DBI - The Perl Database Interface by Tim Bunce.

Copyright (c) 1994,1995,1996,1997  Tim Bunce  England

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

WARNING:

    THIS IS ALPHA SOFTWARE. It is *only* 'Alpha' because the
    interface (API) is not finalised. The Alpha status does
    not reflect code quality or stability.

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 now contains the DBI specification and other documentation
(including Frequently Asked Questions and references to other resources).
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 http://www.fugue.com/dbi (if you are unable to
use the web you can subscribe by sending a message to
dbi-users-request@fugue.com, it may take a few days to be processed).

Much useful information and online archives of the mailing lists can be
found at http://www.arcana.co.uk/technologia/DBI

See also ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/perl/db/ and "CPAN" ftp sites.


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

    Build, test and install Perl 5 (at least version 5.003).
    It is very important to test it and actually install it!

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)

Do not hand edit the generated Makefile unless you are completely sure
you understand the implications. Always try to make changes via the
Makefile.PL command line and/or editing the Makefile.PL.
 
You should never need to make any changes. If you do *please* let me
know so that I can try to make it automatic in a later release.
 

IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS:

If you're on Solaris and get a build error like "... fatal: relocation
error: symbol not found: main ..." it means that you are using the GNU
as and/or GNU ld commands. Delete or rename them, they are just bad
news on Solaris.

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

If you can't fix it your self please post details to
dbi-users@fugue.com. You can CC them to me at Tim.Bunce@ig.co.uk but
please don't send them just to me.  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.

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 a
mailing list via http://www.fugue.com/dbi (if you are unable to use the
web you can subscribe by sending a message to dbi-request@fugue.com, it
may take a few days to be processed).

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.

Regards,
Tim Bunce.

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

If you get an error like "fatal: relocation error: symbol not found: ..."
Do not use GNU as or GNU ld on Solaris. Delete or rename them, they are
just bad news.  In the words of John D Groenveld <groenvel@cse.psu.edu>:
Run, dont walk, to your console and 'mv /opt/gnu/bin/as /opt/gnu/bin/gas;
mv /opt/gnu/bin/ld /opt/gnu/bin/gld'. You can add -v to the gcc command
in the Makefile to see what GCC is using.

