
 WHAT IS THIS?
 =============
 This software distribution contains the following packages for using
 Perl5 "pod" (Plain Old Documentation).  See the "perlpod" and "perlsyn"
 manual pages from your Perl5 distribution for more information about pod.

 Pod::Parser
 -----------
   The Perl5 module "Pod::Parser", which provides a base class for
   parsing and selecting sections of POD documentation from an input
   stream.  Please see the POD documentation for this module (embedded
   in the file "Parser.pm") for more details.

 Pod::Select
 -----------
   The Perl5 module "Pod::Select", which provides a subclass of
   Pod::Parser and an exported function named "podselect()" to dump
   selected sections of raw pod documentation from an input stream.
   Please see the POD documentation for this module (embedded in the
   file "Select.pm") and Pod::Parser for more details.

 Pod::Usage
 ----------
   The Perl5 module "Pod::Usage" which provides the function "pod2usage()"
   to print usage messages for a Perl script based on its embedded pod
   documentation. Pod::Usage is a subclass of Pod::PlainText. Please see
   the POD documentation for this module (embedded in the file "Usage.pm")
   for more details. The pod2usage() function is probably the most
   generally useful function in this entire distribution since it is
   useful to just about any Perl5 script that is invoked from the
   command-line.

 Pod::PlainText
 --------------
   A replacement for the Perl5 module "Pod::Text" and the corresponding
   "pod2text()" function. It is derived from the Pod::Parser class.
   Please see the POD documentation for this module and Pod::Parser for
   more details (embedded in the file "PlainText.pm").

   Pod::PlainText and pod2plaintext *can* peacefully co-exist with the
   the current Pod::Text and pod2text of your perl distribution. However,
   IF YOU WANT TO PHYSICALLY REPLACE Pod::Text on your system you can do
   this by making the following changes:

      - Replace 'PlainText' with 'Text' and 'plaintext' with 'text'
        in all *.pm and *.PL files in the PodParser package.

      - Rename 'PlainText.pm' to 'Text.pm' and 'pod2plaintext.PL' to
        'pod2text.PL'.

      - You should probably copy the existing Pod::Text and pod2text files
        in your perl distribution to a new name and/or location before
        overwriting them when you perform 'make install'
 
   YOU PROBABLY DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS!!!! Pod::PlainText is not yet
   verified to produce equivalent output to Pod::text.

 Pod::InputObjects
 -----------------
   Some input objects needed by Pod::Parser, and for advanced users of
   Pod::Parser that need more about a command besides its name and text.

 AUTHORS/CONTRIBUTORS
 ====================
 Brad Appleton  <bradapp@enteract.com>  http://www.enteract.com/~bradapp/
 (derived from Pod::Text by Tom Christiansen <tchrist@mox.perl.com>)


 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 ================
 * Kenneth Albanowski (kjahds@kjahds.com, CIS: 70705,126) for his
   extensive assistance with the design and interface of Pod::Parser.

     Kenneth is currently working on a "Pod::Simplify" module (among
     other things) which is presently available on CPAN although it is
     not yet completed.  Pod::Simplify (formerly "Pod::Parse") is loaded
     with *lots* of goodies for formatting and translation heuristics for
     converting POD docs into other documentation formats.  If it seems
     feasible, Kenneth and Brad will try to have Pod::Simplify work and
     play nicely with Pod::Parser when it is completed.

 * Steven McDougall <swmcd@world.std.com> for his help and patience with
   re-writing the manpage for Pod::Usage and Pod::Parser.


 COPY/REUSE POLICY
 =================
 Copyright (C) 1996-1998 by Tom Christiansen. All rights reserved.

 PodParser is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 under the terms of the Artistic License distributed with Perl version
 5.000 or (at your option) any later version. Please refer to the
 Artistic License that came with your Perl distribution for more
 details.

 The Artistic License should have been included in your distribution of
 Perl. It resides in the file named "Artistic" at the top-level of the
 Perl source tree (where Perl was downloaded/unpacked -- ask your
 system administrator if you dont know where this is).  Alternatively,
 the current version of the Artistic License distributed with Perl can
 be viewed on-line on the World-Wide Web (WWW) from the following URL:

      http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html

 The latest version of Perl can be obtained on the World-Wide web (WWW)
 from the following URL:

      http://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/latest.tar.gz


 DISCLAIMER
 ===========
 This software is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
 is provided "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either expressed or
 implied, INCLUDING, without limitation, the implied warranties of
 MERCHANTABILITY and FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

 The ENTIRE RISK as to the quality and performance of the software
 IS WITH YOU (the holder of the software).  Should the software prove
 defective, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR
 CORRECTION.

 IN NO EVENT WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY CREATE,
 MODIFY, OR DISTRIBUTE THE SOFTWARE BE LIABLE OR RESPONSIBLE TO YOU OR TO
 ANY OTHER ENTITY FOR ANY KIND OF DAMAGES (no matter how awful - not even
 if they arise from known or unknown flaws in the software).

 Please refer to the Artistic License that came with your Perl
 distribution for more details.


 CONTENTS
 ========
 Please see the file named "MANIFEST" which should have been included
 in the PodParser distribution.


 REQUIREMENTS
 ============
 * Perl version 5.003 or later

 * Getopt::Long version 2.13 or later (podselect.PL and pod2usage.PL only)


 BUILDING & INSTALLING
 =====================
 Please see the perl "ExtUtils::MakeMaker" manpage for how to build and
 install using the Makefile.PL template.  In a nutshell, simply typing:

      perl Makefile.PL

 should build a Makefile with the usual targets like "all", "clean",
 "test", and "install".


 BUGS
 ====
 Please send all bug reports to Brad Appleton <bradapp@enteract.com>.


 TO DO
 =====
 Please see the file named "TODO" which should have been included
 in the PodParser distribution.

 HISTORY
 =======
 Please see the file named "CHANGES" which should have been included
 in the PodParser distribution.

