Apache ASP help not helpfull :(

[alan matthews <th...@yahoo.co.uk>]

After twenty years in hardware and real-time
programming,
I'm back at university getting into business
computing, so I'm very new to this server stuff and
I'm trying to learn.

I wanted to run a local server but Microsoft PWS
doesn't run on Win ME. Searching around I came across
this http://www.ricocheting.com/sever/index.html I
found it very helpful, albeit a bit out of date.
  
So, I've installed apache_1.3.22-win32-x86.msi onto
this Win ME machine as a localhost and it works fine.

I've installed ActivePerl, and it works fine too.

I want to run ASP, so I download Apache-ASP-2.29

Then as per the instructions I did
___________________________________
 shell prompt> perl -MCPAN -e shell
 ...
 cpan> install Bundle::Apache::ASP
___________________________________

A huge amount of text flowed down the screen which
ended with
_______________________________________________________
Removing previously used
\.cpan\build\Apache-ASP-2.29\.
Couldn't find \.cpan\build\Apache-ASP-2.29\. at
C:/Perl/lib/CPAN.pm line 1972
_______________________________________________________

I tried to run some of Perl's sample asp pages but
nothing worked. Clealy the phrase:-

'The easiest way to install Apache::ASP for the first
time from perl is to fire up the CPAN shell like:'

isn't quite as easy as it claims.

The rest of the information at
http://www.nodeworks.com/asp/install.html
is unitelligable to anyone who hasn't worked with
servers, and all the FAQ's seem to assume your an
expert, so I'm no better off.

The main confusion I'm getting is figuring which is
Perl stuff from Apache. Also links like:-
_______________________________________________________
There are several other Perl modules that you might
wish to have installed, to take full advantage of
mod_perl functionality. Provided you have Andreas
König's CPAN.pm module, simply run:
_______________________________________________________

is just a long list of meaningles files. 

So, is there any chance of an Idiot's guide to getting
this ASP to work?

Python

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts
http://uk.my.yahoo.com

Re: Apache ASP help not helpfull :(

[Joshua Chamas <jo...@chamas.com>]

alan matthews wrote:
> 
> I wanted to run a local server but Microsoft PWS
> doesn't run on Win ME. Searching around I came across
> this http://www.ricocheting.com/sever/index.html I
> found it very helpful, albeit a bit out of date.
> 
> So, I've installed apache_1.3.22-win32-x86.msi onto
> this Win ME machine as a localhost and it works fine.
> 
> I've installed ActivePerl, and it works fine too.
> 
> I want to run ASP, so I download Apache-ASP-2.29
> 

[[ for Apache::ASP support, get on its mail list by emailing
   asp-subscribe@perl.apache.org ]]

For a quick start, I'd recommend installing the prebuilt 
win32 mod_perl / apache from:
  
  http://perl.apache.org/distributions.html

This page ends up referring you to:

  ftp://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/pub/other/perl-win32-bin-0.7.exe

It comes fortunately with a working Apache::ASP.  You will 
still need to update the ./perl/lib/Config.pm to point to your
compiler installation if you want to build your own perl 
modules later.

This hint is provided here:
  http://www.apache-asp.org/install.html#Win32%20Instal93dbe80f

As a user going through these woes, it would be helpful if you could
suggest how I could make that part of the install help stand out more,
and content that would be more useful & accurate to you?

What is not in the help is a bug/workaround for WinME / Win9x users
that occurred recently in the 2.25 release of Apache::ASP.  The bug
is that MLDBM::Sync uses flock() which is not implemented on WinME.

The fix is to add this to you httpd.conf, preferrably

<Perl>
*CORE::GLOBAL::flock = sub { 1 };
</Perl>

This fix is not necessary if you do not use $Session
or $Application though, which you can turn off with
the httpd.conf config:

  PerlSetVar NoState 1

> Then as per the instructions I did
> ___________________________________
>  shell prompt> perl -MCPAN -e shell
>  ...
>  cpan> install Bundle::Apache::ASP
> ___________________________________
> 
> A huge amount of text flowed down the screen which
> ended with
> _______________________________________________________
> Removing previously used
> \.cpan\build\Apache-ASP-2.29\.
> Couldn't find \.cpan\build\Apache-ASP-2.29\. at
> C:/Perl/lib/CPAN.pm line 1972
> _______________________________________________________
> 

I will check out the bundle files and see how they can be improved
for the next release.

> I tried to run some of Perl's sample asp pages but
> nothing worked. Clealy the phrase:-
> 
> 'The easiest way to install Apache::ASP for the first
> time from perl is to fire up the CPAN shell like:'
> 
> isn't quite as easy as it claims.
> 
> The rest of the information at
> http://www.nodeworks.com/asp/install.html
> is unitelligable to anyone who hasn't worked with
> servers, and all the FAQ's seem to assume your an
> expert, so I'm no better off.
> 

Apache::ASP isn't geared towards new users.  It makes a lot of
of assumptions like knowledge of perl, apache, & unix ( perl is
unix paradigm programming often, even on win32 platforms ).
I would like it to make it more user friendly, and I understand
the docs & site can help, so please send me your suggestions.

> So, is there any chance of an Idiot's guide to getting
> this ASP to work?

Not yet!  I have long considered writing a book on Apache::ASP,
which would probably have at least a chapter as the Idiot's guide.
I don't think it would be out in time for your needs though :(

-- Josh
_________________________________________________________________
Joshua Chamas                           Chamas Enterprises Inc.
NodeWorks Founder                       Huntington Beach, CA  USA 
http://www.nodeworks.com                1-714-625-4051