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

Hi All,

Currently I am using version 5.10, I have written so many perl scripts using lot of modules in this version.

Recently I try to install latest version 5.12. But most of the modules which I have installed in my previous version are all not available for this version.

For example, I have written many of my perl scripts using Perl/Tk module for GUI. But in the new version this module is not available, instead of that TKx is available. I dont think it supports my existing tools without modifying.

But I want to use my existing perl scripts without any modification. How can I install all my modules which I used with my previous version?

Thanks,

Srikrishnan

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: older modules Vs. Latest perl 5.12
by Corion (Patriarch) on Sep 03, 2010 at 06:07 UTC

    The modules are available from CPAN, but maybe they haven't been precompiled and packaged for you. You will need to install a Perl with a matching C compiler then.

    You cannot use modules that were compiled for an old version of Perl with a newer version of Perl.

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Re: older modules Vs. Latest perl 5.12
by CountZero (Bishop) on Sep 03, 2010 at 06:14 UTC
    The latest version of Tk is available as a pre-compiled package on http://www.bribes.org/perl/ppm/. You can install that using ActiveState's ppm utility.

    And if you happen not to use ActiveState Perl, you probably already have C-compiler on your machine so you can compile the package yourself, although nowadays even ActiveState installs the minGW C-compiler the first time you use cpan.

    CountZero

    A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James

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Re: older modules Vs. Latest perl 5.12
by ikegami (Patriarch) on Sep 03, 2010 at 06:01 UTC

    What do you mean, "not available"? Pretty much any module that installs with 5.10 will install with 5.12 as well. What version of which module are you looking for?

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Re: older modules Vs. Latest perl 5.12
by marto (Cardinal) on Sep 03, 2010 at 07:45 UTC
[reply]

      Hi All,

      Thanks for your replies.

      Sorry I was not mentioned my OS and other details:

      Below are my system details:

      OS: Windows XP

      Perl: Activestate Perl

      Currently with my perl version 5.10. I have installed Tk version 8.4. But with my previous version (5.10) in PPM I can find and install Tk. But with 5.12 I am not able to find "Tk" in ppm. which shows only TKx. Still there are more modules which are not able to find in the new version ppm

      Thanks,

      Srikrishnan

[reply]

        Please read the replies you got. There is a Tk PPM for ActiveState Perl 5.12. You need to add the proper repositories to your PPM configuration.

        You might want to think about whether to upgrade. There are three open bugs on Windows for Tk with 5.12. Also see the Tk bug queue for more bug reports.

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        So did you the advice you've already been given? Did you look at PPM::Repositories? Have you tried installing MinGW and using cpan to install modules? The links provided previously explain how to do this in more detail.

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        The ActiveState implementation is a bit different in its focus than is Strawberry.  (I’m not saying that either one is “better,” but rather that “the designer’s intent” is different.   Particularly when it comes to servicing and packages.)   Maybe the right thing for you to do, at least for now, is simply to revert back to the previous release and stick with it for a while longer.

        The way I see it, your only objective is to get useful work done ... not to monkey around with software configurations.   So, if you do find yourself doing just that, back off and try a different strategy.   Is there anything that is really “holding a gun to your head and saying that you must, on pain of being converted to a Java programmer, ;-) use 5.12 now?”

Re: older modules Vs. Latest perl 5.12
by JSchmitz (Canon) on Sep 03, 2010 at 19:24 UTC
    I already posted this here 442242 answering a similar question

    The CPAN autobundle can be used to ease perl upgrades, by creating a special bundle containing all the installed modules of the current version of perl. This bundle can then be installed once the new version of perl is installed.


    cpan> autobundle

    Wrote bundle file -> /var/spool/cpan/Bundle/Snapshot_2010_8_01_00.pm

    cpan> quit

    # upgrade perl here …

    cpan> install Bundle::Snapshot_2010_8_01_00
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