Persistent - A Framework of Persistent Classes for Perl Objects
    by David Winters and Greg Bossert

WHAT IS THIS?

Persistent is a framework of classes that makes it easier to store and
retrieve Perl objects to and from various types of data stores.  Using
the common interface that all of these classes inherit, you can
store/retrieve objects to/from various types of data stores such as
text and DBM files, relational databases, LDAP directories and so on,
all with the same programming interface.

This is the base package of the Persistent framework of classes.  It
includes subclasses that implement persistence using text files, DBM
files, and memory (RAM).  There are subclasses that implement
persistence using databases (MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, mSQL) and LDAP
directories.  These subclasses are distributed in separate Persistent
packages that require this Persistent base package.  The database
subclasses also require the Persistent::DBI package which they inherit
from.  So be sure to first install this base package before any of the
other Persistent packages.

HOW DO I INSTALL IT?

Since all other Persistent packages require this base package, install
this package first by doing the following:

    perl Makefile.PL
    make
    make test
    make install

If you want to install a private copy in your home directory, then use
the PREFIX option when you generate the Makefile like this:

    perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=~/perl_lib

This package does require Perl 5.004 or later.

WHERE IS THE DOCUMENTATION?

You can find the documentation by typing "man Persistent" or "perldoc
Persistent" after you have installed this software.  If you're looking
for online documentation, check out:

http://www.bigsnow.org/persistent/

WHERE ARE THE EXAMPLES?

Complete working examples can be found in the "examples" directory
that is included in this package.  For more examples, check out the
web site mentioned above.

WARNING!

This software is definitely a work in progress.  (Though, it has been
used in more than 10 real world applications.)  Because of this, the
interface is definitely subject to change and bugs may be found.  We
would definitely love to hear from you regarding bugs or general
comments.  So please feel free to send mail to:

winters@bigsnow.org

Thanks, have fun, and let me know what you think!

David Winters
winters@bigsnow.org
