Welcome to the FAQ page:

There are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) I will post here (of course together with the answers). Please look here first before sending me an email.


The FAQ list:
How can I get Perl on my Windows system ?

There are 2 ways you can go (I would choose number 1):

  1. Make sure that you have an open internet connection, start the command shell (dos-box) of windows and type 'ppm{ENTER}'. {ENTER} means the return-key.
    If your Perl is installed correctly, you should gett the ppm-shell saying something like 'ppm>'
    If you see that, just type 'install tk{ENTER}' and wait a few minutes. The ppm (=Perl package manager) is now locating the right version of Perl/Tk over the internet, downloading it and installing it automatically.
    Thats all.
    This way is described on the main-page of the e:doc site.
  2. If you want to use your ZIP-file you will have to unpack the ZIP, that brings a small directory structure , a file called "tk.ppd" and a "tgz" or a "tar.gz" file in it.
    You will have to uncompress this file too, then you get a subdirectory named "x86" that has very much files in it.
    Now you can start ppm by 'ppm{ENTER}' and type there 'install "{correct_path}\tk.ppd"'.
    This will install Perl/Tk too.
    ATTENTION: Sometimes there are two or more versions of Perl out ther on ActiveStates homepage
    Sometimes they need different versions of 'tk.zip', because they are compiled differently.
Where can I get (a newer) version of Perl/Tk for U*nix ?

There are also 2 ways you can go (I would choose number 1):

  1. Go to the homepage of your distribution (RedHat, SuSE, *BSD, or else) and download there a precompiled newer version as a ready-for-install package or get a source-version there that is ready to be compiled on your distribution.
  2. Go to CPAN and search the Perl/Tk module in the module list. The best way is to find it in Nick Ing-Simmons directory via the "by-author"-list. There you can find the source distribution of the latest Perl/Tk versions and patches against the last ones.
    Nick Ing-Simmons directory is here.