DBI - The Perl Database Interface by Tim Bunce.

Copyright (c) 1994-2002  Tim Bunce  Ireland.

See COPYRIGHT section in DBI.pm for usage and distribution rights.

RECENT NEWS:

    The DBI comes bundled with DBI::Shell, DBD::Proxy and
    DBI::ProxyServer modules. Those are still alpha releases.

    Note that recent additions to the DBI spec (marked *NEW*) may
    take a little while to be fully supported by individual drivers.

QUICK START GUIDE:

    The DBI requires one or more 'driver' modules to talk to databases.
    Check that a DBD::* module exists for the database you wish to use.
    Read the DBI README then Build/test/install the DBI by doing
	    perl Makefile.PL
	    make
	    make test
	    make install
    Then delete the source directory tree since it's no longer needed.
    Use the 'perldoc DBI' command to read the DBI documentation.
    Fetch the DBD::* driver module you wish to use and unpack it.
    It is often important to read the driver README file carefully.
    Generally the build/test/install/delete sequence is the same
    as for the DBI module.


The DBI.pm file contains the DBI specification and other documentation.
PLEASE READ IT. It'll save you asking questions on the mailing list
which you will be told are already answered in the documentation.

For more information and to keep informed about progress you can join
the a mailing list via mailto:dbi-users-help@perl.org

Much useful information and online archives of the mailing lists can be
found at http://dbi.perl.org/

See also http://www.perl.com/CPAN/


BEFORE BUILDING, TESTING AND INSTALLING this you will need to:

    Build, test and install Perl 5 (5.005_03 or later).
    It is very important to test it and actually install it!
    (You can use "Configure -Dprefix=..." to build a private copy.)

BUILDING

    perl Makefile.PL
    make
    make test
    make test TEST_VERBOSE=1   (if any of the t/* tests fail)

    make install (if the tests look okay)

IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS:

First, carefully read the notes at the bottom of this file.

If you can't fix it your self please post details to dbi-users@perl.org.
You can CC them to me at Tim.Bunce@ig.co.uk BUT please DON'T send them
just to me (I'm likely to ignore it).  Please include:

1. A complete log of a complete build, e.g.:

    perl Makefile.PL           (do a make realclean first)
    make
    make test
    make test TEST_VERBOSE=1   (if any of the t/* tests fail)

2. The output of perl -V

3. If you get a core dump, try to include a stack trace from it.
   (Try installing the Devel::CoreStack module to get a stack trace.)
   If the stack trace mentions XS_DynaLoader_dl_load_file then rerun
   make test after setting the environment variable PERL_DL_DEBUG to 2.

4. If your installation succeeds, but your script does not behave
   as you expect, the problem is possibly in your script. Before
   sending to dbi-users, try writing a small, easy to use test case
   to reproduce your problem. Also, use the DBI->trace method to
   trace your database calls.

Please don't post problems to comp.lang.perl.* or perl5-porters.
This software is supported via the dbi-users mailing list.  For more
information and to keep informed about progress you can join the
mailing list via mailto:dbi-users-help@perl.org
(please note that I do not run or manage the mailing list).

It is important to check that you are using the latest version before
posting. If you're not then I'm *very* likely to simply say "upgrade to
the latest". You would do yourself a favour by upgrading beforehand.

Please remember that I'm _very_ busy. Try to help yourself first,
then try to help me help you by following these guidelines carefully.
(Note specifically that I'm unlikely to answer a question that's
answered clearly in the on-line documentation.)

Regards,
Tim Bunce.

=======================================================================

---
If you get an error like "fatal: relocation error: symbol not found: ..."
using gcc <3.x then try not using GNU as or GNU ld on Solaris.

---
If you get compiler warnings like "value computed is not used" and
"unused variable" you can ignore them.

---
If you get compiler errors refering to Perl's own header files
(.../CORE/*.h) or the compiler complains about bad options etc then
there is something wrong with your installation.  It is best to use a
Perl that was built on the system you are trying to use and it's also
important to use the same compiler that was used to build the Perl you
are using.

End.
