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   1  If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the funny characters you
   2  see. It is written in the POD format (see pod/perlpod.pod) which is
   3  specially designed to be readable as is.
   4  
   5  =head1 NAME
   6  
   7  README.epoc - Perl for EPOC
   8  
   9  =head1 SYNOPSIS
  10  
  11  Perl 5 README file for the EPOC Release 5 operating system.
  12  
  13  =head1 INTRODUCTION
  14  
  15  EPOC is an OS for palmtops and mobile phones. For more informations look at:
  16  http://www.symbian.com/
  17  
  18  This is a port of perl to the epocemx SDK by Eberhard Mattes, which
  19  itself uses the SDK by symbian. Essentially epocemx it is a POSIX
  20  look alike environment for the EPOC OS.  For more information look at: 
  21  http://epocemx.sourceforge.net/
  22  
  23  perl and epocemx runs on Epoc Release 5 machines: Psion 5mx, 5mx Pro,
  24  Psion Revo, Psion Netbook and on the Ericsson M128. It may run on Epoc
  25  Release 3 Hardware (Series 5 classic), too. For more information about
  26  this hardware please refer to http://www.psion.com/
  27  
  28  Vendors which like to have support for their devices are free to send
  29  me a sample. 
  30  
  31  =head1 INSTALLING PERL ON EPOC
  32  
  33  You can download a ready-to-install version from
  34  http://www.oflebbe.de/oflebbe/perl/
  35  
  36  You will need at least ~6MB free space in order to install and run perl.
  37  
  38  Please install the emxusr.sis package from
  39  http://epocemx.sourceforge.net/ first.
  40  
  41  Install perl.sis on the EPOC machine. If you do not know how to do
  42  that, consult your PsiWin documentation.
  43  
  44  Perl itself and its standard library is using 4 MB disk space.
  45  Unicode support and some other modules are left out. (For details,
  46  please look into epoc/createpkg.pl). If you like to use these modules,
  47  you are free to copy them from a current perl release.
  48  
  49  =head1 STARTING PERL ON EPOC
  50  
  51  Please use the epocemx shell to start perl. perl integrates with the
  52  conventions of epocemx. 
  53  
  54  =head2 Editors on Epoc
  55  
  56  A suitable text editor can be downloaded from symbian
  57  http://www.symbian.com/developer/downloads/files/editor.zip
  58  
  59  =head2 Features of Perl on Epoc
  60  
  61  The built-in function EPOC::getcwd returns the current directory.
  62  
  63  =head2 Restrictions of Perl on Epoc
  64  
  65  Features are left out, because of restrictions of the POSIX support in
  66  EPOC:
  67  
  68  =over 4
  69  
  70  =item * 
  71  
  72  socket IO is only implemented poorly. You can only use sysread and
  73  syswrite on them. The commands read, write, print, <> do not work for
  74  sockets. This may change iff epocemx supports sockets.
  75  
  76  =item *
  77  
  78  kill, alarm and signals. Do not try to use them. This may be
  79  impossible to implement on EPOC.
  80  
  81  =item *
  82  
  83  select is missing.
  84  
  85  =item *
  86  
  87  binmode does not exist. (No CR LF to LF translation for text files)
  88  
  89  =item *
  90  
  91  EPOC does not handle the notion of current drive and current
  92  directory very well (i.e. not at all, but it tries hard to emulate
  93  one). See PATH.
  94  
  95  =item *
  96  
  97  Heap is limited to 4MB.
  98  
  99  =item *
 100  
 101  Dynamic loading is not implemented.
 102  
 103  =back
 104  
 105  =head2 Compiling Perl 5 on the EPOC cross compiling environment
 106  
 107  Sorry, this is far too short.
 108  
 109  =over 4
 110  
 111  =item *
 112  
 113  You will need the epocemx SDK from Eberhard Mattes. 
 114  
 115  =item *
 116  
 117  Get the Perl sources from your nearest CPAN site.
 118  
 119  =item *
 120  
 121  Unpack the sources. 
 122  
 123  =item *
 124  
 125  Build a native perl from this sources... Make sure to save the
 126  miniperl executable as miniperl.native.
 127  
 128  Start again from scratch
 129  
 130        cp epoc/* .
 131        ./Configure -S
 132        make 
 133        cp miniperl.native miniperl
 134        touch miniperl.exe
 135        make
 136        perl createpkg.pl 
 137  
 138        emxsis perl.pkg perl.sis
 139  
 140  =back
 141  
 142  =head1 SUPPORT STATUS OF PERL ON EPOC
 143  
 144  I'm offering this port "as is". You can ask me questions, but I can't
 145  guarantee I'll be able to answer them. Since the port to epocemx is
 146  quite new, please check the web for updates first.
 147  
 148  Very special thanks to Eberhard Mattes for epocemx.
 149  
 150  =head1 AUTHOR
 151  
 152  Olaf Flebbe <olaf@oflebbe.de>
 153  http://www.oflebbe.de/oflebbe/perl/
 154  
 155  =head1 LAST UPDATE
 156  
 157  2003-01-18
 158  
 159  =cut