How to determine the installed version of gettext? - perl

I have a Perl module that handles localization tasks using the GNU gettext utilities xgettext, msgfmt, msginit, and msgmerge. I got some test failures from a SunOS system which, when I looked into it, seemed to be ancient. For now I am skipping tests when msgfmt and xgettext choke on a simple --version option. But I think it would be better to refuse to install unless a relatively modern version of the GNU Gettext utilities are installed.
So, what's the best way to do that? I'd like to just figure out what's installed and if it supports the options I need, and refuse to install the module if those dependencies are not met. Should I just run gettext --version and refuse to install if it exits with a non-0 value? Or might there be a more canonical solution?

Since "gettext --version" should always return a value on any "contemporary" version (for example, I just tried it on a circa 1997 Redhat ... and it worked!), that should be sufficient.
IMHO...

Related

Variant Effect Predictor | DBD mysql failing to setup

I trying to get set up with Variant Effect Predictor (VEP) on the command line. I'm following the setup tutorial but I'm encountering some errors around dependencies. I'm also quite new to the command line so if anyone is able to break down the solution too then I'd be very grateful. Thanks!
Tutorial: https://www.ensembl.org/info/docs/tools/vep/script/vep_tutorial.html
VEP requirements: http://www.ensembl.org/info/docs/tools/vep/script/vep_download.html#requirements
I also have Perl v5.32.1.
What I've done:
I installed dependencies (listed in the requirements page) with the following commands:
- sudo -s cpanm DBI
- sudo -s cpanm Archive::Zip
- sudo -s cpanm DBD::mysql
For DBD:mysql, I got the follwoing message:
--> Working on DBD::mysql
Fetching http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/D/DV/DVEEDEN/DBD-mysql-4.050.tar.gz ... OK
Configuring DBD-mysql-4.050 ... N/A
! Configure failed for DBD-mysql-4.050. See /root/.cpanm/work/1626111140.5937/build.log for details.
Trying it out anyway, I ran perl INSTALL.pl (from the tutorial page) and got the message below. I would like VEP to run in online mode too if possible.
`WARNING: DBD::mysql module not found. VEP can only run in offline (--offline) mode without DBD::mysql installed
http://www.ensembl.org/info/docs/tools/vep/script/vep_download.html#requirements
Hello! This installer is configured to install v104 of the Ensembl API for use by the VEP.
It will not affect any existing installations of the Ensembl API that you may have.
It will also download and install cache files from Ensembl's FTP server.
Checking for installed versions of the Ensembl API...done
Setting up directories
Destination directory ./Bio already exists.
Do you want to overwrite it (if updating VEP this is probably OK) (y/n)? y
- fetching BioPerl
- unpacking ./Bio/tmp/release-1-6-924.zip
ERROR: Unable to unpack file ./Bio/tmp/release-1-6-924.zip without Archive::Extract or tar/unzip/gzip`
You show us this error:
Configure failed for DBD-mysql-4.050. See /root/.cpanm/work/1626111140.5937/build.log for details.
So looking in there will give you more clues about what the problems are. Without that, we can only guess.
But we can make educated guesses. The DBD::mysql distribution comes with a file called DBD::mysql::INSTALL which will talk you through some of the problems you'll find while installing this module.
It's important to note that DBD::mysql is a wrapper around MySQL's client libraries. They are written in C, so you'll need a C compiler installed in order to build DBD::mysql. You'll also need the client libraries and the development versions of the client libraries (for the C header files that you'll need to compile the module). On Ubuntu, those packages are called "libmysqlclient" and "libmysqlclient-dev". If you don't have a C compiler, then you'll want to install "gcc" too.
But this is all getting a bit complicated. There's another, simpler, approach. If you're using the system version of Perl (the version that was installed as part of the operating system and probably lives in /usr/bin/perl) then I'd recommend using the pre-build Ubuntu version of the package, which you can install by running:
$ sudo apt-get install libdbd-mysql-perl
Installing that version uses the OS's own package manager, and the package manager knows which other packages are needed in order for it to work - so it will install those as well.
People will probably complain that you're better off installing the modules from CPAN as it gives you more flexibility and allows you to use more up-to-date packages than the versions from your OS repos. And they're right. But, honestly, if you're a non-Perl programmer who just wants to get an application up and running, this is by far the simplest approach.
(But, as I said above, this is all guesswork as you haven't shared the most important errors with us.)

CPAN 1.61 has issue with embedded space in path within Cygwin on Win7

I’m a mere mortal using Cygwin on Win7 and wanting to develop perl scripts using SOAP::lite. Installation instructions I found at soaplite.com directed me to start with perl –MCPAN –e shell before attempting an > install SOAP::lite
The newb in me didn’t appreciate that my windows user profile has a space character in it and the CPAN set-up seemed to go all horribly wrong around the point where the script was writing make files for local::lib, MYMETA.yml and MYYMETA.json. I got “no such file or directory” messages quoting only the portion of the path that followed the space in my user profile.
$ uname -a
CYGWIN_NT-6.1 UKLHRL00020 2.0.4(0.287/5/3) 2015-06-09 12:22 x86_64 Cygwin
$ cpan --version
Loading internal null logger. Install Log::Log4perl for logging messages
/usr/bin/cpan version 1.61 calling Getopt::Std::getopts (version 1.06 [paranoid]),
running under Perl version 5.14.4.
[Now continuing due to backward compatibility and excessive paranoia.
See ``perldoc Getopt::Std'' about $Getopt::Std::STANDARD_HELP_VERSION.]
Nothing to install!
When I ran perl –MCPAN –e shell for the first time, it did report “Warning: You do not have write permission for Perl library directories.” and I elected for the default option [local::lib] for the approach to be taken.
So what can I do next?
Looking closer at the Cygwin’s setup-x86_64.exe, a search for “cpan” lists eight packages under the perl category for perl-CPAN-* and perl-Parse-CPAN*, which are all set to “Skip”. The package perl-CPANMeta: Perl distribution CPAN-Meta is version 2.150001-1 from cygwin.mirrors.pair.com. Since this is not installed yet, but the installed Perl5 has some knowledge of an old CPAN, I need to know if it is safe to install the latest and will it work with a space in my profile? Do I need to remove the old CPAN, and how?
You probably want to update to the latest version of ExtUtils::MakeMaker, recent versions contain various fixes for paths containing spaces. This should fix these issues.

How to get p5-Switch on ubuntu 12.10

I was using ubuntu 12.04 until 12.10 was released. I used ubuntu for software development and after installing 12.10, i noticed that the perl version (5.14) shipped with 12.10 does not include the Switch.pm module needed while building WebKiT-GTK.
Looking around on the internet i found few suggestions indicating that i should install something call p5-switch from something called ports. I have looked around and was not able to get this done. I am not a perl guy and have no idea where i can get this package.
Can someone please help me as to
1. Where to download the package for ubuntu 12.10
2. In case it is not a .deb, How do i install it.
OR
1. At least be able to downgrade the perl installation to something lower than 5.14
Thanks and Regards
~Sameer
sudo apt-get install libswitch-perl
will install it for you.
"ports" is a *BSD packaging system of sorts, not what you should be looking for.
You can find what package has a particular perl module by going to packages.ubuntu.com, entering Module/Name.pm (in this case, Switch.pm) in the "Search the contents of packages" form and checking "packages that contain files whose names end with the keyword" and selecting the desired distribution, then making sure you ignore false hits like CGI/Switch.pm in the results. Debian has the identical search for its packages at packages.debian.org.
(Note that Switch.pm has serious limitations, was never really intended to be used in production, and should certainly not be used in new code.)
Do make sure you've checked properly that there isn't the Switch module available via apt. If it is available, that's the one you want.
No, then you've two options the longer, correct way and a shorter way that's not quite as clean.
1. Longer
Install cpanm and perlbrew with apt. The perlbrew tool lets you install a complete version of Perl from scratch in a separate directory. Set up a user for your webkit building, run perlbrew as that user, install your perl. Then, use cpanm to install required modules and you are done. A bit of googling will get you step-by-step examples of how to use these tools. If anything goes badly wrong, you can just delete all the files in that user's home directory and start again - all you waste is a little time.
The reason experienced Perl people prefer this is that it keeps the perl you want for webkit-gtk separate from your system perl that ubuntu's packages will expect to be unchanged from the one they ship.
2. Shorter
Install cpanm with apt. As root, run "cpanm Switch" and it will install the Switch.pm package and any dependencies. It will also upgrade any already installed packages it thinks it needs to. This last step is why this option isn't ideal. In the (rare) case when the update isn't compatible with something else on your system uninstalling is fiddly.

Trying to install YAML::Syck - This module requires a C compiler

I'm trying to install the YAML::Syck module (I'm actually trying to install Date::Manip, this is just a dependency), but it fails with the following message:
This module requires a C compiler at Makefile.PL line 38.
This happens whether I try to install using CPAN or if I try to download the packages and install manually.
I have gcc installed and on my PATH, I can access it from the same CYGWIN shell window that I'm trying to use to install YAML::Syck.
When looking for a C compiler, ExtUtils::MakeMaker and Module::Build don't necessarily look for gcc in your PATH, but query your perl's configuration for the C compiler it has been built with and expects it to be available for building Perl extensions as well.
On my system, it will look for cc in PATH, as per
$ perl -MConfig -E'say $Config{cc}'
cc
I've had trouble in the past getting everything to "just work" with cygwin, when it comes to compiling modules. You might want to take a look at Strawberry Perl, which is a Windows Perl distribution that comes bundled with all of the components needed for compilation of XS modules. I haven't personally tried to install YAML::Syck with it, but I have installed many other XS modules without incident.
Once it is installed and in your path (usually automatically), you should be able to run cpan from the Windows command prompt to install the module.
Maintainer speaking
The better forum to ask is the cygwin mailinglist. There you will find the same questions being asked again and again, we can point to the messages, and the
maintainers are present.
The quality of the answers will be much better.
The official latest perl announcement was http://sourceware.org/ml/cygwin-announce/2012-07/msg00011.html
perl used to bundle most useful modules for CPAN and Testing with the core perl.
With the latest 5.14 package the useful modules were moved to the seperate package perl_vendor.
The dependencies to be able to compile modules by your own via cpan are not included.
You'll need make and gcc-4 at least.
See /usr/share/doc/Cygwin/perl.README for the package specific README.
YAML::Syck is considered broken and unmaintained (*_why* left), please try to use a better YAML package, like YAML or YAML::XS, written by the inventor and author of YAML itself (ingy).
Date::Manip does not require YAML::Syck. cpan does like to have a YAML modules, but prefers YAML::XS.
You'll find out that you'll be able to install much more packages with cygwin perl than with strawberry perl (=mingw).

How can I install Perl's DBI on Mac OS X so Apache can find it?

I'm trying to setup a Perl development environment on my Mac laptop and have been having a really hard time getting it working. I thought I had everything configured correctly but when I try to run a sample script it is reporting errors with the DBI module and can't access the DB.
Here is what is reported in the Apache error logs:
[Fri Apr 30 23:11:33 2010] [error] [client 127.0.0.1] Can't locate DBI.pm in #INC (#INC contains: /Library/Perl/Updates/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level /Library/Perl/Updates/5.10.0 /System/Library/Perl/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level /System/Library/Perl/5.10.0 /Library/Perl/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level /Library/Perl/5.10.0 /Network/Library/Perl/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level /Network/Library/Perl/5.10.0 /Network/Library/Perl /System/Library/Perl/Extras/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level /System/Library/Perl/Extras/5.10.0 .) at main.pm line 5.
I downloaded and installed both modules manually to work with MAMP using the following commands as specified in this forum post:
For DBI
1. cd /Library/Perl/DBI-1.611
2. sudo Perl Makefile.PL
3. sudo make
4. sudo make install
For DBD
1. cd /Library/Perl/DBD-mysql-4.014
2. sudo Perl Makefile.PL --mysql_config=/Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysql_config
3. sudo make
4. sudo make install
What I noticed while running the above commands is that the files seems to be getting installed in the '/opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/' directory which doesn't seem to be one of the search directories that Apache mentions in the error at the beginning of this post. Here is what I'm seeing during the install:
$ sudo make install
Files found in blib/arch: installing files in blib/lib into architecture dependent library tree
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/DBI.bundle
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/dbipport.h
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/DBIXS.h
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/dbixs_rev.h
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/Driver.xst
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/Driver_xst.h
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/TASKS.pod
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBD/DBM.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBD/File.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBD/Gofer.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI/Changes.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI/DBD.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI/Profile.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI/ProxyServer.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI/PurePerl.pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBD::DBM.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBD::File.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBD::Gofer.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBI.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBI::DBD.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBI::Profile.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBI::ProxyServer.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBI::PurePerl.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/TASKS.3pm
Installing /opt/local/bin/dbiprof
Installing /opt/local/bin/dbiproxy
Writing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/.packlist
Appending installation info to /opt/local/lib/perl5/5.8.9/darwin-2level/perllocal.pod
My question is, what am I doing wrong and how can I either 1) Get Apache to look in the right directory where the DBD & DBI modules are installed or 2) Update the way I'm installing the module to install them into one of the search directories. I honestly don't know what option makes more sense and could use guidance on that as well.
As you can probably tell I'm pretty lost at the moment. Please help!!! Thanks in advance.
It looks like you've already installed another Perl via macports (/opt/local is where all macports installations go), and /opt/local/bin is earlier in your $PATH than the system Perl in /usr/bin. That's fine, if you are happy running Perl 5.8.9 rather than Perl 5.10.0 (hint: if you aren't sure of the differences, then the differences don't matter).
It's usually advised to not make extra installations to the system Perl. Apple may upgrade components through regular system updates, which could interfere with any modifications you have made, and if you make a mistake with an installation, it's difficult to remedy it without doing a full system reinstallation or having some serious understanding of the operating system guts. So, since you've already got another Perl installation ready, I would strongly encourage you to stick with that one.
However, you probably shouldn't be manually installing libraries if there is already a distribution available on macports. I used port search dbi and port search dbd to find them: the distributions are named p5-dbi and p5-dbd-mysql. You can install those like any other macports module: with sudo port install <distroname>. (You may need to install mod_perl itself, too.)
After that, you simply need to tell Apache/mod_perl to use that Perl installation rather than the system perl. I've never done that, so I can't advise on the best way to do it. However, quick searches on http://superuser.com suggest that the macports version of apache will run by default (via the same $PATH ordering), so I'd just Try It And See :).
Great answer, Ether. Having done this far too many times to count, I can give you a few pieces of advice:
Note: I am apparently limited to a single link in the post, so I had to remove all of my annotations. Thankfully, there is Delicious where I've stored them all with a stackoverflowmacports tag. Any place below where I removed a link to fit under Stack Overflow's ridiculous anti-spam measure, I've marked it with (*).
If having a reliably-working development environment at all times is important to you, rely on as LITTLE Mac OS X bundled software as possible. I love Apple but they have absolutely no qualms about breaking custom setups of their software as often as possible.
If #1 sounds like what you need to do, Macports is an EXCELLENT choice. I used to use Fink but they got left in the dust ages ago in terms of ease of use and spectrum of available software. The easiest route to installing macports is via the binary package install method (*)
As Ether mentions, when you have everything set up correctly, the Macports-provided MySQL, PHP and Apache all work together well without the system-installed analogs interfering. Most of that has to do with your PATH setting but all of those details are handled by the package installers post-flight script (*)
Once you're on the Macports train, it should become the very first place you look for any software. port search and port info are constant companions. They've got 6863 ports (*) currently which covers MOST of your bases.
When you do need to go outside of the Macports realm to find something, install it in /usr/local. That part of the file system hierarchy is yours to play with. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security and think that because Macports doesn't have what you're installing, it's okay to put it in /opt/local because invariably that software will install some dependency that will ALSO be a dependency for some piece of Macports software down the line and Macports will not allow a port to be installed if any one of its files would overwrite an existing file not managed by Macports (unless you force it which is always bad manners)
If you do any work with Perl and you use Macports' version, you will absolutely find yourself in a situation Macports doesn't have the one CPAN module you're looking for. (And, really, given that there are two and a half billion CPAN modules, who can blame them?). This will happen often enough that you will most likely tire of the manual installation method (*) (perl Makefile.PL; make; make test; sudo make install; cha; cha; cha) and long for the ease of use you've grown accustomed to with Macports.
If so, you can absolutely use the cpan (*) utility, CPANPLUS (*) or cpanminus (*) for all of your installing needs. Just make sure to make the necessary adjustments in the configuration of your tool of choice to instruct it to install your modules into /usr/local/lib/perl5, ignoring /opt/local/bin/perl's insistence that modules go into /opt/local/lib/perl5. You can set the PERL5LIB environment variable in your shell's init scripts to additionally look in /usr/local/lib/perl5 for modules. Just grab the #INC output from perl -V and tack it on the end...
And finally... Leveraging the system's daily init scripts or third-party software like Anacron (*) or MacPorts Notifier (*) (both available through MacPorts), make sure to update your software frequently. You don't have Mother Apple protecting you with Software Updates for the Macports installed software which have just as many bugs and security exploits as the very same software Apple bundles.
By updating frequently, you'll stay ahead of the baddies and by automating it, the upgrades will actually happen and you won't end up as I have in the past with a full weekend blown because you had a mountain of outdated ports to upgrade. Note: Macports stages its updates and if it fails at any point, your current version continues to work. Apple could learn a thing or two from them, I tell ya...
So, that's all I can think of a the moment. Hopefully the lessons above will get you going quickly and save all of the time, effort and stress I've experienced in past years in learning it. I would argue it's still far better than the alternative: Hating Apple because they break all of your nice things... :-)
I had a similar problem with Apache using the wrong Perl. I fixed it by appending the following lines to my httpd.conf file:
SetEnv PATH [colon-separated list of directories]
SetEnv PERL5LIB [colon-sep'd list of directories]
In my case, it looked like this:
SetEnv PATH /opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/mysql/bin:$PATH
SetEnv PERL5LIB /opt/local/lib:/usr/local/lib