions for a new Perl Win32::API User? by buzzcutbuddha (Chaplain) on Apr 17, 2000 at 17:40 UTC
I found the following link for you at MSDN: MSDN API Reference This should give you the actually listing of all of the API's and what they are used for. I hope this is a start. As far as the MFC are concerned, I'm sorry that I can't provide more guidance, but I am just learning that now for work myself, so I'm a neophyte.	[reply]
Re: Suggestions for a new Perl Win32::API User? by jbert (Priest) on Apr 17, 2000 at 18:38 UTC
The Win32::API module is a nice bit of technology but can be a bit desperate to use. Its not very perl-like. (e.g. you have to pre-allocate strings before passing into the API) IMHO, there is a nice chunk of work for people to do in adding Win32 support to standard CPAN modules using the Win32::API stuff. This would allow: Most people stay away from the pain which is Win32::API More scripts written to use 'standard' CPAN modules "just work" on Win32 because the support is in the module Err...thats it So if you do something funky with the API, consider how it might be rolled into an existing CPAN module and/or provide the same interface. Oh...and one thing which might help regarding functions in modules is mentioned in the WIn32::API docs themselves. 'Quick View' on a DLL will show you which functions are exported. This isn't ideal since you still need to leaf through DLLs (kernel32.dll has most things I need) and also for some reason you can't copy + paste from the Quick View, so you can't get the information out of the tool. Rant rant. There is a Windows NT tool to extract the information I need. It doesn't let me export this information in a usable format. That sucks.	[reply]
Re: Suggestions for a new Perl Win32::API User? by paulbort (Hermit) on Apr 17, 2000 at 19:10 UTC
Another good DLL to look at is ADVAPI32.DLL, especially if you need to fiddle with permissions. If you want a reference book, there are a couple on using the Win32 API with Visual Basic, which also doesn't like the API stuff much (mostly strings).	[reply]
RE: Suggestions for a new Perl Win32::API User? by Anonymous Monk on Apr 17, 2000 at 23:32 UTC
Is the way Perl accesses the Win32::API more similar to the way C, Visual BASIC, or some other language? Have any of you read books about the Windows API and have 1 (or more) that stand out as being superior?	[reply]